HAPPY PENTECOST SUNDAY!

This week I've have a few conversations, in text and online, where people have expressed surprise at the fact that our church makes a big deal of Pentecost Sunday.

I've always found this bizarre...

I get that low churches / new churches don't put much emphasis on the church calendar, and I understand that. (Today's the feast day of St Who?!) But there are some dates that seem quite obvious to mark and celebrate. And IMO, Pentecost ought to be one of them.

Some charismatic pastors have said "Why would I celebrate Pentecost Sunday? Every Sunday is Pentecost Sunday!"

That's somewhat like the guy who says: "Why would I show I love my wife on Valentines day? Every day is Valentines day!"

To which I want to say:

"You do know it's possible to show your wife you love her both every day AND on specific days!"

We can and should celebrate Pentecost every day, and also PARTICULARLY on this day.

BTW, not arguing for Valentine's Day! We don't really celebrate it. But you get my point... we can and perhaps should celebrate Pentecost weekly and annually; every day and on specific days.

It strikes me as odd that many of the churches that celebrate Pentecost Sunday LEAST are the ones that were born out of the charismatic renewal. Surely we should be the ones who celebrate it MOST since our defining feature is conviction that the Pentecostal gifts still continue!

Others have said: "Pentecost was a one-off event that ushered in a new age. Celebrating it puts us in the wrong point of redemption history. We don't long for the Spirit to be poured out. We should live daily in the knowledge that he HAS been poured out."

To which I would say:

In celebrating Pentecost, I'm no more expecting a repeat of that event than when I celebrate Christmas, Good Friday, or Easter Sunday! I'm specifically celebrating that the event is unrepeatable, whilst also longing for the FRUIT & RESULTS of that event to be my lived experience.

I don't need a new Pentecost but I do need more of the fruits of Pentecost in my life & my church: power from on high, gifts, a fresh filling of the Spirit, & boldness for mission. Those are all worth celebrating! (And I'd certainly take a repeat of the 3k responses to a sermon!)

It's worth examining our rationale for celebrating some days over others. Why do many churches celebrate Christmas, but make little of Easter? Or Easter Sunday, but not Good Friday? Is our decision shaped by theological conviction, missional opportunity, or cultural expectation?

I suspect churches that make more of Christmas than Good Friday do so because it's an easier invite for guests, rather than because they think Jesus' birth holds a higher place of theological importance than his death, for example.

Maybe there's a cultural expectation that we celebrate some rather than others. If people heard of a church that didn't celebrate Christmas they'd think that was odd! If they heard of a church that didn't celebrate Pentecost they'd say "So what, neither do I?"

(FWIW, I realised recently that I don't celebrate Ascension Day, and I think if I'm honest that I haven't given enough thought to the significance of the ascension. I assume it in my theological framework, but I wonder if I need to do some more reflection on its significance...)

Anyway... this thread's too long, and it's a random collection of musings rather than anything coherent or thought through. All this is to say... Happy Pentecost Sunday, however or whether you are celebrating it!

And if you want to celebrate it with me, join us at @ChristChurchLDN for our services today at 10, 11, 5, 7 and 8. We have Eleanor Mumford speaking to us and it'll be great!

https://christchurchlondon.online.church/