DO YOU HAVE JOY DOWN IN YOUR HEART?
Psalm 104: 31-34
ACTS 2: 1-21
JUNE 8th 2025 PENTECOST SUNDAY
We heard Declan read … LET THE LORD’s GLORY LAST FOREVER … LET THE LORD REJOICE in all that He has made” and we know well, I am assuming that we each know, that God is all powerful; that God is God and worthy of our praises.
God in Creation provided us with the incredible array of nature, a literal paradise, surrounding humanity. God taught the early humans, and we are still reminded to care for and preserve what God gave us. Just listen to the birds sing in the morning … watch the ocean waves crash along the Jersey shore … head up to the Pocono’s to see the Pocono’s to see the mountains’ splendor. We are living in a region of the world where we can truly spot verification of God’s gifts to us. That same God who out of love sent Jesus Christ who Scriptures refers to as “God is with us” and who is our Messiah.
And what do you think about God? Maybe I should ask how often do you think about God? Do you ever thank God … truthfully and completely thank God or do you push aside your thanks for God just like I am delayed in sending out my thank you notes for those who gave me birthday gifts this season …
We do not know for sure who wrote Psalm 104 not that the author matters because Psalm 104 has been part of what God believers have considered to be our holy book, our Bible for thousands of years. Christians and Jews reading the psalmist’s words, singing them, and listening to them being read in worship services like this one.
This entire Psalm is focused on recognizing God for all of God’s greatness even calling on God to celebrate God’s own truths with great joy and hoping that God finds pleasure in the living things that God has created!! The Psalm begins with a call that to me is a reflection that we almost need a PENTECOST to regain the focus on our relationship God intended for us to have with God. “PRAISE THE LORD, O MY SOUL!!! O, LORD God You are magnificent!” I know God finds pleasure in that.
The psalmist throughout this Psalm goes over a variety of details about God. As this Psalm has been sung or read through thousands of years it has been a clear reminder to the faithful that God’s creation matters … that God’s love should be a central focus for us because frankly we would have nothing without God. The psalmist understood that there needs to be a relationship with God not one that is temporary nor just occasional but ongoing and life-changing.
There once was a television show called “The Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous” hosted by a British fellow by the name of Robin Leach. It was pure voyeurism for viewers implying that somehow those living in an opulent world of gold and diamonds and mansions had something better than the rest of us. Not sure if it wanted to make us jealous but definitely wanted us to lust for money and its byproducts. Its host, Mr. Leach ended each show with the phrase, “Champaign wishes and caviar dreams.”
Well, the psalmist is offering humanity and obviously that includes us with a much more rewarding lifestyle but a lifestyle that requires interaction with change … the psalmist is clarifying for us the need for a connective celebration of God … frankly, wouldn’t you rather be connected to the Creator of the universe than dreaming about eating raw fish eggs? Aren’t you the type of person who wants to be positioned in life to REJOICE always … to find reasons to break out in song beyond your shower singing? And, guys, next week you are definitely invited to sing up front for Father’s Day.
Pentecost to me is a day for unleashed joy … a day for celebrations … as some of you know, I keep a Christmas tree up in my house all year long and have several crèches celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ in places where the casual observer can find them. So, I find joy in Christmas … you know “Joy to the world the Lord has come …” and we just travelled through Holy Season. Palm Sunday’s enthusiastic joy and then the emotional whirlwind of Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, with the resolution of God’s reality occurring on Easter morning when the angels of the Lord told the women HE IS RISEN <<HE IS RISEN INDEED>> … as I sat at my dining room table this morning I was looking at a palm cross that was made for me years ago … yes, I remember and treasure Easter.
But out of Easter … after the ASCENSION of Jesus Christ, which is when Jesus reminded the disciples and all of us … ““You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, in Swedesboro, Mantua, even in Thorofare, which they will rename West Deptford, and to the end of the earth.””
And then along comes Pentecost … the faithful had gathered together for an annual celebrate of the harvest. They came from around the world to thank God in the Temple in Jerusalem. They came for Shavuot, also known as the Festival of the Harvest or the Festival of the First Fruits, seven weeks and one day after the Passover. If you calculate seven weeks plus one day you get 50 and 50 in Greek is pentekoste. This festival was also a time to renew the covenant with God that God established with Noah, so people came to Jerusalem.
A curious question … how many church goers would travel to a city or location to give thanks to God or to renew their relationship with God? These folks did … these Parthinians, Medes, Elamites, Judeans, Libyans, Cyrene, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, and others … according to Scripture they were people of faith from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem and they came.
Our opening quote of the day from Henri Nouwen actually reads, “Without Pentecost, the Christ Event, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus – remains imprisoned in history as something to remember, think about, and reflect on. The Spirit of Jesus comes to dwell within us, so that we can become living Christs here and now.”
Church, you look AWESOME today … resplendent in your PENTECOST caps, your PENTECOST shirts, and just in the color red, which is representative of the flames of the Holy Spirit that descended upon those earlier believers.
Imagine … just imagine if sometime during one of your Sunday’s here at St. Paul’s … that “suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind willed the entire sanctuary where you were sitting. And, you saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of you … and that you felt the energy of the Holy Spirit.
Imagine … taking on the Holy Spirit … imagine accepting God’s call to become as Nouwen refers to as “living Christ’s here and now.”
But we need to consider God’s intent … God’s call … Jesus’ directive … and Pentecost coming 50 days after those women shouted out HE IS RISEN <<HE IS RISEN INDEED>> after discovering that Jesus was indeed the MESSIAH … that Jesus was more than a good man … that God’s love story for us was carried through Jesus Christ born of a virgin in a stable in Bethlehem … that God’s love was real.
For the next 40 days the disciples and others were reminded over and over again as they came face-to-face with the One who beat back death … they ate with Him and heard Him and then He went back to be with God leaving a challenge … and a promise for those willing to accept God’s gift,
“Jesus told His disciples, “Whoever loves me will keep my word. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word that you hear isn’t mine. It is the word of the Father who sent me. “I have spoken these things to you while I am with you. The Companion, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I told you.”
As those gathered at Pentecost experienced the rush of joy … the amazing ability to share their faith clearly with others who came from different lands … as their joy amazed folks on the street who saw those touched by the Holy Spirit even to the point of many thinking that they were drunk because they were so joyful … Peter reminded them of God’s promise through the prophet Joel, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people … and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
And isn’t that a reason to have great joy? That Pentecost every year has the possibility of being our starting line in the race for Jesus Christ … that we don’t stop rejoicing today when we are dressed in red … that we choose to lift praises that are pleasing to God each day … can we join with the psalmist in declaring “I am rejoicing in the Lord and I will sing to the Lord as long as I live” so that others out there … out in what we might call the real world … that they notice that we each have allowed the Holy Spirit to take over the direction of our lives …. God’s gift … Christ’s gift … are you willing to accept Paul’s challenge to REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS … not just when you are in church but when you are inviting friends’ kids to vacation Bible School … when you are declaring your love for all of your neighbors and demonstrate your care for the poor and for those who are struggling … when a welcome mat is out for strangers knowing that God might send an angel disguised as a stranger to test you …
My brother texted me the other day because he did not fully understand that today is a special day … today is a day when we celebrate the birth of the Christian church and the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise related to the Holy Spirit because Church, you look splendid today!! A sea of red showcasing that WHITE letter P as a celebration of the birth of the Christian church. Let’s do some partying … we don’t want flames coming down but we can make some joyful noise unto the Lord … let’s fly high for Christ … with joy in our hearts … it is PENTECOST … celebrate it as if this birthday reminder matters to you … THE BIRTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH … about 3000 people who noticed the joy… noticed the celebrations … in one place on one day … 3000 people came to know the Lord and join the Christian movement … we are called to go into the world … just imagine how many people would want to find a place of joy, celebration, peace and love that would also connect them with God … let’s be living Christ’s. AMEN