May 24, 2026 | Pentecost Sunday @ Holy Trinity Lutheran Church – Buffalo, NY
Scripture References
Acts 2:1–21 • John 20:19–23 • Genesis 2:7
Pentecost and the Sound of Wind
We gather to celebrate Pentecost Sunday … 50 days after Easter.
Pentecost had been celebrated well before the time of Jesus. So, it’s not uniquely Christian or specifically about the Holy Spirit.
It was a harvest festival referred to as the Festival of Weeks or Shavuot … it drew people to Jerusalem from many countries who spoke many languages.
At that time, there was no Rosetta Stone software to help people learn other languages. There was no Google Translate to use technology to translate in real time.
So, when the apostles gathered, “suddenly … there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2). The Holy Spirit caused a commotion. The Holy Spirit gave them the ability to speak in other languages.
This commotion drew a crowd. It sounds like the apostles didn’t stay inside that house being filled by the Holy Spirit for their own benefit, but they went outside … and met the people … out there in the surrounding community. And the people gathered heard others speaking their own languages.
Peter reminded everyone on that first Pentecost that the prophet Joel said that God would “pour out [God’s] Spirit upon all flesh” (Acts 2:17).
When I hear “pour out”, I hear abundance … that the Holy Spirit is poured out in abundance.
Breath, Spirit, and Movement
Often, when you hear the words “breath” or “wind” in the Bible, you can also think “spirit.”
The sound of the rushing wind was evidence of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus breathed on them saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).
Way back in Genesis 2, “God formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” … the Spirit of life (Genesis 2:7).
And it’s awfully hard to breathe … it’s awfully hard to have wind … it’s awfully hard to receive the Holy Spirit … and not also have movement.
With Jesus’ breath … after he said, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” he also said, “as the Father has sent me, so now I send you.”
The Holy Spirit Is Still Moving
I believe Jesus’ breath is still moving among us now … pouring out the Holy Spirit on us now … sending us now … moving us now.
I believe the Holy Spirit didn’t just move that one day in that one room among that one group of people.
I believe the Holy Spirit is still being poured out … taking clear and decisive action … causing a commotion. The movement of the Holy Spirit is often not neat and tidy. The movement of the Holy Spirit is often not processed by a church committee.
Two weeks ago, we changed the whole way we received Holy Communion because the Spirit was moving. Anna and Miriam baked bread for us for their First Communion. The Holy Spirit was moving that day and we all moved with it.
Last week, we had the privilege of welcoming four people by holy baptism and four additional people as new members. The Holy Spirit was not only moving in those eight people in that one moment, but the Holy Spirit had been moving in them … the Holy Spirit had been moving in their families … the Holy Spirit is moving among us … and that brought each of them to those moments.
The Holy Spirit is stirring among us here, today, in this moment.
The Holy Spirit causes a commotion … the Holy Spirit stirs … the Holy Spirit is poured out in abundance … on us … and into us.
Speaking the Language of Compassion
The Holy Spirit moves us to meet people wherever they are just like the apostles moved outside so others could hear the gospel in their own language, so you and I are also called to move out.
And the languages we’re called to speak are not only the languages that rely on words.
The Holy Spirit moves us to speak in the languages of understanding, compassion, hospitality, justice, humility, curiosity, awe, and joy.
The Holy Spirit is moving … and the Holy Spirit invites us to move, too … stepping into the unknown and the uncertain, stepping into what is unfamiliar and even uncomfortable.
When the Spirit Disrupts Our Need for Control
This is challenging on a whole host of levels.
Many of us don’t like change, especially as we age.
Many of us like control … we like predictability … we like managing and directing our lives.
God knows us, too. God made us. God knows the challenges that we have with new things. God says, “Behold, I am doing a new thing, do you perceive it?” We’re called to see where God is doing a new thing … to perceive it.
Into our lives, God breathes the breath of life, which may cause a commotion as God invites us, inspires us, and moves us.
Reflection Questions
- Where have you recently seen the Holy Spirit creating movement or “commotion” in your life or community?
- What “languages” beyond words might God be calling you to speak right now—compassion, curiosity, hospitality, or something else?
- What feels unfamiliar or uncomfortable in your life right now, and how might the Spirit be inviting you to step into it?
Blog graphic @kevincardenart
Epicurious Lutheran 
Leave a comment