Whatever happened to Pentecost? That was (and is) the day set aside on the calendar in celebration of the Holy Spirit and the infusion of the Spirit in the ministries of the apostles at Jerusalem as recorded in Acts. Remarkably and sadly, Pentecost is gone.
Nelson Harris
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Pentecost never ranked as high as Christmas or Easter, but for centuries it was considered the third holiest day for the church. No more. Gone. Ignored. Forgotten. Don’t believe me? How many reading this commentary know at this moment without looking anything up when Pentecost occurs this year? It is Sunday, May 27. Anything special planned for worship? If your church is like most Baptist churches, the answer will be “no.” In fact, Pentecost this year falls on Memorial Day weekend, meaning more Baptist churches will drape their sanctuaries in American flags and Pentecost will slip by, unnoticed and unobserved, for yet another year. My goodness, we would certainly never allow Pentecost to trump a civic holiday (assuming we were aware of Pentecost to begin with)!
I am not certain when Baptists held our funeral for Pentecost, but it most certainly has been adequately and securely buried. Let me illustrate. In the most recent issue of Ministry Messenger, the official promotional publication for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, there on page 12 is the calendar of events and observances for both April and May. Easter (April 8), check. Mother’s Day (May 13), check. Memorial Day (May 28), check. Pentecost? Not mentioned. Nothing. Gone.
Think the Southern Baptist Convention may have done better? Guess what their worship bulletin cover is for Pentecost Sunday? Perhaps a nice Scriptural quote about the Spirit accompanied by an appropriate background image? Think again. The cover for Pentecost is two men hiking in the woods with a Bible passage about watching our path. Close, but no El Dorado. The Mother’s Day bulletin cover is, of course, appropriately themed. As is Fourth of July.
What has happened? Is Pentecost too “high church” and thus meant only for those who use a liturgical calendar? Or does is it have to do with our uneasiness about the Holy Spirit? I am certainly aware that if one does not formally observe Pentecost that does not mean you or your church is ignoring theologically or pastorally the Holy Spirit, but to overlook Pentecost is to miss an opportunity to center a congregation in its worship and discipleship on the role of the Spirit in our lives and congregations. If we easily and regularly emphasize Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and a slew of other civic holidays in our worship music and messages and denominational publications and products, then why do we neglect, even omit, Pentecost?
Perhaps, just perhaps, we might ask ourselves if this is an indication of a deeper problem—that we have become more attuned to our nation’s calendar than the millennia-old sacred one.
Nelson Harris (nharris@virginiaheights.org) is pastor of Virginia Heights Baptist Church in Roanoke, Va.