Pentecost Sunday (Whit Sunday)

 

O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

WHAT IS PENTECOST?

Pentecost is the great festival that marks the birth of the Christian church by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Pentecost means “fiftieth day” and is celebrated fifty days after Easter.

According to the Christian Bible, it was on the 50th day after Easter when the apostles prayed together and the Holy Spirit descended on them. They received the “gift of tongues” — the ability to speak in other languages — and immediately began to preach about Jesus Christ to Jewish people from all over the world who flocked to Jerusalem for the Feast of Shavuot.

Christian Pentecost not only commemorated the Holy Spirit’s visit but also marked the birth of the Christian Church. Although it is not certain when Christians started observing Pentecost, it may have been early as the first century CE. Whitsuntide, also referred to as Whitsun in modern times, is the period beginning with the Saturday before Whitsunday and ending the following Saturday.

According to church tradition, Pentecost is about seven weeks after Easter Sunday, or 50 days after Easter, including Easter Day. In some Orthodox churches, Whitsunday is observed after the date set by the western churches. This is because some Orthodox churches still observe holidays according to the Julian calendar, which preceded the Gregorian calendar adopted by many western churches.

God the Father’s wonderful Christmas gift of His one and only Son, and Christ’s Easter triumph over the power of sin, death, and the devil would be of no benefit to us if the Holy Spirit did not give us the gift of saving faith. 

 

WHAT HAPPENED ON PENTECOST?

Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, the twelve apostles, Jesus’ mother and family, and many other of His disciples gathered together in Jerusalem for the Jewish harvest festival that was celebrated on the fiftieth day after Passover.  While they were indoors praying, a sound like that of a rushing wind filled the house and tongues of fire descended and rested over each of their heads.  This was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on human flesh promised by God through the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-29).  The disciples were suddenly empowered to proclaim the gospel of the risen Christ.  They went out into the streets of Jerusalem and began preaching to the crowds gathered for the festival.  Not only did the disciples preach with boldness and vigor, but by a miracle of the Holy Spirit they spoke in the native languages of the people present, many who had come from all corners of the Roman Empire.  This created a sensation.  The apostle Peter seized the moment and addressed the crowd, preaching to them about Jesus’ death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins.  The result was that about three thousand converts were baptized that day.  (You can read the Biblical account of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-41).

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

(John 20:19-23)

 
WHAT IS THE LITURGICAL COLOR FOR PENTECOST?

Red is the liturgical color for this day.  Red recalls the tongues of flame in which the Holy Spirit descended on the first Pentecost.  The color red also reminds us of the blood of the martyrs.  These are the believers of every generation who by the power of the Holy Spirit hold firm to the true faith even at the cost of their lives.

WHAT ARE THE SYMBOLS OF PENTECOST?

The symbols of Pentecost are those of the Holy Spirit and include flames, wind, the breath of God and a dove.

 

WHY IS PENTECOST SOMETIMES CALLED “WHITSUNDAY”?

A tradition of some churches in ancient times was to baptize adult converts to the faith on Pentecost.  The newly baptized catechumens would wear white robes on that day, so Pentecost was often called “Whitsunday” or “White Sunday” after these white baptismal garments.  Many Christian calendars, liturgies, and hymnals (particularly those from the Episcopal/Anglican tradition) still use this term.

WHY IS THE RITE OF CONFIRMATION/BAPTISM OFTEN CELEBRATED ON PENTECOST?

Confirmation Sunday is the day when young people who have been instructed in basic Christian doctrine confess their faith in the presence of the church.  The key to understanding confirmation is to recognize that the faith the confirmands confess is not of their own making; it is the gift of God that He gives through His means of grace.  The Holy Spirit who empowered the disciples to preach the risen Christ two thousand years ago is the same Spirit who empowers the confirmands to make their confession.  This is why many churches celebrate the rite of confirmation on Pentecost.

WHAT IS THE SEASON AFTER PENTECOST?

The season after Pentecost is centered on sanctification, the work of the Holy Spirit in the day to day life of the Christian.  This is reflected in the liturgical color for this season:  green, the color of life and growth.  Through the gift of faith that comes only from the Holy Spirit working through the means of grace, Christians trust in Christ as Savior and proclaim Him in their daily lives by service to their neighbors.  The season after Pentecost is the longest season of the church year — it lasts from Trinity Sunday until the first Sunday of Advent.  This is the non-festival portion of the liturgical calendar during which the church stresses vocation, evangelism, missions, stewardship, almsgiving, and other works of mercy and charity as ways in which Christ empowers us by His grace to share the Gospel with others.

WHY DO WE CELEBRATE PENTECOST?

There are three “mega-festivals” commemorated in the Christian calendar.  The first two, Christmas and Easter, are well known to both believers and non-believers.  But it’s possible that even liturgical Christians may not be as familiar with the third, the festival of Pentecost.  God the Father’s wonderful Christmas gift of His one and only Son, and Christ’s Easter triumph over the power of sin, death, and the devil would be of no benefit to us if the Holy Spirit did not give us the gift of saving faith.  Through the Word and Sacraments, the Holy Spirit gives us the faith to believe and trust in Christ as our Savior.  This precious gift of faith in the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ is the reason Pentecost is the third “mega-festival” of the church and why we celebrate it with such joy and thanksgiving.

Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Further reading:

What is Pentecost? Why Does It Matter? (Mark D. Roberts)