I don’t think that I have detailed this on my site anywhere, with the possible exception of my explanation of my disability or on my bio but my birthday is November 9 and I was born in 1978. (Mark this down somewhere and make a note that I prefer money. Thanks in advance.) Despite my joke, I don’t expect this to be of any monumental importance to anyone except me and some around me. However, birthdays are milestones of such and some carry more weight than others. No individual birthday besides that of Christs’ has as much gravitas as the birth of the Christian church which we celebrate on Pentecost Sunday.
As I write this, this day on the Christian calendar has already passed. However, this year, it was an even more specific marker for me because it began my official venture into Anglicanism at my closest Anglican congregation, Holy Cross Cathedral in Loganville. This process is a part of the detail that is included in the most previous blog post regarding getting things right in my life and it might help to read that along with this. I didn’t even realize the conjunction of the two events until I was in the church service on the particular day but when it came to my attention, it was one of those things that just felt divinely ordered. In turn, it brought a tingle to my brain and thus became an idea for a blog post that I’m just now getting to.
The Day of Pentecost is detailed to us in the Book of Acts in the biblical New Testament. Specifically, beginning in chapter 2, it says “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” Now, I’m sure if I polled everyone in the congregation that day, there would be many with whom I didn’t agree with on everything in the world and so, vice versa. At the very least though, we were all there at that time slot on that particular day to do one thing and that counts for something. That has a sermon written all over it in itself but for now I will stick with the personalization of the event.
The detailed meaning to all of this to me, as I’ve slowly processed it over the past days, is that we all have our particular Christian occasions that correspond with those that are held corporately as a church. I certainly know people who can directly and spontaneously state the day they came to have a personal relationship with Christ and other events such as their baptism. However, if we begin to think of our personal journey within the context of the church’s progression as a whole, it can be seen in a whole new light and make us also even more aware that we are a part of something much bigger than we ever thought. So, this begs some questions:
Can I be so bold as to compare my inner church’s new beginning to coincide to that Sunday I feel began my true Anglican journey? …that was held on Pentecost Sunday …the birth of the church millennia ago?
Yes, with reverence
Can you compare yourself to Paul? The man who is credited with writing most of the New Testament but who also said, in paraphrase, ”I don’t do the things I want to do but I do the things I don’t want to do “
Yes, with reverence
Can we even go as far as to recognize that we have similarities with Jesus Himself?
He had doubt. He was ostracized. He was misunderstood. He was hated for what He believed. He couldn’t even be heard by the people closest to Him.
Sound familiar?
Yes, with reverence
By digging into scripture and study of such, we can see that we have been and are continuously a part of such a rich and holy heritage that can make us feel connected in a whole new way. Search out your biblical or Christian mentor and learn all you can from them. Don’t be afraid to do some comparisons as long as it is in reverence.
Look for your day of Pentecost and see how it fits into context with the Church and all of our history. The beginning and establishment of your church is just as important as all of the other bricks that create the structure of The Church. Also, remember that it does not happen all at once. The scripture mentioned above says “…when the day of Pentecost was FULLY come…”
All of our days of Pentecost are coming and the one here that I mentioned for me is just one out of others I have experienced. The only exception being that it was the latest and most currently poignant. However, my belief is that a corporate culmination is in our future… and I look forward to joining you there in one accord.