Tongues of Fire

On May 27, one of our long-time Beautiful Savior family members, Irene Joustra, will celebrate her 100th birthday. The other day I asked her what has been the biggest change she has seen in her 100 years. After contemplating for a while, she just simply said, "That I'm here." Not only was she talking about the apartment she is living in as opposed to the house she was in for so many years, but also the fact that the Lord has blessed her with excellent health, especially considering that was not the case when she was a young girl with tuberculosis.

This weekend, we will be celebrating another important birthday -- that of the Christian Church. While many will talk about this being Memorial Day weekend (and indeed it is good to remember and give thanks for all who lost their lives in service to our country so that we might enjoy the freedoms we have), for us Christians, the events that took place 50 days after Easter on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came in a powerful way as Jesus had promised would happen and over 3,000 were baptized is a time to celebrate the birth of the Church that has grown throughout the world.

While the signs of the sound of a rushing wind, what looked like tongues of fire resting on the heads of the apostles, and the ability for them to speak in different languages so all could hear the Good News in their native tongue were spectacular signs that the Holy Spirit was indeed now coming in a powerful way, the life-changing events were the Baptisms. Peter declared that through that gift sins would be forgiven and the gift of the Holy Spirit would be given. Not everyone would then be able to speak in another language or have a tongue of fire over their head, but they would now be "in Christ." His Spirit would be dwelling within them, connecting them to Him in a wondrous way so they could not only know about Jesus but truly be transformed and be alive in Him, clothed in His righteousness.

God the Holy Spirit continues to change lives just as He did on that first Pentecost through the sharing of the Word of God and Holy Baptism -- lives that bear the fruit of the Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

As the ancient prayer says: "Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in us the fire of Your love."