A Creative Pentecost Service

The service below is intended primarily for churches that emphasize informal worship. Although it lacks the structure of more familiar liturgies, it presents clearly th traditional themes of Pentecost worship.

Order of Worship Processional: "For Your Gift of God the Spirit" (Clarkson) Leader: As we gather for worship this Pentecost Sunday, we want to place ourselves before God, to be birthed anew with the breath of God's benevolent life through his Holy Spirit. We want to be led to Pentecost, but wish to do so without preempting the history of the Spirit's work in Israel. Today we worship God the Holy Spirit by beginning at the beginning, with the hovering, birthing Spirit of creation. First Reader: (dramatic reading of Genesis 1:1–31a, followed by silent pause, then:) Our loving God, we are awed by creation, by your ordered explosion of artistry. People: We bless you, Creator God, for your gift of love and delight. All: "Gloria, Gloria" (Taizé) Second Reader: And God saw that it was very good. For a time, perfect. But following upon the disobedience of Adam, during the generations of Noah: "The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart" (reads Gen. 6:5–6, followed by a silent pause). Leader: Lord, have mercy upon us. People: O Lord, hear our prayer, and rescue us. (silent pause) Homiletic Reflection: God grieved, and God judged sin. But even so, over the course of Israel's history, God poured out his Holy Spirit upon chosen leaders and messengers, in order to continue God's salvation mission toward his creation. Listen to a sampling of the Spirit's ministry in Israel. Pharaoh, the leader of the Egyptians, asked regarding Joseph, "Can we find anyone else like this—in whom is the Spirit of God?" An outsider, a man of power and position, recognized God's discernment in Joseph, who was at the time a prisoner of Pharaoh's in Egypt. Yahweh filled Bezalel, an artist, "with divine spirit, with ability, intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft, to devise artistic designs." Moses then confirmed, very specifically, the particular kind of anointing on Bezalel, whose mission was to function as a Spirit-anointed artist in the temple. The Spirit's presence in Joseph led him to work for good, both for Pharaoh and for his fellow Israelites; and the Spirit in Bezalel directed Bezalel to produce works of beauty and glory to God. In contrast to this is the mysterious work of the Spirit recorded in the book of the Judges. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson, each of whom, though a judge in Israel, is of questionable character. Jephthah sacrificed his only child, a young woman, as a burnt offering to Yahweh, and Samson died in disgrace. Mystery and grace continue in the period of the kings and the restoration. The "spirit of the Lord" came mightily upon David, the shepherd, poet and king, whose story is rich with the rise and fall of character, as seen both in himself and in others. The rise of the Spirit in David contrasts the decline and departure of the Spirit in Saul. In God's grace-filled irony, God's Spirit in David then comforts the tormented and tragic Saul. Years later, the prophet Nehemiah reminds Israel that God warned Israel by his good Spirit through the prophets, but Israel would not listen. The Spirit instructs, but humans are called to respond. Today we are called to listen, and today we are called to respond to our particular heritage of God's Spirit in this new covenant. Third Reader: (reads Acts 2:1–13) Our loving God, we offer our gratitude for your benevolence. People: Renew our hearts, that we may respond with due amazement. Hymn: "Wind Who Makes All Winds that Blow" (Troeger) Leader: What does Pentecost mean for us, but that we allow God to lead us beyond the perimeter of our limited assumptions and presumptions and into God's vision for our life in faith. How does this happen? Fourth Reader: (reads John 3:1–10) Leader: Many of us here this morning have already entered the kingdom of God, and have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. But perhaps we are not too old in faith to extend Nicodemus' question to ask, "Even at this stage can I participate in new birth: can I choose to submit myself to the unpredictable movement of the Spirit within and experience new life and growth?" Let us offer ourselves in prayer to the Lord. Leader: Our gracious God, we thank you for your Holy Spirit, messenger of hope, judgment and grace. People: We bless you, Lord, for endowing us with your Holy Spirit. Leader: Our merciful God, we thank you for your Spirit's messages to the prophets, to John the Baptist, and to Jesus, to reveal to us our sin and our need for forgiveness. Have mercy on us, we pray, and pierce our limited self-contained worlds. All: "Confitemeni Domino" (Taizé); Psalm 51, followed by silent response, then "Spirit of the Living God, Fall Fresh on Me." INSTITUTION AND CELEBRATION OF EUCHARIST Reader: (Romans 8:12–17) Leader: The Holy Spirit has come upon us, and the Holy Spirit continues to come, enlightening and enlivening us in our journey after Christ. Reader: (John 14:15–19) Leader: The Holy Spirit came to us, because Jesus left us in order to return to the Father. Reflection of the gift of the Spirit is inseparable from reflection upon Jesus' gift of himself to us. Reader: (John 14:25–27; 16:7, 12–15) Leader: We desire to follow Jesus, and we desire to allow the Spirit to lead us after him, but, on our own, we stumble on the cross that comes between the two. Jesus does not ask of us greater courage than he asked of his disciples, to whom he gave this meal in remembrance of himself. Let us quietly and courageously confess our desires and our fears to the Father, asking that we might be freed to gratefully allow the Spirit to bear new life within us. For Christ's sake. (silent pause) Prayer: Our loving Father, God of creation, God of the ages, God of our Lord Jesus Christ. We confess to you that we are companions with your disciples in their confusion and fear. That we are oft-times caught between our desire to follow you and our desire to remain with that which is known and recognizable. We pray you would pour your Holy Spirit upon this bread and wine; consecrate it, that we might be nourished with truth, courage, and hope in our journey with Jesus to the Father. COMMUNION Hymns: "Spirit, Working in Creation" (Iona); "No One Will Ever be the Same" (Iona) (can be sung during Communion) Declaration of Faith and Hope: "God's Grandeur" (poem by Gerald Manley Hopkins) Benediction: May God nurture his gift within you as God likewise liberates you from your fears. Go in the peace and protection of God's Spirit. Recessional Hymn: "Come, Holy Spirit" (Petersen) Commentary Preamble. This is a celebrative occasion, in which we offer our gratitude for the participation by God's Spirit in creation life, the presence of God's Spirit throughout the course of our salvation history, and for the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Pentecost is the final aspect of the Easter event, following ten days after the Ascension of Jesus into heaven. Like each of the great events of the church year, the focus in celebrating Pentecost is not to relive a historical event, but to yield ourselves to God and to be drawn deeper into the graces that God has already bestowed on us. The Holy Spirit has already been poured out on the church, but the prayer of our human spirit is always "purify me and fill me yet more." Worship Space. Whatever is present in the worship center should convey the fullness, or permeating presence, of God's Spirit; the longevity of the Spirit's presence in creation life and salvation history; as well as the independence of the Spirit, who moves where, how, and when the Spirit wills. Symbols of wind, fire, water, oil, as well as the motif of birth, are all appropriately suggestive. Banners would be particularly meaningful if their design connoted activity rather than passivity. In the New Testament, Jesus says, "The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." This non-predictable movement, this lack of functional uniformity, could be appropriately incorporated into an asymmetrically designed worship space. The pulpit, baptismal font, Communion table/altar, lectern, etc., could be arranged in a different manner. This service is especially suitable to liturgical dance, so the arrangement could be done with the needs of the dancer(s) or dramatic celebrants in mind. Entrance. In order to enlarge the congregation's expectations regarding the celebration of Pentecost, choose a processional hymn that acknowledges the activity of the Holy Spirit over the whole course of salvation history. This will also prepare people for the broader focus of the liturgy. Word. The activity of the Holy Spirit as recorded in the Pentecost narrative in Acts is highly dramatic. This service seeks to remind us that our human sphere began in an equally dramatic and momentous fashion. Suitable to this drama would be a "Gloria" from, for example, one of Mozart's masses. The richness of the Genesis reading lends itself to such a response. The Creation/Fall juxtaposition leads the congregation immediately into the tension of our salvation story, through which we must wait and listen, and to which we are called to respond. The homiletic reflection could consist of any number of samples from the Old Testament narratives and prophets; almost any combination will prove itself consistent with Jesus' teaching about the unpredictable nature of the Spirit. The instructive portions of Scripture that are used in this service could alternatively be chosen in order to focus on Jesus' own calling, anointing, temptation, and ministry in the Holy Spirit, or they could be chosen from highlights of the ministry of the Spirit in, say, Paul or Peter's life. An important element in the choice is that the Scripture leads the congregation to confession; to confess both where desire is lacking and where desire is blossoming into longing. Psalm 51 is a suitable responsorial Psalm for this service since it has many references to our human spirit. And, of course, it is our human spirit which must respond to God's spirit. "Spirit of the Living God" can be sung with accompanying prayer gestures, or another similar song of beseeeching could be chosen. Eucharist/Communion. We need God's holy table to nourish both God's and our desires to grow. At the Table we can offer up our fears or hesitations and, in faith, receive Christ's help through the bread and wine. During the receiving of Communion, the congregation could sing songs of hope and declaration of the Spirit's redeeming presence in this our fallen world. Dismissal. The poem "God's Grandeur" may not be appropriate for all congregations, but it is a magnificent work that powerfully draws the senses to perceive the reality of fallen Creation, then steadily leads the hearer to a majestic conclusion, which is possible because of the Spirit's presence over this, our "bent world." The benediction could be altered depending on the congregation, Scriptures, and focus of the preceding service. The recessional hymn/song should lead the people out in celebration of the Spirit that lives in and among us.