It’s an old story.  A man was visiting a town that he was planning on moving to.  Stopping into a local café he asked a waitress: “What are the folks like around here?”

    “What were they like in the town you’re moving from?” She asked.

    “Great,” he said.  “I’m really going to miss them.”      

    “We’ve got great folks here too,” she said.

    I’m sure you know how the rest of that story goes.  If he’d have said the people in the town he was moving from had been terrible the wise waitress would have told him that this new town was going to be full of terrible people too.  It’s probably pretty obvious why I’m remembering that story right now.  Pastors are people too, you know!

    So, the next question is - What do you expect when you come to church?  Do you expect to feel the love of God?  Do you expect, like John Wesley, to feel your heart strangely warmed?  Do you expect to have your life transformed?   Are you looking for a miracle?  The fact is - we tend to get just about what we expect to get, whether it be a great neighbor, a wonderful pastor or a spirit-filled church.

             Last week I talked about how change is good because it makes us stronger.  In our Gospel lesson we hear Jesus say pretty much the same thing.  He’s about to die, and he knows that his absence is going to be unsettling at first, but he assures them that ultimately it’s a good thing that he is going away because God is always working in fresh, new and unexpected ways.  He tells them that change has a way of deepening our experience of the Holy Spirit and reminding us of the eternal love of God.  Then, when Jesus departs from the disciples, he tells them to return to Jerusalem and to wait until they have been “clothed with power from on high.” [Luke 24:49]

             This morning we’re celebrating Pentecost, the birthday of the church, which is the fulfillment of that promise.  In Acts 2 we read that the disciples are gathered, very possibly in the same upper room where they had last broken bread with Jesus.  It may even be the same space where Thomas and the others had been huddled in fear when the resurrected Christ had appeared among them.  Only this time it’s Pentecost, 50 days after Easter, and they’re gathered not in fear, but in expectation, waiting and wondering what this experience of being “clothed with power from on high” is going to be like. 

             Now, here’s the point - the fact that they were expecting something to happen is important.  Attitude influences, some would even say determines perception. Miracles are happening all around us, but unless we expect to see them, we may not recognize them.  Every Sunday, before the scriptures are read, we pray for illumination, saying, “Lord, open our hearts by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the scriptures are read we may hear with joy what you say to us today.”  I love those words.  It makes all the difference in the world when we approach worship with an attitude of prayerful expectation, waiting with joy for what God is going to say to us.  That was the attitude of Pentecost.  It ought to be our attitude every time we gather.

             So, they were gathered in prayerful expectation and, suddenly, it happened:  “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

             Wind and fire are ancient symbols for the presence of God.  A crowd gathered outside the house, drawn by all the commotion, and some began joking saying, “They’ve drunk too much wine.” They didn’t realize that they were simply adding richness to the metaphor, because wine is also an ancient symbol of the Spirit.  The disciples were spiritually intoxicated on the New Birthday Wine of the Holy Spirit.  But the effect is exactly the opposite of alcoholic intoxication.  Their speech became crystal clear and articulate.  They made perfect sense, and even the skeptical crowd was amazed that they could understand everything that was being said, even those who spoke in foreign tongues.  That’s because the real miracle of Pentecost is a miracle of spiritual communication.  That’s what the birthday of the church is about.  When we articulate new life through Christ, when we declare the Good News and people’s hearts and minds and lives are transformed, that’s when the church is being born and the Body of Christ is taking on flesh.

             Every single time we worship we ought to come hoping and praying for a personal experience of Pentecost.  The essence of the Pentecost experience is twofold: (1) the expectation that something miraculous can happen right here and right now, and (2) the spiritual communication that draws people together in the unity of the Spirit. 

    But, a word of caution - the Holy Spirit blows where it wills, and it doesn’t always meet our preconceived expectations.  A cartoon in the New Yorker shows two cows standing in a pasture.  A truck drives by with a sign on its side that reads, “Our milk is pasteurized, homogenized, enriched, with Vitamin D added.”  One cow turns to the other and says, “It sort of makes you feel inadequate, doesn’t it?”

             If we confuse our natural human desires and expectations with the essence of what God seeks to share with us, we may find ourselves disappointed and feeling a bit inadequate.  But if we honestly expect to see the Body of Christ, the Gospel of Christ’s love being communicated through the ministry of this church, then we can also expect to experience the Holy Spirit. 

Can you feel the love?  God is here.  Has your heart been warmed?  Has your life been transformed?  Are you looking for a miracle?  God is here.  This morning we’re celebrating the birthday of the church, but it’s not a past-tense birthday.  God isn’t done with us yet.  We are still being birthed, and every day is a gift of the Holy Spirit.  We gather this Pentecost morning to thank God for breathing new life into us – this day, and every day.  Thanks be to God. Amen.