Acts 2:1-11
Psalm 104:25-32
1 Corinthians 12:4-13
John 20:19-23

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am excited about this morning. It’s Pentecost! What a wonderful day! What a wonderful celebration! You know, folks that don’t go to church pay no attention to Pentecost. Most of them have never heard of it; certainly few of them could tell you what it is about. Everybody’s heard of Easter, and everybody knows about Christmas, but Pentecost hasn’t broken into the culture; it’s still just a Christian thing.

But what a wonderful Christian thing it is. What a wonderful day! What a wonderful celebration when we commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit, when we rejoice that after Jesus left us in bodily form, after he ascended into heaven, God did not leave us orphaned; God did not leave us alone; God did not abandon us. What a glorious day it is when we celebrate that we do not worship a dead Savior; we do not worship a "once-upon-a-time" Savior; we do not worship a "way back then" Savior. What a glorious day it is when we rejoice that Christ’s Holy Spirit is alive, and active, and working in the world and, if we allow it, working in our lives.

It’s a wonderful day, a powerful day, so it’s entirely appropriate that we have balloons, and decorations, and liturgical dance, and red all over the place. And I’m sort of glad that the culture hasn’t discovered Pentecost and turned it into a way of selling greeting cards. This is our day, and we will celebrate it our way.

Part of that celebration this morning involves welcoming five new sisters and brothers in Holy Baptism. A glorious event. (You know how much I love Baptism.) I met with the parents and godparents yesterday, and we talked about what Baptism means. One way to view Baptism is as a naming ceremony. In a few minutes these parents and godparents will stand and present their child for Holy Baptism. When they do, they will state the child’s name. This is when the child gets his or her Christian name. Loretta Victoria, Melina Yvonne, Brady Christopher, Ikechukwu Joel, William Addison. They are named here. Named as children of God.

I want you to help me this morning talk about (well, sing about) just a glimpse, just a tiny slice, of what Baptism means and how the Holy Spirit works. Because we will give these children their Christian names as beloved children of the Creator of the Universe, but the world will immediately begin to try to give them other names. Is there anyone who doesn’t remember the names children get on the playground? Hard names. Cruel names. As we get older, we get maybe more sophisticated, maybe more subtle, but we still give names. Names born of insult, and hatred, and fear, and a need to feel superior. The world will give these children names that don’t respect their dignity, that don’t seek the Christ in them, that are born of bad news.

So, let’s send a message to these new brothers and sisters. I’d like us to sing together, "I Will Change Your Name." The words are in the bulletin right under where it says, "Sermon," or you can find it in Songs of Praise (the blue booklet in the pews) on page eleven. Sanya is going to play it through one time on the flute, then we’ll sing it twice:

I Will Change Your Name

 

I will change your name.

You shall no longer be called

Wounded, Outcast, Lonely, or Afraid

 

 

I will change your name.

Your new name shall be

Confidence, Joyfulness, Overcoming One,

Faithfulness, Friend of God, One who seeks My face.

How wonderful if these new Christians can grow up knowing that the Holy Spirit not only knows their Christian name as a child of God, but will also change all the hurtful and abusive names hurting and abused people try to give them. Can you imagine how powerful it is for a child to grow up enveloped in the knowledge that the loving Creator of the Universe values them infinitely, knows their name, and gives them nicknames like, "Confidence, Joyfulness, Overcoming One, Faithfulness, Friend of God, One who seeks God’s Face?"

It is a wonderful thing to celebrate, a powerful message, and I thank you for helping me proclaim it by singing. But it is not a message just to the children we will baptize. Many of us need to hear it. Many of us think, "I wasn’t raised with that message, or not enough of that message. I wish I were, but I wasn’t. And now it’s too late. I’ve taken messages of fear and distrust and judgment and hatred to heart, and some part of me, or all of me, has accepted nicknames of ‘Wounded, Outcast, Lonely, or Afraid.’ And it is too late."

It is not too late. We do not worship a dead Savior; we do not worship a "once-upon-a-time" Savior; we do not worship a "way back then" Savior. Our Savior is alive; the Holy Spirit is active in the world and will be active, transforming, in your life, if only you will allow it.

We sang this song to tell our new brothers and sisters about how God loves them. I’d like us to sing again. Only this time, we’re going to switch the pronouns. So instead of singing, "I will change your name./ You shall no longer be called," we will sing, "You will change my name./ I shall no longer be called. . . ." And we’ll do that through the whole song to remind ourselves about how God loves us.

If you sing not just with your lips, but with your hearts, then you can very much look forward to learning the nickname God has chosen for you:

You Will Change My Name

 

You will change my name.

I shall no longer be called

Wounded, Outcast, Lonely, or Afraid

 

You will change my name.

My new name shall be

Confidence, Joyfulness, Overcoming One,

Faithfulness, Friend of God, One who seeks Your face.

Home