By Deacon. Timothy Siburg
Revised Common Lectionary reflection for the Day of Pentecost, Year A
May 24, 2026
Key Verse: “All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’” – Acts 2:12
What does this mean? (Acts 2:12) Is there a better question when it comes to the faith? It’s what Martin Luther famously asked to equip and empower the laity. This question shows up right in the middle of the Pentecost story. God’s people are “amazed and perplexed.” They have witnessed the coming of the Holy Spirit. Though they aren’t quite sure what they have experienced and what it all might mean.
Pentecost is such a fun and important day. It’s a day when we remember the birth of the church. It’s a day we hear what God will do and what God has done. It’s a day when we take time to not only celebrate the Holy Spirit, but also to imagine, listen, and wonder what the Spirit might be inviting next. What might God’s Spirit invite us into as God’s beloved people today?
The Spirit’s presence is a gift. As Jesus sends out the disciples, he breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). The Spirit is necessary for the disciples to do the work of ministry to which they have been called: To forgive. To bless. To serve. To meet the needs of their neighbors. To share the Good News of God’s kingdom and mission near and far. Through the Spirit’s ongoing presence, blessing and commissioning is also given to each and every Child of God.
The story of Pentecost from Acts is a bit more dramatic. We hear of fire, flaming tongues, and violent winds. The wind, in particular, is a metaphor that works where I serve in Nebraska, because without any mountains or large forests there isn’t anything to stop or contain the wind. That’s the case with the Holy Spirit, too. At the Pentecost, the disciples “were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2:4). The arrival of the Spirit is always a gift and manifestation of God’s ongoing presence with and for the world.
What does this lead to? In a word, everything! Just as the Holy Spirit opened the ears and tongues of the disciples to hear in languages not their own, the Spirit can empower us to communicate Christian truths, dreams, ideas and possibilities. The Spirit can reveal to us the truth of Joel’s prophecy, quoted by Peter, that ultimately, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).
That saving work is God’s work, and God’s alone. But through the Spirit we all have a role to play. Paul explains, “there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of services but the same Lord, and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). God, through the Spirit, entrusts us with everything that we have and all that we are, for the common good. For the good of our communities and neighborhoods. For the good of our neighbors near and far. For the good of all creation. In these days the Spirit is inviting us to remember the “common good.” The Spirit is not focused on just me or you. It’s not just focused on someone’s self-interest or hope to be the richest or the best. No. The Spirit has come for one and for all.
That message runs counter to the ways of the world today. The ways that society might over emphasize an individual’s needs and wants. Followers of Jesus are called to live another way. God calls us into relationship with our neighbors. The Holy Spirit equips us with gifts for relationship with each other as part of the one body and one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13), and these gifts are activated by the Spirit as the Spirit chooses (1 Corinthians 12:11).
The Holy Spirit is active in the world today. Working for the common good. Enlightening and enlivening all of creation to join in the work of abundance and sharing God’s love. This is true stewardship and discipleship.
As those witnesses on that famous Pentecost Day asked, “What does this mean?” We might be wise to answer the question through the stories of faith we share, through the sharing of how we see God at work, and through the ways we recognize the Spirit’s movement, even today. The Spirit calls and invites us to join in. To work for the sake of the common good. To use what God entrusts to help make the world and our communities a little bit better and brighter. To proclaim that God’s love is real, and God’s presence and promise is true.
In Worship
If there were ever a Sunday to move about, Pentecost is it! Through rhythm and song (like the spiritual “Everytime I Feel the Spirit”), we are invited to move with the Spirit. For some congregations this may be second nature. For others, who by tradition or reputation might be a little stoic or stodgier, this could be the opportunity to invite a little bit of a new experience. To make the movement of the wind tangible as a sign of the Spirit’s presence, perhaps some mobiles or paper doves might be created and used and hung from the walls or ceiling of the worship space. Perhaps streamers might be assembled onto sticks or poles, and held high during the songs in worship as someone walks with them around the worship space.
Perhaps the lessons for the day might be read in different languages of those present in the assembly, like the Acts story describes of the many languages spoken that day. At the very least, the congregation might be invited to wear the color red as a sign of the Spirit’s ongoing presence. Most importantly, Pentecost provides the opportunity in worship to do something fun and perhaps a little different as a sign of God’s ongoing creative and redeeming work in the world through the Spirit. Be creative and try something new.
With Children and Youth
Let the children lead. If using streamers, (or as some children I know have called them “big cat toys”), let the children be the ones who get to play with the streamers in worship. Or maybe to represent the movement of the Spirit and the wind, you might invite the younger saints to use a bubble machine and/or blow some bubbles and see where they might blow about and lead? This activity could be part of a children’s message.
Alternatively, as the Spirit helps the faithful dream new dreams, you might ask the younger saints about their dreams and imaginings. Of course, it’s a risk to ask such an open-ended question. But maybe, just maybe, God might be at work through the wonder and imagination of a child, just as God was at work on that famous Pentecost where God’s people were equipped, empowered, and sent out for the sake of the world.
Previously published reflections for Pentecost, Year A
2023 – With the gift of the Spirit, nothing will be the same
2020 – 21st Century Pentecost?
2017 – Love and care spoken here
2014 – Seeing red: Word, wind, and fire
2011 – Go, church!
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