For many Christians, this past Sunday (May 23) was the celebration of Pentecost. That comes 50 days after Easter/resurrection Sunday. Many of us celebrate Pentecost as the birthday of the Christian Church.
This story is found in the book of Acts, chapter 2, in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The Church received what we called the Holy Spirit. For me the Holy Spirit is like love; you cannot explain it, but you know when you have it. I also celebrate Pentecost as a time for new beginnings. In fact, I use my birthday and the Christian Church birthday as a time to evaluate my time here on earth and to try and get some sense of direction of where I hope to go with the rest of my life.
The liturgical color for Pentecost is RED. Beyond Pentecost, it is not used very much in many churches. I use red often. I use it for weddings, funerals and a number of other special occasions. These are all new beginnings. I recently heard someone say that it takes at least three times of doing something before it becomes a habit or ritual. Perhaps the pandemic has pointed out some bad habits that we need to remove from our lives. This may be a good time to start some new ones.
The first thing that I think the apostles in Acts 2:1 had to overcome was that they were physically together, but not emotionally and/or spiritually together. It took them 10 days physically together before they could receive the power that they needed. The text later says that they could understand persons who were not like them when they came together to receive the spiritual power that came from God.
I believe this power comes from loving God and people enough to let a person look into your soul and you caring enough about that person to let him/her look into yours. That means that one has to be open and venerable enough to let a person in. This cannot be done in one sitting. It will take time and some commitment on your part. You can only speak and act for yourself.
About 40 years ago, I was acquainted with a Black man. We were not enemies; well, yes we became enemies. It was like he was a “McCoy” and I was a “Hatfield.” We had jobs that seemed to have put us on different sides of the coin. Circumstances caused us to be in a city down east for three days. We were in different motels. However, somehow we ended up getting together often to argue, sometimes in one of our motel rooms. Before we left, we became friends. He is still one of my best friends. When we looked into each other’s soul, we saw that we had much more in common than we had in differences.
I would urge you, my brother or sister, to reach out to someone who is not like you. The goal is not to convince the other person that you are right, but rather to let the person see who you really are and for you to see the other person. You might have some meals together or coffee times. You may go to their home or invite them to yours. You may go to church or to worship with them. You may need to go where they are rather than just bring that person to your comfort zone.
Now, in the light of the anniversary of the death of George Floyd and with other similar deaths still at the forefront, I want to suggest that we take some of what I have just noted to heart. I do not want you to just find a “nice person that you know” to spend a little time with, that would just make you feel good about yourself. As a “nice person of color,” I get pulled at a lot by “well meaning” whites to do this. I want you to go out of your way to find someone who is not like you or may not even think like you. I want you to be willing to commit to take the time to look into their soul and let that person look into yours.
Do you really want to change the world? This may end up changing you more that those around you. I have done this before. I think I will try it again. I need a new beginning! I need to be changed! I need to do this at least three times to really be changed.
The Rev. Ervin E. Milton is pastor of Union Chapel United Church of Christ, Burlington. He can be contacted at eem5050@aol.com.
