“I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” (Acts 2)

On the day of Pentecost, the people of God were accused of being drunk!  They just weren’t acting as expected.  Speaking languages that the foreigners who had gathered in town could understand, eyes wild with joy in the Holy Spirit, lowly Galileans were found speaking boldly to merchants who had come to town from throughout the world!

Our God is a God of the unexpected.  You may have heard the statement “if you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.”  In our world, there are expectations placed upon us by virtue of our age. The idea of old men still dreaming dreams and the young men being wise enough to prophesy flies in the face of those expectations.  There are expectations placed upon us by virtue of our gender, our race, our economic station in life. 

Here at Resurrection Lutheran Church, we celebrate our God of the unexpected.  We celebrate the dreams of the old, the wisdom of the young.  When our pastor was a child, the idea of a female in the pulpit was unheard of!  We celebrate the many cultures represented by our membership, and the music and worship styles of many more. 

How do we do this?  We at Resurrection celebrate because we who are many are gathered by the Holy Spirit to worship, to serve, and to love as one.  The same Spirit that came upon the crowds on the Day of Pentecost comes upon each child of God at his or her Baptism, and remains with the Church whenever we are together.  We can feel it when we walk in the doors of our sanctuary, and we carry it out into the world when we are sent.  

Into a world that expects an eye for an eye, we carry forgiveness.  Into a world that expects “what’s in it for me?” we carry compassion and charity.  Into a world that expects division on class, race, and economic lines, we carry our unity.  Here, the old dream dreams, the young share their wisdom, and the church celebrates the unexpected leadings of the Holy Spirit.      

Come to Resurrection and worship during this season after Pentecost, and you, too, may just experience the unexpected gifts of God!

Blessings,

Pastor LaurieAnn