“When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven, there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind.”

Acts 2:1-2

“Oh, and there we were, all in one place, A generation lost in space.” Don McLean, American Pie

Sometimes, when people come together, magic happens. We know, of course, about Pentecost. And lore has it that Don Mclean’s words here refer to the crowd at Woodstock, a moment that defined a generation.

There have been many generation-defining moments since of course, for me it was Barack Obama’s inauguration. For Monica and I and the tens of thousands of other people on the mall that day it felt like a moment of extreme possibility and potential. When most anything was possible.

I imagine Pentecost was like that. After much striving, many sleepless nights, fear, and trepidation were suddenly replaced with unmitigated joy!

It is easy of course to look back at Obama’s election, or any other seminal moment, with a kind of cynicism that “it was never gonna work”, “America has always been like this.” Certainly, America has not lived up to the promise of that moment, and the church has rarely fully lived into the vision provided by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

But that does not mean we should give up on it.

We should not give up on America “that great unfinished symphony” nor should we give up on the power and potential of the Holy Spirit to work through us, the Church, to live into that Pentecost moment.

It is easy to be jaded. I know. I’ve been very good at it in my life. You know I’ve been watching the Orioles since I was 12 right?

But as the Church we exist in part to support each other in our disbelief until we can come around to putting our faith again in the power and purpose of the Holy Spirit. A better church. A better city. A better world is out there. Just out of reach! Just beyond our grasp. All we can do is to fix our eyes on Jesus and trust that God will continue to lead us to exactly where God desires us to be.

When the disciples let go of their need for control, they made thousands of converts in one day! They spoke hundreds of languages! They turned the world upside down.

What will happen to us if we follow suit? If we let go, let God, and let the spirit guide us the possibilities are endless.