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Across the Pastor’s Desk by Joshua Enderson

We didn’t have much of a winter this year, but it still felt like spring came upon us suddenly. And now summer is knocking on the door.

One day it was brown and leafless outside, and suddenly it was green everywhere. There seemed to just be a few winter birds in the trees only to be joined by thousands overnight. The silence of winter was suddenly replaced by the sounds of springtime preparations from people cleaning up trees and yards.

Many things in life can change like this — suddenly overnight, rapidly. Sometimes these changes are negative things, such as that call from the doctor or a sudden loss of a loved one. Sometimes they are positive changes, like the news of a new birth.

On Sunday, May 19, the church celebrates Pentecost, another sudden change of seasons in our church year. For churches who celebrate the Easter season, we have been celebrating Easter for 50 days. As much as we enjoy celebrating the 50 days of Easter, we tend to get a little forgetful of Easter Sunday by the time weeks six and seven roll around.

However, into our forgetfulness the Spirit breaks in. The holy winds of Pentecost blow in and remind us of how God can work in our lives. Sometimes things move slowly, and sometimes the Spirit blows in like a mighty wind. In the Biblical story that grounds our Pentecost celebrations, the disciples were pushed from their locked room to proclaiming God’s love and grace from the windows because of the Spirit’s sudden arrival.

Pentecost reminds us that God’s Spirit is always on the move, and he’s always up to something. You never know where he might show up or whom he might land on. Maybe me? Maybe you? Maybe someone you least expect?

The Spirit can’t be locked in a box just for us. He is for all people, because God’s message of love and grace is for all people. It reminds us that God’s Spirit is always showing up in our lives.

Like the sudden arrival of spring after winter gloom, God’s Spirit of hope breaks into our lives when we most need it. That Spirit of God enters our lives and reminds us that we are not alone, and that God has a future in store for us. He reminds us that God’s future is one of hope and love for all of us. Come, Holy Spirit.

Joshua Enderson is a pastor at Hayward and Trondhjem Lutheran churches.