Time to Paint the Town Red!

The phrase “Painting the Town Red” has several different meanings and derivations, but the most common implication is to have a wild party time with lots of alcohol. We get a Biblical description of what “painting the town red” means in the story of the Prodigal Son when he took his inheritance and “went to town.”

I’m sure if the phrase was in use at the time of the first Pentecost, people standing on the sidelines watching the bizarre wild goings on would have said, “Those disciples sure are “painting the town red” instead of sneering, “They are filled with new wine!” Listen closely to the Acts 2:1-21 reading this Sunday – no wonder the bystanders thought the disciples were drunk!

Yes, this Sunday is Pentecost. The great fifty days of Eastertide are concluded with the arrival of the Holy Spirit, who makes an entrance that would put Hollywood to shame. Deafening noise, hurricane force winds, tongues of fire resting on heads without burning, and the ability to speak in other languages with understanding by all. Wow – a film maker’s dream, but what did it mean?

Clearly as Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit is sent – we are not alone. The Trinity is complete, but of all the persons of the Trinity the Holy Spirit remains the hardest to define. Even Jesus was vague about that. In John’s Gospel (3:8) Jesus gives this less than clear description, “The Spirit blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.” I’ll let you work through the Spirit – you have the whole summer to do it.

The real power of Pentecost is realized by reading on a little more in the story - at some point things calm down a bit. Peter stands up and delivers his first sermon. Peter connects the strange events of the morning with the prophecy of the prophet Joel, who wrote that God promised to pour out his Spirit on all flesh giving diverse people the gift of divine power. When the crowd asked Peter what they should do, he urged them to turn their lives around and be baptized in the name of Jesus. With that all their sins were forgiven and they would receive the Holy Spirit.

I don’t know if Peter said anything else, but the response to his sermon was what all of your clergy at Good Shepherd would give their eye teeth for – about 3,000 were added to the church that day!

That’s it! Pentecost is the birthday of the church – a celebration worthy of “painting the town red” – of course at 2230 Walton Way we will just wear red on Sunday and have good manners!