SEASON OF PENTECOST
Christians spend the Season of Pentecost looking at the relationship
of God with His people as they experience His Holy Spirit. It is a time of outreach, and a time of letting the Spirit
flow through each of us to touch God's creation. It is a time of praise, of fellowship, and of spiritual renewal.
Most of the Seasons of the Christian Church Year are organized around
the two major festivals that mark "sacred time", Christmas and Easter. The Christmas Season encompasses the time of preparation
during Advent and the celebration of the Twelve Days of Christmas and Epiphany in early January. The Easter Season
encompasses the time of preparation during the 40 weekdays of Lent and Holy Week, and is linked with Pentecost Sunday 50 days
later. While there are other individual holy days within the church year, these seasons mark the movement of "sacred time" within
the church calendar.
The rest of the year following Epiphany and Pentecost is known as "Ordinary Time."
Rather than meaning "common" or "mundane," this term comes from the word "ordinal," which simply means "counted time" (First Sunday
after Pentecost, etc.), which is probably a better way to think of this time of the year. Counted time after Pentecost always begins
with Trinity Sunday (the first Sunday after Pentecost) and ends with Christ the King Sunday or the Reign of Christ the King (last
Sunday before the beginning of Advent). This period is designated the festival of Pentecost. God the Father's wonderful Christmas
gift of His one and only Son, and Christ's Easter triumph over the power of sin, death, and the devil would be of no benefit
to us if the Holy Spirit did not give us the gift of saving faith. Through the Word and Sacraments, the Holy Spirit gives us
the power to believe and trust in Christ as our Savior. This precious gift of faith in the saving work of our Lord Jesus
Christ is the reason Pentecost is the third "mega-festival" of the church and why we celebrate it with such joy and
thanksgiving.
Because Pentecost is the day that God poured out His Holy Spirit on
Christ's disciples, the Season after Pentecost is centered on sanctification, the work of the Holy Spirit in the day
to day life of the Christian. It focuses on the evangelical mission of the church to the world and its responsibility in
carrying out that mission of proclamation. Pentecost is a time of outreach, praise, spiritual
renewal, and fellowship. This is reflected in the liturgical color for this season: green, the color of life
and growth. Through the gift of faith that comes only from the Holy Spirit, Christians are enabled to trust in Christ
and proclaim Him in their daily lives by service to their neighbors.
The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod says this:
The Sundays after Pentecost have
been given various designations, but one of the most helpful is the phrase the "Time of the Church." This is the time when we
focus on the Spirit's on-going work of bestowing Christ's benefits on his people through Word and Sacrament. The great themes
of these days include justification, sin and grace, the means of grace, love, obedience, endurance, and hope. The emphasis
that builds from Sunday to Sunday is that of growth in God's grace. Click
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Stained glass by David Hetland. On display at The Outreach Center,
Concordia College, Moorhead, MN.
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