Acts 2:1-21 – Day of Pentecost. Rushing wind. Tongues of flame. Multi-lingual, multicultural event. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved
or   Ezekiel 37:1-14 – Valley of the Dry Bones. I will put my spirit in you and you shall live. You shall know I am the Lord when I open your graves…

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b Send forth your Spirit and renew the face of the earth. (Ps. 104:31)

Romans 8:22-27 – Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness… intercedes with sighs too deep for words.

or Acts 2:1-21 – Day of Pentecost. Rushing wind. Tongues of flame. Multi-lingual, multicultural event. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 – When the Advocate comes, he will bear witness to me… lead you into all truth.

In June we’ll have a guest blogger and podcaster while I’m on vacation. Pastor Don Carlson is Assistant to the Bishop here in the Gulf Coast Synod. He is an excellent preacher and experienced pastor. You will enjoy his reflections.

Many thanks to Mark Mummert for help with this post. This week I had numerous comments about the variety of music at synod assembly. ELW has tremendous variety, and thanks to a new paper technology has more hymns than any previous hymnal. When choosing hymns for worship, start with ELW. But, you may not want to stop there. We have access to a huge repertoire of material today. These days you can download a hymn from the internet, pay for copyright permission and sing it on Sunday. It’s great to sing the old standards, but we need not be limited to them. Fresh music is being written daily. Some of it is outstanding. It breathes life into the liturgy, if you choose carefully and don’t allow sloppy theology in.

Pentecost has a constellation of hymnody.

Here are some of the standards:

* Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord (ELW 395)

* Spirit of God Descend Upon My Heart (ELW 800)

* Come Gracious Spirit Heavenly Dove (ELW 404)

* Holy Spirit Truth Divine (ELW 398)

Consider some newer hymns in ELW:

Veni Sancte Spiritus: We sang this ostinato chant from Taizé at assembly during “Dwelling in the Word”:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3YPg0KTGlY&feature=youtube_gdata_player  The refrain can be found in ELW 406. The verses can be found in the ELW accompaniment version. You can also order a bunch of beautiful Taizé music at www.augsburgfortress.com. Get Music For Taize, volume 1 (www.giamusic.com). There is also a booklet with instrumental parts available.

Spirit of Gentleness: this popular, simple folk renewal song is in ELW 396.

Gracious Spirit, Heed Our Pleeding: Why not try a least one global song? This Tanzanian song has a beautiful, sinple refrain (ELW 401) that begs to be sung in parts. Have your choir look it over beforehand.

O Living Breath of God (ELW 407): Now here is a hymn that shows the breath of the Spirit. This hymn started out as a Swedish folk tune sung by men’s choruses yearning for good fertility in the springtime of the year, and later became a beloved tune in Latin America.. It will stick in your congregation’s ears all week long.

 

The Spirit Intercedes for Us (ELW 180): Consider using this refrain as the assembly response to the Prayers of Intercession. From the Lutheran music group, Dakota Road, this refrain is memorable and even has a built in “sigh” with the words “Oh, oh, oh.”

Then consider some outside of ELW.

This song by David Haas (Roman Catholic composer who also wrote “Blest Are They” and “We Are Called”) is a cry for the Spirit with hints of Psalm 104, appointed for Pentecost. Here it is being sung at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXHW1zoexZA&feature=youtube_gdata_player 

You can order the sheet music here for $1.60:  http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Send-Us-Your-Spirit/4592558# or find it in one of the Gather volumes.

Send Us Your Spirit

Refrain: Come Lord Jesus. Send us your Spirit. Renew the face of the earth.

1. Come to us, Spirit of God. Breathe in us now. We sing together.
Spirit of hope and of light, fill our lives.
Come to us, Spirit of God.

2. Fill us with the fire of love. Burn in us now. Bring us together.
Come to us; dwell in us. Change our lives, oh Lord. Come to us, Spirit of God.

3. Send us the wings of new birth.
Fill all the earth with the love you have taught us.
Let all creation now be shaken with love. Come to us, Spirit of God.

On the folk side of things, I’m still amazed how many people (especially baby boomers) remember and love “We Are One in the Spirit,” which lifts up unity as the work of the Holy Spirit. Some congregations do Handt Hanson’s “Wind of the Spirit” from Worship and Praise.” “Blow, Spirit, Blow” has a catchy refrain that sticks with people. With minor stanzas, the major key, circle of fifths chorus has a lifting feel to it. Another popular hymn is  “Holy Spirit Rain Down.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-SI_HRWooA&feature=youtube_gdata_player 

Pentecost brings a rich tapestry of themes to it. Unity. Diversity. Comforter. Spirit of truth. It’s a multilingual, multicultural, multi-ethnic event, for the spread of the gospel.

In Acts 1:8, the theme verse for Acts, Jesus tells the disciples that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit falls on them, and they will be witnesses in outwardly emanating circles of city, region and world. The Spirit fills us with hope and joy so that our lives will be a witness to the power of faith, a witness to Jesus himself. The Spirit gives us even more according to Paul: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal. 5:22). We need this. The Spirit reaches down deep inside us and prays within us when we cannot find the words (Rom. 8:26).

The neglected third person of the Trinity is absolutely indispensable for the life of the community of Christ. It may need more than one Sunday. I once did a summer series on the Fruits of the Spirit. Nine grueling weeks, and yet it sparked conversation and reflection on the character of the Christian community, and the need for the Spirit to get there.

May your celebration of Pentecost in Word and Sacrament, prayer and song, fill you with joy and love and hope, that you might be empowered to witness to what God is doing in the world.