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, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs-- in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." Acts 2:1-11

Indulge me for a moment in a great fantasy. Can you envision all of the bishops of our communion gathered together in a room at Lambeth Palace, when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a "violent wind" sweeps in - not the usual wind that often is present at a Lambeth conference - and a flash fire erupts in their midst with tongues of flame flickering over each of the bishops' heads… you can hear the Archbishop of Canterbury shout to his colleagues, "hey, those aren't miters. That's real fire!"

And things get further out of hand when all the prelates and primates break out into speaking in tongues! We do not know if any bishop tried to bail out of the room, on the theory that if you can't stand the heat, get out of the sacristy.

Moreever, wonder of wonders, all the bishops- for a change- understand what the others are saying. And what is even more amazing, the whole, worldwide, Anglican communion (if you can believe it), is of one accord in their understanding of the Gospel- the power of God's mighty acts in history.

Don't you think someone would have called 911? When the firemen got matters under control and the police arrived, the liberal bishops would accuse the right wing clergy of starting the fire as a way of purging women, gays and inclusivity from the church.

Of course the conservative bishops and archbishops would quickly respond when the smoke cleared - that the fire really was the wrath of God sent down to consume the apostate, liberal bishops, who were leading unsuspecting millions of Anglicans down the New Age road to hell.

Ah me! If this were not all too much, years later some ecclesiastical wag would say that this fracas was really the birthday of the worldwide church! What a weird situation Pentecost would have been if it had happened in our time!

As it is, thinking back to what happened that day of Pentecost- in the room at Jerusalem- we can well understand why we well modulated, middle of the road, liturgically anal Anglicans came to the obvious conclusion that whereas we would celebrate Pentecost liturgically, we definitely would not be a Pentecostal church!!

We would leave all this high energy, tongue speaking, charismatic, clappy/happy business for others- who definitely were not our type, dear- because among other happenings, one thing about Pentecost is clear, everything was out of control: the wind of the spirit was "violent;" the experience was ecstatic; and new voices brought new understandings.

In my studies in church history, I remember reading the scorn of the Anglican hierarchy concerning John Wesley and his brother in England and, later, Methodism in America.

The trouble with the Wesleys and their new church (when they were thrown out of the Church of England), was obvious -the bishops said- the Wesleys and their followers were- get this one- too "enthusiastic!" Don't you just love it! Well, Pentecost was surely enthusiastic!

Don't kid yourself : measured and mellow Christianity still is the approved norm in first world Anglicanism today. The hard-pressed Anglican churches in the third world are a different matter- they are definitely Pentecostal.

I look back to my wondrous years with the great Episcopalian evangelist, Dr. Samuel Moore Shoemaker, and the great church and campus crusades we were part of in the 50's thru the 70's (sometimes in association with the Billy Graham Crusades and occasionally with the C of E's fine evangelist, Canon Brian Green)- and I think of the number of times we were told, in no short order, that the tent and the sawdust trail had no part in our Episcopal way of life.

Faith Alive conferences, Cursillo, Kyros, youth "happenings," Marriage Encounter, and other venues for spiritual enthusiasm still are suspect in the minds of many in our pews.

Worst yet, any enthusiastic preaching in our communion is judged, and then rejected, as judgmental fundamentalism. I have been criticized on more than one occasion- even in a "with it," San Francisco, Episcopal congregation- when I enthusiastically preached the ultimate attraction, to all people, of the magnetic power of the love of God!

I know that charismatic Christianity often has been twisted into a matrix in which all manner of mischief has taken place.

I know this, and deeply regret it. However, I am not going to allow the negative and excluding theology of others to push me off the field of life in the spirit when, in the same spirit that was manifest at Pentecost, I, too, am preaching the all-inclusive renewing power of God!

We desperately need a constant experience of Pentecost in our lives and churches these days. We need less theological tap dancing that rarely changes lives for the good, and more sharing of power in our God encounters. We need fewer liturgical controls and more opportunity for the wind of the spirit to move freely thru our congregations in our services.

Don't you feel that much of what we do in worship is rote which often does not translate to any life transforming action?

You do not want- I don't want- to leave worship feeling the same as when we started! We need a life together, and individually, that has been transformed and charged by the wonder of the spirit! We want God's strength!

Jesus promised us the power of God's spirit, not the dogmatically constrained, third person of a complicated, dogmatic trinity.

The people in that room almost two thousand years ago in Jerusalem had a common, global, multicultural, life changing, multilingual, charismatic experience in which each person heard, for themselves, in ways each clearly understood, the telling of "God's deeds of power!" . . . and lives were changed!

This experience of the great spirit at Pentecost was not a theological discourse or debate. It was not a workshop or planning session. It did not organize a darn thing, never mind create an institutional, hierarchical, separate, denominational and exclusive Christian church. No position papers were presented, and the event was not based on a committee agenda established at a pre-Pentecost planning session.

Pentecost was a spontaneous, "God-in-charge," free flow of spirit in which the issue was not "who is God," but the feeling of God.

As the years have gone by for me in my service to God for the blessings of life, I find that I, like the first souls at Pentecost, increasingly trust the "saving power of God" to rebuild and redirect those of us of all faiths who open our ears, and eyes, and, especially, our hearts to the power of God. I believe in the great and holy spirit who redeems us from self-centered living and selfish deeds that wrong others, foster domination systems and destroy our island home, and render our lives ultimately meaningless.

Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, followers of Islam, Taoists, Shintoists, Confucians, believers in native religions, and all other people of faith around the planet might not agree on doctrine, and certainly not dogma. However, all are moved by God's deeds of power which speak to each one as individuals, as communities of faith- and to all of us together as a world. It is not for any of us to determine, or limit, who and what the spirit of God touches. Every one and everything has the potential of the sacred!

St. Luke's account of the day of Pentecost in Acts reveals a great anachronism. Specifically, it is in unity that the empowering spirit of God becomes profoundly unique to each individual.

Individuality that stands against unity is flawed and dangerous. Unity that does not honor indiduality is oppresssion and death.

It is in honoring the loving God in the very being, special gifts and understandings of each person and peoples that nations and religions can convene in the unity of the one and holy spirit. It is in the appreciation and expression of differences that unity is formed.

As St. Luke reports to us in Acts, it is in unity of spirit that the power of God become known to each one through the ears of the heart. It is the unity of the spirit that individual, disconnected lives are brought back to their sacred origins and purposes in the common bond of God's creation.

Great and Holy Spirit, please make us all a Pentecostal people!

Amen!