Hi everyone,
Welcome to worship for this Pentecost Sunday, landing on June 8, 2025!
The bulletin for this service can be found here. It can be used to follow along with the words and order of worship as well as the full sermon. Alternatively, the words will also appear on your screen and the sermon is included on this page below the video.
For a fuller online worship experience, you are welcome to have a candle or two in your space, lit at the beginning of the service and extinguished near the end after the sending hymn, when the altar candles are extinguished. You are also welcome to participate in communion if you are comfortable, by having something small to eat and drink prepared for the appropriate time in the service. Further instruction will be given then.
May the Spirit of God’s love and grace lead you and guide you, this day and always!
Holy God, may your wisdom be for us a pillar of fire that leads along your paths of righteousness and grace. By the power of your Spirit, fill our hearts with your love and illumine your will for our lives, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Anyone here play poker? At the risk of sounded cliché, I used to play quite a bit, like way before it became cool. But then poker really blew up in the early 2000s, when the NHL went on strike and all these people found themselves watching the World Poker Tour reruns on TV because there apparently was nothing else worth watching. Then suddenly I wasn’t that good at the game anymore, in comparison at least, because basically everyone and literally their moms (like actually my mom learned how to play during this time), like just everyone caught onto the craze and was out buying their own sets of chips and felt table tops and setting up home games and everything. So no longer was I that cool guy that was pretty good at poker. I was now that cool guy that was just mid at poker.
Again, I used to play from before it was all that popular, and what got me into this game was this movie from the 90s called “Rounders”. If you haven’t seen it, it’s basically about this guy played by the very talented Matt Damon who is really good at poker. I know, that might sound as boring as painting road lines, but the character goes through all these difficulties because of how good he is and how others, namely his romantic partner, couldn’t accept the game as more than just irresponsible and wasteful gambling. So the movie goes deep in explaining how poker isn’t just a game of chance, but involves a great deal of skill and smarts. I mean sure, anyone can learn the rules to play and have some basic knowledge in calculating odds and chances, which admittedly is a part of the game. But ask any poker player, any real poker player, and they’ll say that the cards don’t matter as much as the ability to read your opponents’ faces, assess their emotions, and pick up on their “tells” that will give you enough information about what cards they might be holding in order for you to win the game. Yeah, there is an amount of chance involved, but that amount is almost eliminated if you’re able to read your opponent well enough.
And this is what really got me into the game. Like it isn’t so much about getting good at how to play the cards as much as it was about getting good at playing the player. It’s about understanding the psychology of those sitting around the table with you. It’s about recognising the tells and signs that are thrown out and then adjusting your strategy accordingly.
I know, it’s still just a game. But reading the tells that people give off isn’t limited to just winning card games, but it is useful and I’d even say used in all areas of life. It is a part of living with others, our interaction with anyone we may or may not have a relationship with, just existing with people who aren’t ourselves. Like imagine participating in a job interview of some kind, whether you’re interviewing or being interviewed, both parties would have to be able to read between the so-called lines to determine whether this might be a good fit. Or if you’re in a relationship someone for any length of time, you use the signs they display or you give off signs to better understand each other’s needs and wants in order to strengthen your bond and connection. Or if you’re driving, you actually have to rely on the tells of the other drivers to anticipate what they’re about to do, and also give appropriate tells yourself such as turn signals and brake lights so you could avoid colliding into others and being collided into.
So we instinctively read these tells that tell us what cards others might be holding, what feelings they might be having, or maybe what their intentions are for the future, and we adapt and act accordingly. But, as we all know from experience, those instincts aren’t always 100%. Just like in poker, we can read someone completely wrong and make the absolutely wrong play. Throughout life, we need to be very intentional and selective of what tells to base our decisions and assessments on, otherwise we could be left very hurt, broken, and totally disillusioned. Mistakes could be made, collisions may be had, and relationships might fail. Our assumptions might blind us, feathers could be ruffled, and we might be left with yolk on our faces. Sometimes we might even wrongly assume someone who is full of the Holy Spirit as just drunk at 9:00 in the morning.
While that last one might be a lot less likely since these days being drunk at 9am isn’t all that uncommon, but the poor reading of what was going on and assuming something completely false that we get in the first reading out of Acts for this Pentecost Sunday is exactly what I’m talking about. The people that were witnessing this manifestation of the Spirit weren’t used to what they were seeing, they didn’t know how to accurately assess the situation, they didn’t recognise the tells that would be given by someone who has been anointed by God through the Holy Spirit.
And I guess we can’t blame them, I mean it was a pretty new phenomenon. They wouldn’t have known the clues that were given, the promises that were made, or the signs that were prophesied. This would have likely been the first time that they saw anything like what they saw, so they just would naturally assume that the disciples were more inebriated rather than Spirit-filled.
And so on this Pentecost Sunday, that is the question that I have for us. Would we recognise the works of the Spirit, or do we just assume that all actions that we aren’t used to or don’t understand are caused by the intoxication from a different kind of substance? Can we tell from the tells? What criteria do we use? What are the sure signs of the Spirit with us, empowering us, and leading us into community, relationship, and action?
Of course, it’d be easier if we had some very specific instruction on the matter, you know, like what Philip asks for in today’s gospel lesson. It would be easier if we’re just shown what God’s face looks like. It would be easier to be given clear examples of God present in our lives. Because once we see it, then we can undeniably recognise it in the world, in others, and even in ourselves.
But Jesus’ response to us would be the same as it was to Philip and the other disciples. To see God is to know Jesus. To know Jesus is to follow his teachings. To follow his teachings is to love him.
And that is the number one Fruit of the Spirit, isn’t it? These fruit as listed in Galatians chapter 5 are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. These are the tells of one who is full of the Spirit. These are the markers of a life that has been changed by Jesus. This is who God forms, reforms, and informs us to be.
Notice nowhere in that list is there power, strength, or might. There is no mention of self-righteousness, piety, or judgementalism. The Fruit of the Spirit doesn’t include selfishness, intimidation, and vindictiveness. But all the fruit come from a place of love. Love for God, love for the other, love for ourselves. That is the natural fruit that we display when we are filled with the Spirit. This is how we recognise the Spirit in us and all people: through the acts of grace, mercy, and charity. These are the tells that tell us that we are empowered by the Spirit: displays of welcome for the stranger, forgiveness for the neighbour, and love for all people.
But again, our Spirit-radar won’t be 100% as people can be pretty good actors. But I think it’s a safe place for us to be in when we act out of love and recognise and lift up love in our lives and in the lives of others. Jesus warns us that there will be people who will come claiming to be like him or even be him, but the litmus test will always be love… selfless, gracious, and humble love. This is the sign of God’s people. This is the mark of those who have been changed and renewed by Christ. This is the tell of the Spirit, working in us and through us, guiding us and leading us on paths of peace, righteousness, and empowering us in our role in this one body of Christ.
On this Pentecost Sunday and the season after that is to come, may we be open to the fruit-producing workings of the Spirit in our lives, that we might recognise and be encouraged by the tells in others and ourselves of community, right relationship, and love. Thanks be to God. Amen.