24 May 2026 – Pentecost

Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13; John 7:37-39

The Very Rev’d Bertrand Oliver, Dean and Rector

I was privileged this past week to attend a conference entitled Shared Way, Shared Witness, which brought together over 60 delegates from the Anglican and United Churches of Canada to consider the “Collaborative Church.” The questions we faced were vital. In some parts of the Church, active membership is dwindling, and the future looks uncertain. Yet, even in places that are thriving, like our Cathedral, we must ask if our approaches to the ministry of the people of God need renewal.

Perhaps the structures and governance expectations that grew since Emperor Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire are now outdated, too onerous, or too costly given the pressures facing our communities. We reflected with theologian Kayko Driedger Hesslein on the Church “Sharing the Way with the Stranger-Christ” and “Sharing the Witness as the Stranger Church.” Our place in society has shifted; to many, we are strangers. Yet Christ, our center, knows us intimately while remaining a stranger to us. How do we ensure our relationships are ones of mutuality?

We heard powerful examples of “Mutual Ministry”—communities in Northern Michigan and across Canada working out what it means to be a ministering congregation rather than one merely gathered around a minister. We reflected on First Nations ways of discernment through deep listening. We were challenged, enthused, and reminded that the power to discern God’s presence lies in the gifts found within the community of those who follow Christ.

In our Gospel reading today, Jesus speaks of rivers of living water flowing from the believer’s heart. This happens when our gifts are touched by the Holy Spirit and offered to the community. This is where the Church is at its best: in those who seek to serve in the way of Christ. To be authentically Christian is to look at what we have and how we can put our giftedness to use for the good of all.

Today, Pentecost is often called the birthday of the Church, the moment the disciples received the Holy Spirit in a dramatic way. For those of us baptized and confirmed, it may have been less dramatic but equally meaningful. We know our lives changed when we stood before the community, renewed our promises, and were anointed by our Bishop.

In the week leading up to this day, the daily readings followed Paul on his missionary journeys. I was struck by his words to the elders of Ephesus: “Now, as a prisoner in the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem.” He felt compelled to follow a path whose outcome was uncertain. It was the Spirit directing him.

“A prisoner in the Spirit.” I wonder how many of you feel captive—imprisoned—when you think about your faith? We often speak of the Spirit as the Breath of God, Comforter, Advocate, Spirit of Adoption—words that soothe. Yet, for Paul and many others, the Spirit can take control, using us to remind the world of the Gospel: the Kingdom of God which is peace, justice, and love.
I was recently confronted by the question: “Do I feel like a prisoner of the Spirit?” Have you sensed the Holy Spirit pushing you in particular directions? It may be a sudden impulse to do good in a bad situation, to help someone in need, to visit the lonely, or even to seek silence to hear what God might be saying. In which way is the Spirit directing us today? How far are we willing to walk the path drawn in our souls?

I recently watched the BBC series Outrageous, recounting the lives of the Mitford Sisters, six daughters of Lord Redesdale in early twentieth-century England. Each forged a dramatically different path: Diana the fascist, Unity the Nazi, Jessica the communist, alongside novelist Nancy, Duchess Deborah, and country girl Pamela. As the episodes unfolded, tension between the sisters mirrored the rising fascism and Nazism across post-WWI Europe. Their relationships fractured amid mounting violence against minorities and Jews.

Less than a century ago, yet these themes remain strikingly contemporary. The rise of authoritarianism while high society lives on champagne, while the majority carries on as if nothing is happening, even as social divisions deepen. In this Pentecost season, the fracture between the Mitford sisters illustrates what the Spirit comes to gather together.

Traditionally, biblical commentaries draw a parallel between Pentecost and the Tower of Babel. After the scattering of those who built a tower to usurp divine authority, there was a great gathering through the gift of the Holy Spirit of those whom God had scattered. A circle closed. The Church Fathers, like Augustine, read Babel in a nuanced way.

I prefer a more inclusive interpretation—one that accounts for the infinite, unconditional love God has for creation. Babel was a human project seeking to dehumanize through uniformity and homogeneity. It was rejected by God, who delights in the diversity of creation and humanity, made in His image. In the divine vision, the goal is not to produce consumers or pawns in an economy where wealth flows upward, leaving the poor behind. The Holy Spirit encourages us to bear witness that for Jesus, the preferential option for the poor was the objective, not the adulation of power.

Thus, Pentecost becomes a feast of great joy and gathering. It is when those scattered for their own good, to live creative and flourishing lives, find one another again. They understand each other through the gift of the Spirit promised by the risen Christ before his Ascension. These little flames gather the Body of Christ, fractured by human folly, enabling us to weave strong bonds in this great family of God, gathered by divine breath without regard to ethnicity, color, gender, or distinction.

This baptism of the Spirit—baptism of Fire—that we receive after baptism by water energizes the witness of those inspired by Christ. It is vital for the survival of humanity in the image of our Creator. This gift has sustained us through our journey of faith, even when we doubt or do not know the next step.

As we live through times of challenge in so many spheres, will you let yourself be captivated by the Spirit? How far will you be prepared to listen and follow in the way of Christ?

Happy Pentecost.

Dean Bertrand