Ever since I can remember I have loved to sing for anyone who would listen! I remember watching an old “home video” when I was singing my heart out into the hose of an active vacuum cleaner. As a natural-born performer, I quickly learned that a good performance merits affirmation, accolades and attention, but a poor performance can lead to criticism, condemnation and feelings of failure.

This Sunday we will celebrate Pentecost, a Christian holiday that’s not nearly as popular as Christmas or Easter, but it should be! Here are a few helpful ways to prepare for and celebrate Pentecost.

Easter is a uniquely important day, but it’s far more than just a day. With his resurrection, Jesus inaugurated a new epoch characterized by hope.

I love Eugene Peterson’s translation of a famous expression of the Apostle Paul: “Let’s face it—if there’s no resurrection, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors!” (1 Corinthians 15:13-14, The Message).

All four Gospels record that Jesus was offered a drink of wine vinegar while he was on the cross (see Matthew 27:48-49, Mark 15:36 and Luke 23:36-37), but only John records that prior to this drink being offered to him, Jesus actually said, “I am thirsty.” And keep in mind that John was an eye witness to Jesus’ crucifixion. He was literally at the foot of cross, the only male disciple who did not run away, flanked by at least four women, three of whom, oddly enough were named Mary (see John 19:25 - “his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene”). 

No human being, no matter how relationally wired or connected, has ever experienced the kind of intimacy that Jesus shared with his Father, which is why no human being, no matter how relationally challenged or neglected, has ever experienced the kind of rejection that Jesus felt from his Father on the cross.

Have you ever felt forgotten, invisible? Have you ever screamed from the depths of your soul: does anyone see me? 

I am aware of two stories in the Gospels where Jesus gets angry - one is in the temple, the other is in a synagogue. Back to both in a moment. 

Whenever I am hurting I do not think about the needs of other people. I just don’t, but Jesus does. His heart was full of others to the very end - “‘woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘here is your mother.’” This disciple, whom Jesus loved, who is standing nearby, is also the author of this story. John had been Jesus’ closest companion in life, an ear and eye witness to Jesus’ command to him to take care of his mother, Mary. 

Maya Angelou encourages us with this: “you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.” Jesus does the strangest thing with all the power the Father had given him. He takes off his outer clothing, wraps a towel around his waist and symbolically models for his disciples what the apostle Paul will later say about him in Philippians 2:6-11.