Sunday morning I woke up and put on an orange shirt. It could probably be classified in the "burnt orange" category, which meant I was the recipient of much heckling from the Buffs fans at church. An oversight on my part. I fully deserved the heckling.
Why did I wear (burnt) orange? Not to show my loyalty to the UT Longhorns, though I admit they rank higher in my list than the CU Buffs. No, this outfit choice had nothing to do with sports. It had everything to do with Pentecost, one of the most under appreciated days in our liturgical calendar.
It's true, Pentecost Sunday is overshadowed by Christmas and Easter. It's as though Pentecost is the red-headed stepchild of the liturgical days. Which is funny because our tradition encourages wearing red on this day :) But most people couldn't even tell you the approximate time of year for this special Sunday. I find this very unfortunate because this day has so much potential!
Most churches experience a lull in attendance and activity in the summer. Not very helpful for boosting Pentecost's cause. And so I propose a change to the liturgical calendar. How about we push Pentecost up to September? I realize the Bible says the Holy Spirit came to the followers of Christ 50 days after the resurrection. The word itself even means "50th day." But we Christians are known for fudging dates in history. After all, Jesus was not really born on December 25th and his death probably didn't happen in Spring. We just love to tweak our special days to compete with those pagans.
So why not celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit in September, when there is much hubbub around going back to school and getting back into the swing of things? I think this would create a space for proper celebration of the Holy Spirit. As our pastor said on Sunday, the church is still the greatest hope for the broken world. If we truly want to live into that calling, we should move Pentecost from the lazy days of summer to the high energy days of Autumn. Or would that be too much for us "frozen chosen" Presbyterians?
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