Today’s Word from Pastor Katrina…
On Pentecost and Copernicus – Say that 5 times fast!
May 24th is Pentecost Sunday! It is also the church’s lesser festival for Nicolaus Copernicus, and I think they pair quite well!
Pentecost comes from the Jewish Festival of Weeks or Shavout, which is celebrated 50 days after Passover. In the book of Acts chapter 1, Jesus ascends into heaven and says: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
In chapter 2, the Holy spirit comes upon them: “The day of Pentecost had come, they 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, if I had been Peter, I would have been concerned about logistics: when will the spirit be coming; what should we watch out for; let’s get some fire extinguishers ready. The Bible doesn’t give us those details- only that the apostles were gathered, along with many other Jews who had journeyed to Jerusalem for the Festival of Weeks/ Shavout. Many had come from different places and spoke their own languages, so when the Apostles began speaking their languages, they were amazed (or skeptical that they were drunk). Many other miracles were performed, and 3,000 people welcomed the Gospel and were baptized. This is in part why Christians regard Pentecost as the “birthday of the Church” and is a Principal Festival of the church. Red is the symbolic color for joy and the fire of the Holy Spirit.
A lesser festival that falls on the same day this year is for Nicolaus Copernicus (1543). Copernicus was born in Poland and died at the age of 70 not long after publishing his book On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres which included a model of the solar system that placed the sun, rather than the earth, at the center. It is so exciting to imagine Copernicus doing all his work around the same time that Martin Luther was doing his reformation work. Copernicus is celebrated as someone who studied nature, showing that when we take time to do so, we better understand our world and our faith.
I think this pairs so nicely with the celebration of Pentecost, because mathematics, physics and the sciences are like other languages. This Pentecost, may the Holy Spirit open our hearts and minds to better understand the world, God, life, and each other in new ways!
Pastor Katrina
