Pentecost and Racial Relations

It was Pentecost Sunday, four days ago. I wonder how it was celebrated around the world amid the Covid-19 pandemic. As in many places, church buildings are still under lockdown with the stay-at-home orders still very much in effect. 

In the United States-- in Los Angeles and many other cities, Pentecost Sunday was marked or should I say marred, with angst and sorrow, as civilians have been protesting for days, in reaction to the death of George Floyd, an African-American man, at the hands of police in Minneapolis. 

What was intended to be a peaceful protest has escalated into clashes between demonstrators and the police, looting, and arson. Reports say over 1,500 people have been arrested in the protests. On the eve of Pentecost, following these events, curfews were imposed in at least 25 cities, including Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis. The protests are widening, erupting across the States.

Amid the raging crisis, whether virtually or physically, Pentecost Sunday was still celebrated, perhaps with it's attendant liturgies and homilies, on a lower key. Of course, the theme would've been symbolically focused on the presence and the power of Pentecost, with Acts chapter 2 as the hallowed text.

In view of the racial injustices rooted in the American society, which have further surged with the intricacies of the pandemic, añd resulted in the continued killings of people from marginalized communities, like Ahmaud Arbery and most recently, Floyd; the church in America needs to give attention to the missionary character of the Pentecost.

Apart from the presence and power of the Pentecost, the book of Acts equally focuses on

the peoples of the Pentecost. Luke reported that Jewish people from several nations of the Greco-Roman world, were present at the Pentecost (Acts 2:5-11). It was a Pentecost of nations-- Europe, Asia, Middle-East, Africa. These Jews in diaspora became the first agents of the gospel across all racial boundaries, having had an encounter that intelligibly engaged their critical faculties.

Beyond all human barriers: social, sexual, racial, the Holy Spirit reveals God to all humankind, grafting responders, irrespective of their social compositions, into the commonwealth of His kingdom, enlisting and empowering them for His purpose on earth.

At Mars Hill, Paul tells the Athenians, "From one man he made all the nations...We are his offspring." Our diversity biologically and geographically is actually meant to foster our search for God (17:26-28). 

More than ever, it has become imperative for the church in America, also for the universal Church, to mind, model, and message the missionary character of the Pentecost. The Church needs to shift its insular positions, to become more open and inclusive. We should cultivate faith communities that embrace diversity and value people. We've got to do away with our bigotry, prejudices, and stereotypes about others, who are culturally different from us and reach out to connect and touch their humanity. We should show the world how to live in a way that affirms people that they matter, they are loved, and they have such dignity as image-bearers of God. 

This way we can change the narrative of social disparities and bring healing to those who are hurting, because of injury and injustice. Then, the transformative effect of the Pentecost would become an existential reality in our lives.