Today is Pentecost Sunday and the liturgical color is
red to symbolize the tongues of fire which descended
upon the Apostles upon receiving the Holy Spirit.
This marks the beginning of the Church’s ministry to
the world. It’s significant that one of the gifts the Holy
Spirit brought to Jesus’s followers was that of
communication.
Generally speaking, we, of course, believe in the reformed doctrine of cessationism —simply put, that the supernatural gifts like tongues brought to the early believers by the Holy Spirit have been discontinued under ordinary circumstances. That does not mean we believe the Holy Spirit does not move and work among the church. On the contrary, the work of the Spirit is very much present with us today. And in keeping with the commissioning that the Holy Spirit enabled on this day we celebrate, we will also be commissioned — as we are each Lord’s Day — to go forth from our worship this day and communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ through our lives, our work, our actions, our speech, and our entire being. The Spirit working within us is what enables us to do this. And it is through the means grace, like the meal we share this day with Christ in the communion of His Body and His Blood, that the Holy Spirit works in us to fulfill our commission. And that is what we celebrate this day. So let us keep the feast!