Welcome to the birthday party! Family and friends are gathered around the table. They are dressed for the occasion, having been invited to wear red. Some of the men are wearing red sport coats and ties; some of the women wear red dresses and matching shoes. The choir is wearing their bright red robes. Children have on red shorts or red slacks. There are red purses, red belts, red scarves, red hats, and red socks. Some of the youth have even tinted their hair fire-engine red for this festival day. The pastors have red stoles on, and there are red flowers and red candles to match. Red balloons have been inflated too. There is a red cake on the table. It's a rather large cake; it would have to be to hold all those candles. There are almost 2,000 red candles on the cake. Well, actually, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine candles to be exact. One candle for each year since the Holy Spirit of God rushed through the gathering of people on that early Pentecost morning in the year 33 AD. The candles have all been lit, which has, of course, taken some time. But parties, good parties, usually do take time to get going.

A voice says, "Take a deep breath. Make a wish and get ready to blow the candles out." And just as soon as those words are spoken and before any candles are blown out and while everyone is still holding their breath, there's a commotion. A rather old looking man makes his way from the back of the room. The assembled guests, comprising a sea of the reddest red that one has ever seen, actually part to let this uninvited guest make his way to the table. He's not wearing red, and although most people aren't really sure of his identity--because he doesn't look anything like the famous statue by Michaelangelo which bears his name or those who have been cast to play his role in movies like The Ten Commandments or The Prince of Egypt--however, it's being whispered that this party crasher is none other than Moses.

The room is quiet. Some guests are still holding their breath, and others feel the wind has been knocked out of them. There is a silence that will soon be remembered as golden. But right now, it seems at the same time awkward and also pregnant with possibilities. And as soon as he opens his mouth and speaks, it's clear it's Moses. He says, "I have a birthday wish for the church. Would that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them." And then he invited everyone to blow out the candles, and they did. And as the blue-gray smoke wafted its way up to the ceiling, one of the smoke detectors went off. He made his departure during the subsequent confusion to get a ladder and attempts to stop that piercing, beeping noise.

This birthday wish for the church was first spoken by Moses when his colleague Joshua came to him and told him that two men, Eldad and Medad, were prophesying even though they hadn't gone to the gathering of the seventy. You see, Moses had been commanded by God to gather seventy elders together to share in the administration of daily aspects of life for the pilgrim people. All of the people had been asking and complaining, "Are we there yet?" And they also said, "Why do we have to eat this manna day after day?"

Moses himself felt tired, angry, and frustrated. In the Book of Numbers, chapter 11, we read about the first recorded case of clergy burnout. For Moses prayed to God, "If this is the way you're going to treat me, put me to death at once. If I have found favor in your sight and do not let me see my misery." The one who had seen the burning bush, which was not consumed by fire, had himself become so consumed by administrative duties that the fire had gone out of him. So God commanded Moses to gather seventy people together, and God came down and took some of the spirit which was on Moses and put it on the seventy, and they prophesied. But Eldad and Medad, who were suppose to be at the gathering and weren't there for some reason, they, too, received the spirit. And so they prophesied, and this is what got Joshua all upset.

He came to Moses and said, "My Lord, Moses, stop them." And Moses responded with a question and then his birthday wish. "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them."

Usually, it is basic manners or etiquette to bring a birthday gift to a birthday party, but it is my hope and prayer for you today that as you leave this birthday party for the church on Pentecost Sunday, that you do so with a party favor-a birthday gift for yourself--namely, knowing that you have been given gifts by the Spirit and that you, me, all of us, are called to be gifts to the world.

St. Paul wrote, "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of services but the same Lord. And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone." This original gifting comes at baptism. You might have even heard the voice of God say just as the pastor poured the water on a baby's head: "This is my beloved daughter," or "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased."

Now many of us can't remember the exact moment we were baptized, but daily we can remember and we can celebrate the marvelous gift of being adopted into the family of God through the life-giving waters of baptism. So I would encourage you to think of today-Pentecost Sunday-as reactivation day, the day this opportunity for service is turned on once again in your life. The birthday wish that Moses had for the church is actually a prayer which has been answered, but like I said earlier, sometimes it takes some time for a good party to really get started, and that's where you and I come in.

When Peter preached on that Pentecost, he quoted the prophet Joel. "'In the last days, it will be,' God declares, 'that I will pour my Spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams."' And the miracle of Pentecost is that the babble and confusion and the results of the Tower of Babel is reversed, and everyone understands the Good News of Jesus Christ in their own language. No longer are there communication breakdowns, but the mission of our day is communication buildups. Just think how sharing the Spirit can bring life to someone who feels like giving up the ghost. It's just like spiritual CPR.

Sometimes in the church when folks like Eldad and Medad respond to the call, we tend to act like Joshua. We often get bogged down by the letter of the law and are shy about the spirit of the process. We become entangled in committees and forget our commission.

Jesus stood before the disciples who were locked up behind closed doors, and at this close encounter of the closest kind, Jesus said to them, "Peace be with you." He then revealed his hands and side to them. At once, they recognized him as the Lord. Again, Jesus said to them, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And then he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Often we have heard it said that we should forgive and forget. And I think that's a good saying, but I would encourage you to forgive and remember. Forgive and then remember what Christ has done for you. Sometimes when we forgive and forget, we like to remind the person that we have forgiven that we truly have forgiven them, and when we do that, we haven't totally forgiven them. So forgive and remember what Jesus has done for each one of us.

Now that's a commissioning that is so exciting it can almost take your breath away. But Jesus inspires us. Jesus gives us peace. Jesus gives us hope to go about this mission of forgiveness which might seem at times to be impossible but with the Spirit of Jesus, it becomes mission possible. In fact, mission probable.

Jesus' birthday wish for the church is that we follow his lead and kindle that spark which gets the fire going. It's obvious God is generous and lavish with the Spirit. Let's celebrate it at this birthday party. Light some candles, take a deep breath, blow out those candles, and let's make the wishes come true. Amen.

Let us pray.

Life-giving Spirit, you come to us on this birthday, we ask that we recognize our gifts, that we share our gifts, and that we make the wish that you have given to us that all God's people would be prophets and prophesy.