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When the day of Pentecost had come, [the apostles] 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. - Acts 2:1-2  

Our theme for the month of June is Be Our Guest. Which I don’t know about you, but my mind immediately goes to the song from Beauty and the Beast. “Be our guest, be our guest! Put our service to the test…”   

Our theme is just that. How do we serve others to the best of our ability? Are we serving others in the way that we want or the way that they need? How is God’s Spirit moving us to create a space where those in our building or in our presence feel seen and heard?  

Pentecost celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit and the accompanying gift of understanding. It was not a matter of speaking other languages, but rather understanding. Still, it is that gift of understanding and valuing differences that our world struggles with and continues to need to put time and effort into listening and being open to hearing different points of views.  

Sister Simone Campbell urges leaders of all faiths to engage in the work of healing America’s religious, geographic, racial, economic, and social/political divisions. “We have an important role to play,” Campbell wrote this past February, “as we engage with people from all walks of life. We have the capacity and the call to create community that moves beyond the sins and failings of our nation’s founding.” Campbell is best known as the founder of Nuns on the Bus.  

She continues, “Our responsibility is not a political ministry, but rather a faith ministry rooted in the reality that we are called to create a community where all can flourish. This kind of faithful leadership gives me hope. It connects us beyond the hyper-partisanship and into a community where this spiritual idea of democracy can find fertile ground.” 

As we Expand the Table at Bethany, we are called to follow the nudge of the Holy Spirit to embrace the difference and diversity of people, to be good listeners, and to be OK with being uncomfortable as God’s challenges us to grow and to be an even better host to all who enter the doors of our church. As we learn and grow through the work of the Holy Spirit, may we sing with confidence and understanding, “Be our guest, be our guest! Put our service to the test…” Amen.