May 24, 2026 (Pentecost Sunday) - Mr. Matthew Sanaker

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The Feast of Pentecost marks the beginning of the ministry of the Church. Sometimes we even call it the birthday of the Church.

As we heard on the Feast of the Ascension, right before Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his disciples that he would send his Spirit to them. He told them that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And then he told them that, when he had done this, they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

So the disciples stayed in Jerusalem, and they prepared themselves and waited faithfully for what would come next. They appointed Matthias to fill the absence in their number left by the betrayal and death of Judas.

And I imagine that they spent their time in prayer and probably a lot of time in simple awe and wonder about all the things that had happened in the previous few months and the years they had spent following Jesus. And I imagine that it would have been very disorienting.

But the disciples were still devout Jews, and so, already being in Jerusalem, it would have made sense simply to stay where they were and wait to observe the Jewish Feast of Pentecost — the culmination of the week of weeks after Passover, when on the fiftieth day they would commemorate the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai.

And then something unexpected happened.

“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.”

The disciples had been baptized with water during their time with Jesus, and now they were baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire, just as Jesus told them they would be.

And now, as we hear in Peter’s sermon, they begin the ministry they had been commissioned by Christ to do, which has become the ministry of the whole Church — which we have inherited through apostolic succession — to be witnesses of Christ to the ends of the earth.

So Pentecost did happen on that one day, and we still live in the great season of Pentecost — between the resurrection, between the giving of the Holy Spirit, and the second coming of Christ.

We are the continuation of the disciples, and we continue the mission of the Church that Jesus gave to them and Jesus gave to us.

So it just so happens that the Feast of Pentecost is sort of a personal anniversary for me in my life of faith.

I spent a number of years away from the Church, and back in 2013 — which feels like a long time ago and not that long ago — I decided that I needed to find a place to call a spiritual home and find a community to pray with and receive the Eucharist with and renew my relationship with Christ by becoming a member of a Christian community.

I looked around online at a couple different churches. I thought, Well, I want to be engaged in liturgy, and I want to receive the Eucharist.

I looked at the Catholic Church and thought, Well, I haven’t been confirmed in the Catholic Church, so I can’t receive communion. Maybe that’s not the right place right now.

Then I looked at the Episcopal Church.

I thought: Okay, there’s liturgy. All the baptized may receive communion. And as a bonus, they ordain women. They openly ordain openly gay clergy. They’re affirming of gay marriage.

I thought, Okay, this is very different than the church I grew up with, and I think maybe I can be a part of this community.

So when I showed up for the first time at Saint John’s in Ithaca, I wasn’t really paying attention to the church year. I knew it was after Easter, but that was about it.

I showed up at eight o’clock in the morning for a Rite I service. Very quiet morning.

And it was Pentecost.

I thought, Okay, I know what Pentecost means. I know who the Holy Spirit is. I know that the Holy Spirit is the giver and sustainer of life. I know that he spoke through the prophets and inspired the writing of all Scripture. And I know that the Spirit is still speaking to each of us and giving us the gifts we have to do the ministry of the Church.

And I also took it as a little bit of a nudge — what one of my friends from seminary, Quincy, would call a “God wink.”

So that day I thought, Okay, I’m here. I get it. I’ve heard it.

It was very quiet — the Rite I service at Saint John’s. There’s no music. It’s very meditative and contemplative.

And I felt that people had been praying in that space for hundreds of years, if not longer. I felt the Spirit fill the space and surround the people.

Only a couple months ago, talking with a friend, I finally found words for it.

Sometimes you enter a big cathedral or a church like this and feel the presence of the Spirit.

I said:

The space contained something far bigger than what the space could possibly contain.

The Spirit is in here, but also surrounds us.

I really don’t have the words for it, but that’s as close as I can get.

I said that to my wife and she said:

“Oh, it’s like Doctor Who. It’s like the TARDIS. It’s bigger on the inside.”

So now, thirteen years later, I am in a place I would not have imagined I would be.

Maybe ten years ago I was beginning to get that extra little nudge.

But thirteen years ago, on Pentecost, I was feeling like a lost sheep. Or maybe like the prodigal son.

So preaching on my last Sunday of this internship, six days before my ordination to the diaconate, it’s really special.

And I didn’t think about that when I signed up to preach today.

Then I realized:

Oh. It’s Pentecost again.

And here I am.

And I’m so grateful to all of you for walking this journey with me.

So in his letter to the Church in Corinth, Saint Paul tells them — and us — that there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit.

To each one of us is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

This is true of each of us individually as Christians, and it is also true of each Christian community.

For some, it is the gift of prophecy — speaking truth to power with conviction.

For some, it is a particular vision or dream of how God’s kingdom is breaking into the world in our own time and place.

For some, it is the gift of teaching.

For some, healing.

For some, working for peace and justice.

For some, feeding the hungry.

For some, being a spiritual friend, a mentor, or a compassionate soul in someone’s time of need.

The gifts of the Spirit may manifest in different ways for different people.

Sometimes it feels like a sudden rush of inspiration, like a mighty wind, and our hearts are set ablaze with holy fire.

Sometimes it is like a still, small voice that we can only hear when we quiet our minds and sit patiently waiting for the Lord.

Regardless of how the Spirit manifests, we must listen and engage in spiritual discernment.

It has been the tradition of the Church since the beginning that we discern in community — what we call mutual discernment.

This involves our minds, our reason, our intellect.

It involves our hearts and our emotions.

And more importantly, it involves something much deeper:

Listening with the spirit within us for how the Holy Spirit moves our spirit.

Opening ourselves to God in prayer.

Letting go.

Listening for where the Spirit leads.

We engage in this discernment as a community, whether it is an individual discerning a ministry or vocation, a parish discerning a new ministry, perhaps ending one that has served its purpose, a diocese, or even the national Church.

And in this work of discernment and ministry, God is with us.

The Holy Spirit is with us to guide us and sustain us.

Yesterday I attended a friend’s graduation from her second unit of chaplaincy training, and I heard story after story of how the Spirit is moving in people’s lives.

Each of them was answering God’s call — in lay ministry, ordained ministry, and across different Christian traditions.

It reminded me that while Christians may belong to different traditions and structures, it is the one Spirit who guides and sustains us all.

And it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that God calls each of us — as individuals and as churches — to be witnesses to the good news of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.

And we must listen prayerfully for how the Spirit is calling us to use our gifts for the common good.

So it feels fitting that my last Sunday with you as a seminarian is on Pentecost.

I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for walking with me on this journey toward ordination.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to serve with you in your ministries and to witness the way the Holy Spirit is at work in this community and in each of your lives.

And while I will begin serving in another community in a different capacity, we will remain connected in the Spirit and in the Church.

And I look forward to hearing how the Holy Spirit will continue to move in this community.