{"id":695905,"date":"2026-04-21T11:57:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T15:57:19","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-06-24T11:46:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:46:34","slug":"the-prophetic-imagination-day-of-pentecost-a-may-24-2026","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/the-prophetic-imagination-day-of-pentecost-a-may-24-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"The Prophetic Imagination, Day of Pentecost (A)\u00a0\u2013 May 24, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-345905_4e2c14-eb .kt-block-spacer{height:60px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-345905_4e2c14-eb .kt-divider{border-top-width:2px;border-top-color:#F1B434;width:100%;border-top-style:solid;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-345905_4e2c14-eb\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><hr class=\"kt-divider\"\/><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm?e=DFMS6913358684&#038;light=true\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-345905_9877d0-46 .kt-block-spacer{height:60px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-345905_9877d0-46 .kt-divider{border-top-width:2px;border-top-color:#F1B434;width:100%;border-top-style:solid;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-345905_9877d0-46\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><hr class=\"kt-divider\"\/><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>[RCL] <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/lectionary\/day-of-pentecost-a\/\"><strong>Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:25-35 &amp; 37; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13; John 20:19-23 or John 7:37-39&nbsp;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Valentine\u2019s Day 2018, 17 people died tragically at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The event grabbed headlines around the world: another senseless act of violence carried out in one of the places where kids should feel most protected and secure.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But it was what came in the weeks and months after that Wednesday in February that made this tragedy different from all the others that had preceded it. A group of 28 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas decided that they had had enough. They pooled their resources and used their voices to call on their peers to show up and to speak out against gun violence. Five weeks later, almost half a million people\u2014students, teachers, parents, and concerned citizens\u2014 answered the call of those 28 students and gathered in Washington, D.C. for the first ever March for Our Lives. NPR reported that the D.C. march was one of 800 such events that took place that day in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Day-of-Pentecost-A-sermon-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-345906\" style=\"width:512px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This might seem like an unusual way to begin a sermon for Pentecost, but there is a lingering question worthy of our consideration: What if the work those 28 students started in 2018 was more than just a righteous reaction? What if it was the work of the Spirit, moving in a new way in the hearts and minds of young and old alike?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is, after all, where Peter begins his Pentecost sermon: \u201cIn the last days, God declares, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your and daughters will prophesy.\u201d These words, spoken just 50 days after the tragedy of Good Friday and the bewilderment of Easter Sunday, changed the tone for the earliest followers of the Jesus Movement. For weeks, they had been waiting and praying, perhaps somewhat nervously, wondering what might come next. And it was into this uncertain and chaotic situation that the Spirit brought new hope, a new life for all followers of Jesus.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What happens next seems surprising, jarring almost, but it shouldn\u2019t be. This has been the Spirit\u2019s work since the very beginning. At the beginning of creation, over the waters of the deep\u2014<em>tehom<\/em>&nbsp;(teh-home&#8217;)&nbsp;in the Hebrew scriptures\u2014Spirit was there, hovering, waiting, participating in new life against the backdrop of chaos and disorder.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the times of the prophet Joel\u2014the figure whom Peter used as inspiration for his Pentecost sermon\u2014the people looked in anticipation for the Spirit\u2019s arrival in their own moment of chaos and uncertainty. In the days of Joel, drought, wildfire, and swarms of locusts had led to severe famine across the land. People were losing hope. Despair and death were everywhere. And in the midst of that tragedy, the prophet received a promise: The suffering would not last forever. The rains would fall, the fields would again be green, the livestock would be healthy. But the restoration of Israel and Judah went well beyond streams and pastures; it included the heart too. Because in those days when everything was set right again, God\u2019s Spirit would be poured out on everyone, young and old alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In our own chaotic and uncertain present, we are invited to consider how the words of the prophet Joel, echoed centuries later by the apostle Peter, are reflected in the daily lives of young people. Results from the 2025 edition of the annual Harvard Youth Poll show that young Americans have some serious concerns about the state of our country and our world. Their concerns include the rash of political violence we face, the lack of civility and productivity within the public sphere, the decline in accessibility of healthcare, the rapid increase in overall cost of a living\u2014including their own grim prospects for future employment\u2014and the impact of a world shaped by artificial intelligence. They are aware of what is happening in our country and around the world, and they are concerned. And if 28 students from Parkland, Florida, can teach us anything about this generation, it is this: Young people don\u2019t linger with discontent. Instead, they dream about the world as it could be, and then they show up to try to make that world a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dissatisfaction with the present, coupled with the willingness to work for a different and better future, is the work of the Spirit\u2014what the late Walter Brueggemann called \u201cthe prophetic imagination.\u201d In his classic book&nbsp;<em>The Prophetic Imagination<\/em>, Brueggemann writes that the job of the prophet is to cultivate an alternative consciousness, one that \u201cdismantles the dominant consciousness\u201d of its own day while simultaneously engaging the \u201cpromise of another time and situation toward which the community of faith may move.\u201d Can you, today, imagine a world in which gun violence no longer exists? What about a future where poverty is history? A future where everyone has enough to eat, access to clean water, and adequate healthcare? If you struggle to picture that kind of future, there is probably someone in your life right now who can imagine it. Go and ask someone in their teens or twenties\u2014and prepare to be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This Pentecost, perhaps it is time for those of us with a little more experience to practice humility and listen attentively to both the concerns and the dreams of the young people among us. Criticism comes easily for most of us, but when we rest in our criticism alone, we miss the creative capacity of the Spirit that is evident with the younger generations: The audacity to move beyond criticism into a creative imagination of a hopeful future. This is the life of the Spirit moving among us, doing what the Spirit has done since the beginning: calling forth new life out of the chaos of the present. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>The Rev. Dr. Perry M. Pauley<\/em><\/strong><em>&nbsp;is the fifth Rector of All Saints\u2019 Episcopal Church and Day School in Phoenix, Arizona. Before becoming a priest, Perry spent more than a decade as a professor of Communication, working at Cal State Fullerton, San Diego State, and Arizona State. He\u2019s been married to Michelle since 2003, and together they have two kids, Elias and Alayna. When he\u2019s not working on a sermon, you will probably find him in the kitchen. He has also been known to play drums with the jazz ensemble at All Saints\u2019 a few times a year.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-bf69b16d-8d10-43fb-93bb-bca703a51837\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Day-of-Pentecost-A-sermon.docx\">Day of Pentecost A sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Day-of-Pentecost-A-sermon.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-bf69b16d-8d10-43fb-93bb-bca703a51837\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-2f24a3c0-b9d7-4d27-a1b1-cb4bd2444b3d\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Day-of-Pentecost-A-sermon.pdf\">Day of Pentecost A sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Day-of-Pentecost-A-sermon.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-2f24a3c0-b9d7-4d27-a1b1-cb4bd2444b3d\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[RCL] Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:25-35 &amp; 37; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13; John 20:19-23 or John 7:37-39&nbsp; On Valentine\u2019s Day 2018, 17 people died tragically at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The event grabbed headlines around the world: another senseless act of violence carried out in one of the places where kids should feel&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[22,43,52,3],"tags":[121],"class_list":["post-695905","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","category-easter","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-day-of-pentecost-a"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":22,"label":"Easter"},{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":121,"label":"Day of Pentecost A"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/695905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/695905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":947632,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/695905\/revisions\/947632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}