PENTECOST 2016 ACTS 2:1-21 As I reached the end of Harvey Taylor Bridge, I slowed down, and prepared to turn sharp left to continue my ride through Riverfront Park on Front Street. Each May when I cycle this route I begin to get nervous at this point of my ride. You see, THEY are there. And they mean trouble. Like a gang of muggers sizing up passers-by, they stand as tall as they can, with necks stretched high, and heads scanning every direction. Aggression bristling, testosterone peaking, they challenge you to get too close, they dare you to look them in the eye and face the consequences. But last week, as I rode this familiar route for the first time this year, there was an eerie and unexpected peace about them. They were there - in numbers - as every May, but they were chilling, like the cool spring afternoon. They didn't stare intimidatingly at me and certainly did not hiss as I swept by, trying to mind my own business. There was a strange truce between man and goose. It made me wonder what has gone wrong this May. Has this cool, damp month delayed their egg-laying timeline? Are we still over a month away from adorable fluffy goslings waddling around the cycle path? Or is it my faulty human brain that is in error, maybe I'm too early in my expectations, rather than the geese too late.

I often think about geese on the day of Pentecost. It's a British thing. Our ancient Celtic Christian ancestors revered the goose as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. It's a bit of a shock to learn this, given that the dove has been the church's bird symbol of choice when it comes to the Third Person of the Trinity. But, if you let the goose nest in your mind, brood in your imagination, it will revolutionize your expectation of God's presence in your life. You'll never look at God or yourself in the same way again. If the bird of Pentecost is not so much the tame, fragile dove – a creature of serene beauty and rare peace, but instead is a wild, passionate, uncontrollable bird – a pioneer, a creator, an adventurer, then what does that mean for us as we open our lives to God's Spirit this Day of Pentecost?

Certainly, that day we read about in the lesson from Acts just now was wild and uncontrollable. Imagine you are a witness of this event. You are a (Read the full Sermon here: Wild Goose Chase)