We invite you to take a peek inside our weekly Light for the Way devotional series provided for staff.
By Pastor Chris Wheatley, Senior Director of Pastoral Care Services
This week we begin to celebrate Pentecost, literally “the fiftieth day.” And while we might be tempted to ask, “The fiftieth day since what?”, this was not an issue for the early church. They understood that Easter, the Resurrection of the Son of God, had changed everything. There was not a single aspect of life — from who is allowed to eat to how you wash your hands before the meal to what could be served at the table — that was not radically different because Jesus is alive. It was an event in history with eternal ramifications.
And Pentecost is the day that this event goes global.
You may know the story. The apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, suddenly gain the ability to speak in other languages to proclaim the Gospel. They rush out to the streets, where people from every nation can understand them, and are invited to be a part of the world-changing truth of Jesus Christ.
But translation is more than just the transmission of meaning across languages. It means communicating with others in a way that they can understand. Sometimes that means using familiar examples. Sometimes it means expressing something in a completely new way. To a Christian ministry like Presbyterian Homes & Services, it means showing the love of God in a way people can experience on a personal level.
Or put another way, the mission of PHS is the mission of Pentecost.
We express the world-changing grace of Jesus Christ in the way that we treat our residents, their families, and each other. We are the love of God expressed through eldercare, and we show that by remembering that God loves those we serve and those we work alongside.
We love because God first loved us. We serve because Christ showed us how. And we witness to the truth because the Holy Spirit is with us still.
Rev. Chris Wheatley serves PHS as Senior Director of Pastoral Care Services. He is an ordained Lutheran pastor and has served in hospice, eldercare, hospital, HIV/AIDS and congregational settings. He and his wife Nicole are perpetually outnumbered by cats and Dobermans.
The Light for the Way series provides staff with an examination of a biblical reading to deepen our focus on scripture. Thank you for engaging with this series as we seek wisdom through prayer and reflection as a Christian Ministry.
