Luke portrays Jesus as a man for all people - women, slaves, gentiles and Samaritans, unbelievers as well as faithful men and righteous Jews. This universality is carried over from Luke's Gospel into the Book of Acts. Whereas the Gospel is the story of the saving work of the Son, Acts is the chronicle of the empowering work of the Spirit.

The Day of Pentecost is the ultimate symbol of the Spirit reaching out to embrace everyone in the name of God. It starts with a sound like wind and a vision like fire appearing over the heads of the disciples. The Spirit spreads by word, in multiple languages, and deeds in diverse places, and it hasn't stopped yet. The Book of Acts has 28 chapters. There are those who say that we live in Chapter 29.

Here is a Pentecost riddle to lead us into this new chapter: What do breakfast, baptisms, a bathtub, and a calf have to do with one another? Let me repeat the riddle: What do breakfast, baptisms, a bathtub, and a calf have to do with one another?

Now before the image in your head gets to absurd let me give you the answer - they are manifestations of the spirit at Saint James. They are some of the outward and visible signs of the activities that members of this body have been empowered to do for the common good. We are all gifted by the spirit and called into God's service. The people I will name are but a few of the examples of Christian witness in this place.

Let's start with breakfast as a manifestation of the Spirit - each year the Men's Organization hosts two breakfasts. Ed Kilner canvases what must be half the planet. He returns with pledges of flour, butter, milk and eggs. Donation checks come in large manila envelopes that Ed walks in, drops off, and then goes out to fill again. Frank O'Toole speaks softly, smiles gently and the kitchen is filled with men and women who cook for the hundreds who come to make their donation and eat their fill. Mark Armacost pats down and breads 600 oysters as though it were nothing while Glenn McCalley cooks omelets until the cows come home. Countless others cook, serve and clean. And we clean up for the benefit of the common good. The Men's Organization supports a wide variety of needs in the community, quietly working small miracles behind the scenes.

Why is a bathtub a symbol of the Spirit at work at Saint James? - It points to the work of Ed Tillman, our Junior Warden, and the heart that he and others have for the fabric of our parish. While we were sleeping or watching our children play lacrosse, Ed Tillman and Tom Moore have been installing a bathroom in the Associate House. This is no simple pumbling problem. It is an extended exorcism. In addition to thanking Ed we should propose him for sainthood. He has neither taken the Lord's name in vain, in my hearing, nor murdered any previous contractors. What he has done is to transmute his love of Saint James into the work of his hands. Ed has borne all things, and kept at it until he achieved success on our behalf. We are all the beneficiaries of Ed's good will and his good work. Ed Tillman and Tom Moore have saved us thousands of dollars. We are members of one body. They did this for the common good.

Ed's next project is the interior of the church. It will be a complex undertaking that is far larger than the willingness of one or two people and will require the retention of various contractors. We cannot let Ed bear the weight of this responsibility alone. Saint Paul points out to the Corinthians that there are varieties of gifts. Please encourage Ed by sending yours in. Few of us could pay for this alone, but all of us together, as one body infused with the Spirit, can cover the cost. There is woodwork and wiring, painting and plastering to be done. An offering plate is coming soon to a pew near you. Make your check out to Saint James and mark it "church restoration". Make a sacrifice for the common good. Join Ed and Tom in your willingness to give.

And we are very good at giving when we are motivated. We do not do this for ourselves alone. Remember the riddle - What do breakfast, baptisms, a bathtub, and a calf have to do with one another?

Let me point next to the cow. Collie our fiberglass cow and Joyce Streuber our resident cowgirl are symbols of the power of the spirit. Last year, with Joyce as our spark plug we raised over four thousand dollars and we won the cow at the Extra Mile Walk, a fund raise for Episcopal Community Services of Maryland. I will let Joyce tell you the end results of our efforts this year at the end of the liturgy.

But the point of both these efforts was not to gather a trophy to ourselves but to reach out to the residents of Collington Square in a tangible way. Our walking and our giving to ECSM tell the people of Collington Square - we are members of one body, there is one hope in God's call to us.

And that brings us to baptism, the last component of the riddle. There is indeed one Lord, and one faith. But there are two baptisms today. Today Adeline Paige Beavers and Matthew Allen Roberts become part of the communion of saints, members of the body, residents in the household of God. A few handfuls of water and the power of the spirit are enough to change them into a new creation. Water will carry them into the company of Medes, Parthians and makers of breakfast. The Spirit will gather them with Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Collington Square.

We will welcome them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit to the work of the 29th chapter of the Book of Acts - a place where bathtubs and bacon are symbols of the Spirit. A time in which the church can be restored, the faithful encouraged, and the body built up by the willingness of disciples who seek the common good.

If we are faithful to our promises, Adeline and Matthew will join Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in telling the Good News of God in Christ. In time, if we are diligent and consistent in our example, Adeline and Matthew will grow up to join us in the pursuit of cows, the installation of bathtubs and all manner of practical signs of the presence of the Spirit.

Some people need words to grasp the Gospel, other need the vision of a helping hand. There are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit. As we use our differing gifts together, under the leading of God's grace, more and more people will hear about God's deeds of power in their own language.

Jesus said to the disciples, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you…" Let us allow ourselves to be infused with the Spirit, and then go in peace to love and serve the Lord.