Pentecost: A Celebration For Pilgrims Along The Way
- Mygration Christian Conference
- Jun 5
- 5 min read
by Orlando Morales Cintrón, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
Pentecost in the Scriptures
The celebration of Pentecost holds a central place in the life of the Church. For Pentecostals like myself—and for all believers in Jesus Christ—it is a day of fullness and divine empowerment. But this power is not for domination or self-promotion; it is power intimately tied to the good news of Jesus Christ, who lived, died, and was raised from the dead for the life of the world [1].
Pentecost is not only a continuation of the Jewish Feast of Weeks, but it also represents one of the earliest and most enduring seasons in the Christian liturgical calendar [2]. As such, it carries profound historical and theological significance—especially for today’s migrants and sojourners. Pentecost is one of three pilgrimage festivals in the Hebrew tradition (alongside Passover and Sukkot) [3]. These were occasions in which the faithful were called to journey to Jerusalem—a holy pilgrimage of worship, gratitude, and renewal.
A pilgrim, by nature, is someone on a journey, a person in motion. Christians, too, are pilgrims—sojourners on a path of ever-deepening faith. We are not content with superficial religion, but seek to grow continually in the knowledge and love of God [4]. In this sense, the Christian life is a dynamic pilgrimage, one that is both spiritual and bodily, theological and historical.
Today, the reality of global migration speaks powerfully to this theme. According to the Migration Data Portal, the United Nations estimated 304 million international migrants worldwide in 2024 [5]. The reasons behind such movements are diverse: war, poverty, ecological crises, displacement, persecution, and the search for a dignified life. Yet such stories are not foreign to Scripture. On the day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2, a multicultural and multilingual gathering of pilgrims assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of First Fruits. In that context, the Spirit was poured out upon all flesh, and the Church was born.
This scene resonates deeply with the migrant experience today. Just as those ancient pilgrims came seeking to worship and to celebrate, so too do modern migrants carry with them hope—the hope of a new beginning, of tasting the “first fruits” of peace, safety, and community. If Pentecost is indeed a celebration of the Spirit uniting a diverse people under the lordship of Christ [6], how should the Church today respond to the migrants and pilgrims of our world?
Pilgrims and the Gift of God for a Multicultural Kingdom
Theologian and educator Emilio Alvarez reminds us that Pentecost is not merely a promise of individual spiritual power. Rather, it is the outpouring of the Spirit that makes us children of God—sojourners and strangers in this world, journeying toward an eternal home [7]. The Church, therefore, is a pilgrim people, whose spiritual pilgrimage is inescapably embodied and socially rooted.
What could be more faithful to this Pentecostal vision than for the Church to accompany those who are quite literally on pilgrimage? The realities of migration, seen through the lens of Pentecost, invite the Church to become a community of companionship—a people who walk with, listen to, and defend those on the move. To be Pentecostal or Christians informed by the reality of Pentecost is to be immersed in the world as agents of the Kingdom—committed to integral transformation and radical hospitality [8]. The Holy Spirit builds a multicultural and multilingual community that embodies God’s love in tangible ways. This is a community that not only proclaims good news but becomes good news: a Church that defends the dignity of all human life and embraces diversity not as a problem to solve, but as a gift to receive [9].
Multicultural and multilingual pilgrims in the company of the Spirit
In the early 1990s, Pentecostal ethicist Eldin Villafañe stated that the task before the Hispanic Pentecostal Church was to participate in the “historical project of the Spirit" [10]. That task remains urgent today—for all churches. In a world marked by forced displacement and migratory struggle, the Church is called to be a Spirit-formed people who walk alongside the displaced as co-pilgrims.
Pentecost reminds us that the Spirit was poured out upon all flesh—birthing a multilingual, multicultural, and boundary-breaking Church. This is the good news: that in Christ, God has reconciled us not only to Himself but also to one another. Cultural and linguistic differences no longer divide, but are redeemed in the fellowship of the Spirit [11]. As we celebrate Pentecost, may we remember that to be the Church is to be a people on the move—accompanying others in love, empowered by the Spirit, and proclaiming the Kingdom that is already breaking in.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Orlando Morales Cintrón is a Puerto Rican living in Hawaii, happily married to Génesis Isaac De Leon. He hold a Master of Science in Psychological Counseling with a focus on Family, and is currently pursuing an Master of Arts in Theological Studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He serves as an Adjunct Psychology Professor at UNILIMI and was recently contracted as Adjunct Faculty at Chaminade University of Honolulu. In addition, he serve as a youth leader at IDDPMI Honolulu.
Footnotes:
[1] Emilio Alvarez, Pentecost: A Day Full of Power (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2023), 7.
[2] Emilio Alvarez, Pentecost: A Day Full of Power (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2023), 9.
[3] Ibid, 10.
[4] Daniel L. Migliore, Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014), 5. eBook.
[5] Kenneth S. Reyes, “International Migrant Population (Stocks).” Migration Data Portal. https://www.migrationdataportal.org/themes/international-migrant-stocks-overview#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20UN%2C%20the,from%20275%20million%20in%202020.
[6] Craig S. Keener, Comentario del Contexto Cultural de la Biblia: Nuevo Testamento, trans. Nancy Bedford et al. (El Paso, TX: Editorial Mundo Hispano, 2003), 325.
[7] Emilio Alvarez, Pentecost: A Day Full of Power (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2023), 11.
[8] Erick Fernando Tuch Tasej, Misión y Transformación Social: Una Perspectiva Pentecostal (Salem, OR: Publicaciones Kerigma, 2016), 15.
[9] Darío López, La Misión Liberadora de Jesús: El mensaje del Evangelio de Lucas, 3ra ed. (Lima, PE: Ediciones Puma, 2017), 175.
[10] Eldin Villafañe, The Liberating Spirit: Toward an Hispanic American Pentecostal Social Ethic (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 1992), 215.
[11] Samuel Solivan, “The Holy Spirit —Personalization and the Affirmation of Diversity: A Pentecostal Hispanic Perspective,” Teología en Conjunto: A Collaborative Hispanic Protestant Theology (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997), 62.
Comments