Happy birthday, church! Today is Pentecost, that day almost two thousand years ago when, as we heard in our first lesson from Acts, the Church was born through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The apostles are gathered together in Jerusalem, unsure of what the future holds now that the risen Christ has left them for the last time. And then, suddenly, out of nowhere, there comes a sound like the rush of a violent wind.

Jesus prays for his disciples. That simple truth is at the heart of our gospel reading from St. John this morning. It is the evening before the Crucifixion, and Jesus knows that suffering and death are imminent. Yet, rather than be consumed with worry over his own painful destiny, Jesus’ concern is instead for his friends, those he loves.

Much as I love our little chapel here by Singing Beach, Emmanuel Church is not the church that most people associate with Manchester-by-the-Sea. Let’s admit it, the oldest and most prominent church in town is that of our Congregational brothers and sisters, First Parish Church. A classically beautiful “small town New England” church, First Parish has a commanding presence in the heart of Manchester, overlooking the harbor and right next to Town Hall.

Over these past few Sundays, we have been winding our way through the sixth chapter of John’s gospel, listening to Jesus teach about bread and how God feeds us when we least expect it. We have heard Jesus remind his disciples of God’s faithfulness in feeding manna to the Hebrew people during their forty-year wandering in the wilderness. We have watched Jesus feed five thousand from just a few loaves of bread, creating abundance where before there was only scarcity. And last week we heard Elijah’s famished cries of desperation answered by an angel who offers him bread when he was at his weakest.