She was dying and her closest family members were with her. Lucid to the very end she
extracted one final promise from them regarding the future of her youngest child and a dream she had regarding
that child's potential. There was no question in anyone's mind that they would find a way to fulfill that dream,…and
they did.
Love and a promise can give you power to overcome all kinds of obstacles. Keep that in mind when you consider the
meaning of Pentecost!
In our liturgical calendar we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit as an event that happened at the great festival
of the in-gathering, a traditional feast dating back to the building of the first Temple, which comes 50 days or
seven weeks after Passover.
It is one of the three pilgrimage festivals, and after the destruction of that first Temple it also became a time
to celebrate the coming of the divine Law on Sinai. Legend has it that on that occasion a flame came down from
heaven and divided into 70 tongues of fire, one for each nation of the world. All could understand, but only one
nation promised to keep the Law,…Israel. Three thousand lives were lost when the Law was given, for it was both
great and terrible in its power.
The Hebrew name is Shavuot (pronounced sha-voo-ote). The Greek name Pentecost is found only in the New Testament
(Acts 2:1).
Pentecost is a major festival and has a dual significance: historical and agricultural, as do the feasts of Passover
and Tabernacles. But unlike Passover and Tabernacles, it is observed for only two days in the orthodox tradition
and only one in the Reform Movement. As I mentioned last week Pentecost marks the end of the barley harvest and
beginning of the wheat harvest, and counting the days from the second day of Passover to Pentecost is called the
"Counting of the Omer," which determines that day for the first cutting of the new barley.
In Luke's gospel there are 120 believers assembled in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost, a numerical symbolism
his hearers would have recognized as representing the true Israel. Then comes the Spirit and the harvest! The Spirit
comes as wind and tongues of fire,…again, powerful symbols reminiscent of stories told about Sinai.
In unfolding truths fifty days is also the same length of time as the final trimester before birth, and Pentecost
is often called the birthday of The Church. In "birthing fashion" the Holy Spirit continues to knit together
today's congregations with all of the believers who have proceeded us in generations past. Thus the living organism
of the Church continues forward as one body, not of "dried bones," but of living flesh and blood that
bears witness for the Kingdom of Christ. That's a very important point in both Old and New Testament examples.
The power of Pentecost was not a one on one experience but an experience of each person in the context of community!
I think most of us grew up hearing the Pentecost story explained as a "miracle of tongues" through which
the Holy Spirit gave the disciples the power to speak in different languages in order to communicate the mighty
works of God. But it was also a miracle of hearing, for the multitude knew that the disciples were from Galilee,
and yet they could all understand them in their own languages.
So the ability to speak out for God is only half of the story. The ability to hear is the other part. Communication
is still the most difficult part of any relationship, be it around a family dinner table or in a congregation.
Having the courage to speak one's feelings directly to the people who are actually involved, and having the ability
to really drop the defenses and take to heart what is being said are not natural skills. They are gifts which must
be developed. One may excel in either aspect, and still fall short if the recipient is not equally skilled.
Prior to Pentecost the disciples were a pretty powerless lot. They were an insignificant Jewish ethnic group, and
they came from the lowest segment of that group itself. Furthermore, at the time of Pentecost they were in hiding,
fearing further persecution from their own people. So a second part of the miracle is found in the inspiration
of the powerless to see that they were blessed even in their weakness, a fulfillment of Jesus teachings in the
Sermon on the Mount that we have come to know as the Beatitudes. The ones who had power in this story were those
devout Jews from every nation who were living in Jerusalem. They were the majority who did not believe that Jesus
was the Messiah, and saw the spread of such nonsense as potentially dangerous to their own position.
That fear and the futility of such a position is still a major struggle for the Church today. If we are to move
toward Pentecost in the midst of a multicultural society, we must work in cooperation with the Holy Spirit to allow
the miracle of the tongue and the miracle of the ear to happen among us, for change is a part of growth, and no
power but God's can exist forever. So the Church needs always to encourage the powerless to speak up, and the powerful
to learn to listen.
It ushers in a "new era" but what does that mean? Real human newness cannot be a building, a power plant,
a landing on the moon, a psychological theory, a sociological paradigm, a new communication system, or even a new
set of laws or more rigorous enforcement of the old ones. We cannot change the quarrels in a family by eating better
food, or by installing a large screen TV or buying a bigger car. A real evolutionary step can only be made if mentalities
and attitudes change; and real progress can only be made if outlooks and judgments change.
There is a mysterious moment in our all of lives - a moment when belief comes alive - a moment when our thinking
about the promises that God has made becomes in us a transforming faith - a moment when ideas and concepts suddenly
move our minds and our hearts, and through these, move our feet and our hands, our mouths and our lips in a new
and a life giving way. We come to recognize that we are loved and have been loved from the beginning of time itself
and that moment is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
What does it take for such Spirit to take over a church? Perhaps the clue lies in the words "they were all
together in one place." Not all of one mind but all of the same capability.
There is a moment in the new movie "Bruce Almighty" where Morgan Freeman who plays the part of God, and
who has relinquished his power to Jim Carey for a few days, asks him…"So what have you done with my power?"
It is a question God would have the right to ask any one of us who claim to have received the Spirit at our baptism.
Jesus said the Advocate will bring proof to the world when it comes - correcting misconceptions and leading people
into all truth. We tend to think of the Spirit as inspiration, the get up and go juice of the Christian life, a
feeling or an enthusiasm. The criterion for 'Spirit filled life' suggested by Jesus in John's gospel is a new view
of sin, righteousness and judgment and an openness to the truth which the Spirit will lead us into. Jesus does
not specify when the Spirit will speak the things that are to come, only that it will happen. Can we bear what
Jesus has to say to us through the Spirit today?
There are no quick fixes for those who want to take a trip to Spirit Land. No bells and whistles that can make
"feeling more spiritual" a reality. It is a discipline, a careful developing of a gift already given.
Perhaps the greatest gift of all. Some might say that gift is life itself…which certainly is a wonder and a mystery.
Or we can say with Paul in I Corinthians 13 that the greatest gift is love. Which is also is a wonder and mystery.
When we ask a person what is the greatest gift you can give to your spouse, children, friends or others, we know
it is not money or things. Most people would be quick to say "love." But that's really not quite true.
Many a person has been offered love and failed to see it at all. Rather it is the knowledge that we are loved,
the consciousness to experience that there are persons in our lives who with love will stand beside us, accept
and encourage us that transforms us. That person may not be able to give anything but the opportunity to recognize
the gift.
Around 400 A.D. one of the great writers on the Bible, John Chrysostom wrote, "God has given us the greatest
gift possible and in profusion…What is this gift? It is the Holy Spirit."
In giving us the Spirit, God is saying to us I am here with you. I will stand with you even if everyone else flees.
I love you so much that if necessary I will challenge your way of life so that you can be saved. I will put road
blocks in the way if you are tempted to sin, and if you do sin, I will still be with you to forgive you and put
to put you back into right relationship.
I will be like the father of the Prodigal Son, and I will wait as I have promised, watching and preparing, and
always rejoicing and renewing whenever a child of mine returns home. Love and a promise can give you power to overcome
all kinds of obstacles. Remember that!
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