The New Testament records the teachings and preaching of
Jesus. We believe Jesus was the son of God. We believe God put
Jesus into our world to show us how to live.
But then, Jesus was arrested, tried, crucified, and he
ascended into heaven. How could the small group of Jesus' disciples have
the energy and foresight to then take Jesus' message throughout the
world? Today, there are more than two billion followers of Jesus in the
world.
As it turned out, soon after Jesus' ascension to heaven, the
Jewish world (centered in Jerusalem) launched their annual celebration of Shavuot.
Because it was the end of the winter wheat season, it was their long-standing
tradition now to thank God for a good harvest.
Perhaps more importantly, however, Shavuot also commemorated
the giving to us by God of the Ten Commandments, at Mt. Sinai, fifty days after
the Exodus.
Shavuot was one of three annual feasts celebrated in
Jerusalem. Every Jewish male was required to participate. More than
a million Jews from all parts of the Old World were said to stream into
Jerusalem to celebrate and worship in the magnificent marble Temple. The
city was filled to capacity and throngs of celebrants filled the streets.
Suddenly, during the Temple service of Shavuot, a sound like
the blowing of a violent wind came and filled the house where the disciples were
gathered. The disciples were filled with a new spirit ---- the Holy
Spirit. Tongues of fire seemed to rest on each of them, and they spoke in other
languages. Immediately, bewildered people "from every nation under
heaven" gathered around them. The people marveled that they could
understand the the disciples as they spoke and preached. The disciples
were thus empowered to proclaim the gospel of the risen Christ. They went into
the streets of Jerusalem and began preaching to the crowds gathered for the
festival of Shavuot.
These were people like you and me, but they were suddenly
inviting Christ into their lives. Thus, they were allowing God's spirit to fill
them and to empower them to do His will. In an important sense,
this was the birth of our church, because it was actually the birth of a community
of believers.
Although some people mocked, about three thousand others
believed and were baptized. Christ had promised his Apostles that he would send
a "counselor" as his replacement, and on Pentecost they were granted
the "gift of the spirit." (Acts 2:1 - 4)
At Central Presbyterian Church, we celebrate this event each
year. We call it Pentecost. In 2016, we celebrate Pentecost on
Sunday, May 15, fifty days after Easter.
What Christians saw on the day of Pentecost was God giving
His power to the people. The Holy Spirit, who was thought by the
Jews to reside only in the Temple, now had moved into a new "temple"
---- the "temple" of individual Christian believers. God was
demonstrating that He was beginning a new age, an age rooted in His people.
Whereas, in the era of the Old Testament, the Spirit was
poured out almost exclusively on prophets, priests and kings, in the age of the
New Testament, the Spirit would be given to all people. All would
be empowered to minister regardless of their gender, age, or social position.
The Church of Jesus Christ would be a place where every single person
matters, where every member contributes to the health and mission of the
church.
If there is a sign of the Spirit, it is
unity-through-diversity. There is no challenge in uniformity, no need for
the Spirit in homogeneity. But, there is no greater challenge, no greater
need for the Spirit, than when people who live and look fundamentally different
are baptized into one body.
So, Pentecost is a "thank-you" feast. But,
the mark of how thankful we really are is how much we care for those people who
do not have as much as we have. The mark of Pentecost is how much the
community that was filled with the Spirit, cares about what they offer others
---- their time, their money and their love. In this new
"temple," the question is: How much care do you feel in giving
over to others what God gave you?
The next time you witness a sign or wonder from God in the
form of the unexpected presence of Grace, note that God does do unexpected,
divine and wonder-infused things. In our reason-dominated age, a
commitment to professing awe and wonder at a work of the Holy Spirit is just
the kind of counter-cultural message that people need to hear. The life
of the Church continues to depend upon the Holy Spirit.
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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult
Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage your personal growth this year
at CPC.
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