Sunriver Christian Fellowship
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Sunriver Christian Fellowship
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Dear Family:
Pentecost: the agricultural festival known as the Feast of Weeks in the Hebrew liturgical calendar brought Jews together to offer thanksgiving for the fruits of the early grain harvest.
By the 1st century, Pentecost had moved from an agricultural festival to a commemoration of the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai, celebrated 50 days after Passover. In the beginning centuries of the Early Church, Pentecost embraced a moment in time in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit descended upon the multitudes like the sound of a weighty rushing wind and by tongues of fire settling upon each person. The Divine presence touched them all.
Please read Acts 2:1-11 and 44-46. “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous heart.”
The same theme of sacrificial sharing is found later in Acts 4:32, “Now the whole group of those who believed were of heart and soul. And no one claimed private ownership of any possession but everything they owned was held in common.” Acts 4:34-35, “There was not a needy person among them, and as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold.”
You and I know the Pentecost story well. Or do we? When I think about it I can imagine the wind of God coming in such fervor that the crowds were diving under benches, bushes and each other to get out of its tumultuous path. And when the Spirit descended like flames above people’s heads, I can see a swatting contest of cloaks and shirts and odd branches, being swung by followers who were scared of being burned. I can imagine an orgy-like atmosphere when people all over the Roman Empire heard their own language being proclaimed by a group of non-educated Gallileans.
I can see an image of the Divine reaching down to touch old and young, maimed and healthy, slave and free, male and female, igniting holy passion in each and everyone. I can see a transformed Peter preaching with such oratorical skill that as a result of his sermon 3000 people were baptized!!
And that is where my ruminations end on Pentecost. But they end way too soon.
Dr. Barbara Lundblad, a New Testament scholar writes:
Pentecost ends too soon if it has nothing to do with possessions, with wealth and poverty, with what we call economics….A few years ago I talked with a friend of mine who’s a pastor in New England. “How’s your building program going?” I asked. “Oh, we ran out of money before we got to the worship space,” she said. I thought to myself, “What could be more important than the worship space?” But I kept my thoughts to myself. “We renovated the basement,” she said. “You know, we have a shelter there for homeless men. We put in new showers and renovated the old kitchen. The basement was so drab, and the showers – well, there was only one shower and it was lousy. On the Sunday before the shelter opened, the worship service began as usual in the sanctuary. When it came time for communion, the people carried the bread and cup downstairs to the basement. The whole congregation gathered around the empty beds. They passed the bread and the cup around the circle. The body of Christ given for you. That night the shelter beds were full, and the worship space still needed a lot of work.” The church calendar still said it was the first Sunday of Advent. But the people in that congregation knew that Pentecost wasn’t over. Pentecost shaped their life together, and it had everything to do with economics.
This is worth pondering.
Faithfully, Nance
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