Pentecost
“Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.”
In some ways, it was a day much like any other in Jerusalem, different, only insofar as there were more people around – it being a feast. People had come from far and near as they always did to remember and celebrate that moment hundreds of years earlier, when God revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai the Law and Commandments for the Israelites. It was one of the major feasts. The disciples were listening and watching from the safety of the house, shaken and bewildered as they were by all that had happened over the past few weeks.
There had been a man central in their lives – Jesus was his name. He had been their inspiration and secretly they had held hopes that he might rid them of Roman occupation. Such charisma he had, an extraordinary person who taught about the things of God in a way never experienced before. Indeed, one of their number, Peter, declared that he was the Son of God, and though this was true, it was also something Jesus asked them to keep secret. And he had such love for people irrespective of their health, employment or personal circumstances. He even healed some in the most miraculous way. What he couldn’t bear was hypocrisy, and those who sought to contain God within the boundaries of their own vision and understanding; he could frequently be heard letting rip at the Pharisees, Sadducees and others for the way in which they distorted the will and purposes of God to suit their own ends. Then it all went horribly wrong and the political and religious leaders had him crucified. But what was so much more unbearable was that Jesus was betrayed by one of those he had counted as his friend; and when he needed the support of those friends most, well, the one who had earlier declared him to be the Son of God denied ever having known him; then he and the others disappeared, fearful for their own lives. Only his mother and some other women seemed to stick by him. But then, the most extraordinary thing happened – these women went to the tomb a few days later and it was empty – it seems he had defied even death and had risen from the depths of hell itself. And those disciples who had turned their back on him just a few hours earlier began to report seeing him, conversations with him, sharing meals with him, listening again to his teaching. Their joy was unsurpassed. But then within the space of a very short time, he was taken mysteriously from their sight. Though he had tried to prepare them for the moment when he would return to his Father in Heaven, it was nevertheless a shock when it happened. This group of very ordinary men was on an emotional roller coaster – joy and bewilderment in almost equal proportion.
And then the most amazing thing happened. Suddenly it was as if they were filled and surrounded with an incredible power – the whole atmosphere was electric and there was a feeling of what can only be described as intense energy – like fire and wind blowing and burning through the place transforming everything. And those bewildered men became quite different – they began speaking about the mighty works of God in ways that local people and visitors from other countries could understand, and what they said was filled with passion, energy and such courage. Many who heard were amazed and inspired, but as ever there were the cynics, who either didn’t want to hear, or didn’t want their own comfort zones to be challenged and declared that this was nothing more than drunkenness. Peter regained his sense of leadership, and surrounded by the rest of the disciples he told the people gathered in Jerusalem that what they were experiencing was certainly not a drunken rabble – it was still early in the morning for goodness sake; no, what was being experienced was nothing other than the spirit of God about which the prophet Joel had spoken:
I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit…
Filled with and energised by the power of the Spirit, no longer did they just sit – they moved allowing the wind of God to blow through them, urging and encouraging them ever onward and forward taking with them the good news of Christ’s saving grace. It was this experience which marked a new point in mankind’s relationship with the living, vital energising God. Fused together by the power of the Holy Spirit, these disparate individuals were enabled to achieve the unthinkable; their visions, their dreams became a reality. And what was begun on that first Pentecost, continues through each generation.
The cynics remain; those who prefer the comfort zone of what is known and feels safe are alive and well but that first Pentecost experience is a reminder that our life of faith in this living, dynamic God was never meant to be a feather-bed experience. God calls us to share that dynamic life which has the power to change and transform this world if we have the courage to follow the men and women of vision and the dreamers of dreams. Each of us is created with that Divine Spark within us – listen to the inner voice which at times may be gently reassuring, but at other times may be urging us on towards a new challenge – not just quietly encouraging, but positively disturbing. We have two choices – we can respond to that challenge and be a part of that dynamic life of faith that is God, leading us into new and unimaginable possibilities for the children of God or we can choose to retreat to the safety and comfort of our unchanging feather bed, safe and secure in what we have always known and done.
As all those assembled in Jerusalem discovered, God allows himself to be experienced anywhere, anytime; he is no longer tied to time and space. The Spirit of God breaks through boundaries, expressing His passionate and determined desire for unhindered communion with His children. How dare we, then, build barriers and endeavour to contain the God who will not be pinned down, save briefly on the cross.
So let the wind and fire of Pentecost blow and burn through us, taking with it the old dust and cobwebs, the dross and baggage that stifle us. Free from all that binds us, we will be able to see things in a new and clearer light, ready to listen to the vision and dreams of others and willing to step into the unknown to experience anew the incredible power of God to achieve the unimaginable; and to carry the love of God out into the world, to the towns and villages in which we live, to the people who long to know that peace and love which is the essence of God himself.
What an exciting and exhilarating prospect.
Lesley McCormack, May 27th, 2007
