The Feast of Pentecost, also called the
Feast of Weeks and Shavuot is a harvest festival held 50 days
after the Feast of First Fruits when the first of the crops were presented to
God, which is why it’s called Pentecost, which means 50. Pentecost is the big
harvest festival after the wheat has been brought in, something like our
Thanksgiving Day. For this feast, the people bring a new grain offering and 2
loaves of leavened bread to the priest as a wave offering to the Lord. The
bread with yeast is a sign that the people now have time to enjoy the harvest
and the Lord’s blessings. Families read the story of Ruth together because her
story happens during the wheat harvest and we see how this festival works out
in real life. This might be something for you to do this afternoon as a family
devotion, to read the story of Ruth out loud together.
The people have worked hard during the
harvest, and
now it’s time to enjoy the Lord’s blessings. It’s a time to be generous and
remember the poor and foreigners among them, giving them an opportunity to
provide for their families even though they don’t own any land themselves. Because
of sin’s effect in the world, there’s poverty, injustice, oppression, family
breakups, and illness which causes a certain number of people to find
themselves in hard times and unable to provide for themselves. This is why the
farmers are told to leave the corners of the field uncut and any wheat or grain
not harvested on the first pass through the fields was to be left for the poor
and foreigner to harvest for their families.
The Festival of Pentecost teaches us to have
compassion on others, to realise that what we have been blessed with carries a
responsibility to make sure the whole community is provided for. Worshipping God
is done through how we live with each other, not simply the time we spend here in
church on Sunday mornings, or like today when you’re all worshipping today at
home with your families. This is why the story of Ruth became a part of this
festival as we see these laws lived out in the story of Ruth and Boaz. It’s a
reminder that what we have all belongs to God and is given to us to be a
blessing for all people. There are so many people on the margins, struggling to
get by and not wanting a handout, but also needing some help to provide for
their families. How can we leave the corners of our fields uncut to bless those
in our city and make it possible for them to harvest? How can we invite them to
be part of God’s generosity when people are afraid of losing everything that
they’ve worked so hard for, or who have been on the margins so long they now
fear even more hunger and uncertainty?
The Festival of Pentecost became a time to read the
10 Commandments and think about who God is and who he calls us to be as his
people and children. The Law is a gift to shape us into the people God has
created us to be. Yet it’s important to know that God calls us to focus on generosity,
being a blessing to others, making the other person’s soul and life a priority.
The Law is seen as a gift to the Jews because they know exactly what God
expects and wants from them; they don’t have to try and guess. This makes them
different from the nations around them who have to plead for their gods’ attention,
bribing the gods with sacrifices, never sure if they’re pleasing their gods.
The Law helps the Jews to be a blessing to the nations by revealing a gracious
God who cares about how we live together and who commands us to care about each
other as we follow God.
Pentecost is about the harvest. Because of Jesus
and the Holy Spirit, Pentecost is about people. Jesus’ last words to us are
found in Matthew 28, “All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. Therefore,
go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The head of Jews for Jesus, David
Bricknall, taught me the
entire spring religious season of Israel, from Passover to Pentecost points to
God’s plan to harvest a holy people for himself. It all points to Jesus who
dies as the perfect sinless sacrifice for our sins since we’re unable to make
ourselves acceptable to God no matter how hard we work or how religious we get.
Jesus rises from the dead as a promise that our sins stay buried and we’ll also
be raised up to be with Jesus. Faith is more than just being saved from our
sins, it’s also about our response to Jesus and this is where Pentecost comes
in.
Now, 7 weeks after Jesus’ resurrection, comes the greater
harvest. It’s during the feast of Pentecost that Jesus sends the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit brings many people to put their faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit
comes and those who hear the disciples talk about Jesus receive the good news
of salvation through Jesus. They take this gospel news home to their families
and communities and the number of Jesus followers grows and grows including
both Jew and Gentiles, insiders and outsiders. The church becomes a safe place
for everyone.
This is an echo to the 2 loaves of bread of
Pentecost made
with yeast, pointing to Jews and Gentiles now being together as an offering to
God. Yeast in the Bible usually points to the influence of sin, reminding us
that the church is filled with people who mess up and things aren’t always the
way they’re supposed to be. A mother of teenagers told me that she is a lot
more aware of being a sinner now than she ever was. She had forgotten what it’s
like to be a teenager and pushing the rules and wanting independence and she
admitted to losing it on her kids a number of times and then repenting
afterwards; but yeast is also about taking time, about enjoying the fruit of
our labour, literally in the case of mothers!
Jesus gives
us the Holy Spirit to go make disciples. We’re
not trying to create perfect people, but passionate, compassionate, engaged
followers of Jesus who care about the world around them. As Diane Cormer writes
about teaching her kids, “The way of grace is not about
following the rules perfectly, but about coming back to Jesus over and over
again and saying, “Without You I can do nothing. I can’t even be honest.”
She goes on, “We need to introduce them to a Redeemer who
can take the worst about us and turn us into people who are all about Him. Be alert to those moments of vulnerable brokenness
and show your people the way of God’s amazing grace. Teach them the beautiful
truth of Romans 8:1: “Therefore,
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” No condemnation! No more shame!...
We’re not
trying to disciple perfect people; we’re trying to raise godly people— people
who love God with all their hearts and who are following hard after Jesus.”
Jesus calls us
to go out with the power of the Holy Spirit to those
who don’t know him, and to those who have heard about him all their lives
but still don’t really know him. Our Pentecost harvest is
about showing them who Jesus really is. During a time as this, we can walk in
peace and hope because Jesus is with us, he knows our fear and worry and gives
us his peace. Pentecost is about our neighbourhoods, our schools and
workplaces, the places where we play and live life together, where the people
are, inviting them to join us in finding out more about this Jesus. We build
friendships by working for justice, living with compassion; living together in
our communities to create a strong healthy vibrant society that reflects Jesus.
In a time like
this, it means staying in touch with each other, making sure each one is alright. We
use our phones, email, text, messenger and all our social media platforms to
encourage calmness and peace because we have a God who cares and protects. We look out for those who
are hurting quietly because there’s no work or they feel overwhelmed. Social
distance doesn’t mean emotional distance. We follow a generous God who wants us
to be generous and caring, reaching out in love to those around us and helping
where we can, and still loving them where we can’t. This is the heart of
Pentecost.
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