Christmas is irrelevant without Easter, and Easter is pointless without Pentecost. But can Pentecost be transformative today?
But we don’t celebrate Pentecost like we do with Christmas nor Easter.
What is Pentecost?
In Judaism they celebrate Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks, as akin to our Harvest Festival, the first fruits of the wheat harvest. The Festival of Weeks, a reminder that they needed to count the weeks from Passover until this next Festival. Does this remind us of how we may have counted the weeks since lockdown was started?
Later within Judaism, they would associate this day with the remembrance of the law, the 10 Commandments, given by God on Mount Sinai.
We may know of it as Whit Sunday. The Anglo Saxon translation is wit, for this brings understanding to the disciples filled with the Holy Spirit.It is that realisation that God’s very life, breath and energy is alive amongst believers.
Pentekostos just means the fiftieth day.
But Pentecost means so much more for today I believe. Can Pentecost be transformative today?
It was Walter Brueggemann who said:
“Pentecost is the moment when gestation ceases and birthing occurs. Both an end and a beginning, the leaving of which is past, the launching forth into that which is now beginning. But it is not a time of completion – it’s not finished. It is moving forward into new dimensions of being, whose basic forms are dear, but whose fulfilment has yet to be realised. We are in that transition state, from the past to the future”…the old normal to the new normal.
Walter Brueggemann, et al. “A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV Year A”,
(Louisville: John Know Press, 1995), p. 329.
Whereas in the past the Gift of the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures including the Commandments (613 of them), united the people as a holy nation; the gift of the Spirit unites all people. This is an inclusive celebration – no exclusions.
But we are in that state of transition.
State of Transition
Who was there in that first Pentecost? – recall that they didn’t know it was going to be transformed at such a time until very much later. It’s only in retrospect do we see such changes. This was Luke’s opening scene in the Book of Acts!
There were the 11 disciples. Usually the Bible says the 12, it’s like a title, but here it lists those on the top table. Interestingly it also adds ‘together with certain women’, including the mother of Jesus, Mary. Judas has died, in a different way to how Matthew describes. Oh and by the way, suicide was a just way to die in those biblical times.
It was just then came along Justus and Matthias to draw lots – you have to feel for Justus. He lost. He did go onto become the Bishop of a major town called Eleutheropolis, the ‘City of the Free’. “Not being the chosen one can lead you to the ‘City of the Free’ if you can but keep an open heart and an open mind.” You see, God is there for everyone.
I’m not going to dwell on the story today: the bit about fire, or what looked like fire, on the people appearing drunk, on the transformation from 120 followers to 3000 – albeit that 1000 was the largest counting block in the Bible. Just think how many times you hear 4000, 5000 those who ate with Jesus with the bread and the fishes; the 12000 in each tribe of Israel, previously known as Jacob, making 144000 people in total – what exact, No, a large number.
How can we describe Pentecost?
Jesus had died and come back to life. He had recently ascended upwards to Heaven. Good metaphorical description. He had gone back to work from home, as they say. Now the community were in disarray. All that they had worked for, tried to understand, grappled to come to terms with, was just shattered around them.
Then suddenly it came to them, this message was direct, down to earth – literally, and was readily accepted. It wasn’t given for just one set of people, but for all. From now on, the ‘Church’ would never be the same again! Well it wasn’t yet even called a church, that would 7 Chapters later!
Transformation
What was a dysfunctional group of individuals, trying to find ways to tell the story of Jesus, suddenly, explosively became a people who lived every aspect of Jesus’ story. The Church then grew, not in proper buildings – that would take a few centuries and some political change – but in peoples houses, where what was important was living the message of God, being part of the change. Pentecost was transformative.
In recent days Revd Rosie Harper, the Chaplain to a Bishop in Buckinghamshire, has upset a few people. She spoke of Order, Disorder and Reorder.
The Order was the semblance of traditional services, everyone just getting by. But when they looked they saw that the cracks were starting to develop, especially in terms of finance. The future was bleak.
Then the pandemic struck – we now have disorder. We have confusion, just like those 11 disciples and newly promoted Matthias, who must have wondered what had hit him – for he was now on fire – out of the frying pan and into the fire as they say.
People were speaking so many languages, and we have had to consider our language. We spoke of this a fortnight ago, especially with Zoom and all this social media. But importantly we have seen already a transformation.
From a number of separate congregations we have a pan ecumenical plus group – in English: a mix of Baptists, Methodists, Independents and also those not a member of a particular church. And please know this – you are all so welcome: not tolerated, accepted for the time being, but truly welcomed. Just like in those first days, there was a real mix of people, and not all were card carrying members.
And so to reorder. What comes next? From chaos came?
So what can we see coming next?
I can personally see three possible strands:
A Traditional congregation, one who seeks to find solace and guidance through a formal church service.
An online congregation, having that opportunity to possibly even ‘attend’ when they want to, and worship in a very different personal way in their own home perhaps.
An experiential congregation, one that seeks to live and serve God in a very practical manner, finding worship as they journey with God. These are not necessarily linked to a particular church service, but with a community of liked minded individuals.
One person could belong to one or more of these.
Bottom line: All are welcome.
This new reordered ‘church’ isn’t a “batteries included” gift – it’s dynamism, just like the first church, came from the people themselves. Passionate about that could be, enthusiastic about they could see God’s Kin_dom and wanted to be part of it.
How might we participate in this new reorder of Church?
No, I’m not asking for you to join the latest Coffee rota, or the garden weeding list, but what skills do we offer which can help take this ordered, now disordered church in the new phase of being reordered?
This isn’t about ticking a box. This is critical, for these are critical times. The Methodist Church is actively considering #NewPlacesForNewPeople. Here I wrote about a radical administration/liquidation model.
What are your dreams for the ‘church’? You can dream small – it’s ok.
It was a very personal question. One in which there is not a wrong answer. Phew!
So what to do next?
Pentecost was that time when Jews and Gentiles suddenly became very much aware that this wasn’t a club for those members, but an inclusive place, welcoming all. God had shown them what could be. The death and subsequent resurrection was wow, but this transformation to the society was just quantum times bigger, better – and so the Church spread to places never imagined.
Not by merely telling people, but by being with the community and speaking their language. By being part of the community, people could see what was so different in their lives. They spoke authentically, telling people how it was, the good and the bad bits but, that in God, they had hope. There was a desire to be one community, an inclusive welcoming group, one who saw people loved by God, not a label. They could work diversely so if someone didn’t come to their group, that was fine, but they were still loved, cherished and mutually they supported each other.
Pentecost is a truly transformative occasion: it’s now our chance, more than in any recent times. What is our reordered community going to look like? Over to us.
I can’t not mention the transformation required in the USA, and across the rest of the world. #Breonna Taylor #George Floyd