That is what Pentecost means.  Originally to the Old Testament Jews, it was the fiftieth day past the Passover and the Exodus from Egypt.  It was called Shavuot, the Feast of Harvest or Weeks, a celebration of the first fruits of spring and giving thanks to God (Leviticus 23, Exodus 23, 34).  It later became celebrated as day the law was given to Moses on Mt. Sinia, and it is still celebrated to this day. 

On this day, the promised Holy Spirit came in power on the waiting believers in Jerusalem.  The fiftieth day past the death of Jesus.  There were two days in the tomb and the third day he rose.  Then he lived with them for forty days, appearing to many, once appearing to 500 at one time.  It is hard for me to imagine what those days were like, but no doubt full of sheer wonder, exciting joy, and new revelation.  He stayed long enough to convince them he was really alive and to explain to them more of his purposes.  Then on the 40th day, he ascended to heaven, returning to his Father.  After that there were eight days of waiting and then the Spirit came.  In power.  Pentacost.  The fiftieth day.

Today is Pentecost Sunday.  In the Godly Play  curriculum for children (which is too wonderful for words), the one red Sunday on the church calendar, is spoken of as “hot.”  Each time it is mentioned, the teacher touches the red block and moves her hand away quickly, pretending it is hot to the touch.  The day was no doubt “hot.”

Here’s what Acts 2 says: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.  Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.  When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewliderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.  Utterly amazed, they asked “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?  Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own language?.” . . Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

We should ask ourselves this same question today.  Pentecost - what does this mean?  What does it mean for my life?  For my church?  A reversal of the Tower of Babel at its finest.  God bringing together his people from all over the world.  The message of Jesus Christ proclaimed in every language.  The Spirit coming to fulfill the promise of Jesus. I will not leave you as orphans.  I will come to you.  (John 16)  Power to be his witnesses.  The Comforter came.  We are not alone. 

We wear red at our little church on Pentecost Sunday.  We remember the day the Spirit came like tongues of fire.  And today I seek to know a bit more of that power, real power for real life.  In my life, my family, my hurts and failures, my calling.  To live out the mission God has given all of us - to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

(The picture above is a beautiful banner that can be ordered at Pieceful Quilting.)

I accidentally came across this book in the library while looking at the World War II fiction.  I love Madeline L’Engle, so I picked it up.  I’m so glad I did.  The book is a beautiful story about a family and how they learned, really learned. the mercy of God.  L’Engle has filled the book with amazing quotes and scientific facts, through her characters.  It is a heart-warming story of love, friendship, growing through pain, and learning to embrace the mercy of God and give it to others.  The title comes from a quote within the book by William Langland,  “But all the wickedness in the world  which man may do or think is no more to the mercy of God than a live coal dropped in the sea.”  It’s a good read if you need something that is easy to read and at the same time uplifting.

I want to tell you about an amazing trilogy I just stumbled upon by Ted Dekker.  Wow.  That is about all I can say.  My neighbor came over and handed me the first book of his first trilogy earlier this week, and I finished it a few minutes ago.  The book is called Black, and it is a hard-to-describe work of fiction based on this world and another world where good and evil live separately, at least until a twist of events causes the entrenchment of evil into the beautiful world of Elyon. 

The story mirrors the Biblical account of creation and the fall of the world into sin.  It also brilliantly captures the heart of God and his delight in his creation, especially mankind.  As I read about the encounters with Elyon my heart longed for the day I will be free to experience this type of intimacy with my Creator in paradise.  The way Dekker describes the evil presence in creation is at the same time breath-taking and chilling.  It is an eye-opening and important piece of work, and I encourage you to read it.

It took me awhile to get into it, because the beginning moves slowly and keeps moving between the two worlds by the dreams of the main character, Thomas Hunter.  But when the story picks up and captures your imagination, it is almost impossible to put down.

Check out the website, and see what you think.  I can’t wait to read the next novel, entitled Red.  Then comes White, followed by several other additions.  The above picture is from Thomas Nelson Publishing Company.  The books can also be found at Amazon.

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle.  But I think the real miracle is. . . to walk the earth.  Thich Nhat Hanh

Have you been to a Christian bookstore lately?  Can’t even make myself go in there very often.  The books for children are the worst.  We sometimes receive Christian books as gifts for our children that we can’t even read to them because the truths are entirely removed from real life.   It makes me imagine God donned with hospital gloves, scrubs, hat and mask. Sometimes it seems Christianity has been reduced to “how to make life work” or “how to be a good girl and boy.”  Let me tell you, this is not the stuff of the Bible.  God is not sterile.  Holy, yes.  Sterile and far removed from our “germs” of messiness, failings, need, hurts, and questions - no way. 

Think about the Genesis account of creation.  He spoke and there was light.  He also spoke the water and land, stars and moon, plants and animals into existence.  Then, when he made human beings in his own image, he used the dust of the ground.  Now why did he do that?  The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. . .  The method of creating the first woman is even more bizarre.  He put the man to sleep and basically performed the first surgery.  He took out one of his ribs, a messy affair, and closed the man back up, then made a woman out of the rib.  Dirty, bloody affairs, this creation stuff.

I picture God bending down to the dusty ground, possibly spitting in the dirt or forming mud with some water, then artfully and slowly sculpting the image of the first man with the muddy clay.  There is simply no way it happened without his getting dirty and having a good time doing it!  Then, when he is satisfied with his work, he bends again, and with his own mouth, breathes life into the form. 

The ramifications of this idea are enormous.  God was not afraid to get dirty even in his creation of mankind.  How can we believe he is afraid of getting dirty when he deals with us as his dear friends?  He is willing to be involved in the grit and grime of our lives.  He is okay with our inviting him into the unfinished and messy places of our souls.  Not only this, but he calls us to follow suit by allowing others into those places and having lives that are involved with ”messy” people.   We dare not try to escape doing this.

One of the reasons that “Christianity” as an idea has lost its potency in this country is because of this perception that God is sterile.  When we turn Christianity into something that is do-able by keeping a list of rules, we tell the world God is sterile.  When we stay within the confines of the four walls of our churches for fear of being “corrupted” by the culture, we tell the world God is sterile.  When we are more interested in the behavior of our children than of the state of their hearts, we tell our children God is sterile.  When we do not open ourselves up to those around us as fellow human beings, we tell them God is sterile.  When we stop ourselves from facing the inner angst of our own souls, we tell ourselves God is sterile.

And how do we relate to a sterile God?  Only with our gloves on. 

How powerful is this kind of Christianity?  How enjoyable is it to you?  How attractive is it to those who do not believe?  Not very.  

But the good news is that God is not in the least bit afraid of our humanity.  He is not worried about getting into the mess of our lives.  He is big enough to handle our doubts and fears and angry questions.  He is good enough to enter into our hurts and failings.  He is amazingly whole and complete enough to remain all-God even as he comes into our fallen world and lives.  He is absolutely not sterile. He does not wear rubber gloves in his interactions with us.  Let’s take ours off too.