Celebrating the birthday of the Church

Jun 02, 2017

By Chaplain Mike
Pentecost (the word means “fifty”) is celebrated by the Jewish people fifty days after Passover. One of the three pilgrimage feasts of Israel (Leviticus 23, Deuteronomy 16), it was not originally associated with a historical event. In Leviticus it is called, “The Feast of Weeks,” a one-day festival that marked the beginning of harvest season. Both Leviticus and Deuteronomy stress that, during this harvest, special consideration was to be given to provide for the poor and the aliens in the land (Lev 23:22 , Deut 16:11-12). Based on the dating in Exodus 19:1 (when Israel arrived at Mt. Sinai), the feast of Pentecost was expanded to include a commemoration of God giving the Law to his people. The Book of Ruth, with its harvest themes, is read at this time.

When Christians think of Pentecost, we link it with the birthday of the Church. On the day of Pentecost, according to Acts 2, God poured the Holy Spirit out on his new covenant people, creating the community of those who follow Jesus and spread his Good News to the ends of the earth.

Pentecost should be one day when Christians rise up and celebrate. It’s the Church’s birthday! Yet, for many of us, particularly in non-liturgical traditions, it is simply another Sunday. And the “forgotten Person of the Trinity” is ignored, yet once more. Contrast the pomp and circumstance that attends our remembrance of the Son’s coming into the world (Christmas) with the silence that greets the Spirit’s descent (Pentecost)! This is the exact opposite of the tenor of the Biblical witness! How can we get things so backwards?

The cynic in me says that our culture’s view must be, “If we can’t use it to sell stuff, then we’ll just treat it as another day.”

Apparently, we have forgotten Jesus’ words, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). Our Lord himself told us that the Spirit’s coming would be the best thing ever to happen for those who believe in him. For the outpouring of the Spirit is the capstone of Jesus’ finished work. He who became incarnate, who was revealed to Israel, crucified, buried, raised, ascended, and enthroned. Now from the throne, his Spirit falls and puts the new covenant into operation on earth.

The days are surely coming, says the
Lord, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and the house
of Judah. It will not be like the covenant
that I made with their ancestors when I
took them by the hand to bring them out
of the land of Egypt, a covenant that they
broke, though I was their husband, says
the Lord. But this is the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel after
those days, says the Lord: I will put my
law within them, and I will write it on
their hearts; and I will be their God, and
they shall be my people. No longer shall
they teach one another, or say to each
other, Know the Lord, for they shall all
know me, from the least of them to the
greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive
their iniquity, and remember their sin no
more. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
I will sprinkle clean water upon you,
and you shall be clean from all your
uncleannesses, and from all your idols
I will cleanse you. A new heart I will
give you, and a new spirit I will put
within you; and I will remove from
your body the heart of stone and give
you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit
within you, and make you follow my
statutes and be careful to observe my
ordinances… (Ezek 36:25-27)

Is this not worth celebrating?
Shouldn’t our worship this Sunday be one giant birthday celebration, an explosion of colour and sound, a rushing of wind and fire with powerful Gospel preaching (Acts 2), bright, thankful, joyous music (Ephesians 5:18-20), grateful praises for the hope of eternal life and renewal of all creation, beginning with our own lives (Romans 8), earnest prayers and creative, self-denying efforts for assisting the needy with Spiritinspired love (Acts 4:32-35)?

I suggest that we raise a petition to put the celebration of Pentecost on par with the other great holidays. I can’t imagine how hurt the Holy Spirit must be when we fail to commemorate the day of his arrival. And what do we really think of the Church when we ignore her birthday? And how much do we genuinely treasure what God, through Jesus, has done for us, when we ignore the Divine Person who was sent to make the gifts of redemption real in our lives?