Happy Birthday!
The church always seems to get it wrong. We do not sing Christmas songs until after Christmas, even though every store is playing them from before Thanksgiving. New Year's Day is usually in early December. And the birthday of the Church is in late May or, as this year, in early June, when most high schools and grade schools are celebrating the END of the year of school.
God had instructed Israel's male adult citizens to gather three times a year in Jerusalem: at the beginning of the harvest season (another surprise: barley was ready to harvest in April and wheat in May), at the end of the harvest season (still another surprise: the grain was harvested by early June) and at the end of the harvest of the fruits (September, the seventh month, but the month in which they celebrated the New Year, which will have to go unexplained until another time)! Notice these are all connected with the fruits of the earth. God wanted the people to say thank you three times during the year (none of which came in November, when our harvest is finally done).
As the people gathered at the beginning of the harvest season, for Passover, Jews from around the Roman Empire would come to Jerusalem, sort of like Muslims gather in Mecca from everywhere. They would have returned home telling the message of the death of the prophet Jesus, and the amazing story that some said He had come back to life. Then, when they returned at the end of the harvest (fifty days later, or seven sevens plus one=Pentecost), the Spirit of the risen Lord blew through Jerusalem. He caused many Jews and others from everywhere to hear about the resurrection and ascension and to be brought to faith, only to be scattered like dandelion seeds back into the far reaches of the Empire. It was not email, nor snail mail, but it worked wonders. Not long after, apostles and others followed to establish congregations in the power of the Spirit. This has been going on ever since.
So Pentecost is really the Happy Birthday celebration of the church. As we enjoy celebrating our birthdays, so does the Holy Spirit help us to celebrate the new life provided by Jesus' death and resurrection. The "party" includes an invitation to many people, so they can be touched and come alive, in order to live forever with Him. Instead of bringing gifts, we take the gift of forgiveness to others and live by the Spirit in a new relationship with everyone around us. Party on!
In Christ our Lord and Savior,
Pastor Thomas Trapp
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