There were Jews from around the world gathered in Jerusalem. Hearing the disciples' testimony, they said, "…in our own languages we hear them speaking about G_d's deeds of power." All were amazed and a bit perplexed, some were saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."" On the day of Pentecost, Creation inherited the Creator's mission to be "witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." We all share the Spirit, who bestows the variety of gifts needed for us to work together for the common good, but "some believed and some believed not."
Pentecost began as the Jewish feast called Shavuot. After the Passover liberation from bondage in Egypt, Shavuot marked G_d giving the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Hellenistic Jews called the feast Pentecost because it occurs 50 days after Passover. The Torah mandates a seven-week counting of the grain offering in the temple beginning on the second day of Passover, to be immediately followed by Shavuot. The relationship between these ancient feasts is important. G_d first liberated his people from bondage at the Passover, and then reconstituted them as his people by giving them the law. In liturgical congregations that design is roughly repeated. At the Easter resurrection, G_d liberates his people from the bondage of sin and death, and then on Pentecost G_d incorporates his people into the body of Christ, by giving the Holy Spirit. The movement is from Exodus to reconstitution, from liberation to community formation. Easter is not the end of the story, nor is it the end of G_d's mission.
Years after the great flood, the people spoke one common language. As time passed they began to forget the Divine power which gave them access to life and death. Collectively, it was decided to create a tall structure which would give them access to heaven. Everyone understood the instructions given in this common tongue, and all worked to build a man-made route to G_d. The Lord confused their single language into many languages, so that it was impossible to follow the ingenuity of man to gain access to the endless gifts of heaven. Then generations later, on the day of Pentecost following Jesus's resurrection, came the voice of the Holy Spirit which all could understand in their own language. The voice revealed that the "house not made with hands" cannot be attained by use of any design made with human hands. We are divinely created and we are incorporated into the body of Christ only through the grace of G_d. In baptism, we pass through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and make a claim on both the resurrection and the outpouring of the Spirit.
Salvation is fundamentally about being in Christ. We were in Christ in his redemptive acts. We are in Christ through faith and the Spirit, and we shall be in Christ when the consummation of all things comes. Baptism involves us in the past, the present, and the future. While we are gathered as one body in Christ, the members of the body each have a full, unique, and secret gift of the Spirit. Persons therefore are not simply absorbed into a larger corporate, or even mystical whole, but are called forth as unique persons in Christ. Persons who have a vocation and an intricate dignity grounded in the gift of the Holy Spirit. Every believer is a temple of the Holy Spirit. As the body of Christ we are enlarged and our life is never the same. Like Jesus the human, and Jesus the Divine, by faith through baptism and obedience in fulfilling G_d's mission, we are drawn towards the many mansions of the Father's house, where all believe.
Pax,
jbt
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