Today is the great feast of Pentecost.  Literally meaning the 50.  50 days after Easter we have the great feast of the Holy Spirit.  We celebrate this day one of the only feasts of the Holy Spirit.  And it is the birthday of the Church, when the believers in Christ became the Church of Christ by the uniting power of the Spirit.

But this day, like Easter itself, is best understood when it is placed next to the Jewish feast that it completed or fulfilled.

As you know, Easter is our Passover.  The lamb, Jesus, is slain for our sins and his blood covers us and protects us.  And we are lead out of captivity to sin and death towards the freedom of the children of God.  I encourage you to learn…

The Jewish feast that occurs 50 days after Passover is called “Shavout”  “the feast of weeks” and it commemorates the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai.  LAW = Identity.

Imagine that scene for a moment.  Having been lead out of the slavery and suffering of Egypt, the people of Israel are led by a pillar of fire, they come to the Mountain at Sinai.  They are camped for a while at the base of the mountain while Moses ascends the mountain to be with God.  Fire and smoke wreath the mountain reminiscent of a scene from the Lord of the Rings.  God speaks with Moses in the fire and wind and mystery.  He gives them the 10 commandments, carved in stone.  The people are left in wonder and awe below, until they grow weary of Moses’ absence.  In their desperation, they make the golden calf.  Moses punishes them.  And We have one of the saddest versed of the bible.  I will send an angel to guide you.  God withdraws the pillar of fire.  They begin the slow trek to the promised land…with an angel guiding them instead of the Lord.

It is this event, the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai, that the Jews celebrate on their Shavout, their feast of Pentecost.  The law formed the deepest identity of Israel, it deepened and gave contours to their the covenant.

On that same day, 2000 years ago, the Church experienced the descent of the Holy Spirit.  The Christian transformation of Shavout is depicted in the painting behind the altar.  The Holy Spirit descends upon the disciples and Mary, like tongues of fire, resting on each of them. 

But this time, the fire is different.  Instead of one huge pillar of fire to lead the whole lot of them, instead of the mountain wreathed with fire and smoke and lighting, it is a small tongue of fire resting upon each of them, gathered together. 

God, who withdrew his fiery presence after the sin of the golden calf, gives his presence once again in the Holy Spirit.  Present to each believer. 

No longer are the people waiting, with various degrees of patience, for their leaders to tell them what God has said, God speaks directly to each human heart.

And instead of the law being written on tablets of stone, the law is written on the tablets of their hearts.  And instead of the law being for Israel alone, it is for all people in every language.

We Americans like the individual flames.  We like the idea that the Holy Spirit is present to each of us and not just through our leaders.  Especially if we feel a deep and continuing disappointment with our civil and ecclesial leadership.  We like the independence and freedom that this implies.  But there is a challenge for us in there as well. 

While the gift of the Holy Spirit is personal, it is not private.  Notice that they are all gathered together in the image.  Pentecost is not the individualization of God or spirituality.  This event does not lead to division or separation.  It leads to true unity as the Christians are called to be radically united in Christ.  To become like parts of a single body, acting in unison.  To be incorporated into the body of Christ—the Church.  Including the structure, and leadership.

But the Holy Spirit calls us to recognize that we each has freedom and responsibility for the care of the body.  Each of us must discern what is right.  To strive to obey the Lord and our conscience.  To live in the fruits of the Holy Spirit: Knowledge of God, Piety, wisdom, courage, understanding, faith, hope, and love.  To find our place in the church and to energetically fulfill it.

Sometimes we would rather complain about how the church doesn’t meet our needs, how our leaders have disappointed us, how it isn’t communal enough, or friendly enough, or care for the poor or vulnerable enough, or beautiful enough, or whatever, without sufficiently examining our own participation.

This is the spirit of the world, opposed to the Holy Spirit, and the fruits of this spirit are: Indifferent Cynicism.  Passive Critique.  & withdrawal / isolation. 

But Pentecost challenges us to gather together!  To shake off the spirit of the world with its cynicism.  Definitive “no” to passivity.  To lay claim to the gift of the Holy Spirit given to each of us.  Feel the power of the Holy Spirit.  The guidance of the Holy Spirit.  The energy of the Holy Spirit.  In our own lives, deeply shared with one another in community.  Settle for nothing less.  And then look for how we can use that power within the Church, to transform the world, and set it on fire with God’s love.