The Gift of Love

PENTECOST SUNDAY

In Leviticus chapter 23, God instituted the annual keeping of the Passover, the high feast, in which the people of God would give thanks, year after year, for their redemption from slavery in Egypt by offering the paschal sacrifice, and thereby remember and participate in the salvation of God. But the Passover wasn't the only spring festival to be observed in the liturgical life of Israel. God instituted the Feast of First fruits to observed during Passover and the Feast of Weeks. Now, the feast of First fruits, as its name indicates, enjoined thanksgiving to God for the first fruits of the harvest — in this case, the grain and cereal harvested in the spring in ancient Palestine.

Every Israelite was to offer the very first sheaf of the harvest and were not allowed to eat anything from this crop until the first fruits, or the initial portion of the harvest, had been offered in thanksgiving to the Lord. In our day, it's easy to miss how this feast would have required a great deal of faith in that the worshipper would be giving his offering of first fruits at the beginning of harvest time when the crops were scarce and the harvest just beginning. You see, they had to trust that God would indeed bring in the fullness of grain that had yet to come forth, to bring the right amount of rainfall and sunshine to bring forth the best crop.

Now, God commanded his people to count 7 weeks from the Feast of Firstfruits or forty-nine days, and then on the fiftieth day (49 days plus 1), they celebrated the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, the Greek term pentekostos meaning the fiftieth. Thus, Pentecost was Israel’s grand celebration of thanksgiving for the abundant harvest provided by God.

In time, Pentecost also became a memorial feast remembering the momentous occasion when God gave the Law to Israel at Mt. Sinai. So, where Passover celebrated Israel's deliverance from Egypt, the feast of Pentecost celebrated their arrival at Mt. Sinai fifty days later. There, they were made a people, purified by the sprinkling of blood, brought into a marriage covenant with God, and given the Law (or marital vows) by which, if they obeyed, would enjoy felicity, and enjoy Divine blessing.

From this context, the pilgrims gathered on the Day of Pentecost, whom we read about in today's epistle, were not only giving thanks for the ingathering of another abundant harvest but in remembrance of the giving of the Law and the covenant it governed. Now from this rather lengthy explanation of the Old Testament context of Pentecost, the church, since its very inception, has drawn a great number of theological realities and implications.

Let me begin with our Lord Jesus Christ. On that very first Easter morning, some two-thousand years ago, the first fruits of an even greater harvest issued forth, for it was on the first day after the Sabbath that occurred during the Passover celebration that Jesus Christ rose from the dead (Mt. 28:1–10). And, lest there be any doubt that His resurrection fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits, Paul tells us explicitly that Christ is the first fruits of those who will be raised from the dead (1 Cor. 15:20–23).

And just as the first fruits offered to God anticipated the fuller harvest to come at Pentecost, the resurrection of Jesus anticipates the bodily resurrection of His people first promised under the old covenant as revealed to Job who thus confesses, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last, he will stand upon the earth, And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh, I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another" (Job 19:25–27).

Pentecost signifies the great ingathering of Israel, typified in the apostles and 120 disciples who on that day were gathered in "one place." The nations gathered as well, "Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews, and proselytes, Cretes, and Arabians."

A rushing wind from heaven fills the room of the apostles and disciples, and tongues of fire descend and rest upon their heads, signifying the filling of the Holy Spirit. Here again, we think of Mt. Sinai in Exodus Chapter eighteen, when that mount "was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire... and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. So the Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain."

Just as God came down from heaven and descended upon Israel in fire to give them the Old Law written on tablets of stone, so God the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost in fire, not to write the Old Law on the hearts of the Apostles, but the New Law, written on the tablets of their hearts (Jer. 33:33). Thus, the new covenant promised to Israel through the prophetic ministry of Jeremiah was fulfilled in the sending of the Holy Spirit to not merely be with God's people, but to abide in them, to write the Divine Law upon their hearts by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

And being filled with the Holy Spirit, St. Luke records that the apostles "began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Thus, in unity and with one accord, the gathered people of God, now filled with God the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom, began proclaiming the mighty works of God, and by a miracle of the Holy Spirit, the gathered multitude heard the apostolic proclamation in their native language and understood.

Pentecost is the reversing of Babel when the nations were scattered, and their languages confused. God's judgment brought fragmentation and division, confusion, and frustrated the human race. But the gracious reversing of Babel's judgment began at Pentecost: where the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile receded, and the diversity of languages no longer confused. And the New Testament Church is birthed, a new and united people, comprised of Jew and Gentile, proclaiming with one voice the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ for the continued harvest of the nations. And by the church continually preaching the Good News, the "Spirit of the Lord filleth the whole earth" as we read in the Book of Wisdom.

Christ the first fruit, the descending of God in fire, the giving of the Law, the reversal of Babel, the birth of the new covenant people... these are the multi-dimensional aspects of how we understand Pentecost both historically and theologically. Yet, as Christians, we are more than historians. And we do theology not only to increase in the knowledge of God but ultimately, to love and serve Him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives. Love is the Christian life. In fact, the word love is used 7 times in today's Gospel reading. So how is love connected with Pentecost?

Jesus so loved the world that he came down from heaven and became man. He suffered and died for his enemies to bring them death to life. Then, by the power of the Spirit, he rose from the grave, conquering death, and he ascended into heaven from where he asked his Father to send the Holy Spirit down upon the Apostles to indwell them with eternal life and reside with them forever. In a real sense, love compelled Christ to procure the gift of the Spirit for the church by his death and victorious ascension. It is the risen, victorious, and vindicated Christ who keeps his promise, even as he is enthroned in heaven, remembering his beloved disciples and their need for another comforter and their need of the Divine presence.

What I'm saying is this: Jesus asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit out of love for his disciples: to comfort them; to be the animating Spirit within them; the gift of eternal life, Christ in them, by the presence of God the Holy Spirit. Just as the Father lovingly gives the Son, so he gives the Holy Spirit; because every gift from Fathers hand is a gift of love.

Just as Jesus loved Peter, James, John, and all the Apostles, so he loves us, his bride, the church. The same Spirit poured upon the twelve at Pentecost has surely been poured upon us through the recreating waters of baptism. "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" Yes, we are, and yes, the Holy Spirit dwells within us, the church of God. And why? Because God is Love, and he loves his church.

Jesus has not left us as orphans in this world but abides with us by the indwelling Spirit. He has filled you with the Spirit of eternal life and because Christ lives, we too shall live by the Spirit. So not only do we enjoy the Love of Christ and the fellowship of the Spirit but we also our Father as well. For Jesus said that whoever loves him will be loved by his Father. And in all of this, we enjoy Trinitarian fellowship with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. He in us, and we in Him. Such is the Divine Love poured upon the earth on that awesome day of Pentecost.

But remember, beloved, that according to Jesus, the Spirit abides with those who love, not those who grieve the Spirit. "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth." And again, "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him... and we will come to him and make our home with him." The Spirit abides in those who love Him and will not abide in a temple soiled by disobedience and sin: these grieve the Spirit and frustrate union with God.

So then, let us take to heart the words from the book of wisdom, "Love righteousness, ye that be judges of the earth: think of the Lord with a good (heart,) and in simplicity of heart seek him. For froward thoughts separate from God: For into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter; nor dwell in the body that is subject unto sin. For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee deceit, and remove from thoughts that are without understanding, and will not abide when unrighteousness cometh in." Amen.