Dear Friends in Christ, May
2, 2010
In this season of
remembering Christ’s death and resurrection we are called to remember and
reflect upon the beginning of the church with the pouring out of the Holy
Spirit upon the Apostles during the event of Pentecost.
Pentecost was the
celebration of first fruits of the harvest.
It is the time of the beginning of the harvest in the Hebrew
agricultural year. This occurred 50 days
after the Passover and it celebrated the bringing in of the winter wheat and
barley harvest. It was the only
celebration that was not tied to the salvation history of
During this event they
would perform the “Wave Offering”. It was
not like the wave we see in the athletic stadiums of today. The Israelites would bring a grain offering
from this first harvest to the temple.
It was held up and waved over their heads honoring God and giving thanks
for the bounty of the harvest.
The important part of
this festival was that it was only one day.
It was only the “beginning” of the harvest season. So after this festival, they went back into
the fields and orchards and continued the work of the harvest that lasted until
the final harvest in the fall which was celebrated with the week of the
Festival of Booths: the fall harvest.
For us as Christians,
Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection.
He is the first born of that resurrection. With the Pentecost event, and the coming of
the Holy Spirit upon God’s people, we celebrate that pouring out of God’s
Spirit on all people. Like the Jewish
festival it too is only the beginning of the harvest season. It is only the time to stop and give thanks
to God for the coming of The Christ, the first fruits, of the resurrection and
the reconciliation of mankind and creation to God.
Pentecost is the
beginning of the work of the church. It
is the time where the church is called to go into the work of the fields and
continue the harvest started with Jesus.
The pouring out of God’s power in the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles was
the continuation of the harvest.
The Church is in the
harvest season. It is what Christ was
referring to when he said: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are
few.” We are in the middle of the
work. That is our job as the church; to
bring people to Christ who points us to God, and God’s intention for the
creation. We as the church are called to
the work of bringing in The Kingdom of God.
So, when at the end of the age, we all will celebrate with The Christ
with the final ingathering, the final harvest of God, the Festival of Booths
which is the celebration of God’s great provision, and
great banquet of our God at the end of time as we know it: The final harvest of
the resurrection.
So,
come,- let us celebrate the provision of God. Let us also turn to the work and the call of
God in our lives in bringing in the harvest of God’s people. Let us live into the example of the Christ we
follow, and continue the work begun in the bringing in of The Kingdom of God.