Pentecost and the Church Universal
by Dr. Terril D. Littrell
God’s Spirit penetrates the chaos of the world, effects a new creation, and offers reconciliation to all people.
The annual Jewish Holy Day Shavuot is represented by the Greek word Pentekoste and the English word Pentecost, which mean "fiftieth day." In the Old Testament, the Jewish Pentecost was known as the Feast of the First Fruits (Numbers 28:26), the Feast of Weeks (Deuteronomy 16:10), or the Feast of the Harvest (Exodus 23:16) that was celebrated fifty days after Passover (Leviticus 23:15). Pentecost is not an independent feast: it is rather the seal or finale to Passover.
Originally, Pentecost was a time of thanksgiving for the harvesting of the wheat. Later it also recalled the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai, as a "birthday" of the Jewish religion. The Pentecost feast came to mean for many Jewish readers and converts the feast of the Mosaic Law.
All male Jews were commanded to bring their tithes to the temple at Pentecost. The Book of Ruth was the appointed Scripture reading for the day, with its accounts of farming and family life. Today it is popular as a time when a Jewish boy holds his bar mitzvah, when he is given responsibility to observe all the commandments.
In the New Testament, St. Luke points to Pentecost as the fulfillment of a New Sinai (Act 2:1-11). Some highlights of Luke’s narrative are:
l The sound (as at Sinai) expresses God and impresses the nearby community.
l The fiery tongues (like God’s coming down to Babel and reminiscent of Moses’ rays of light) illumine the sparks and warm like beams of sunlight.
l The eruption of voices recalls Babel as well as the power of Moses to "translate" God to people.
In John 20:19-23, we read that the risen and glorified Lord breathes on the apostles the Spirit of a new creation. This Spirit brings peace and forgiveness:
Peace (Shalom) means wholeness. The Spirit brings together all who have been scattered.
Forgiveness - God’s Spirit penetrates the chaos of the world, effects a new creation, and offers reconciliation to all people. This forgiveness is the first act in establishing true peace.
On the first Pentecost, the Church began to expand. On this day, she stands vigorous and youthful, ready to continue her earthly pilgrimage that will terminate only with the end of time. Pentecost also marks the beginning of the work and activity of the Holy Spirit. Before Jesus’ departure, He promised that He would not leave us orphans. In His stead He would send the Paraclete, the Comforter, who would teach or remind us of all things. In a unique way, Pentecost is the feast of the Holy Spirit; today His activity in the Church and in all people should impress itself upon us anew.
The Phenomenon of Pentecost
On Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in wind and tongues of fire: ". . .tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. . ." (Acts 2:3-4, NRSV). When the Church of God was established on the day of Pentecost, the power of God was so great that some of the believers who were filled with the Holy Spirit literally behaved like men who were drunken with wine (Acts 2:1-15).
The fact is, the apostles were anxious to tell the story of Christ’s resurrection and the truth that salvation was now centered in Him. Their desire on that Pentecost day was no different than that of Christ when He talked to the multitudes. There was, however, a simple difference: whereas Christ talked in the local language of Palestine (probably a dialect of Aramaic), the apostles on Pentecost found themselves in the midst of Jews from all around the known world–and those Jews did not understand the ordinary language of Palestine. Yet when the apostles began to speak, every one of the foreign Jews heard the clear message of God "in his own language" (Acts 2:6). The teaching that they heard was the most important factor of spiritual worth on that Pentecost day!
Even though the Spirit of truth was "with" the apostles in conversion, they had not yet received the "in-dwelling" so necessary for mission. They were set free from the fear of people, and they were given courage and holy boldness to face those who would oppose the gospel and threaten their lives if they continued to preach Christ. The Power from on high provided them with confidence in the unfailing providence of God even in death.
The Holy Spirit prevented them from being exclusive. He led them out of their small Jewish world into a larger world of inclusive fellowship when the Gentiles were added to the church. He moved them off dead center, shook their fixed attitudes and opened them up to new questions. He crumbled the dividing walls that separated people, race, nationality, language, religion, wealth, gender, education and age. He lifted the People of God above the dividing walls of hostility, making possible a genuine ministry of reconciliation. He prevented provincialism, a narrow, sectarian or limited scope in interpretation of who the People of God include.
Within the early apostolic church, both Jews and Gentiles witnessed miraculous signs that were recognized by all as power from God. It is important to notice that the Holy Spirit always glorified God as the source of the power, or it exalted Christ as the Savior of humanity.
Christ Within Us
The indwelling presence of Christ is a very profound award that is extended to all the sons and daughters of God’s family (11 Corinthians 6:16, 18). The matter of the very Christ himself dwelling in us is so fundamental to Christian teaching that St. Paul was inspired to include it among the mysteries of the secret administration–it is considered to be the hope of glory! "Even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God Would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:26-27).
Rekindling the Fires of Pentecost
In each generation, the Holy Spirit breathes new life into the Church of God and renews the body of Christ in the world. The Holy Spirit raises up people and movements through which the Church is reintroduced to the reality of the living God, prayer and holiness of life, a lifestyle of humble servanthood, and a Christian vision of the world.
Holy Spirit renewal is more than another religious program or retreat. It is an extraordinary act of love. It is people loving other people into a deeper realization of God’s love, supporting one another in the decision to walk in the grace of Jesus Christ, and sacrificing to make this experience with God possible for others. This sacrificial investment of time and energy on the part of people for the sake of others cannot be delegated or programmed in the usual ways. It comes from the movement of God’s Spirit in the lives of people who were themselves affected by the power and contagiousness of God’s love through the Holy Spirit.
The Purpose Realized
The purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the renewal of the church as the body of the risen Christ in the world through the disciples of Jesus Christ. Renewal expands participant’s spiritual lives, deepens their discipleship and rekindles their gifts as Christian leaders in their churches and communities. We are called to share the grace of God we receive in the world community and to be a leavening influence in our local churches.
What is God’s purpose for us and how can we fulfill that purpose? A vision is a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God to His servants. God’s vision always focuses on people. His concern is for humankind; and our relationship to Him and to one another is of primary importance.
Renewal comes to us through Bible study, prayer, counsel, and the Sacraments, reflecting the love of Jesus for all people. Renewal provides a clear direction and purpose for the church. The new vision for renewal is: to lead members of the church into a personal and vital relationship with Jesus Christ; to guide them to establish a firm scriptural foundation for faith; and to encourage and equip them for discipleship and witness in family, church, community, and the world.
Living Liturgy
Liturgy is the "work of the people" in offering the worship of the Church of God, in union with Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is most richly effected when the entire people of God consciously, fully, and actively participate, making faithful use in all our ministries of the rites of the Church, historically and ecumenically grounded, which enable us to express our worship in unity with the universal Church.
Our goal is to bring about a recovery of the worship and sacramental practice which has sustained the Church since its formation in Apostolic times. At the same time, we seek to help the Church rediscover the spiritual disciplines of the faith as a means of perceiving, and fulfilling the mission for which the Church was formed. Our moving and sustaining source is that vision of the apostolic fathers who sought to bring about a sacramental as well as evangelical revival in the church.
We magnify (lift up the importance of) the sacraments. Baptism is the sacrament, once given, which incorporates persons into the Body of Christ for service. The Eucharist sustains the lives of all Christians by remembering the life-gift of Christ. We believe that the Church is the redemptive Body of Jesus Christ, preserving and reforming His Body. We support the commitment of the emerging undivided Church that the service of Word and Sacrament will become normative for Christian worship. We support the universal Church’s seeking to become perfect in love in this world.
The Current Call
We believe that we must understand the "why" as well as the "how" if we are to lead the Church into claiming more fully its identity and mission which are God-given. We know that the worship practices and forms of the past have value to inform and amplify our present efforts, but we are not captives of any ancient dogma. Liturgy speaks to both the objective and subjective natures when it is the "heart language’’ of the people. There are many ways of worshipping. We support exploration of differing styles of worship leadership with integrity historically, ecumenically, and in the local setting by both lay and clergy.
We support the efforts of the Church-at-large to increase the full worship and sacramental education at all levels. We affirm our fidelity to the oneness of Christ in the Church truly catholic and truly evangelical and truly reformed which supersedes all division by denomination, and which God is surely gathering from a broken Christendom.
The mission of Christ and the Spirit is completed by the Church, the Body of Christ and Temple of the Spirit. The Spirit prepares us to receive Christ, reveals Christ, and guided by the Spirit, as members of the Church, we pray in union with Christ.
At Pentecost walls are broken down. Through the Holy Spirit a new community is being gathered out of the disper
sion and hostility of nations, religions, classes, genders, ages and races. Through the Holy Spirit we have all been given access to God. The Holy Spirit moves us to recognize and rejoice in God’s gifts in all people and in all places and to support social action against all injustice and violence.
God, who is love, does not dwell in unreachable heights but is present in the creation as its sustaining power. God is alive in all that breathes and grows. Human beings, men and women alike, have been created as God’s partners, called to witness to God’s all embracing love.
Though human beings ever anew refuse and abuse the status and role assigned to them, God does not abandon them to themselves. God stands ready to restore the broken communion. The sign of the rainbow reminds us of the promise: "Behold, I establish a covenant with you, your descendants. and with all living creatures" (Genesis 9:9-10).
Again and again people were chosen to be witnesses to God’s saving purpose. Abraham received the promise to be a blessing to all nations (Genesis 12:3), and God’s covenant with Moses was meant to make of Israel a servant to the whole world (Exodus 19:5). God’s covenants were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The promise of a new covenant, written into the hearts of people became reality in human history through Christ’s incarnation and his death on the cross–the supreme expression of self-giving love. Through the resurrection God’s irrevocable yes to life has become manifest. Through His ascension to Heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost we are granted the power to serve in Christ’s stead to all.
By baptism we have been placed under Christ’s covenant and whenever we celebrate the Eucharist we hear anew the words: "This cup is the new covenant in my blood" (I Corinthians 11). The sign of the Eucharist anticipates here and now God’s reign of justice and peace, the new heaven and the new earth which are to come; it is a meal we share with Christ who identifies with all who suffer injustice and violence.
Discipleship in Our Time
Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, calls us to radical discipleship. The threats we are experiencing today remind us of the price we have to pay for turning away from God’s covenant. God’s saving and healing love can only become manifest as we follow Christ without compromise.
The real danger lies in the interaction of these threats. Together they represent a global crisis. Unless far-reaching changes are made now, the crisis will intensify and may turn into a real catastrophe for our children and grandchildren.
Now is the time to commit ourselves anew to God’s covenant. The moment of history is unique. All life on earth is threatened by injustice, war and destruction of creation because we have turned away from God’s covenant. Knowing of the opportunities that are offered to us, we ask for God’s forgiveness. By the power of the Holy Spirit may we witness many hopeful changes in the lives of individuals and nations.
Now is the time to welcome and confirm the achievements in linking local and regional struggles for justice, peace and the integrity of creation. Our contexts and perceptions are different indeed. Yet we have to overcome our divisions. Among them we must encourage wider support of the churches for people’s movements. There are no competitive efforts for justice, peace and the integrity of creation. There is one single global struggle!
Now is the time to consolidate all struggles for justice, peace, and the integrity of creation. We must free ourselves from bondage to power structures which blind us and make us accomplices in the destruction. Spirit- filled Christians have to move out into the world to which Jesus came! We must have holy boldness.
Now is the time for the ecumenical movement to articulate its vision of all people living on earth and caring for creation as a family where each member has the same fight to wholeness of life. While this vision is spiritual in nature, it must be expressed in concrete action. On the basis of our spiritual experience in the Holy Spirit, we commit ourselves to work for peace, justice, harmony and unity among all the members of the global family of God.
Now is the time when the ecumenical movement needs a greater sense of binding, mutual commitment and solidarity in word and action. It is the promise of God’s covenant for our time and our world to which we respond. Thus we affirm:
l the creation as beloved of God
l that the earth is the Lord’s
l that all exercise of power is accountable to God
l the equal value of all races and peoples
l that male and female are created in the image of God
l God’s option for the poor
l that human rights are given by God
l that truth is at the foundation of a community of free people
l the dignity and commitment of the younger generation
l the true security of all nations and peoples and for a culture of nonviolence
l a just economic order and for liberation from the bondage of the foreign debt
l preserving the gift of the earth’s atmosphere and for building a culture that can live in harmony with creation’s integrity
l the dismantling of patterns of behavior that perpetuate the sin of racism
l the peace of Jesus Christ
An Invitation
If you are tired and weary of self-motivated religion and would like to have the dynamic, supernatural energy and strength of God that enables the believer to courageously proclaim that Jesus is Lord; if you share the concerns of others of us who have the vision and if you are willing to work toward a renewal and a reformation of the Church that is both evangelical and catholic in the fullest sense of those terms; if you can endorse the life of sanctification and holiness, and if you are willing to discipline your life along the guidelines set forth by the Bible, then you are prayerfully and sincerely invited to join us in seeking to live in His presence day by day through mutual prayer, praise, fellowship and moral support.
Now is the time to recognize that there is a long process still before us. We make our affirmations and commitments public. We invite others to join with us. Together as the people of God filled with the Holy Spirit of God we can make a difference. Together we struggle for the realization of our vision. We are accountable to one another and to God. We are the recipients of the same awesome gift as we join ourselves to the body of Christ. As the church, we wait and receive what is impossible to describe in mere words. In celebrating Pentecost, we remember that the Holy Spirit is dwelling in our midst and will join us together into one family and empower us for what lies ahead. We pray that we do not miss the opportunity to which we have been led by God. Pentecost Shalom!
Dr. Terril D. Littrell is a United Methodist pastor with over thirty-five years of experience in teaching and ministry. His positive, biblical, and evangelical ministry focuses on Christ crucified, risen, and coming again. Based on the Judaic model of acceptance and affirmation, he has long been an advocate of positive biblical ecumenism, restoration principles, liturgical renewal, and racial reconciliation. Terril and his wife Chloe live in Bluff City, Tennessee.
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