Dear one,
In the next few days, some of us will celebrate, or at least acknowledge, Pentecost: the “birth” of the Church, when, as tongues of fire, the Spirit of Christ came upon those first believers gathered in Jerusalem.
As I have thought of this “birth,” I was reminded that Pentecost was originally a Jewish celebration of “in-gathering.” It occurred fifty days (πεντήκοντα ἡμέρα, “pentekonta hemera”) after Passover, and was instituted as a feast of thanksgiving for the barley harvest just completed (cf. Deuteronomy 16:9-12; Numbers 28:26-31); but it was also intended as a time to offer these “first fruits” in the hope of the LORD’s continued forgiveness and goodness.
Likewise, I was reminded that Pentecost was not only the birth of the Church (cf. Acts 2), but also the “first fruits” of a harvest, which has been on-going ever since. Upon that first Pentecost, three thousand joined Jesus’ first followers; but of equal importance to their increased number was a single trait: “adherence” (προσκαρτερέω), which consisted of two strands inextricably woven together into one cord (Acts 2:42 and 46). That is, they were those who with great purpose adhered (1) to teaching and fellowship, and to bread-breaking and prayer; and they adhered (2) to life together.
Regarding these two strands, I would highlight the second: with one heart-mind (ὁμοθυμαδόν, “homothumadon”) they lived in community, and it was their life together—their sharing everything in common as each had need, that became so winsome and attractive to those outside this new community. Essentially those on the outside began to say: “What do they have? How can I join them?” for they recognized that this new community was a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and undoubtedly multi-generational wonder. Their care for all, “inside” and “outside,” corroborated their teaching and fellowship, their bread-breaking and prayer.
How desperately we, who take the Name of Christ as our own, need to emulate the first Pentecost. Admittedly this is far easier said than done, as the Jerusalem church soon experienced: their life together began to unravel (cf. Acts 6); but as was/is true for Jesus: His words and deeds were fully consistent one with the other, so too our words (theology?) and our deeds (public witness?) need to be fully consistent. If they are not, then our single cord of two strands becomes a horribly frayed, twisted, and knotted mess.
To that end and in the Name of Christ, we do well to “guard the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).
Happy birthday,
Stan