TODAY (May 23, 2021) is Pentecost Sunday, although that fact might have escaped you. HALLMARK has not discovered this holy day yet, so it is unlikely that you would have received a “Happy Pentecost” card. The world does not quite know what to do with this day, otherwise they would have found a way to commercialize it.
Sadly, many Christians also do not know what to do with this day, especially if you are in the evangelical part of the Christian family. Some pastors deliberately ignore the day, out of disdain for the liturgical calendar. Interestingly enough, what do those same people preach about on Labour Day or Valentine’s Day? And what about the years that Mothers Day falls on the same Sunday as Pentecost? Well, you get the point.
Pentecost is actually a very old Biblical feast. It dates back to the Old Testament. The name comes from the word for “fifty” and indicates that in Bible times it was observed 50 days after the Feast of First Fruits. Pentecost was a holy day, which means that work was forbidden.
It is interesting to me that while Christmas and even Easter as we know it, are not mentioned at all in the New Testament, the Feast of Pentecost IS. (See Acts 2:1-21). Pentecost was a Pilgrim Festival, meaning that according to Jewish Law, all the adult Jewish men would come to Jerusalem from wherever they were living and personally be in attendance during this celebration. God chose that particular day, when Jerusalem would be filled with thousands of pilgrims, to fulfill His Promise made by the Prophet Joel: I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:28-29)
The evangelist Luke, in his second book (The Book of Acts) tells about the supernatural event: “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?” (Acts 2:2-8)
This event resulted in considerable public attention. Some dismissed it in mockery, saying the disciples were drunk. But Peter gets up and reminds them that it is only 9 in the morning, and they were not drunk, but rather experiencing what Joel had prophesied. Then he delivers a scathing sermon, that was rooted in Old Testament Scripture and reveals Jesus, whom “you have crucified” as the Son of God and Messiah. Peter’s remarks that Luke records in Acts 2:14-37 would not be classified as “seeker-sensitive” preaching today. It was a hard-hitting message that resulted in people being “cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:37-39).
What follows is the baptism of 3,000 people who were “added to the church”. Imagine, a church that grows from 120 to 3,120 in one day!
While many people today simply dismiss that as “one for the history books”, others say, “we need another Pentecost today”. But the events recorded in Acts chapter 2 will not be repeated, just as Jesus will not be born in a manger again, nor will He be crucified again.
So what meaning, if any, does Pentecost have for us today? Throughout the Book of Acts, and in the writings of the apostles, whenever this outpouring of the Holy Spirit is mentioned, it is described in the past tense. Because of what happened back then in Jerusalem (the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh) we too, if we are followers of Jesus can receive the Holy Spirit. In fact that is the only way that we can truly be born-again followers of Christ. Paul reminds the believers in Rome that they “are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” (Romans 8:9)
Pentecost means that God has given us a great gift. But despite that fact, many who identify themselves as Christians today are not experiencing all that they should of the Holy Spirit. Like the young Timothy, we need to hear the encouragement of Paul to “fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you“. (2 Timothy 1:6) In the next verse, Paul says “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” (2 Tim 1:7)
As someone has said, it is not that we need “more of the Spirit”, but rather that The Spirit wants more us us to be surrendered to Him. We can “fan the flames” if we are obedient to those things that God’s Spirit has already shown us, and if we serve Him with the spiritual gift(s) that He has given to us.