Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks is at the 50th day after Passover and for the Christian 40 days after Easter. It is for the Jew, Shavuot the time when the Torah was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. For the Christian it is the coming of the Holy Spirit, the third person of Trinity and the beginning of the Church.
This year it falls on Sunday the 31st May. In 2020 I see particular significance. The Apostles were told to go to the room in Jerusalem to wait for the coming of The Holy Spirit. They were not given any arrival time but they were told by Jesus prior to His departure to go wait. The order was given and those that now believed that now trusted Him told to wait. It was the first lockdown as we now know it. Stay indoors and wait. Imagine for a moment the discussions, the doubts the complaints that occurred while they waited literally not knowing what The Holy Spirit looked like or whether He would knock at the door or even how He might enter. Imagine that at times try may have wanted to give up waiting.
Pentecost is about waiting, it is about having the obedience to do what is hardest to take instruction and believe, that’s called faith. We in our lives often have to wait, for the right job, for funds to arrive, for our loved ones to get better for a letter in the post or that call from someone. It is a hard room to be in especially as we live in a now culture. However it is in the waiting that we learn so much about ourselves and those who wait with us. Some panic bolt for the door as they can’t take any more, some become so exasperated that they give up and leave. Waiting requires patience and patience requires grit, grit to succeed , grit to persevere and the will to do so.
On the 40th day the wind howled like a rushing wind and what appeared like tongues of fire appeared over the heads of those in the room. There were 120 present that day thought there were more day one which meant some missed the moment. As Moses stood on Mount Sinai his colleagues at the foot of the mountain had given up and were taking life into their own hands partying endlessly and going nowhere. Moses stood ground and waited for the rocks to be hewn and the life instructions given.
In lockdown Covid19 what did you learn. Did you hear that rushing wind at all in prayer ? Did you get ready to leave indoors to a new life or are you going back down the mountain to party with your friends again on the road to nowhere. The Holy Spirit is still here 2000 years on, He is the comforter, the advocate and He comes in peace. When you see Him move it’s deftly it’s thorough and He gets the job done, never early never late but in perfect time. That day at Pentecost He appeared as fire and wind in Genesis He hovered over the dark and today He is still here. You can call out His name and if you seek Him with all your heart He will come. To be filled with The Spirit is to be filled with Him, hows that possible. Well try asking Him to fill you and see. He is described as a person, He is depicted as a dove though I see him as a force, like an electric current in waves and capable of changing any life and any atmosphere. The story is told in the bible in the Book of Acts Chapter One and it’s worth reading as it will speak to you. Moses meantime took the Torah and that changed the world, God breathed , God inspired. Make the most of your lockdown as it comes to an end and see what’s being said to you as you return outside.
In 2015 I spent Pentecost in Jerusalem and saw the Christian and Jew celebrate alongside each other. It was memorable as I was taken back thousands of years to both events and still see the power of these events today. Lockdown 2020 will also remain in our minds and for me it was a time when God gave us all a holiday, pressed the pause button and asked us to look up and around inside and out to find what exactly is important in our lives and what we do from here. Prepare.
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