Harvest time
Commentary
Object:
An ancient Jewish legend declares, "Pentecost is the day on which Torah was given." One wonders whether James might have had that in mind as he penned these words. According to the Jewish teaching it was on the day that eventually became the feast of Pentecost that God gave birth to the Hebrew nation by speaking the divine covenant to them at Mount Sinai.
As the book of Acts makes clear, Pentecost was the day on which the New Testament church was given birth. Just as God spoke through Moses to bring the nation of Israel into being at Mount Sinai, so God spoke through Peter to create the first elements of the new faith community.
It was symbolically powerful for these events to take place on Pentecost. In its first use "Pentecost" was essentially a nickname or label. The feast of Passover was one of the most significant holidays in the Jewish community since it recalled the manner in which God miraculously brought the nation out of Egypt. Seven Sabbaths and a day later (7 X 7 + 1 = 50) the people celebrated this next major religious event as harvest season began in Palestine. Since it occurred fifty days after the Passover, people started referring to it as the "Feast after Fifty" or Pentecost.
Yet the real significance of the event was more clearly understood through its original name -- Feast of Firstfruits. Regulations for the celebration required all Israelites to assemble at the temple in Jerusalem bringing with them the first sheaf of grain from their fields. As the time of harvest approached across the land, even before the regular reaping started, a single bundle of grain was cut on each farm and toted off to the temple.
There it was "waved" before the Lord as an offering (Leviticus 23:11) along with two loaves of bread that were baked from the newly-harvested grain (Leviticus 23:17). Furthermore, to broaden the impact of the event, two male lambs were also brought from the first castings of each flock (Leviticus 23:12).
As these gifts were presented to God in the temple courts, all of the men danced around the altar that carried the smoke of the gifts toward heaven. The crowds of women, children, and elderly men too old to jump around wildly formed a large circle around these revelers and sang Psalms 113-118. According to historical reports the celebration was often wild and uninhibited.
We might ask what the purpose was behind these religious revelries. The instructions of Moses declared that the feast was a theological testimony. The nation was making a confession that no general harvesting for profit would begin until God had laid claim to the "firstfruits" of the fields and the flocks. By devoting the first of the new produce to God, the people were acknowledging that everything came from God and belonged to God. Whatever benefit they might receive from the harvest that year was a direct result of God's care and providential intervention.
With that background the significance of Pentecost as the birthday of the Christian church takes on new meaning. A new era of God's kingdom began that day, as God claimed the firstfruits of a worldwide faith harvest. The mission of the church began only after God had first miraculously owned the original converts from each nation represented in Jerusalem that day.
At the dawn of creation God sowed a world of hope and possibility. Evil storms and tragic seasons may have slowed the harvest of greatness on planet Earth. But if anyone wants to know what the true and best harvest will look like, he should check out the church.
That may seem funny to us. We would have a hard time seeing the church as a picture of God's profit margins. Yet for God the church is the firstfruits of the great harvest.
Maybe that's why we ought to take ourselves less seriously and more seriously at the same time in the church. Less seriously because there is an awful lot of humor in what God is doing. More seriously because God's humor is the first smile of love that the rest of creation around us needs desperately to see.
Acts 2:1-21
The momentum of the stories told in the book of Acts is derived from a single critical incident that took place in Jerusalem during the Jewish religious festival known as Pentecost. Jesus' instruction for his disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait for a special gift (Acts 1:4) must have seemed vague at the time, but the arrival of the explosive power of the Holy Spirit during the Pentecost feast made sense. This celebration was both a harvest festival and a time for recalling the gift of the original covenant documents to Moses at Mount Sinai. These two themes intersected marvelously with what was taking place. First, there was the dawning of a new age of revelation and divine mission, paralleling the first covenant declaration in the book of Exodus. Second, during the Pentecost harvest festival, the first sheaves of grain were presented at the temple, anticipating that God would then bring in the full harvest. This expression of faith served as a clear analogy to the greater missional harvest of the church, which was begun through a miraculous "firstfruits" in Jerusalem that day.
Peter capitalized on these themes when he preached a sermon explaining Joel's prophecy of the "Day of the Lord." Peter tied together God's extensive mission, the history of Israel, the coming of Jesus, and the splitting of the day of the Lord so that the blessings of the messianic age could begin before the final divine judgment fell. The pattern for entering the new community of faith was clearly outlined: repent and be baptized. The former indicated a transforming presence of the Holy Spirit in individual hearts, while the latter became the initiation rite by which the ranks of this missional society were identified (replacing the badge of circumcision in its unique application to the nation of Israel -- see Colossians 2:11-12).
Although not explicitly stated, there seems to be a conscious undoing of the troubles that started at Babel through the miracle of multiple-language communications at Pentecost. In Genesis 11, the human race was becoming unified against its Creator, and the divine solution to dissipate this rebellion was to multiply the languages spoken, forcing the community to become segmented into competing groups. At Pentecost this action was reversed and the many people who communicated in their diverse local languages suddenly all heard the same message of grace at once and were knit together into a new common humanity of the church. Babel was undone by Pentecost.
What had been a centripetal energizing motion during the first phase of God's recovery mission on planet Earth (that is, drawing all nations toward a re-engagement with their Creator through the strategically placed people of Israel) was now shifted into a centrifugal motion of divine sending out these blessings of testimony to the world in ever-widening circles of witness. The Christian church, born as a Jewish messianic sect, became a global religion.
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
Probably sometime in late 51 AD or early 52 AD, from his new mission in Ephesus, Paul sent a letter of strongly worded reproof to the Corinthian congregation. No copies have survived but from what Paul himself says about this communication in 1 Corinthians 5:9, it is easy to see why some might take exception to it. Indeed it appears that a number of people in the congregation began to disown Paul's authority after reading that letter, and then began to instigate factionalism in the community. Cliques grew, based upon personal preferences about which leaders were better preachers, and who had a right to claim greater sway among them (see 1 Corinthians 2-4). Meanwhile, a delegation of three men (Stephanus, Fortunatus, and Achaicus), all highly respectful of Paul's apostolic authority, traveled from Corinth to Ephesus bringing to Paul an oral report about the difficulties going on in the church. They also carried a written list of questions that members of the congregation were raising.
Paul quickly wrote a letter of response. Although it was actually his second letter to the Corinthian congregation, because the earlier communication has been lost, this one survives as 1 Corinthians in our New Testaments. Immediately in the opening passages, Paul addresses the difficulties some have at his continued influence in the congregation. He chastises the members for dividing up into parties where each waves a banner acclaiming the worthiness of a different leader. These groupings were sinful and disruptive, according to Paul, for they denied the honor that ought to be given only to the true head of the church, Jesus Christ. Such schisms also played favorites among human leaders, setting them over against each other, rather than recognizing their complementary gifts for helping the church as a whole to grow.
In a review of the church's celebration of "the Lord's Supper," as it was becoming known, another facet of social interaction was addressed. The "differences" within the congregation were not only of the kind where parties became loyal to different leaders (1 Corinthians 1-3), but also the manifestation of divergent socioeconomic groupings present in Corinthian society. The reason why some who attended these Lord's Supper gatherings "go ahead without waiting for anybody else" and others "remain hungry," was due to the divergent lifestyle practices of the rich and the poor among them. Wealthy people were able to come and go as they pleased, including showing up to worship services, potluck dinners, and Lord's Supper celebrations right at the start. The poor and the slaves, however (some likely coming from the same households), were often late to arrive because they had to fulfill their domestic work obligations first. Paul declared that "recognizing the body of the Lord" was necessary if the Lord's Supper was to be celebrated properly. This did not mean having the capacity to understand an appropriate theological theory of the atonement or some other such cognitive ability. Instead, it amounted to remembering that all who belong to Jesus are welcome at his table, and none have more rights than others. If this socially and economically diverse group of society was indeed the body of Christ, each must live and act accordingly, making room at the table for all.
This reflection on the expression of the Body of Christ at the communion meal may have significantly shaped Paul's next reflections. When answering the Corinthians' question about spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12–14), Paul further develops the Body of Christ metaphor, making it the core analogy by which both the identification and expression of unique gifts was to happen. At the center of this discussion, Paul pens one of the most beautiful hymns about love ever recorded (1 Corinthians 13). Although it is often lifted from its context to become a wedding text, this passage is actually the glue that holds together all of Paul's testimony concerning spiritual gifts. Only when these are used out of love and expressed through love is the true community of faith is formed and nurtured.
John 20:19-23
When describing the events of resurrection morning, John gives us some wonderful analogies to see its meaning on several levels. For one thing, when Mary looks into the empty tomb (John 20:10-12), the scene as John describes it immediately calls to mind the Ark of the Covenant that symbolized Yahweh's presence in the tabernacle and later the temple. While the other gospel writers tell of angels being present, John views them through Mary Magdalene's eyes and sees two such creatures in exactly the same position as the cherubim that stood guard over the Mercy Seat throne. This time, however, the divine presence was missing, indicating the dawning of a new age in which the Creator's power and presence would not be confined to or limited by a particular geographic location. The second strategy in the divine mission had come, and the gospel was now to be preached to the whole world through Jesus' disciples.
When Mary Magdalene weeps because she misses her "Lord" (which is the Greek version of "Yahweh"), a man appears on her periphery, and she assumes that he is "the gardener." Of course, Mary's perception is incorrect, because the man is actually Jesus. But is she really wrong? John never says that she was mistaken; only that Mary Magdalene had assumed he was the gardener. In fact, John appears to want his readers to get the subtle message that Jesus is indeed the gardener. After all, at the beginning of time, the Creator placed Adam and Even in a garden and came to walk and talk with them (Genesis 2). Now, in the re-creation of all things, it is quite appropriate for new life to begin anew in a garden where the great gardener is again meandering and sharing intimacy with those who are favored friends. John confirms this symbolic intent when he tells about Jesus speaking Mary's name. Just as Adam and Eve, along with all the animals and all elements of creation, came into being when they were named in the first beginning, so now Mary is restored to life in a new way as her identity is regenerated when Jesus speaks her name. Jesus, however, cannot be held in this garden (John 20:17) as partner in only one local friendship, for the process of re-creating all things is only just beginning, and he must leave to finish the task. Only when he goes, as he said in the "Farewell Discourse," will he be able to multiply his presence through the gift of the paraclete.
This coming of the paraclete is enacted next, when Jesus meets with the rest of his disciples later that day. John tells us that he "breathed on them" (v. 21), imparting to them the divine Spirit, and sending them out as his ambassadors, exactly in the manner of which he prayed in chapter 17. Is this, as some have suggested, John's different version of Pentecost (Acts 2)? No, it is a final expression of the re-creation process. Just as Adam only came alive to his life and livelihood at the beginning of time when God breathed into him the divine breath (Genesis 2), so now this tiny gathering of the new humanity cannot function until they are divinely enthused in a similar, very literal manner. The Creator who breathed the breath of life into Adam in the first creation now breathes the same breath of life into his disciples in this re-creation. The dead of the world are coming back to life!
Application
Pentecost reminds us that no mind is truly enlightened until it is flooded with the glory of heaven. No body is truly healed until it is touched by the power of the Creator. No person is truly set free until there is freedom of the Spirit of Christ.
William Carey was a pastor of a small congregation in Leiceter, England. In 1792, he preached a powerful sermon called "Expect Great Things from God; Attempt Great Things for God!" People would remember it for years. His message not only moved hearts in his congregation; however, it also came home to challenge Pastor Carey's own soul. The next year he set sail for India, and what he did in that country was simply astounding. He began a manufacturing plant to employ jobless workers. He translated the scriptures and set up shops to print them. He established schools for all ages, helping people find a better place in society. He provided medical assistance for the diseased and the troubled and the ailing. He was nothing short of a miracle for the people of India.
Why did he do it? Because he was transformed by the Pentecostal Spirit of Jesus. And when he lay dying, these were his last words: "When I have gone, speak not of Carey but of Carey's Savior."
During the time of the Reformation John Foxe of England was impressed by the testimony of the early Christians. He gleaned the pages of early historical writings, and wrote a book that has become a classic in the church: Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
One story he tells is about an early church leader named Lawrence. Lawrence acted as a pastor for a church community. He also collected the offerings for the poor each week.
A band of thieves found out that Lawrence received the offerings of the people from Sunday to Sunday, so one night, as he was out taking a stroll, they grabbed him and demanded the money. He told them that he didn't have it, because he had already given it all to the poor. They didn't believe him and told him they would give him a chance to find it. In three days they would come to his house and take from him the treasures of the church.
Three days later they did come. But Lawrence wasn't alone. The house was filled with the people of his congregation. When the thieves demanded the treasures of the church, Lawrence smiled. He opened wide his arms and gestured to those who sat around him. "Here's the treasure of the church!" he said. "Here's the treasure of God that shines in the world!"
An Alternative Application
Acts 2:1-21. The symbols that appeared with the great Pentecost empowerment are very creative. They provide visible representations of the divine activity:
Sound of wind: a single word, both in the Hebrew (ruach) and Greek (pneuma) languages, serves to designate "wind," "breath," and "spirit." Thus the sound of a rushing wind captured the attention of all who were about to breathe in the Spirit of God. In a real sense, this is the second creation (or recreation) of humankind. At the beginning of time, it was the breath of God invading Adam's newly-formed earthen body that transformed him into a true divine-image-bearing life.
Single blaze of fire becoming multiple flames above heads: Jesus' cousin John had said that he baptized with water, but that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 1:16). This vision represented the single divine Spirit baptizing all at the same time.
In a grand "Show & Tell," the new age of God's mission was announced with great power!
As the book of Acts makes clear, Pentecost was the day on which the New Testament church was given birth. Just as God spoke through Moses to bring the nation of Israel into being at Mount Sinai, so God spoke through Peter to create the first elements of the new faith community.
It was symbolically powerful for these events to take place on Pentecost. In its first use "Pentecost" was essentially a nickname or label. The feast of Passover was one of the most significant holidays in the Jewish community since it recalled the manner in which God miraculously brought the nation out of Egypt. Seven Sabbaths and a day later (7 X 7 + 1 = 50) the people celebrated this next major religious event as harvest season began in Palestine. Since it occurred fifty days after the Passover, people started referring to it as the "Feast after Fifty" or Pentecost.
Yet the real significance of the event was more clearly understood through its original name -- Feast of Firstfruits. Regulations for the celebration required all Israelites to assemble at the temple in Jerusalem bringing with them the first sheaf of grain from their fields. As the time of harvest approached across the land, even before the regular reaping started, a single bundle of grain was cut on each farm and toted off to the temple.
There it was "waved" before the Lord as an offering (Leviticus 23:11) along with two loaves of bread that were baked from the newly-harvested grain (Leviticus 23:17). Furthermore, to broaden the impact of the event, two male lambs were also brought from the first castings of each flock (Leviticus 23:12).
As these gifts were presented to God in the temple courts, all of the men danced around the altar that carried the smoke of the gifts toward heaven. The crowds of women, children, and elderly men too old to jump around wildly formed a large circle around these revelers and sang Psalms 113-118. According to historical reports the celebration was often wild and uninhibited.
We might ask what the purpose was behind these religious revelries. The instructions of Moses declared that the feast was a theological testimony. The nation was making a confession that no general harvesting for profit would begin until God had laid claim to the "firstfruits" of the fields and the flocks. By devoting the first of the new produce to God, the people were acknowledging that everything came from God and belonged to God. Whatever benefit they might receive from the harvest that year was a direct result of God's care and providential intervention.
With that background the significance of Pentecost as the birthday of the Christian church takes on new meaning. A new era of God's kingdom began that day, as God claimed the firstfruits of a worldwide faith harvest. The mission of the church began only after God had first miraculously owned the original converts from each nation represented in Jerusalem that day.
At the dawn of creation God sowed a world of hope and possibility. Evil storms and tragic seasons may have slowed the harvest of greatness on planet Earth. But if anyone wants to know what the true and best harvest will look like, he should check out the church.
That may seem funny to us. We would have a hard time seeing the church as a picture of God's profit margins. Yet for God the church is the firstfruits of the great harvest.
Maybe that's why we ought to take ourselves less seriously and more seriously at the same time in the church. Less seriously because there is an awful lot of humor in what God is doing. More seriously because God's humor is the first smile of love that the rest of creation around us needs desperately to see.
Acts 2:1-21
The momentum of the stories told in the book of Acts is derived from a single critical incident that took place in Jerusalem during the Jewish religious festival known as Pentecost. Jesus' instruction for his disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait for a special gift (Acts 1:4) must have seemed vague at the time, but the arrival of the explosive power of the Holy Spirit during the Pentecost feast made sense. This celebration was both a harvest festival and a time for recalling the gift of the original covenant documents to Moses at Mount Sinai. These two themes intersected marvelously with what was taking place. First, there was the dawning of a new age of revelation and divine mission, paralleling the first covenant declaration in the book of Exodus. Second, during the Pentecost harvest festival, the first sheaves of grain were presented at the temple, anticipating that God would then bring in the full harvest. This expression of faith served as a clear analogy to the greater missional harvest of the church, which was begun through a miraculous "firstfruits" in Jerusalem that day.
Peter capitalized on these themes when he preached a sermon explaining Joel's prophecy of the "Day of the Lord." Peter tied together God's extensive mission, the history of Israel, the coming of Jesus, and the splitting of the day of the Lord so that the blessings of the messianic age could begin before the final divine judgment fell. The pattern for entering the new community of faith was clearly outlined: repent and be baptized. The former indicated a transforming presence of the Holy Spirit in individual hearts, while the latter became the initiation rite by which the ranks of this missional society were identified (replacing the badge of circumcision in its unique application to the nation of Israel -- see Colossians 2:11-12).
Although not explicitly stated, there seems to be a conscious undoing of the troubles that started at Babel through the miracle of multiple-language communications at Pentecost. In Genesis 11, the human race was becoming unified against its Creator, and the divine solution to dissipate this rebellion was to multiply the languages spoken, forcing the community to become segmented into competing groups. At Pentecost this action was reversed and the many people who communicated in their diverse local languages suddenly all heard the same message of grace at once and were knit together into a new common humanity of the church. Babel was undone by Pentecost.
What had been a centripetal energizing motion during the first phase of God's recovery mission on planet Earth (that is, drawing all nations toward a re-engagement with their Creator through the strategically placed people of Israel) was now shifted into a centrifugal motion of divine sending out these blessings of testimony to the world in ever-widening circles of witness. The Christian church, born as a Jewish messianic sect, became a global religion.
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
Probably sometime in late 51 AD or early 52 AD, from his new mission in Ephesus, Paul sent a letter of strongly worded reproof to the Corinthian congregation. No copies have survived but from what Paul himself says about this communication in 1 Corinthians 5:9, it is easy to see why some might take exception to it. Indeed it appears that a number of people in the congregation began to disown Paul's authority after reading that letter, and then began to instigate factionalism in the community. Cliques grew, based upon personal preferences about which leaders were better preachers, and who had a right to claim greater sway among them (see 1 Corinthians 2-4). Meanwhile, a delegation of three men (Stephanus, Fortunatus, and Achaicus), all highly respectful of Paul's apostolic authority, traveled from Corinth to Ephesus bringing to Paul an oral report about the difficulties going on in the church. They also carried a written list of questions that members of the congregation were raising.
Paul quickly wrote a letter of response. Although it was actually his second letter to the Corinthian congregation, because the earlier communication has been lost, this one survives as 1 Corinthians in our New Testaments. Immediately in the opening passages, Paul addresses the difficulties some have at his continued influence in the congregation. He chastises the members for dividing up into parties where each waves a banner acclaiming the worthiness of a different leader. These groupings were sinful and disruptive, according to Paul, for they denied the honor that ought to be given only to the true head of the church, Jesus Christ. Such schisms also played favorites among human leaders, setting them over against each other, rather than recognizing their complementary gifts for helping the church as a whole to grow.
In a review of the church's celebration of "the Lord's Supper," as it was becoming known, another facet of social interaction was addressed. The "differences" within the congregation were not only of the kind where parties became loyal to different leaders (1 Corinthians 1-3), but also the manifestation of divergent socioeconomic groupings present in Corinthian society. The reason why some who attended these Lord's Supper gatherings "go ahead without waiting for anybody else" and others "remain hungry," was due to the divergent lifestyle practices of the rich and the poor among them. Wealthy people were able to come and go as they pleased, including showing up to worship services, potluck dinners, and Lord's Supper celebrations right at the start. The poor and the slaves, however (some likely coming from the same households), were often late to arrive because they had to fulfill their domestic work obligations first. Paul declared that "recognizing the body of the Lord" was necessary if the Lord's Supper was to be celebrated properly. This did not mean having the capacity to understand an appropriate theological theory of the atonement or some other such cognitive ability. Instead, it amounted to remembering that all who belong to Jesus are welcome at his table, and none have more rights than others. If this socially and economically diverse group of society was indeed the body of Christ, each must live and act accordingly, making room at the table for all.
This reflection on the expression of the Body of Christ at the communion meal may have significantly shaped Paul's next reflections. When answering the Corinthians' question about spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12–14), Paul further develops the Body of Christ metaphor, making it the core analogy by which both the identification and expression of unique gifts was to happen. At the center of this discussion, Paul pens one of the most beautiful hymns about love ever recorded (1 Corinthians 13). Although it is often lifted from its context to become a wedding text, this passage is actually the glue that holds together all of Paul's testimony concerning spiritual gifts. Only when these are used out of love and expressed through love is the true community of faith is formed and nurtured.
John 20:19-23
When describing the events of resurrection morning, John gives us some wonderful analogies to see its meaning on several levels. For one thing, when Mary looks into the empty tomb (John 20:10-12), the scene as John describes it immediately calls to mind the Ark of the Covenant that symbolized Yahweh's presence in the tabernacle and later the temple. While the other gospel writers tell of angels being present, John views them through Mary Magdalene's eyes and sees two such creatures in exactly the same position as the cherubim that stood guard over the Mercy Seat throne. This time, however, the divine presence was missing, indicating the dawning of a new age in which the Creator's power and presence would not be confined to or limited by a particular geographic location. The second strategy in the divine mission had come, and the gospel was now to be preached to the whole world through Jesus' disciples.
When Mary Magdalene weeps because she misses her "Lord" (which is the Greek version of "Yahweh"), a man appears on her periphery, and she assumes that he is "the gardener." Of course, Mary's perception is incorrect, because the man is actually Jesus. But is she really wrong? John never says that she was mistaken; only that Mary Magdalene had assumed he was the gardener. In fact, John appears to want his readers to get the subtle message that Jesus is indeed the gardener. After all, at the beginning of time, the Creator placed Adam and Even in a garden and came to walk and talk with them (Genesis 2). Now, in the re-creation of all things, it is quite appropriate for new life to begin anew in a garden where the great gardener is again meandering and sharing intimacy with those who are favored friends. John confirms this symbolic intent when he tells about Jesus speaking Mary's name. Just as Adam and Eve, along with all the animals and all elements of creation, came into being when they were named in the first beginning, so now Mary is restored to life in a new way as her identity is regenerated when Jesus speaks her name. Jesus, however, cannot be held in this garden (John 20:17) as partner in only one local friendship, for the process of re-creating all things is only just beginning, and he must leave to finish the task. Only when he goes, as he said in the "Farewell Discourse," will he be able to multiply his presence through the gift of the paraclete.
This coming of the paraclete is enacted next, when Jesus meets with the rest of his disciples later that day. John tells us that he "breathed on them" (v. 21), imparting to them the divine Spirit, and sending them out as his ambassadors, exactly in the manner of which he prayed in chapter 17. Is this, as some have suggested, John's different version of Pentecost (Acts 2)? No, it is a final expression of the re-creation process. Just as Adam only came alive to his life and livelihood at the beginning of time when God breathed into him the divine breath (Genesis 2), so now this tiny gathering of the new humanity cannot function until they are divinely enthused in a similar, very literal manner. The Creator who breathed the breath of life into Adam in the first creation now breathes the same breath of life into his disciples in this re-creation. The dead of the world are coming back to life!
Application
Pentecost reminds us that no mind is truly enlightened until it is flooded with the glory of heaven. No body is truly healed until it is touched by the power of the Creator. No person is truly set free until there is freedom of the Spirit of Christ.
William Carey was a pastor of a small congregation in Leiceter, England. In 1792, he preached a powerful sermon called "Expect Great Things from God; Attempt Great Things for God!" People would remember it for years. His message not only moved hearts in his congregation; however, it also came home to challenge Pastor Carey's own soul. The next year he set sail for India, and what he did in that country was simply astounding. He began a manufacturing plant to employ jobless workers. He translated the scriptures and set up shops to print them. He established schools for all ages, helping people find a better place in society. He provided medical assistance for the diseased and the troubled and the ailing. He was nothing short of a miracle for the people of India.
Why did he do it? Because he was transformed by the Pentecostal Spirit of Jesus. And when he lay dying, these were his last words: "When I have gone, speak not of Carey but of Carey's Savior."
During the time of the Reformation John Foxe of England was impressed by the testimony of the early Christians. He gleaned the pages of early historical writings, and wrote a book that has become a classic in the church: Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
One story he tells is about an early church leader named Lawrence. Lawrence acted as a pastor for a church community. He also collected the offerings for the poor each week.
A band of thieves found out that Lawrence received the offerings of the people from Sunday to Sunday, so one night, as he was out taking a stroll, they grabbed him and demanded the money. He told them that he didn't have it, because he had already given it all to the poor. They didn't believe him and told him they would give him a chance to find it. In three days they would come to his house and take from him the treasures of the church.
Three days later they did come. But Lawrence wasn't alone. The house was filled with the people of his congregation. When the thieves demanded the treasures of the church, Lawrence smiled. He opened wide his arms and gestured to those who sat around him. "Here's the treasure of the church!" he said. "Here's the treasure of God that shines in the world!"
An Alternative Application
Acts 2:1-21. The symbols that appeared with the great Pentecost empowerment are very creative. They provide visible representations of the divine activity:
Sound of wind: a single word, both in the Hebrew (ruach) and Greek (pneuma) languages, serves to designate "wind," "breath," and "spirit." Thus the sound of a rushing wind captured the attention of all who were about to breathe in the Spirit of God. In a real sense, this is the second creation (or recreation) of humankind. At the beginning of time, it was the breath of God invading Adam's newly-formed earthen body that transformed him into a true divine-image-bearing life.
Single blaze of fire becoming multiple flames above heads: Jesus' cousin John had said that he baptized with water, but that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 1:16). This vision represented the single divine Spirit baptizing all at the same time.
In a grand "Show & Tell," the new age of God's mission was announced with great power!
