PENTECOST
reveals God's answer to the problem of communication. We may be
naturally wired for fellowship with each other, and even with
God, yet we often get our wires crossed. Pentecost: God's answer to
communication problem
By GEORGE MARTZEN
PENTECOST
reveals God's answer to the problem of communication. We may be
naturally wired for fellowship with each other, and even with
God, yet we often get our wires crossed.
As urbanised people, we now live within the matrix of information
technology that promises to improve our communication. And, thanks
to this technology, we can make connections around the world at
the speed of light.
Yet our technology is far from
perfect. Even worse, information technology easily dominates our
relationships, such as when personal face-to-face conversations
are pre-empted by the urgency to answer the mobile phone. And
with all of our technical ability to connect across distances
we still fail to stem the tide of broken relationships in our
own homes. Something is missing.
This is reminiscent of the Tower of Babel, the biblical story
of how all the people of the earth spoke one language and had
a single goal, to make a name for themselves. They were so confident
in their ability to connect with each other that they came up
with the most grandiose of schemes, to build a tower to heaven.
But the project was interrupted half-way through when everyone
started speaking different languages. Taking their own human abilities
for granted, they left God out of the picture, and so ended up
in confusion.
We also take communication for granted. For centuries philosophers
have pondered the question of how the human mind can actually
interconnect with, and understand, other minds. We can send crystal-clear
messages from the earth to the moon, but can we guarantee that
the mind which receives the message will understand it in the
same way as the one who sent it? This is ultimately a spiritual
matter.
The Holy Spirit
.
Pentecost is the sign that God
wants to solve our communication problem. When the Holy Spirit
was poured out on the disciples that first Pentecost, as recorded
in the Acts of Apostles, the confusion of the Tower of Babel was
reversed, not by making everyone speak the same language again.
Rather, the Holy Spirit brought people together in spite of different
languages and cultures.
The Holy Spirit is the one who reveals the mind of God to us,
who interprets the meaning of Scripture, who helps us when we
do not know how to pray, who gives us confidence to speak and
witness across cultural and linguistic divides. In all of our
emphasis on media, we must never forget the Holy Spirit who gives
meaning to the message.
Every year, the church celebrates Pentecost to remember and to
be renewed according to an event that happened 2,000 years ago.
Pentecost (fiftieth in Greek) was the New Testament era term for
the Jewish festival of Shavuot, which took place 50 days after
Passover. As with other great festivals, Jews living in the diaspora
were expected to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem.
After Jesus' resurrection, His disciples were gathered together
on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell on them, granting them
ability to communicate in ways they could not imagine. They proclaimed
the Gospel of Jesus to a crowd of diverse pilgrims, and as a result,
the church was born with 3,000 people. The ancient harvest festival
was turned into a harvest of the Spirit. And a people discovered
how to communicate again, by the grace of God.
A painting of Pentecost
Day
by Joseph Ignaz Mildorfer.
Used with permission. 
A new creation
Luke, the author of Acts, saw this as more than just a localised
revival. It was God's act, creating a new era, foretold by the
prophet Joel: "In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh." (Joel 2.28;
Acts 2.17). That new creation reverses the cultural chaos of the
Tower of Babel, where, because of their presumptuousness, God
came down and confused human language. At Pentecost the Spirit
of God again came down and empowered the apostles to communicate
the Gospel. Understanding was again granted. By the power of the
Holy Spirit, language and cultural barriers were broken down.
It was the creation of a new body of chosen people, determined
not by ethnic heritage but by faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 2.21).
Pentecost
season
The message of Pentecost cannot
be contained in one day. The church year helps us, not only to
remember the texts and traditions surrounding Pentecost, but to
pattern our very lives after the Holy Spirit, who still indwells
the Church, the Body of Christ, empowering and renewing its members
to be like Christ.
As individuals we live our own lives according to the urgencies
of day-to-day life. But God has a story also. As we live in the
seasons of the Church, our lives are formed by God's redemptive
story, the very real drama of God's love for creation.
For churches that observe the Christian year there are several
variations on the Season of Pentecost. For many Protestants,
as well as the Roman Catholic Church, Pentecost Sunday is considered
the conclusion of the Easter Season. Then the six months until
Advent are called Ordinary Time or the Sundays after Pentecost.
It is a period of time in which there are no special days to mark
sacred time, so they are simply counted or called "ordinal"
days (The United Methodist Book of Worship). As the emphasis of
this season is on proclaiming the Kingdom of God and the growth
of the Church, the liturgical colour is green.
Other traditions, including many congregations of The Methodist
Church in Singapore, observe Pentecost Season, beginning with
Pentecost Sunday, and continuing until the last Sunday of August,
at which time Kingdomtide begins. Those who observe the season
of Pentecost may continue to use red as a liturgical colour, representing
the flame of the Spirit igniting the Church for mission and ministry
in the world, only changing to green for Kingdomtide.
Trinity Sunday
Immediately following Pentecost Sunday, some churches will celebrate
Trinity Sunday. The Methodist Church affirms the orthodox doctrines
of the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - as declared in
the creeds.
Trinity Sunday should be more than a formal recitation of doctrine.
It should be a celebration of God, the Father and creator of the
universe; God, the Son, Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, who
redeemed us from sin and showed us God's true nature of Love;
and God the Holy Spirit, sustainer, comforter, and power for the
Church and proclamation of the Kingdom.
The Rev George Martzen is the Minister Attached to The Bishop's
Office.
For more information see the following websites: http://www.cresourcei.org/cypentecost.html
http://www.cresourcei.org/cyordinary.html
http://www.upperroom.org/
QUOTE:
THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES
MEANING TO THE MESSAGE
'The Holy Spirit is the one who reveals the mind of God to us, who interprets the meaning of Scripture, who helps us when we do not know how to pray, who gives us confidence to speak and witness across cultural and linguistic divides. In all of our emphasis on media, we must never forget the Holy Spirit who gives meaning to the message.'