5 June, A+D 2022
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Pentecost is the zenith of the Easter season. It is the day
on which the Church is born, and the Gospel is sent out into all the world.
“Pentecost” literally means “fiftieth day,” as it is the fiftieth day since the
Resurrection of our Lord. In the English language, it is also called
“Whitsunday.” This strange name comes from simply smushing the words “white”
and “Sunday” together. This “white-Sunday” comes from the garments worn by the
baptismal candidates who were baptized on this day.
In northern Europe, the home of the English language, it
would be too cold to observe the custom of baptizing converts at the Easter
Vigil. These baptisms were delayed until the warmer spring months, fifty days
after the Resurrection. What a beautiful way to commemorate the birth of the
Church than to observe the new birth of Christians into the Body of Christ!
The Feast of Pentecost existed before the coming of the Holy
Spirit upon the apostles. It celebrated two things. First, Pentecost was a harvest
festival. The faithful of Israel would bring grain offerings to the Temple in
thanksgiving for the harvest with which God had blessed them. Pentecost was at
the beginning of their harvest and the faithful would bring the first fruits of
their harvest to God.
We have much to learn from our forefathers. They did not
wait to ensure the harvest was complete before returning thanks to God. They
did not wait to ensure they saw 80% or 90% of what was planted grow to
maturity. That which they harvested first was given back to God in
thanksgiving, showing they trusted their heavenly Father to provide the rest.
In this way, we see a model for our giving to the church. We
are free in the Gospel, no longer commanded by God to give 10%, a tithe, of our
income to support the Temple. Rather, we are free to give more. We are free to
give more because we are no longer under the Law but have been made free
children of the Father.
The blessings of God in the Old Testament were shadows of
the blessings in the New. So too were the offerings of the faithful in the Old
Testament shadows of the New. Neither diminishes after the Resurrection of
Christ. They are magnified. Circumcision was a sign in the flesh of men that
they were part of God’s covenant. In the New Testament, Holy Baptism fulfills
this sign in the flesh by being offered to men and women, and rather than a
removal of our flesh, it places the robe of Christ’s righteousness upon us.
God’s blessing is magnified, not diminished.
Our financial support of God’s church looks to the Old Testament to find a place to begin. The first fruits of the harvest were offered to God, 10% was required of all the faithful, each year. In the New Testament, in the age of the Church following the Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord, 10% is a great place to begin returning thanks to God for the many blessings He has bestowed upon you. Remember, everything you have, like the grain harvest of old, comes from the Father and will eventually return to Him. You are the steward of these earthly blessings. If the Lord has blessed you handsomely, return thanks handsomely. Ten percent is a great place to start, but the Lord loves a cheerful giver, no matter the dollar amount you give.
The second purpose of Pentecost prior to the Ascension of
our Lord was to commemorate the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Here
we see the clearest connections to the descent of the Holy Spirit. At Mount
Sinai, the people were commanded not to touch the mountain for its holiness.
Moses alone could approach the presence of God. A great cloud descended upon
the mountain with thunder, lightning, and the terrifying sound of a mighty
trumpet. Fire flashed from the top of the mountain. The people became
frightened and stood afar off.
The coming of God upon Mount Saini indicates the nature of
what was given. The Law reveals God’s wrath over our sin. It reveals our sin,
shows it plainly by the lightning flash of God’s Word, and thunders loudly in
our hearts. The sound of the trumpet announces judgment is near. In our sin, we
flee from these signs, knowing our fate is sealed in our mortal state,
consigned to the eternal fire of God’s wrath.
At Pentecost, however, the Holy Spirit descends with the
sound of a mighty, rushing wind. This sound is only described as the sound of
rushing wind but must itself be something more. I believe it is the sound of
the Holy Gospel, being spoken by the Holy Spirit, Himself. No matter what the
sound was, it did not inspire fear in the apostles nor in the people gathered
in Jerusalem. This sound of the Holy Spirit brought to remembrance all the
words of Christ in the hearts of the apostles. The crowds in Jerusalem,
gathered for the harvest feast and to commemorate the giving of the Law, are
drawn toward the sound.
Whereas the people at Mount Sinai were kept away from the
Mountain of the Lord, the voice of the Holy Spirit draws the crowds in. The
Holy Spirit descends in fire, just as He did on Mount Sinai, but this time it
is not frightening. He descends as tongues of flame, bringing the Words of the
Gospel of Christ to the apostles to be shared with the world. The crowd
gathering at this sound is somewhat skeptical, yet they are drawn to the sounds
of the apostles beginning to preach.
Here, the various peoples from throughout the ancient world,
heard the mighty works of God in their own languages. The apostles preached to
them concerning the death and resurrection of Christ. These languages no longer
separate the Elamite and the Mede, nor do they find their unity in these
languages. They are unified in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They
are unified within the Body of Christ.
The Tower of Babel is often misunderstood. God commanded Noah
and his sons to multiply and fill the earth. While Noah’s descendants
multiplied, they did not fill the earth. Once they reached the plain of Shinar,
they decided the land was ideal and they ceased to fill the earth. Working
together, the men of the earth decided to build a tower to God, making a name
for themselves.
God could not have this. The unity of man, even at the
beginning, with only Adam and Eve, is not found in language, lineage, or ethnicity.
The unity of man is found in God, in the Body of Christ, in the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit. The men of earth desiring to make a name for themselves rejected
the Body of Christ for the body of their own work. The name man makes for
himself is Sin and Death.
The building of the Tower of Babel itself is somewhat of an
engineering miracle. Our ancient ancestors were very intelligent and capable of
great wonders. Such ability quickly goes from a blessing of the Most High into
an idol. God has placed you into relationships with your fellow man such that
you are to serve him in various ways. God has given abilities to engineers,
pilots, carpenters, plumbers, managers, teachers, and store clerks. This is
commendable.
Yet these careers are not the same as who and what you are.
On the deathbed of a Christian, no one wants to hold his favorite chisel, or
cling to his over-full timecard. A Christian desires to hold his family close
and cling to the Word of God. A Christian desires a visit from his pastor to
hear the Word of God and receive His gifts one more time on this side of glory.
While the accomplishments of this life are something to give
thanks to God for, they are not the most important aspect of who you are. Your
baptism is the most important aspect of who you are because it tells you whose
you are. The name God gives to the Baptized is Life, the name of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. In your Holy Baptism, you find yourself a child of the
Heavenly Father and a member of the Body of Christ. In this Body, you find
unity with the Judean and Cappadocian. In this Body, you are one with the
Phrygian and Pamphylian.
God punished the peoples at Babel by forcing them to spread
out and fill the earth. This was God’s command from the very beginning. Languages
would naturally develop as man spread out to cover the earth. God forced this
process by dividing their languages while they dwelt together. Certainly, this is
a punishment for those living in Babel as they could no longer communicate with
friends and possibly even family. They must set out to different parts of the
world and build lives where they could communicate.
This dispersion of
peoples is recognized even in heaven. When St. John sees a vision of heavenly
worship in the Book of Revelation, he sees a multitude without number, of all
nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues.[1]
This multitude is all praising the Lamb who is on the Throne of heaven, that
is, they are united in their praise and worship of Christ. They are the united
Body of Christ, retaining their individuality and individual languages.
From the beginning of man, God desired diversity of language
and culture so that man could not mistake where unity is found. Unity is found
in the Body of Christ. For this reason, the Holy Spirit descends upon the
apostles in tongues of flame. These gentle flames illumine the Word of God,
setting the hearts of man on fire with the love of God. If the coming of the
Law was terrifying for man, the coming of the Gospel is a great comfort. The
dispersion of man at Babel was God enacting His Law upon man and the preaching
of the Gospel on Pentecost is the fulfillment of God’s Law by uniting the
multitude of nations, tribes, peoples, and languages in the Body of Christ.
Just as fire is both deadly and necessary for life, so too
the Word of God kills and gives life. The Law comes to reveal our sin and cause
us to flee. But we must ask, “To where shall I go? I am a poor, wretched
sinner. Where is salvation found?” Then the Holy Spirit enters in with the
satisfying warmth of the Gospel to reveal the deeds of Christ saying, “Peace I
leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to
you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”[2]
“And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be
saved.”[3]
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