Karen Hollis | May 28, 2023
Pentecost
Exodus 19:16-20 translation by Robert Alter:
And it happened on the third day as it turned morning, that there was thunder and lightning and a heavy cloud on the mountain and the sound of the ram’s horn, very strong, and all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought out the people toward God from the camp and they stationed themselves at the bottom of the mountain. And Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord had come down on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke from a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And the sound of the ram’s horn grew stronger and stronger. Moses would speak, and God would answer him with a voice. And the Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the mountaintop, and the Lord called Moses to the mountaintop, and Moses went up.
Second Reading: Acts 2:1-21 (Indigenous Translation):
The tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) celebrated another great feast call the Festival of Weeks or Pentecost, meaning “fifty”, because it was celebrated seven weeks after the Passover festival, on the fiftieth day. This was a harvest festival when the people would bring the first fruits of the harvest to Creator’s lodge in the Sacred Village of Peace (Jerusalem) and give thanks for his provision. Creator was about to send the Holy Spirit, promised by Creator Set Free (Jesus), to begin the time of the great harvest and gather people from all nations who represent the Great Sprit. The Time for the full meaning of the ancient festival had now arrived. The followers of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), numbering about one hundred and twenty, were waiting and praying in the upstairs room where they were lodging. It had now been fifty days since the Passover festival.
They had all gathered together in one place, when suddenly the sound of a great windstorm came from the Spirit world above and could be heard throughout the house where they were sitting. They saw flames of fire coming down from above, separating and resting on each of their heads. The Holy Spirit had come down upon them and began to fill them with his life and power. New languages began to flow out from their mouths, languages they had never learned, given from the Holy Spirit.
The Sacred Village of Peace (Jerusalem) was filled with devoted members of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel), who had come for the festival from every nation under the sun. A crowd began to gather when they heard the loud noise. In wonder and amazement, the crowd began to ask, “How is it that these people from Circle of Nations (Galilee) are speaking in our many languages? For we all can understand them in the languages of the places we have come from!
There are people here for the festival from the nations and places close by and far away who are members of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel), and those from Outside Nations who have been taken into the tribes. They come from Land of Victory (Parthia), Land in the Middle (Media), and Land of the Ancient Ones (Elam). Many come from Land Between Rivers (Mesopotamia), Land of Promise (Judea), Land of Handsome Horses (Cappadocia), Land of Black Waters (Pontus), and Land of the Rising Sun (Asia). Some come from Dry Wood (Phrygia) and Many Tries (Pamphylia), and the territory of Land of Tears (Lybia) near the village of Strong Wall (Cyrene). There are travelers from Village of Iron (Rome), both Tribal Members and Outsiders who have become Tribal Members, along with those who came from Flesh Eater Island (Crete) and Land of Wanderers (Arabia).
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be reflections of your word to us today, in Christ’s name we pray. Amen
Have a look at these names! I don’t know how many times I’ve read this text, and this section has always been a list of words I had to learn how to pronounce! Now look at them, they evoke images in my mind . . . and as I read through, I wonder about the stories for which they are named. What happened that became imprinted in that place . . . and how has that history shaped the people there? Rome is the Village of Iron (I can see that connection). . . Pamphylia is Many Tries (what is the story there?) . . . Land of Handsome Horses (Cappadocia). The introduction to this Indigenous translation says: “we decided to follow our Native naming traditions and use the meaning of names for persons and places in this Great Story.” As a non-Indigenous person, I find it quite stimulating. It is a bit challenging for our ears because we’re not used to it. This translation is inviting us forward into a new way of hearing the stories we know so well. But the really cool thing is that this Indigenous tradition of naming is similar to that of the Hebrew tradition. In fact, if you look through Hebrew and Christian texts, you’ll see places where it states explicitly what this name means or why this name was given. For instance, in Genesis we are told that Jacob (one of the fathers of Judaism) is given his name because he is born holding onto the heel of his brother Esau . . . and in the Indigenous translation, Jacob is indeed named Heel Grabber.
So this translation we’re exploring not only draws us into the future, but also invites us to regrow some of the roots into our tradition. It invites us to reclaim our history – reclaim some of the knowledge we have lost along the way – and infuse our faith lives with a richness that was always there for us to find. It’s kind of a bridge for us to walk between the past and what is emerging before us.
Another thing I appreciate about this translation is it provides historical context for the stories. At the beginning of today’s reading from Acts there is a little introduction, where we learn that in the Jewish tradition, Pentecost was an existing festival – Pentecost, meaning 50, which falls 7 weeks after Passover. It’s a harvest festival that celebrates God giving the Israelites the Law at Mt. Sinai. In gratitude for God’s law, the people bring the first fruits of their harvest and dedicate them to God. Growing up in the church I didn’t realize Pentecost was an existing festival. Year after year, I heard the NRSV translation explain, when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all gathered in one place. I thought the author was explaining about the day the Holy Spirit came down and named it Pentecost . . . but no, they were all gathered together for this festival.
Exodus tells us this morning about the origins of this festival. The day God brought the Law to the Israelites, God arrives with a huge amount of disruption. There is thunder and lightening, a loud ram’s horn sounding, the ground is shaking . . . and the people tremble. In the presence of fire and smoke coming down on the mountain, we are told that God has arrived. The mountain becomes holy because the God who comes there is holy.1 In the Biblical imagination, this encounter with God is the decisive moment in human history where the Holy fully engages with creation.2 The mountain quakes with God’s concrete presence in the world. For days the people prepare for this meeting . . . and their preparations become rituals in their tradition. The rituals mean to remind the people that meeting with God is the most sacred act. They need to be mindful and intentional when coming to encounter the power of the Holy.
Their practices of intentionality bring about festivals like Pentecost or the Festival of Weeks. Jesus’ followers are in Jerusalem for the festival after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. As they assemble, God breaks into their gathering . . . again in a hugely disruptive way. A great wind rushes in and we hear echoes of Mt. Sinai as fire comes down from above. The wind blows and the fire splits and rests on each of them . . . this is different. The last time God came down in this way, the people had to prepare for days, and they couldn’t get too close to the mountain for fear of death . . . for fear of too close an encounter with God. Now the Holy Spirit rests on each of them . . . what is God up to? How is it possible that they encounter God in this way and live? As philosopher Alfred North Whitehead said, there are two principles inherent in the nature of things . . . the spirit of change and the spirit of conservation. There can be nothing real without them.3 Between Mt. Sinai and the Holy Spirit coming to Jesus’ followers, God’s movement toward creation is conserved, God’s movement toward God’s people is consistent . . . this time, God shows up, but in a new way. Fire comes down not onto stone and earth, but to human flesh in an invitation to a new kind of relationship. Because of this strange and powerful presence with them, Jesus’ followers are able to do something they never imagined . . . speaking in languages they’ve never learned. Language is much more than vocabulary and sentence structure . . . languages carry the full weight of their respective cultures, histories, psychologies, and spiritualities.4 To speak a different language is to see differently, think differently. For instance, when I took some German classes in high school and university, I began to think in German (simple concepts only). Where in English I might ask, “what are you doing today?” The German asks, “what are you making today?” When I’m attempting to speak another language, I’m trying on an entirely new world view. So what is the Holy Spirit up to? Blowing through, creating this huge disturbance, and causing people to experience the world from someone else’s point of view.
The people observing are confused not by what they are hearing, but by the fact that they can understand what they’re hearing. How is it that we’re included? How is it that this invitation is also for us?
In the church today many of us experience this story at a distance, this idea that the disciples received the Holy Spirit and it made a practical difference in their lives. They partnered with the Spirit and were able to do things that were impossible to them before. But this is not all in the past or only in story. We have a ritual in the church called confirmation, where we receive the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus’ first followers did on Pentecost. Many of us were confirmed as teenagers or baptized as adults, which includes a prayer for receiving the Holy Spirit. This is a lived theology in our Christian tradition . . . and it is as active in each of us as our engagement with it. This is true and not true . . . As I said a couple weeks ago, when it comes to God, there is a yes, and . . . yes the Holy Spirit invites our engagement . . . and comes crashing into our lives in unexpected ways.
In the first congregation I served, I had a confirmation student named Dana. She was committed to going through the confirmation class, but was very sceptical of becoming confirmed, joining the church and taking on a life of ongoing discipleship. She had never experienced God and really wrestled with what this all meant. During this season she agree to attend the conference annual meeting of the UCC in Washington State, where in a worship service, the 400 people gathered were invited to join hands. As they stood there, all connected, Dana felt the power of the Holy Spirit. From that point forward she was all in! God revealed to her God’s movement in the gathered church. It was what she was searching for; she wanted to know this was real, and it is.
We’re now headed into the summer months, where we will be exploring the values the church identified last year. These values have everything to do with Pentecost. Spirituality – relationship with the Holy Spirit (among other aspects of God); Openness to what the Spirit brings next; Care for the Common Good – looking outside of ourselves, looking at the world through the eyes of someone in very different circumstances than us and being in solidarity; Radical Love – doing that extra bit to love someone and let them know they are included. God’s love is for them too, there is a place for them in this story, in fact, God’s story is not complete without them.
The Holy Spirit coming to us at Pentecost is only the beginning – I look forward to this journey, beloveds. thanks be to God.
1 Brueggemann. Old Testament Theology. p. 44
2 Alter, Robert. The Five Books of Moses. p. 293
3 In the book On the Mystery by Catherine Keller p. 24
4 Debie Thomas. Journey with Jesus essay from May 24, 2020. https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/2650-i-will-pour-out-my-spirit website accessed May 27, 2023