Unity Church of Castro Valley
Sunday Message for May 27, 2007
Pentecost
Today is Pentecost. The Festival of Weeks or Shavuot is celebrated 50 days after Passover. The Jewish people celebrate Passover as the holiday on which they commemorate their redemption from slavery in Egypt. That was their "physical redemption." But physical redemption is not enough. It would have left them ‘free' people, but with no purpose to their lives. The purpose of the Jewish people is to serve God. The way they serve God is by studying and practicing the Torah.
So Shavuot is the purpose of the Exodus from Egypt. Seven weeks had to pass before they were able to shake off the feeling of being subject to their Egyptian taskmasters. The Jewish Religion believes that there is no legitimate master for a human being other than God. This is probably the most important lesson of Shavuot.
Moses led the people to the vicinity of Mt Sinai for the purpose of receiving the Torah. Three days passed before the people recovered from their six week trip through the desert. Moses was instructed that the people would have to prepare themselves for another three days before they would be ready to receive the Torah.
Jewish tradition has it that before giving the Torah to the Jewish people, God had to, so to speak, ‘shop it around' to the various nations of the world, but there were no takers. Moses had to overcome the objection of the Angels, who claimed that the Jewish people weren't sufficiently deserving to receive the Torah. But, fortunately for the Jewish people, and for the world, Moses won that debate. Receiving the Torah was their "spiritual redemption."
FESTIVAL OF WEEKS
In the Bible, in Leviticus 23, there are instructions on how to celebrate the Festival of Weeks. It talks about bringing in the first fruits of the wheat, using only the choicest of the wheat, to make loaves of bread for the offering. And it says, (Leviticus 23:21) "On that same day you shall make proclamation; you shall hold a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations." Charles Fillmore wrote, "That day of Pentecost signifies a gathering of spiritual powers for the purpose of harvesting the first fruits of Spirit; it is a dedicating of these new forces of Spirit to unselfish service in the vineyard of the Lord."
So, we have to physically leave our slavery, our addictions, our depression, our loneliness. We have to decide to go to church, or that class, or that 12-step meeting. We start by being physically redeemed. We have to put one foot in front of the other and take some kind of action. We have to leave behind that which enslaves us.
We have to leave Egypt, which is the darkness of ignorance and obscurity. We have to head toward Mt Sinai which symbolizes, in us, a high place in consciousness where we come into conscious communion with the Divine to be spiritually redeemed. We have to prepare ourselves to meet with the Divine and learn to follow His principles.
PENTECOST
Jesus wanted his disciples to be prepared and had said to them on one of his last appearances, (Luke 24:49) "Stay here in Jerusalem until you have been clothed with power from on high." Then just before he ascended he had promised, (Acts 1:5) "You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
(Acts 2:1-4) "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability."
So the disciples had gathered to celebrate Shavuot, or the day they had received the Torah. But, they experienced, fifty days after Jesus' departure, a radical change in their lives.
The disciples were ready to receive what had been promised them. The preparation they made is plain and we can duplicate it in our lives. First, we should be at peace (remain in Jerusalem), in that calm and serene state of mind and heart which enables us to rest in the Lord. Second, our consciousness should be unified (they were together). Third, our attention is to be centered in the heaven of the mind, the upper room, in joyful expectation. As the whole consciousness is centered on God, human thought ceases and we are ready for the light from above.
After the fire and the wind touched them and entered them, they started to do things that they had never done before. They were made new creatures - brought to life - in a new way - much as the bones in the valley of dry bones received new life in the sight of the prophet Ezekiel.
The Spirit of God -that breath that comes from God - creates and makes all things new - it makes them all that God intended them to be. The Day of Pentecost ushered in a new age, the age of the Spirit - the age of new life - for all people. Baptism in the Holy Spirit was their spiritual redemption.
NEW LIFE
We very often hear about beginning new eras and new periods in human life. Every time a new region in some third-world country gets piped water, or every time a new power plant is built in an area that had no power before, an important official will address the people and speak of a new era, a new start, a new creation, a new epoch. But, in fact, human life in its relationships goes on as it has before. The only difference is that the quarrels at home, the fights in the bars, the deceptive talk, and the selfish grasping are now done in electric light while drinking clean water.
Real human newness cannot be a building, a power plant, a landing on the moon or a flight to Mars. You cannot change the quarrels in a family by eating better food, by installing a large screen TV or by buying a bigger car. A real evolutionary step can only be made if mentalities and attitudes change; real progress can only be made if outlooks and judgments change. We have to raise in consciousness if we are to create a new world and a new life for ourselves.
That is what happened at the moment that the Spirit of God descended, at the moment that all the disciples of Jesus became not only capable of speaking all kinds of languages, but were willing to use those languages to contact people they never would have thought of addressing before. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the tremendous spiritual quickening given to those who have prepared themselves for it. And any of us who choose to, can do that.
The moment that the Holy Spirit descended they went from believing in forgiveness to showing forgiveness. It happened when they went from believing that God would protect them to actually venturing forth from the upper room into the danger filled streets of Jerusalem. It happened when they went from thinking about what Jesus had said, to proclaiming what he said - in word - and in deed, and reaching out to heal, to serve - and to love - all those around them.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
There is a mystical moment in all our lives. There is a moment when belief comes alive. There is a moment when our thinking about the promises that God has made becomes in us a transforming faith. There is a moment when ideas and concepts suddenly move our minds and our hearts, and through these, move our feet and our hands, our mouths and our lips in a new and a life giving way. That moment is the gift of the Holy Spirit. That moment is the fruit of the Holy Spirit which now dwells in us, and seeks to bring us closer to God - and closer to one another. For the first disciples that moment happened with a rush of wind and tongues of fire - and it still happens that way for some people.
For John Wesley - the founder of Methodism - it came when he was listening to Martin Luther's Commentary of Paul's letter to the Romans, and he felt his heart "strangely warmed." One minister said it came for him while seated in a chair in a church with several people of faith praying around him and over him, and he felt a kind of electricity inside his body.
For others - it comes in other ways - but it changes their lives. It changes them like air changes a balloon from a little puddle of rubber to a glorious full round ball that floats and bounces. It gives life to the form and substance, to the bones and sinews - life to the heart and soul. It is the evidence, as Paul writes - it is the sign and it is the seal - of our relationship with God.
God's gift of the Holy Spirit takes you from having belief in God - to having God's power in you. Once you have experienced it, you will never truly be without it. You can stifle that power within for a time. You can turn from it and conceal it for a while, but you cannot escape it. It is there - and you know it. It struggles within you for expression - and when you let go and let God - beautiful things happen. In reality the Spirit does all that Jesus said it would do.
The Holy Spirit within you will inspire you with the words you need to bring real comfort to a friend who is lost. It will inspire you with the words that really communicate forgiveness and love to someone in need. And when you surrender to the Holy Spirit within, it will bring peace to your soul and the soul of others.
A NEW AGE
Charles Fillmore wrote, "The Holy Spirit is in the world today with great power and wisdom ready to be poured out to all who look to God for guidance." The Holy Spirit flows in us, and through us, it flows to others. It is like the wind, it is like the gentle flapping of a dove's wings. It is like fire, it is like a river. It is like a still small voice within.
And this is the age we are in, the new age that was born on the day of Pentecost, an age that allows for a true transformation, for a new way of living. It allows for it - it makes it happen - it brings it to reality. And all we have to do to enter that age is to reach out for it. All we have to do is to go from believing what Jesus said to living what Jesus taught. All we have to do is to change our minds and our lives will change.
(John 7:37-39) "On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, "Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water." Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified."
When we drink, when we turn to God, when we believe and seek him in prayer, in church, in the world around us, he comes. God comes to us in Spirit and works a new work in us and through us.
The Holy Spirit is the power of God and the Essence of God. It is the power which upholds the universe itself. And it is that which was poured out on the first believers in Christ on the day of Pentecost. It is that which dwells within each one of us. So, expect to be surprised by God. Expect good things to occur. Believe in the Spirit and the power of God. Trust in it and marvelous things will happen.
SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 23:15-22; Acts 2:1-4; John 7:37-39; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:5
REFERENCE: The Revealing Word Charles Fillmore; Metaphysical Bible Dictionary Charles Fillmore
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Last updated
May 28, 2007
