Richard Davenport
June 7, 2023 – Day of Pentecost
John 7:37-39
The Day of Pentecost comes again. The day Jesus told his disciples to wait for. The Holy Spirit has come upon them in power and given them what they will need to begin the work of building the church. It will be rough going and things will move at a rather frenetic pace for a while, but it will all go the way it was intended to.
God has, of course, timed everything perfectly. Going back to Leviticus, God outlines for the people all of the feasts and holidays they are to observe. There are several of them he lists, but most of them you don’t hear about very often. Passover is pretty well known. The Exodus event is one of the most well-known and important events in the Old Testament and the Passover feast commemorates that down through the ages. The name, “Pentecost” is known, but the purpose of the feast doesn’t often come up. It was a harvest celebration. It was a way to remind the Israelites where all of their provisions had come from and to give them a gentle prodding to give thanks to God for caring for them for another year.
Yet another of the major feasts was the Feast of Tabernacles. This is what brings Jesus to Jerusalem in our gospel reading. Jesus’s own brothers don’t believe in him and have gone on ahead, so Jesus is there on his own. The feast was there to remind the Israelites of how they got to be where they are. After the Passover, the Israelites spent years in the wilderness before coming to the Promised Land. They lived like nomads and wandered wherever God led them. They had no permanent residence and everything they had was portable, hence tabernacles. Portable dwellings for people on the move.
Now that the Israelites were in Israel and no longer needed to roam, they also needed to remember how they got where they were. God led them for 40 years and all that time he saw to their every need, in spite of the fact they continued to complain and were often afraid to do what he asked.
So now Jesus is at the Feast in Jerusalem. It’s been a busy few days. He’s been teaching at the temple some and confounding the Pharisees who already don’t like him and would rather be rid of him. Jesus generally keeps it low key through the first seven days of the feast. He declared before he went to the feast that his time had not yet come, so he isn’t looking to be too confrontational just yet. The last day of the feast is supposed to be a holy convocation where no one is to do any regular work. They are to meditate on the last few days and on the purpose of the feast in general; the goodness of God who has brought them together to celebrate.
Since Jesus is keeping a low profile it’s a bit jarring for him here, on the last day of the feast, to suddenly stand up and announce that his followers will receive living water. Jesus has talked about living water before, back in John 4 when he met with the Samaritan woman. He was clearly speaking about eternal life when he spoke to her, and John shares here that Jesus also means the Spirit, telling us those things are all woven together. That tells us why we find this gospel reading on Pentecost: the Spirit brings eternal life. The apostles have received the Holy Spirit already when they came to faith. But now, the Spirit is helping them to share that life with those around them.
You don’t have to think very hard about why Pentecost would be a major festival in the church year. Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to the apostles so the work of the church can begin and gospel can start spreading to the four corners of the earth as God intended. But what about the Feast of Tabernacles? Does it still have anything to say to us now, as we live and work in the New Testament era? It would seem not, since we talk about it so little. It certainly isn’t mandated for us anymore. It would be fairly difficult to even live like that for a week for most people. Maybe you could substitute an RV or something like that and camp out there for a few days. It sounds like one of those things that was really only pertinent for the Israelites and now that those days are done we don’t need to bother talking about it much anymore.
Perhaps, but perhaps not. As always, everything God does has a purpose. God wasn’t really interested in supporting the local Cabella’s, Bass Pro Shop, or other camping supply stores. He wasn’t testing their survival skills. It didn’t even really matter whether they spent time in a tent or booth at all. It was all about remembering their time in the wilderness. The Israelites had a lot to remember. Perhaps there is something there for us after all.
We need to remember as well. You too can look back at your life and follow the course that led you to where you are now. Are you satisfied with how things are going and all you’ve accomplished? Your family, kids, grandkids, all get along well and support each other as a family should? You have or had a good job that you found fulfilling and provided enough money to support you and maybe a little extra? You have hobbies you enjoy, friends to spend time with, so many things you can think back on and say you were glad you were a part of them. If you can sit there and consider your life and say your life has turned out reasonably well, then the Feast of Tabernacles is for you.
On the other hand, if you’ve had a pretty tough life, maybe you can’t say that. Perhaps you’re plagued with regrets, things you said that led to serious consequences or things you didn’t say that now can never be said. Perhaps you have ongoing medical problems that have left you beaten and demoralized. Maybe you find yourself adrift without a purpose and without a support structure to help you to find a place and make your way toward it. Maybe your life is just a long string of one disaster after another, so much so you don’t even blink anymore when everything just falls apart. If you can look back at your life and find it just depressing, then the Feast of Tabernacles is still for you.
If life is going well, how did you end up where you are? Do you have your nice house and car because you worked overtime and saved and saved to get them? Is that high-paying or fulfilling job yours because you got the education, made the right connections, and made the extra effort to really impress your prospective employer? Are your relationships so rewarding because you give everything to shower those in your life with love and affection? Are all of your accomplishments yours because of all of the time and effort you put into them, or a result of the natural talents you have that put you a cut above the rest?
If that’s all true, then the Feast of Tabernacles is for you. You look around at all you have and all you’ve accomplished and believe it’s because of you, then you have forgotten how you got there. All of the time in the wilderness where the Lord provided for you. All of the tough times, the struggles, the entire journey that got you to where you are, all because the Lord guided you and gave you what you needed. All of the times his grace and forgiveness brought you back to the path of righteousness so your life didn’t fly off the tracks. That’s what comes from remembering at the Feast of Tabernacles.
If you’re on the other end of things and life hasn’t gone well at all, then remember also why the Israelites were in the wilderness in the first place. They were going somewhere. God promised them a place to call their own, where they would never have to wander again. This place and this life are temporary. God’s new world awaits and he is leading you to it. Then all of this will be in the past and will never be repeated. The grace and forgiveness found in Christ bridge the gap between this world and the next. Continue following him and he will lead you there.
Jesus stands up in the midst of the crowd to remind them of what the Feast was for. God’s grace, love, and providence are the only source of life. Christ brings life. Christ gives life. Christ turns temporary life into eternal life.
We see this gospel reading on Pentecost because, though they are about two different holy days the Israelites observed, their purpose was the same in the end: to remember how God has provided and how he continues to provide. The apostles had been given the tremendous task of building the foundation for the church. Daunting as that task was, God provided everything they needed. They knew everything they had and everything they did was a gift from the Spirit and enabled them to share the message of life found in Christ Jesus. And though they suffered and life was often difficult, they knew it was all temporary. They were building God’s kingdom here and that kingdom would continue forever.
That first Pentecost has come and gone. The age of the church is here. The work begun by Christ and given to the apostles through the direction of the Spirit has continued. It continues on today and will until Christ returns and we arrive in the promised land, the new creation, the perfect world. Those ancient festivals are gone but their purpose remains. God’s grace claimed us as his people. God’s grace forgives for all of the times we doubt his provision and guidance. God’s grace keeps us directed toward the goal of new life. Nothing we have is earned and it will all pass away. All of this goes according to God’s gracious plan to bring the gospel to the world and to give salvation to all who believe in him.
So remember Pentecost. Remember how you came to be one of God’s chosen people, brought to faith by the Spirit and claimed as his by the living waters of baptism. Remember that that the evil and suffering you face here and now will not last forever, for your journey has a goal, a final destination. God has promised you a place in his eternal kingdom and he is leading you through this temporary and fleeting life to that goal where you will live in peace forever. Remember God’s grace that keeps you on the path so you do not deviate or fall away so you will finally arrive at that goal and it will be right there waiting for you, just as he promised.