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Hi everyone! I trust you’re having a good week. Mine has been relatively quiet—apart from a friendly (and just a bit exciting) encounter with a bear on a hike last Sunday afternoon. Diane and I are grateful that our Vancouver bears are pretty well-behaved. It makes our excursions into the woods much more pleasant.

If you’re watching the church calendar, you’ll know that this is another important, exciting week in the life of God’s people. This Sunday, we remember Pentecost, the birthday of the church.

Pentecost was part of the life of Israel from way back in the days of Moses. In Old Testament times, it was known as the Feast of Weeks, because it was celebrated 7 weeks after Passover. As more people spoke Greek, it picked up the name “Pentecost,” which is Greek for “fifty,” the number of days until the celebration if you count from Sabbath to Sabbath.

This was one of 3 annual festivals where God’s people were expected to make a pilgrimage to the temple. It was one of the most joyful festivals, celebrating God’s good provision for His people, coming at the end of the barley harvest and the start of the wheat harvest. Where some festivals picked up a somber feeling because offerings were made for the people’s sins, the Feast of Weeks was a happy time to praise the Lord together, thanking Him for taking care of them through another year. (For more info, see Exodus 23:14-17, 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10.)

Especially since the destruction of the temple in a.d. 70, Jewish people have also commemorated the Law given to Moses by God on Mt. Sinai at Pentecost. Exodus 19:1 tells us that God gave His Law in the 3rd month after the people left Egypt, meaning it happened around the time of Pentecost.

Of course, for Christians Pentecost has another layer of meeting which overshadows both the harvest celebration and the Law. It was during the annual Pentecost celebration in Jerusalem that God’s Spirit was poured out on the followers of Jesus in a new way, transforming our lives and equipping us to serve Him with a power that goes beyond what we have in ourselves, as fulfillment of long-awaited prophecies. We speak of Pentecost as the church’s “birthday” because in the New Testament, one of the defining marks of being a Christian and living together as church is the presence of God’s Spirit in our lives. That came in a fuller measure after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, as described so wonderfully in Acts chapter 2.

Pentecost is a big deal. You’ve probably noticed that during the past few weeks, as we’ve been studying Genesis, most of the lessons we’ve learned are lessons on what not to do as we walk with God. This is, in fact, a common theme all the way through the Old Testament. After humanity’s fall into sin in Genesis 3, we see a constant pattern of failure … followed by God’s gracious help and restoration … followed by some success in serving Him … followed by another round of failure … and so on. There are bright moments where godly heroes do really well. But for the most part, even the best of the heroes fail and fall short. (Think of Moses and David as prime examples.) So we’re constantly reading stories that teach us how not to live.

This is not an accident. It’s the whole point. The arrangement God made with Israel in the Old Testament was never designed to fulfill all His plans and desires for His people. It was always preparatory, pointing us forward to a greater fulfillment still to come. It contains many foretastes and blessings, and a lot of good instruction. But there is also a constant sense of hope not-yet-satisfied, where people need to have their hearts more fully transformed.

This is clearest in the prophets, who speak explicitly about the “more to come.” In several important passages, they connect this to an outpouring of God’s Spirit, who will change people’s hearts and enable them to serve in a new way as a result of Messiah’s work. So, for example, we read in Ezekiel 36:26-27:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws.”

When we understand this, the stories we’ve been studying in Genesis become somewhat less frustrating. Yes, there are a lot of “don’t do this!” lessons to learn. But we’re reading about people who are still waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promise that Messiah’s coming will change us from the inside out.

These stories should also make us just that much more grateful that we live on the other side of Jesus’ death and resurrection, of His ascension, and the outpouring of His Spirit at Pentecost. We’re not perfect, and we’re still waiting for our Lord to return and restore all things. But we can experience the transforming and empowering work of God’s Spirit in us, right now. So we don’t need to fall into all the same problems and mistakes that we’re reading about in Genesis. That’s good news, and a great relief!

And it’s because of Pentecost, which means we have much to celebrate this Sunday.

We’ll get a reminder of God’s transforming power at church this week, as Pastor Aldo walks us through the story of Jacob’s struggle with God from Genesis 32-33. Jacob didn’t experience a full-blown Pentecost, but his life was changed as a result of a rather specific touch from God. That, too, was a hint of good things yet to come, and I know it will offer us some helpful practical lessons. If you’re reading ahead, the main text begins at Genesis 32:22 and goes through 33:3, though for a fuller context you might want to read all of chapters 32-33, which describe Jacob’s preparations to meet with his estranged brother Esau.

Well, that’s my news for today. Have a great week, and hopefully we’ll see you Sunday. Blessings!

—Pastor Ken