C is for Consider

as in consider that the world has seen two Pentecosts. The first took place at Mount Sinai, the second took place in an upper room; both are described as "gifts" of God, yet the second is given to surpass the first.

Most of us tend to forget the first "Pentecost," at least by that name, even though its reality is often first and foremost on our minds. The first Pentecost marks the celebration of the "giving of the Law" at Mount Sinai to the people of Israel through Moses. It took place fifty days (hence, the pente for fifty) after the people of Israel were delivered from Egypt by way of Moses setting up a passage way through the sea, the political border of Egypt.

In a grand narrative kind of way, like the Creation Story itself, what appeared to be the beginning of a "new start" for Israel (release/exodus from Egyptian bondage so they could serve the LORD freely) in a new promised land (just across the wilderness), turned out to be a repeat of the same old story of the Fall. They, like their parents, Adam and Eve, were now gathered before the LORD to hear his thundering verdict: Guilty! With or without Egyptian (political and cultural) bondage-it seems to make no difference-they, like all humanity (whether Egyptian, American, European, Asian, the list can go on) are simply a guilty people. The "deliverance" from Egypt didn't save them from their most basic bondage-that is, their bondage to sin or, as Luther describes it, our congenital "turned-in-on-ourselves" malady.

The first Exodus and Pentecost, far from celebrating true freedom, reveals the need for a freedom still to come that surpasses all understanding. Indeed, that first Exodus and Pentecost, in the memory of the prophets, will come to serve as an occasion for heightened anticipation of a new kind of Exodus and new kind of Pentecost.

That brings us to the second "Pentecost." Most of us tend to remember this Pentecost by name, even if in reality it is not always first and foremost on our minds. The second Pentecost marks the celebration of the "gift of the Holy Spirit." What is especially poetically sweet is the way the second Pentecost picks up historically and theologically where the first Pentecost leaves off. The grand narrative framework of Acts 2 makes this ever so clear. The disciples are said to be gathered "on the day of Pentecost," meaning the day on which Israel celebrated the "giving of the law," only to have that day's significance surpassed by the "giving of the Holy Spirit." The celebration of the first Pentecost is literally turned into a celebration of the second, new Pentecost.

But the internal narrative framework of the second Pentecost story is even more telling: Parallelism punctuated by stark reversal shows just how much the second Pentecost surpasses the first. The second Pentecost took place fifty days after Jesus was delivered into the hands of political tyrants. (Note the reversal.) This deliverance into tyranny Jesus then used to establish, by means of his death and resurrection, the way through sin and death, the legacy of the Law, into righteousness and life, the new legacy of the gospel. Unlike the first Exodus and Pentecost which confirmed "the Fall," all over again, this second Exodus and Pentecost yielded a genuine "new start," resurrection, a passage from death to life.

The evidence of this "new start" permeates the Acts narrative itself. For example, as the followers of Jesus gathered in that room, they were gathered before God who, for the sake of the Son through the sending of the Spirit, spoke a fresh Word or verdict on their lives: "Forgiven"-the only Word that could credibly pick up were the first word, "guilty", left off and, then, surpass it, reverse it, overrule it (Acts 2:38). How do we know this? Because that's precisely the Word that came out the mouths of the disciples. And why did that Word come out? Because their hearts were no longer turned-in-on-themselves, but turned out toward God in faith and neighbor in love. And how do we know this? Because people of all nations (like Egyptians, Americans, Asians, Europeans, etc.) declared they heard it-and so have we! Consider that again-Pentecost in retrospect.

steven kuhl