Pentecost - Happy Birthday Church!

One of the last things Jesus said to his disciples was that they should wait in Jerusalem for his Spirit to come. So they waited, altogether, meeting in a large house, often eating together. But most of the time, they were waiting and praying.

I wonder what they thought they were waiting for? What would happen when the Spirit of Jesus would come?

They also spent most of the time hiding from the authorities who had persuaded Pilot, the Roman Governor, to allow they to kill Jesus. So whilst the disciples were thrilled that Jesus was alive again, they were still very scared of the religious authorities.

A number of days passed. How long were they to wait? Had they missed it?

There was a special and important feast in Jerusalem, called Pentecost. As well as being Harvest Festival, Pentecost was also a time when the Jewish people thanked God for giving them the Law (for example the ten commandments). It was exactly seven weeks after Passover, when Jesus had been killed. As at Passover, Jerusalem was packed with visitors.

The disciples began this special day by having a meeting to pray. They squeezed into this room in a house, about 120 of them!

As they were praying something strange and brilliant happened. If you had been there you would have said that a gale force wind suddenly blew through the house. Everybody noticed it. Everybody felt it. It swept through the room and everyone was .. well, a bit frightened and excited at the same time.

And then they saw what seemed like fire, but no one was frightened. It was like a fire .. but no one got burnt. Everyone of the disciples was touched in turn.

It was there. He was there. The Spirit of Jesus had arrived. They were so full of joy, not least because Jesus had kept his promise. And they began to sing and shout. Some danced. Some laughed. Many cried.

People passing the house stopped to look through the door.

"It's a party!" they said as they saw the disciples. "They look drunk to me!" said another observer. Peter staggered out of the house. He felt, well, on fire! He felt as thought his very heart would burst if he didn't tell someone there and then about God's gift. And as the other disciples spilled out the house, they too began to speak about God's great love.

And a great crowd gathered.

"They are drunk I tell you." grunted a passer by. "They can't be drunk," said another, "they are telling us about God!"

Peter found somewhere to stand where the great crowd could hear him.

"Everybody here, listen to me. Listen to me"

The crowd hushed and listened.

"We are not drunk! It is only 9 in the morning! But what you are seeing is what God promised. The prophet Joel, many years ago, told us that one day God's Spirit would be poured out on to men and woman everywhere. And this is it! Today is that day!"

The crowd listened even more intently.

"It is all because of Jesus, who was killed in this very city less than two months ago. Yes, he was killed, but God brought him back to life. We knew he was special, because of the wonderful things he did. But now we know who he really was. Who he really IS! Jesus is God's son.

The people were shocked. They could not believe that such a thing could have happened in Jerusalem. Some felt guilty, other ashamed.

"What shall we do?" they asked as they pushed forward to get closer to Peter.

"Say sorry to God, and believe that Jesus is God's son." And with that Peter and the other disciples went into the crowd. They prayed for people, talked to others. And once again, some were laughing, some crying, some even shouting God's praise as they were all touched by the very same spirit of God.

It was wonderful. It was the best ever Day of Pentecost. By the end of the day, at least 3000 people form that big crowd had joined the disciples. The very first church had just been born.