Pent08

Pentecost May 11, 2008
St. Stephen Episcopal, Oak Harbor, WA
The Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, Rector

Last weekend we commemorated the Ascension of Christ and his departure from his friends. Both
hope and challenge informed the Apostles facing an unknown future as the living legacy of Christ.
This week we commemorate an experience the community had after his ascension; they thought
they had said goodbye and would have no further experience of Jesus until the end of the world, but
they were surprised by something that would stay with them on their journey.

Pentecost is a hybrid of powerful images related to end time prophecies of a Messiah returning in
fire mingled with gentle images of life-giving water, earthly rain and heavenly blessing. The meaning
of Pentecost is culturally complex, spiritually challenging and the source of significant theological
reflection within the Christian community over many generations.

The Gospel of John is the last of the four Gospel’s to be written; it’s exact dating is debatable, but
most scholars accept a range of 90 AD to 100 AD. What is important about the dating is that it is
written after the deaths of all those who knew Jesus personally, those who had first-hand
encounters with him. Therefore, it’s unlikely that the Gospel was written by the Apostle known as
John. However, the Gospel’s author is faced with explaining to second and third generations of
followers how Christ is a continuing, present and real experience for them. The explanation
provided lifts up the encounter of the community with Jesus through spiritual experience.

The story of Pentecost draws from ancient Hebrew wisdom traditions specialized in comprehending
important key symbols which – through careful study – could unlock what were believed to be the
important mysteries about the nature of God. Hebrew religious tradition, like most religions,
included an expression of spiritual mysticism considered to be somewhat peripheral to the central
core of communal belief and practice, respected by most though studied by few.

In order to understand how Hebrew mysticism informs Christian heritage in understanding Pentecost
in the early church, we need first to look at the cultural timing of the events sited in the Gospel of
John. The reading begins with the brief remark, “On the last day of the festival, the great day…” (Jn
7:37). The festival referred to is noted at the beginning of the chapter as the Jewish Festival of
Booths taking place in Judea (Jn 7:2). Ultimately, Jesus leaves the safety of Galilee to attend the
festival in spite of the danger of being captured in Judea where the Sanhedrin has a warrant out for
his arrest.

Traditionally the Festival of Booths was a joyful seven day event called Sukkot [pr. “Sue-coat”]
commemorating the forty-year period during which the people of Israel wandered in the desert, living
in temporary shelters. The word Sukkot means "booths," and refers to the temporary dwellings that
the Israelites were commanded to live in during the holiday in memory of the period of wandering.

The day after the seventh day of Sukkot is the holiday Shemini Atzeret which is associated with
Sukkot, and yet is a holiday in its own right. Shemini Atzeret literally means "the assembly of the
eighth (day)." While Sukkot is a festival intended for all people, Shemini Atzeret is a more intimate
celebration between the Creator and the Hebrew people. The book of Leviticus (c. 1400 BC)
establishes the practice of the seven days of Sukkot follwed by the eighth day of Shemini Atzeret,
which was understood as a day of new beginnings (Lev 23:33-36).

For Christians understanding the nature of Christ’s presence is rooted in the much older
understanding of Yahweh’s presence to the Israelites as they wandered through the desert (i.e. the
Festival of Booths). Our Old Testament reading today (Num 11:24-30) shares the story of Moses
gathering a chosen group of elders within a tent and the Lord coming down to them, taking some of
the Spirit that was on Moses and putting it on the elders. The Spirit also rested on two men who
were not in the tent. Apparently, God – and not men only – has some say in who is chosen.
However, the point of all this choosing is not to make special people but to find people willing to
share the burden of leadership, sharing responsibility of taking care of the needs of the community
(Num 11:17).

From the earliest desert experience of the faithful people, God dwelled among his people – resting
upon the people. From the Hebrew word for “to dwell” [shackan] emerges an important concept in
Jewish mysticism, the Shechinah [pr. Shek-ee-nah]. The Talmudic Sages (keepers of rabbinical
commentaries on the Torah and Midrashim) conceived of the Shechinah as a spiritual essence
evinced through brilliant light or radiance. The deeply mystical concept of Shechinah was closely
tied to the concept of the eternal Kingdom of Heaven, a present and immediate reality to be
championed by a future Messiah. It was said that taking upon one's self [or the receiving] the “yoke
of the Kingdom of Heaven” required that a person 1) must desire to serve God above all other
worldly claims, 2) must be intentional about developing a personal awareness of God’s nearness,
and 3) understand oneself as one member of a transcendent community, the Kingdom of Heaven.

The permanent presence of the Spirit in the midst of the people accompanies them without ceasing
and imparts itself to every member of the community when one’s life is lived in such a way as to be
capable of realizing it. Shechinah wisdom is that goodness and piety create a divine environment
which empowers all who breathe it in with a new impulse towards the good, the beautiful and the
true. Within this belief it is taught that whoever shares in a meal at which a 'disciple of the wise' is
present will experience of the splendor of the Shechinah. The presence of the 'disciple of the wise'
causes the lives of those gathered in to be lived spiritually, giving a quality of access to the Divine
which they would not otherwise have had. Finally, the 'disciple of the wise' is a Temple of the Holy in
human form. To approach him is to approach the Holy of Holies, because he is God’s love in the
midst of the world. For early Christians, the ‘disciple of the wise’ was Jesus.

Jewish historian T.B. Ketuboth addresses the question, "Is it possible for any man to cling to the
Shechinah if God is a consuming fire (Duet 4:24)?” His ultimate conclusion is yes. The Shechinah
is embraced through actions of generosity, through engaging Scripture and religious study, and
through companionship with those who seek no higher opportunity than to do what is good and just
for the sake of the love of God. For early Christians, Jesus was embraced by the practices applied
to the Shechinah as the embodiment of Wisdom.

In addition to the idea of the Shechinah, another important concept within Hebrew mysticism and the
early Christian community was the spiritual instruction imbedded within the Hebrew alphabet – that
medium by which the Word of God created the universe and entered it. The smallest and most
important letter in the Hebrew alphabet is the yod. It is the 10th letter and denotes the sound of a
“y” as in yellow, and it means “hand.” Since yod is used to form all the other letters, and since God
uses the letters as the building blocks of Creation, yod is believed to indicate God’s omnipresence,
the presence of God the Spirit in everything. The Talmud teaches that God used the letter yod to
create the world to come, the Kingdom of Heaven. Yod is the first letter of the name of God (Yaweh)
and it is the first letter of the name of the savior (Yeshua).

Ichnographically, the symbol of the yod represents both rain and fire. And now we have the
connection between water used in the Gospel of John and the brilliant light of the Spirit in the
Sheckinah as tongues of flames resting on the Apostles in Acts (Act 2:1-21). Yods look like flames
or drops of water.

Sukkot (Festival of Booths) was the time in the agricultural year to ask for God’s blessing of rain at
the end of the harvest season. For ancient Hebrews whose crops relied on rain and the flash rivers
it created in the desert, rain represented the relationship and promise between God and creation
(that rain would be used for the promotion of life and not for destruction of life). Rabbi Tanchum bar
Chiyya (3rd century) would later conclude: “The sending of rain is an event greater than the giving
of the Torah, for the giving of the Torah was a joyful event to the Israelites alone while the falling of
the rains is a joyful event for the whole world, the domestic animals, the wild animals, and for the
birds, as it is written: you fulfill the earth and her desires.”

On the 8th day, technically the day after the seven days of Sukkot, on Shemini Atzeret, observers
said a special prayer for rain to fall on the land of Israel. In addition to the invitation to greater
intimacy with God, it is the day on which the stores of dew in heaven are opened. God is praised as
“the One Who makes the wind blow and makes rains descend” [Mashiv HaRuach U'Morid
HaGeshem’] in the recognition that rain comes down with life-giving power and reflects the power of
God. Here in the Pacific Northwest we should remember the rabbinical teaching that it is especially
efficacious to pray while it is raining in the belief that when Creator is giving out b'rachot (blessings),
we should take advantage of it.

The prophet Zechariah (c. 520 AD) associated Sukkot with the Messianic era: “Then all who survive
of the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year by year to worship the King, the
Lord of hosts, and to keep the festival of booths. If any of the families of the earth do not go up to
Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain upon them.” (Zechariah 14:
16-17).

In the Gospel of John, remember, we hear that on the last day of the festival, the great day or the
day commemorating the intimate relationship between God and the chosen people, Jesus says to
the crowd, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in my drink, ‘out of
the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water” (Jn 7:37-38). Like a storm in the desert, Christ
brings the promise of new life and new beginnings.

The author of John interprets Jesus’ reference to water as the Spirit which would be received by
believers after Christ’s ascension. One intended understanding is that Jesus will be present to his
community after his departure, even more intimately united with his friends in the future than he had
the ability to be during his lifetime among those who knew him.

The mystical reality of the spiritual joining of Christ with his community is depicted in images and
stories of fire and water, stories we lift up on this day to remind ourselves of the indwelling Spirit of
God that abides with us and in us through the new life given to us through Christ in Baptism. On our
individual and communal journey we are invited to gather around Christ in a kind of eighth day
Sabbath of intimacy in which we breathe in the sanctity of God and recognize it in ourselves. We
are reminded that the radiant Sheckinah rests upon each one of us, a gentle rain of blessing falls
upon us in the promise of renewed life, and the one who has gone before us has returned to us
even now – a small and mighty presence connecting us irrevocably and eternally to God.

Amen.

Jewish Prayer for Rain

Blessed are You, HASHEM, Shield of Abraham. Amen.
You are eternally mighty, my Lord, the Resuscitator of the dead are You; abundantly able to save.

May He obligate [the Angel Af-Bri, power of life and death] to give us portions of the segregated
rain, to soften the wasteland's face when it is dry as rock. With water You symbolized Your might in
Scripture, to soothe with its drops those in whom was blown a soul, to keep alive the ones who recall
the strengths of the rain."

"Our God and the God of our forefathers: Remember the Patriarch [Abraham], who was drawn
behind You like water. You blessed him like a tree replanted alongside streams of water. You
shielded him, You rescued him from fire and from water. You tested him when he sowed upon all
waters.
For his sake, do not hold water back!

Remember the one [Isaac] born with the tidings of, 'Let some water be brought. ' You told his father
to slaughter him - to spill his blood like, water. He too was scrupulous to pour his heart like water. He
dug and discovered wells of water.
For the sake of his righteousness, grant abundant water!

Remember the one [Jacob] who carried his staff
and crossed the Jordan's water.
He dedicated his heart and rolled a stone
off the mouth of a well of water,
as when he was wrestled by an angel composed of fire and water.
Therefore You pledged to remain with him through fire and water.
For his sake, do not hold water back!

Remember the one [Moses] drawn forth in a bulrush basket from the water. They said, 'He drew
water and provided the sheep with water.' At the time Your treasured people thirsted for water, he
struck the rock and out came water.
For the sake of his righteousness, grant abundant water!

Remember the appointee [Aaron] over the Temple, who made five immersions in the water. He went
to cleanse his hands through sanctification with water. He called out and sprinkled [blood bringing]
purity as with water. He remained apart from a people of waterlike impetuosity.
For his sake, do not hold water back!

Remember the twelve tribes You caused to cross through the split waters,
for whom You sweetened the water's bitter taste.
Their offspring whose blood was spilt for You like water.
Turn to us - for woes engulf our souls like water.

For You are HASHEM, our God,
Who makes the wind blow and makes the rain descend.
For blessing and not for curse. Amen.
For life and not for death. Amen.
For plenty and not for scarcity.
For the sake of their righteousness, grant abundant water!