Fifty days after the Israelites had escaped Egypt (an event memorialised by the Passover Feast) the Lord descended on Mt. Sinai “in fire” and the “mountain shook violently” (Ex. 19:18ff). Moses ascended the mountain and received the Law.
Fifty days after the Resurrection (an event memorialised with Holy Communion) a sound “like a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house” where the disciples had gathered and “what seemed to be tongues of fire” rested on them (Acts 2:2). God’s promise to write the Law on human hearts had been fulfilled (Jer. 31:33); the promised gift, the Holy Spirit was poured out from heaven (Joel 2:28).
Today, Pentecost, we remember that event. In preparing for Worship I think it best to do so with a sense of awe. At Mt. Sinai the people trembled with fear (Ex 19:16). The crowds who listened to Peter preaching at Pentecost were also “cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37). For “God is a consuming fire” and it is “fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 12:29, 10:31).
The fire that God plunges us into (Luke 3:16) will, of course, not destroy us. But it will transform us – and change is never free of pain.
God bless,
Sean