A Harvest of Gratitude
The most amazing thing happened this morning. I woke up breathing. Did that happen to you, too? Isn’t that just wild?! This waking up breathing thing---that doesn’t happen by my own power. It’s not the result of my hard work. It’s pure gift. If I slow down enough to notice, I realize there is a lot about life that is pure gift.
This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost, a feast we inherited from our Jewish ancestors and reinterpreted in Christ. Pentecost is the Greek name for what in Hebrew is called Shavuot. Shavuot began as a harvest festival and is one of only three Jewish pilgrimage festivals, meaning every Jewish person who could travel did travel to Jerusalem for this feast. That’s why, in our lessons on Sunday, we’ll hear there was such a great crowd around on Pentecost. Our Jewish ancestors recognized that so much of life was pure gift, including the harvest. To gratefully acknowledge this, they offered the first fruits of the harvest in what they considered the most God-filled place on the planet, Jerusalem. Over time, Shavuot also became a commemoration of the giving of the Law. For the Jewish people, Passover and Shavuot are like two bookends. At Passover, God liberated the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. At Shavuot, the Jewish people expressed their gratitude to God by offering the first fruits of the harvest and by renewing their commitment to the Law. Obedience to God’s Law is an expression of gratitude because it is a just, merciful, and humble exercise of freedom.
For Christians, Easter and Pentecost are like two bookends. At Easter, God in Christ liberated us from all that threatens to enslave us, including death. At Pentecost, we gather to express our gratitude for the Holy Spirit’s ongoing work of liberation. We offer the fruit of our harvest of gratitude and hope, and we renew our commitment to exercise our spiritual freedom in ways that are life-giving.
Last Sunday we honored our graduating high school seniors. High school graduation marks a transition into both the freedom and responsibility of adulthood. Pentecost is a little bit like the young Church’s graduation. It marks the transition of the young church toward the freedom and responsibility of a maturing Christian faith.
A maturing Christian faith responds gratefully to God by looking outward, beyond oneself, beyond one’s tribe, toward this incredibly diverse and quirky and beautiful and messy and beloved family that God is creating.
Happy Pentecost!
Rev. Sonya Reichel+
