First Fruits

Pentecost, Year A Acts 2:1-9

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Pentecost is something we only get to experience in Acts chapter 2, meaning they think Pentecost begins on that day. But I want to remind you that Pentecost is a very old tradition. It's an ancient festival that was initiated right after God brought Israel out of the land of Egypt. It was 50 days after the Passover meal that God initiated this feast of first fruits, this feast of Pentecost. So Pentecost isn't something new and only tied to the New Testament. It has a long history that dates back all the way to the book of Exodus. It's described, the festival itself is described in both Deuteronomy and Leviticus. God initiates this festival. Why? Well, as we begin to learn what is done on this festival, this Pentecost Day, we begin to learn what God, why God wants us, his people, to celebrate it. You remember when God delivered Israel out of Egypt, he delivered them into a new life out of slavery. And so 50 days after the celebration of Passover, when the grain had been grown up and it was about to be harvested, Pentecost would happen. The people would gather all together and they would begin this festival, which was also a feast. This was commemorated or celebrated by the first act of baking two loaves of bread. These two loaves were to come from the first fruits of the grain harvest. They would make two loaves of bread and it would be leavened bread. All other bread that they were supposed to have in other festivals was unleavened, but this one had leavened. Think sourdough, big, glorious mounds of bread, two loaves. The priest would take these two loaves and he would wave them before the Lord. Think of wafting and smelling fresh baked bread. That's what initiated this whole festival. The priest would wave these two loaves as an appetizer for this feast with God. And after he would wave these two loaves, then the people will offer their burnt offerings. This is exclusively to be burnt in a fire for God alone. Nobody partook of these seven lambs and these seven lambs and two rams and one bull was all given and consumed in a fire for God alone, to smell and to eat. But not only that, there were also to offer a sin offering. A sin offering is just basically an offering that is to cleanse the people of their sin, to atone for their sin, so that this meal, this feast, can happen. Because you have a holy God, you have sinful people, sin had to be dealt with in order for them to enjoy and commune together at the table. So a sin offering would be made. And then the peace offering, which was the meal that the people got to eat along with God themselves. It's called the fellowship offering or the peace offering. And that was the meal that they sat down and they were finally drawn near to God after making all their offerings to God, and they would eat together. An intermixed between all these offerings of this feast and this festival was a drink offering of wine poured out periodically. This was the wine that God drank. So God would eat food, he would drink the wine, and he would be present with his people. And what did it all symbolize? What was it all for? It was to remind them that God had delivered them into a new life out of slavery. And that even the first fruits, the harvest that they had, was to be given first in acknowledgement that God had provided for them all these wonderful first fruits, all this wonderful harvest. And God says, I want you to remember this generation after generation. It's to be a perpetual festival. And it becomes one of the biggest festivals that Israel celebrated. Now go all the way forward to our Acts reading today, Acts chapter 2. The first verse in Acts chapter 2 opens the door to an understanding of why people are gathered in Jerusalem. It wasn't an accident and it wasn't the first time. It was the perpetual festival of Pentecost, where everybody was coming together in Jerusalem to celebrate. The people were already gathered. The routines were already in place. The tradition was celebrated and held. And it's at this moment where the celebration of Pentecost, which had been celebration, which had been celebrated for the longest period of time, now something different is about to take place. This Pentecost celebration, this festival, after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ back to the Father, the whole thing kind of turns and changes. And this is where we find our meeting now, of why we celebrate Pentecost and what the biggest deal is. Jesus, if you remember, throughout his ministry, is identified as the bread of life, as the Lamb of God, as the Prince of Peace, as the one who atones for sin on the cross, who is now offering himself in the very presence of the Father. Our gospel reading, Jesus tells Philip that the Father and I are one. And when I go to the Father, we will be one. And then we will pour outon you the helper. I've been asking this question all week. I asked it at Food Pantry. I asked it to the people on Wednesday. What is the big deal with Jesus going back to the Father? Because he mentions this specifically over and over again. Can you theologically answer why Jesus makes such a mention that he has to go to the Father? Do you remember when Mary, after Jesus is resurrected and she finally sees Jesus at the tomb, she clings to him and she is loving and pouring out. I mean, it's her Savior and Lord who was just dead and now is alive and she's clinging to him. And Jesus says something very mysterious. He says, Mary, don't cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. If you are a Christian, you need to look into that. And I have a remedy, a little solution to the mystery for you this morning. That we read as we understand Pentecost and what this means. Because we understand why they celebrated and what they did in their celebration on Pentecost, we understand that what happens when Jesus ascends to the Father is that Jesus offers himself as the bread of life, the two loaves of bread. This isn't just a phrase that, oh, Jesus is bread of life, he's our sustenance. Jesus is the symbol of bread. And he goes before the Father, the closest it's ever been, not consumed by fire, not just wafting up the aroma, but into the very presence with his father and says, Dad, I am the bread and I offer it to you because I've accomplished their salvation. I am the Lamb of life. I am the Lamb that is offered to you on behalf of the people. I am the Prince of Peace. I have accomplished the peace for the people so they can draw near to you. I am the one that can that unites us all together, and I present myself to you as a pleasing and soothing aroma before you constantly for all eternity. The Father receives his son, and they embrace, and their love is mutually poured into each other. This love, Jesus is love, God is love. We all talk about this, but this isn't love the way the world loves. It's a self-giving love, not a self-embracing love. What I mean by that is love is never defined by an act of what you get for yourself. Love is an outpouring of yourself. It's a giving of yourself, it's a sacrifice of yourself. And so the son gives himself to the father, and the father gives himself to the son. The father says, Whatever you ask in my son's name, I will give on his behalf. And the son says, Whatever my father desires, I will do. It's a mutual, sacrificial love being poured out. And when love is mutually sacrificial, it's not just depleting, it's also filling. Because the son feels the father, and the father feels the son of their sacrificial love. And this overflows from them, and it is then poured out upon us on this moment of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. And you say, How is it that that is poured out on the people? Well, it has been for a long time understood that the Holy Spirit, which has always existed, but it is existed and understood as the expression of love between the Father and the Son. The Spirit is the love between them. And as they are loving each other, now that they are back together, their love gets poured out on the day of Pentecost. As Jesus offers his first fruits to the Father of all his salvation that he has afforded and worked on the cross and in his death, the first fruits become a gift to us. As the Holy Spirit. So this tells us that Jesus, as the first fruits, as the first gift of our salvation, offers to us the very love and presence of God in our lives. This means that the life He saved us to is to be lived in that spirit of love and presence of God. And all of a sudden, with the Holy Spirit comes a measuring stick by which we can gauge our lives to see whether or not we are living according to the Spirit or if we're still living in our flesh. One is for the simple fact that the Spirit is never going to lead you to love others selfishly. It's going to lead you to love others sacrificially. Because that is the love that God is. He offers his love. Jesus gives up his life for you. So we can begin to measure our lives if we're filled with the Spirit, which can only come by faith in Jesus, is if we know that we are loving each other or others and not ourselves. But not only this, but Paul gives us a very, very clear measuring stick of whether or not you possess this love and presence of God in your life called the Holy Spirit. Paul says, if you have the Holy Spirit, walk according to the Spirit and not of the flesh. And here are the fruits of the Spirit. I bet you all can name them because every VBS that I've been a part of, or any children's program, often has a song or some kind of memory tool for this, for the fruits of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When you begin to walk according to the spirit and not satisfy the flesh, your life begins to look like this more and more. You begin to look like that sacrificial love, not a self-love. You don't try to work and take action on your desires, but your life is oriented towards the desires of others. And this is Paul would say this. Don't look after your own desires. Look out for the benefit of others. Look out and love your neighbor as you would love yourself, but you're not called to love yourself. You have this joy, a joy that is incomprehensible, a joy that can't be robbed from you, regardless of what the world might try to do for you, because your joy is eternal. It's a peace where you seek to be at peace with one another. You seek to be unified with others, not causing division, not causing disunity, but always seeking to be at peace. You're patient. I think this is where I can grow. You're patient. You understand that the Lord will bring about in his timing. Think about just the celebration of Pentecost and how many centuries have gone by until its whole purpose of why it existed was fulfilled in Acts chapter 2 after Jesus' saving work on the cross. God had been training them. God had initiated a festival so that they might learn what all those things, that they might learn what bread symbolizes, that they might learn what burnt offerings are for, that they might learn what sin offerings are for, peace offerings are for, so that when Jesus shows up and fulfills all of them in himself on the cross, they, the light bulb turns on and says, Oh, this is what all of that was pointing towards. God was patient, enduring with them for the longest time until it was fulfilled in Christ Jesus. That's patience. God is long-suffering with you. He's patient with you. And if you embody this patience, you are living more towards the Spirit than you are, your flesh. Kindness, goodness, faithfulness. Are you a person that could it could be said of you that you let your yes be yes and your no be no? There's a lot of us that often give our yeses but then don't follow through. There's a lot of us that are scared to even say no because we don't want to hurt or cause somebody else to be out of pocket. But faithfulness is rooted all over the scriptures. Are you faithful first and foremost to God and to the word that you give somebody? Are you faithful in your marriage? That is the greatest yes you have given to another person. That is a covenant relationship to which you say, my life is going to be in loving you and providing whatever desires and needs that you have. I give you my yes, and I never take it back. I don't seek my own, but I give to you. Faithfulness, gentleness, right? Self-control. Out of all the fruits, we can all understand all of them, and then we get to the last one: self-control. What in the Sam Hill? Why is that a fruit of the Spirit? Because the world was in chaos until the Holy Spirit showed up and created what God wanted. What the Father wanted. Remember this? The world was dark and void, and he hovered over the face of the deep. The language there just promotes a chaotic picture. Everything is just chaotic, and God speaks and let there be light. And the Holy Spirit causes the light to come on. And finally, order is made. Things that were once chaotic become controlled under the power of God Almighty. This is what happens in our lives. In sin, our lives are chaotic. We can't help our way out of it. But then God speaks into our lives. We believe in Jesus and He fills us with the Holy Spirit, and all of a sudden the Holy Spirit begins to put produce order and control. And we're able to discipline our flesh. We're able to discipline our bodies by the power of the Holy Spirit. But lastly, something that I want us to reflect on this morning is all of that sounds amazing. I think I could just stop right there, and that's good enough. The word, the gospel of the Holy Spirit being given to us as the outpouring of God's love and presence in our lives. What more do you need? You have the presence of Jesus Christ living in you. What he accomplished in his life has now been given you access to accomplish it for yourself. You can walk according to the Spirit and actually exhibit righteousness and no longer sin. Without Jesus, that's all you could have done. That's good enough, isn't it? Can we just be satisfied with that? And when we celebrate the Holy Spirit, but there's something else that the scriptures communicate. And it's the last point I want to instill in you this morning of your hope of what lies ahead. Because on Pentecost, the birth of the church happened and the Spirit came and descended upon all who believe. And it empowers their life, it empowers your life. And Paul and the rest of the New Testament spend so much time telling you, and that's not all you're going to get. Remember, when Jesus ascends to the Father, this is his first fruits. It's not the whole entire harvest. The Holy Spirit, we're told, is a down payment for all the promises you will receive in Christ Jesus. That means there's more ahead. There's more of the promises of God to be realized in your life, but the first of them is the Holy Spirit. And as you live into the Holy Spirit, and as you live by the Holy Spirit, you begin to realize that, man, that's a big gift. That's a great first gift. And every time you live in the Holy Spirit, you're unwrapping this gift and seeing how deep it goes. And then the Gospels, the good news would tell you, and there's more to come. Beloved, that is really good news and hope for us on this Pentecost. That this is the first of much more to come. That the Holy Spirit that dwells in us is so satisfying. And it would be wonderful just to even end there, but we don't end there. There is more. There's more to come. And so today we celebrate Pentecost, an ancient celebration that Jesus changed forever when he ascended to his Father and presented himself to his dad. And it's a day we will perpetually celebrate. The day the love of God was poured out on us, and we received the first fruits of Jesus' salvation, the Holy Spirit. We celebrate with thanksgiving for the Spirit, but we also eagerly with joy wait for what also is to come. The more blessing and promises that God in Christ has in store for us. That if we walk in the Spirit and not of the flesh, we will begin to experience. Let's pray.