Today’s
Scripture Reading (June 4, 2017): Ezekiel 39
Early
on in the history of the church that I pastor, we decided that we wanted to be
an experimental church. What we meant by that was that we wanted to be willing
to try things. We did not want to be limited by attitudes like “we have never
done that before.” Neither did we want to feel like we were a failure just
because something did not work. I am convinced of two things – churches don’t
fail enough because we are unwilling to take a risk and that God wants to do a
new thing. Often what we want is to keep God in a
historical box, shackled by the expectations of the past. But that does
not seem to be the God that is revealed
in Scripture. Instead, the God of the Bible seems to continually be pressing
against the expectations of the culture, advancing us toward something
different - and better.
As
Ezekiel continues his writing, it is evident that something new was about to
happen. There is absolutely no evidence in the Hebrew Bible that God’s Spirit
was ever poured out on all of the people. The pouring out of the Spirit of God
up until this time was always episodic in nature. He was given to certain
people at certain times and for a definitive
purpose. But the dream of the people of
Israel was that one day that would change – that one day God’s Spirit would be
given to all the people. Then we would be able to really know God – to see him as he really
is.
I
am convinced that the Bible shows evidence of a progressive revelation. As we read through the Bible (especially if we
read it chronologically), we begin to see
God more clearly. But as Christians, we believe that the fullest revelation of
God is found only in the life of Jesus. And it is in the person of Jesus that
God finally no longer hides his face.
Today
we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, and Peter recognizes that on the day of
Pentecost the dream of Israel is finally realized. Peter quotes from the
prophet Joel, but the prophecy of Joel is the same one that we find in Ezekiel
– that the day would come when the Spirit of God would no longer be episodic,
given to specific people at specific times but, instead,
he would be poured out on all of the people. And in that act, the church would
be born.
Welcome
to Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the Christian Church. The anniversary of
the day that both Ezekiel and Joel dreamed about, the day that God poured out
his Spirit on all of the people.
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