Remembering the Forgotten God

Francis Chan put his finger on the problem with his book title, The Forgotten God. He says that from his perspective, “the Holy Spirit is tragically neglected and for all practical purposes, forgotten. Speaking of forgotten, did you remember that last Sunday was Pentecost, and did you commemorate it in some fashion? It’s amazing that we let one of the pivotal events of the Christian calendar (along with Christmas and Easter) slip through our fingers.

Pentecost means “fifty” and is celebrated fifty days after Passover. In the Old Testament it was called the Feast of Weeks (the day after seven completed weeks) and coincided with the wheat harvest of spring. Jews from distant countries traveled to Jerusalem to participate in this festival. There they would bring the “first fruits” of the wheat to give as an offering to God. Traditionally “the synagogue was usually decorated in greenery, flowers and baskets of fruit to symbolize the harvest aspect” of Pentecost. It’s akin to our Thanksgiving Day.

It was also tradition to read from Ezekiel 1 when they met at the Temple. Imagine hearing this read, “I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal…” And then imagine experiencing this, “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.”

The Holy Spirit’s role in our lives has fallen on hard times in part because of the excesses by some, but it was Jesus himself who said, “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you…” Without the Spirit we are left hung out to dry. We are left without a Teacher, without a Counselor and without a Comforter. I know personally I had forgotten about the Spirit for years until someone abruptly called my attention to His mighty indwelling. It turned out to be a revolution in my heart as He began to fill, control, motivate, dominate, captivate and direct my life.

Want to celebrate next year? Try out these ideas: set a festive table with greenery and flowers, bake some fresh homemade bread, read passages about the Holy Spirit leading up to Pentecost, follow the Anglican tradition of wearing all white, attend a baptism, hang a dove as a symbolic decoration, have friends over for a prayer time, light candles, make a huge fruit basket for a table centerpiece… All are opportunities to remember the Forgotten God and celebrate His coming at Pentecost.