Pilgrim's Progress column with Mary Taylor: Pentecost
There is nothing quite like the excitement of picking your first home-grown tomato or strawberry, whether from a patio pot or an allotment. This year we are already gratefully eating baby cucumbers grown in a sunny window.
Did you know there are two Jewish harvest festivals and the early one celebrates the first fruits of the season, thanking God for fresh provision and hope of fruitfulness to come? It’s called Pentecost.
This ancient festival took on an added significance for Christians when they experienced the coming of God’s Holy Spirit, filling them with a power for living they had not experienced before.
It followed Jesus’ death and resurrection and ascension, the key events described in the gospels.
The story is in the book of Acts and it marks the moment when faith in Jesus and his good news began to grow and grow.
Christians have recently been celebrating this ‘birthday of the church’ and asking for a renewed gift of God’s presence.
So often being a Christian is understood to be about trying hard to be good (and sometimes pretending). But its never been about striving.
When Jesus said he would send the Holy Spirit it was so his disciples would not be alone but always have his courage and comfort and wisdom with them in everyday life. Not just 12 of them but millions of people receiving life from God to live the holy and healthy way God intends. And to boldly invite others to receive that fruitful harvest gift for themselves.
Jesus told his disciples that he would be with them and in them. We pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who will make Jesus real in our lives and give us energy to live like him, so his people are loving and fruitful in every way.
Mary Taylor, retired Baptist Minister