There is a wonderful phrase found several times
in the first three chapters of the book of Ecclesiastes. The writer is summing
up his life. He has examined all that he has accomplished, the building projects
he has completed, the gardens he has planted and the wisdom he has acquired. All
things that we would say would represent a successful life. He, though, comes
to this conclusion, "This is also vanity and a chasing after the wind"
(Ecc.2:26b). As he comes to the end of his book (and this is one
Biblical book that we need to read the entire book for the conclusion!) he
writes: "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty
of everyone" (Ecc.12:36).
Today is the day of Pentecost. A day when we too
ask if we are chasing after or following the wind? The Biblical imagery used is
that of the wind and in the Bible wind and spirit are often interchangeable.
The wind equals the spirit of God. In Genesis 1:2 we read, "While a
wind/spirit from God swept over the face of the waters." The wind/spirit
was present and active in the very action of Creation. It stands as a symbol
of God's presence. Here in the beginning of Creation the spirit/wind hovers
over the waters, creating.
As we come to the day of Pentecost, a fulfillment
of the prophecy of the prophet Joel, we again find the Spirit of God, the wind,
present. The day of Pentecost is one of the major feasts of Israel. It is a
festival to celebrate the completion of the winter harvest and, unlike Passover,
the bread offered on this day is to be leavened. It is a celebration of the
fulfillment of the promises of God for the harvest and the keeping of the
people of God. It is also a celebration for the whole community. No one is
to be excluded. The stranger, the Levite, the orphan and the widow are to be
a part of the celebration (Deut. 16:11, 14). In essence, Pentecost is a
celebration of the fulfillment of the promises of God – for us, the
empowering of the Church. Only later in history did this come to be a
celebration of Moses receiving the Law on Sinai.
It has been a long fifty (50) days since the
resurrection. The followers of Jesus have been waiting for direction. Fifty
days is a long time to wait, wonder, pray for the future. What do we do now?
Where will we be lead? How much longer do we have to wait? Gathered in the
upper room with these and probably many other questions in mind they celebrate,
in hiding, the feast of Pentecost and as they are there suddenly a wind begins
to blow in the room. The Church is being empowered, the promise of Jesus is
being fulfilled. Those who had spent most of the last fifty days in hiding,
fearful of any steps on the streets outside, wondering if they are coming to
take them away, are now rushing out into the streets and powerfully proclaiming
the message of Christ. The Living word is being proclaimed in the languages of
all those who have gathered in Jerusalem for this feast of Pentecost. Men and
women are now giving bold witness to the message of the Living Christ. They
have gone from hiding in the shadows to shouting in the streets – the
miracle of Pentecost.
They are following, not chasing, the wind.
Think about the imagery of the wind for a few moments. Have you ever dropped
a piece of paper, some paper money, and tried to catch it in the wind? Diane
and I were walking the other evening and it was windier than we had expected.
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As we were walking we noticed a cat chasing a leaf. The cat would almost be at the
leaf, ready to pounce when the wind would take the leaf off in another direction.
It was almost as if God was playing keep-away with the cat! It reminded of the
trip when I lost my favorite hat in the Atlantic. Chasing the wind is
impossible, futile. This is the image of the writer of Ecclesiastes. The
things of this world, those things that most people count as important, are
nothing in the eyes of God. Chasing after the wind is futile at best. We do
not know where it will twist, turn.
However, following the wind is a different story.
When we follow the wind we let the wind lead us. This came through to me on a
windjammer cruise off the coast of Maine (where I lost my hat). We had several
days of wonderful sailing. The wind filled the sails and we glided over the
top of the waves. I was sitting near the captain at the windjammer's wheel and
he noted another schooner that we would soon be over-taking. He told me to
watch it. As we went past, the other schooner's sails went limp—we had
taken all their wind. We watched the other crew work hastily to recapture the
wind – he smiled and said, "I love doing that!" We were simply
following the wind. Letting the wind guide us as we sailed. In fact, it was
so perfect a day we could not get back to the harbor, the wind would not let us
– but who wanted to?
We were letting the wind lead us. We were
following the wind. I see this as almost perfect imagery of the day of
Pentecost. The wind empowering the Church. We are no longer chasing after but
following. Reminded of the question asked by a good friend, "Where is Jesus
working today?" Encouraging us to discover where the wind is blowing and go
and follow it. Chasing it is futile, we never catch up. Following is letting
the wind fill and empower us to move forward. We go not on our own power
– we can get tired chasing the wind – but on the power of the wind.
They had spent fifty days waiting, wondering.
They had tried to do things their way. Some of them even tried to go back to
fishing – unsuccessfully. They had had many anxious moments waiting,
praying, wondering, "where is this leading us?" "How long do we have to wait?"
"What is our next move?" Then suddenly the room is filled with a wind, a mighty
wind and they are guided out into the streets boldly proclaiming the message
of the living Christ.
We don't like to wait. We grow impatient and
want things NOW. We tell God that we don't have any more time. We are
growing old, impatient, etc. We are at the end of our rope. We have no where
else to go. We are tried of waiting. And God says wait. Let's go back to our
windjammer cruise. We had spent two days with little or no wind-fortunately
the first two days of our cruise. We had found a sheltered cove for the night,
but it would not have mattered, there was no wind. We moved slowly, sometimes
not at all. We could not hoist the sails. The captain searched the horizon
for some hint of wind, there was none. We had paid good money for this
"sailing" adventure and we wanted to sail. The windjammer had no motor, we
were truly at the mercy of the wind… then suddenly the wind came and our whole
cruise/world was suddenly changed. The wind filled our sails and we embarked
following the wind. So it is with the Spirit of God and Pentecost.
Are we chasing or following the wind?
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