In Judaism, the festival of Pentecost was a celebration of the giving of the Covenant - the Ten Commandments - through Moses. For Christians it is the start of another covenant with a new set of laws written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit, as Ezekiel had predicted.
The first covenant came to a people bowing down to a golden calf so that 3000 died that day (Exodus 32)...... but when this covenant came we are told that exactly the same number - 3000 lives were changed for good.
This then is the great reversal. Life displacing death. The Spirit fulfilling the Law. The birth of the church.
Our birthday is worth celebrating: We are over 2000 year-old, 2 billion strong revolutionary movement of love. The most culturally and socially diverse community on earth. Day by day we conspire to serve, forgive, create beauty but unfortunately don’t get it right all the time.
But around the world we seek to educate, liberate and advocate for those who have no voice. Our gospel has inspired artists from Michelangelo to Aretha Franklin, activists from William Wilberforce to Martin Luther King, scientists from the physicist Sir Isaac Newton to the geneticist Francis Collins.
