The priest would take the bread, break it, and lift it to God; saying something like: “Thank You God, that Your unleavened life is willing to become one with our leavened life. “
Then he would drop the bread, and cover and saturate it in oil - which is symbolic of the anointing. After he did that, he would say: “now the day of Pentecost has fully come”
So years later, they're standing in this (upper) room; and they're celebrating the Feast of Pentecost, like they did every year. Some would have been there just because they had to - just ‘going through the motions’. Some would have been truly lamenting: why did our ancestors reject the proposal of God?
Every year on this day, the guy running it would have “given thanks to God for His unleavened life being willing to become one with ours”. Then he covered it in oil, saying: now the day of Pentecost has fully come... but this time, something different happened!
This time they got a second chance! It says: they're standing in the room, and the whole room filled with a “billow of smoke” - Chuppah. They looked up and they saw “tongues inside fire”, “languages inside fire”.
This is the same day! It's the same thing that happened! The only difference is, this time they spoke back - which is the birth of the church, the bride of Christ.
The whole point of Pentecost was that:
1) God wants to marry you, leaven and all.
2) God trusts His Holy Spirit enough to saturate your leaven, and make you useable.
3) God trusts Himself enough that He knows: if He can put Himself in you - He can clean you up from the inside out.
This was a revelation that came, and it changed my imaginations about God: that God is in me - and He likes it. That there's no place I'd rather be than in God; and no place God would rather be than in me. He chose me before I chose Him. He chose me! He made the first move. He took all the risks.
In love, the one who takes all the risk is the one who ‘puts it out there’ first. When I was in junior high, I wanted to ask a girl named Lesley out - and I made the mistake: I told all my friends I was going to ask her out before school. Everybody was standing out in the school yard and I took that ‘long walk’ across there. I made two mistakes: I did it before school - and I told all my friends first.
So I'm walking across that whole big school yard – boom-boom, boom-boom - what if she says no? If she says ‘no’ - I'll be humiliated! They'll make fun of me the rest of the day. Luckily she said ‘yes’ - but the one who walks across the school yard is the one taking all the risk.
The Bible says that God demonstrated His love for me, in that He died for me, while I was still a sinner. In His life with you (and in your life with Him) - God took all the risk. That's how much He loves you. He loves you enough to take all the risk.
He's in you - and He likes it; and no matter what your leaven is, God is willing to work that out with you. He is faithful to complete anything He starts. God wants to marry you, leaven and all.
Closing PrayerI bless you tonight, as leadership in the Church of Jesus Christ (God's biggest idea), to be reproductions of Jesus Christ in this whole community.
To be ministers of compassion, grace, slow to anger, abounding in love God - that we are to minister in the disposition of Messiah.
To be able to hallow that in secret - so you can manifest it in public.
To know - I mean KNOW deep down inside of you, DEEP down inside of you - that God Himself is in you - and He likes it. That God is comfortable in you. God likes you; that you are clean, clean, clean - washed with the oil of the Holy Spirit; washed with the blood of Jesus Christ. There's not one sin on your record. There's no guilt that you need to put on people. You can be a minister of Messiah, operating in His disposition.