Pentecost Sunday: Life in the Interim Time and Waiting Fulfilled

“Wait,” He said and locked His gaze with eleven pairs of eyes brimming with question marks.

“Wait. I have been your constant companion for three years, walking long deserted roads, sharing our meager meals, and sleeping under the stars. I have answered your questions and rebuked your faithlessness, and now it is time for me to return to the Father. But I will tell you this:

If you could choose,
If you knew what I know,
You would choose the Helper I will be sending– even over my presence beside you.
Don’t try to go forward on your own.
Wait for the Gift.”

Imagining myself into that upper room, into the company of the Acts-Chapter-One-Faithful, I wonder:  Could I have waited in faith for ten long days between Jesus’s Ascension and Pentecost? Is it possible that I would have persevered in the cloud of unknowing until the tongues of fire landed and the Spirit Wind swept in a new era of redemptive history?

I’m afraid it’s far more likely that I would have waffled and sown doubt into the gathering, nervously rehearsing Jesus’ words, calling for conferences in which we’d put our heads together — wondering if we’d heard correctly, or if we had misunderstood His intentions.

“He said Jerusalem, right?”
“What was the word He used?”
“Baptized?”

The record shows they waited, and the promise was fulfilled. The power came down, but not merely as a force or a tingle of energy. Once again, God had sent a Person into time and space to accomplish His purposes and to reveal God-nature to the bumbling race of humanity.

Likewise, today, God the Holy Spirit is a Person Who comes to us, bringing power that holds us in the faith. When the Spirit comes rushing in at the beginning of our following lives, His mission is to initiate an ongoing love affair with God.

Miraculously, we become little Christs, and the Word becomes flesh once again, in our lives and in our deeds.  This is the Gift of Christ to those who “tarry” and are “endued with power from on high.”

A Celebration of Waiting Fulfilled

However, the sad truth that weaves its way through Pentecost Sunday 2023 is this:

We’re just fresh out of patience.

The idea of waiting for ten days for anyone or anything is unthinkable. We want to know the mind of God, discover our unique purpose in life, and worship wholeheartedly, Dagnabbit, and we want to do it right now. In the impatience of our ceaseless striving, we forget that our entire Christian life is a celebration of waiting fulfilled. It’s the vindication of Old Testament believers who spent long uncomfortable lives clinging to wispy words of prophecy and trusting in God’s good intentions toward them. It’s the season of Mary’s yes to a nine-month obedience and of open-ended journeys prompted by stars and visions.

When I forget the overshadowing Spirit and the power of the Most High, I have lost touch with mystery. The boundaries between who I am and Who God is become fuzzy and indistinct. It becomes easier and more tempting to arrogate to myself prerogatives that are not mine to exercise. Holiness becomes reduced to a warm fuzzy feeling.

Jesus’s promise of power from on high was a far-reaching offer that spanned centuries. We also live in a world of waiting, but now Netflix, good coffee, and our frantic pace distract us from our true situation. #PentecostSunday

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Living in “the Interim Time”

Make no mistake: when Jesus promised power from on high, it was a far-reaching offer that spanned the centuries. That’s good news, for we also live in a world of waiting. The only difference is that now Wi-Fi, Netflix, a good cup of coffee, and our frantic pace distract us from our true situation, which A.W. Tozer describes as “the interim time”:

We live between two mighty events — that of [Jesus’] incarnation, death, and resurrection, and that of His ultimate appearing and the glorification of those He died to save.  This is the interim time for the saints — but it is not a vacuum.  He has given us much to do, and He asks for our faithfulness.”

Only the Spirit who arrived on Pentecost Sunday can bring about this level of faithfulness in His people. The same Spirit Who “hovered over the face of the waters,” and seeded life into Mary’s womb also empowered a motley crew of ragtag fishermen to turn the world upside down.  

He has shown up to guide present-day followers as well, even in seasons when pursuing our calling feels as vague as waiting in the Upper Room. Our waiting is no more absent of activity and life than a drop of pond water.

Thank you, Spirit of God, for Pentecost Sunday, a day to celebrate your exquisite timing.
Empower us to view all our waiting and our wondering as an opportunity to receive your grace,
to be “endued with power from on High” so that we may become fierce-hearted women of the Word like Ruth and Esther and Anna and Elisabeth and Mary who believed you and waited in hope throughout their interim time.
May we rejoice in anticipation as they did, knowing that patience is the bridge that joins time and eternity, and Your promised presence is a fresh offering every day.
Amen

Holding You in the Light,

Patience is the bridge that joins time and eternity, and God’s promised presence is a fresh offering every day. #PentecostSunday

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