“Did it really happen?” All too often we Christians try to fact check our Biblical texts as if they were newspaper accounts. (As a student of history, I plead guilty to such exercises, even as I argue they are futile.) If we insist on factual accuracy, we can miss the really important point: the meaning of the story.
So it is with the story of Pentecost which we find in Chapter 2 of the Acts of the Apostles, long believed to be a sequel written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke. Current research concludes that Acts was written about 125 C.E., too late to be a first-hand account by someone who actually knew Jesus. According to the author of Luke-Acts, the disciples were in Jerusalem for Shavuot, the Jewish Feast of Weeks, the beginning of the grain harvest seven weeks or fifty days after Passover. Shavuot was celebrated as God’s giving the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai, in effect the birthday of Judaism.
According to Acts, Peter and the other disciples spoke with tongues of fire over their heads while their words were heard in many languages, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This “event” is considered to be the birthday of the Christian church (although “Christian” and “church” were not actually used until long afterward.”)
Pentecost is Christianity’s foundation myth, the first fruits of Jesus’ ministry and sacrifice. (Remember that “myth” does not mean falsehood; it points to something greater than literal truth. It embodies an idea, a principle, something huge and all-encompassing.)
Does it matter whether Pentecost really happened that way? I don’t think so. The important thing is that the disciples, grieving and confused after the traumatic loss of their leader, squared their shoulders and took up the burden of spreading the life-giving message far beyond the small group who had actually known the human Jesus.
Sunday, June 5 marks the birthday of Judaism and the birthday of Christianity. I’m going to wear red to celebrate the day. I hope you will, too.

Lyn Pickhover, Celebrating