PENTECOST IN A VINEYARD
Several years ago as Pentecost approached, we had our calendars marked to set aside the time which God had appointed for Pentecost. If you need a good definition of Pentecost, click here: https://crosspoint.tv/pentecost-the-purpose-and-call/#:~:text=Therefore%2C%20God’s%20purpose%20at%20Pentecost,resulting%20in%20His%20eternal%20glory.
We made our plans anticipating that it should be a time in which we could be still and listen to God. Everyone in our group hoped to truly HEAR the things He was saying to us about the times we are living through in the world today.
As on most days; we enjoyed a little family gathering.
This year WAS a little different though.
ANTICIPATING PENTECOST IN A VINEYARD
One of our daughters had given us a gift of a wine tour and tasting at a local vineyard. She wanted us to go on this weekend.
Our first inclination was to put the day off for another time. It seemed necessary at Pentecost to make all things totally traditional. Yet, on second thought – what better way to celebrate Pentecost than to spend part of our time in a peaceful, restful setting tasting some new wine?
The shoe just seemed to fit for us on this year. So we made this trip out to a little vineyard in Calera, Alabama called Ozan Vineyard. This lovely place became the place of our annual family Pentecost celebration.
It was a beautiful way to start our worship which went on from the time of the Sabbath rest on Friday night through the time of The Day of Pentecost.
THE COUNTING WAS OVER
Our times of counting the 50 days until Pentecost had reached an end. We were going to rest and savor some of the things God had taught us during the counting. This would be done by exploring this vineyard and thinking about how this wine tasting somehow related to our Pentecost celebration.
I admit it was a bit unorthodox. However, when you get down to the facts around Pentecost, they were all there in every way. https://www.wycliffe.org/blog/posts/7-feasts-that-point-to-christ.
How is that so? Follow along with me and I’ll explain more as we go.
COMING INTO PENTECOST
Our Pentecost started with a happy fellowship among four true believers who were meeting up with some other strangers in a vineyard. We were simply enjoying the fact that Our God is in control. The great anticipation was that He would speak to all of us in some way through this vineyard experience.
Our first arrival to the vineyard was very unpretentious.
We entered from a place of beautiful green rolling hills. There were several large trees spreading their shades here. Shady spots dotted the whole acreage of the vineyard. My daughter and I both thought it reminded us of the farm where I had grown up as a young girl. At one point in our lives; the whole family had lived on that land. So we started out with the welcomed feeling of a beautiful memory.
We came from the bottom of a high and wide hilltop where people were parked away from the winery. A bit of a steep climb started our trek up the mowed trail to the hilltop where the winery waited.
THE PEOPLE ALONG THE WAY
Half-way up the long hillside walk; we encountered a group of motor-cycle riders. They had already experienced their wine tasting. The group was making their way back down the trail to their bikes which we had seen in the parking lot earlier. Before leaving they had stopped to rest a bit. Now they were talking together under the shade of an old oak tree.
The conversation seemed very intense. One person was sharing at a time while the others were listening carefully to their comments. A certain man was leading the discussion. As we walked by, I heard one say “until I came to know Jesus; I had not experienced true excitement in life; but I didn’t understand that until it happened; because I had tried all the other thrills.”
It was interesting. Some part of me wanted to stay and listen to their stories. However, we gave them their privacy and walked on.
I smiled as we walked on by; praising God for how He speaks the language of all people. Maybe a group of motorcycle riders in this hour, and maybe a family on a wine-tasting excursion in another hour.
HEARING THE TRUTH AT PENTECOST IN A VINEYARD
On Pentecost; all believers who are listening will hear truth. It will be spoken plainly in their own language. I remembered the scriptures we had been given about the historical day when God’s Holy Spirit came to dwell inside of each of Christ’s followers:
This is the scripture passage which speaks of that day:
(Acts 2:1-21 King James Version (KJV)
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, it filled all the house where they were sitting. There appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
EVERYONE HEARS THE MESSAGE
Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What does this mean? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
TASTING THE NEW WINE
On we walked. Everyone ready to be inside the winery. All were eager to taste the new wine of the day; possibly in more ways than one.
We were ready to taste the goodness of God. This was because we knew from experience that He always sends His goodness down on His holy and appointed days.
Actually we knew our approach to the day was a little out of character, but we had been following Jesus long enough to know that “different” was okay with Him. All was well as long as it was a “different” that would be used to show God’s glory.
A BEAUTIFUL PLACE OF GROWTH AND NEW LIFE
In my heart I lifted up a prayer that gave God the glory for the happenings of this day. I thanked Him for this lovely day we were enjoying in this beautiful place full of growth and new life.
As I looked around, I could clearly see evidence that God had sent the sunshine which made these lovely plants grow in nice neat rows which would yield vines full of a fresh new grape harvest. It all seemed like a very healthy place. Today it felt like we were in a place where all the earth was in a very healthy state; completely ready and waiting patiently for new growth.
The beginning of this walk up the hill was already telling me we had made the right decision to come to the vineyard.
THE WINERY
So we arrived at a quaint, not too large building surrounded by a shaded patio which was full of pretty little tables nicely set for people to come and taste the wine.
Some of the people who had already gathered were passing the time while waiting on a train to take them on a brunch excursion for the morning. That excursion also included a wine-tasting experience.
Others of the people gathered there on the outside of the winery were like us. They were only there to taste the wine and enjoy the peace, comfort and tranquility of the day.
Though everyone was calm and peaceful as they waited; I could feel the excitement of a good celebration coming.
LIKE THE BEGINNING OF A WEDDING
This setting on the patio overlooking the vineyard reminded me of the beginning of a wedding ceremony. My mind went directly to the association of The Marriage Supper of the Lamb which would be held one day in Heaven.
I knew in order to get inside that wedding feast we needed to be filled with the new wine of God’s Holy Spirit.
I felt myself become more and more excited about the opportunity to taste this unique harvest of wine. God was doing the same thing here today that He does for me during the days of unleavened bread. He was teaching me through a physical action what I needed to know and remember in a spiritual way.
We should always be anticipating the experience of receiving the new wine; especially on the Day of Pentecost. I smiled as if to say “Yes LORD, I DO get it, and I DO love the way you teach. I’m glad we finally said “yes” to this idea.
AN APPOINTED TIME OF PENTECOST IN A VINEYARD
God always interjects Himself into our days; but especially on His appointed times. The lessons and the worship and the receiving always feel so much stronger on His feast and festival days. This happens no matter where you are on these days; whether in a church congregation, in an open field, in a room at home; or even in a lovely vineyard like we were today.
God ALWAYS shows up.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR GUIDE THROUGH LIFE
So we stepped inside the entrance to the winery. It was such a lovely place!
We were immediately greeted by the attendant at the desk. He was happy to explain what was going to happen to us on this tour. I thought of how God’s Holy Spirit leads us through God’s own vineyard; (that vineyard we call The Kingdom of Heaven.) We follow The Holy Spirit through the places where we are unsure and don’t know what comes next.
Here today, we followed the guide through the property.
This guide on the tour was very helpful. He showed us our table. Then he explained that we could have some Irish coffee while we waited.
What a sweet, cozy little area to wait and the Irish coffee was so good! I thought of all the “waiting” as we had counted the Omer. Finally, we were at Pentecost.
I’m sure all of this time was a little like all the little surprises we sometimes find in God’s Kingdom as we go through life. Certain things are just so tasty and delicious. They make you smile really big. You always remember that moment. We sipped our coffee. All chatted and admired the beauty of the place we had come to. It was like a little Italy in America! The charming vineyard had a sense of quaintness that made the walls of the cozy little nook where we waited feel friendly and welcoming.
THE GUIDE KNOWS ABOUT HOW TO PRODUCE A HARVEST
Our guide showed up right on time. He took us outside to see the main crops. We found he was quite the expert.
All of us were standing up on a hill and looking down upon rows and rows of beautiful growing grapes. He explained the planting, the tending, the growing, the harvesting. It all was very fascinating. You know I related everything he said about wine harvesting to God’s work in the world. The final climax is always a beautiful harvest. I smiled, thinking that grapes could be harvested here even in a little corner of the earth in Alabama. All here confirmed that God is at work everywhere that we go.
The plants we were gazing upon were harvested Norton grapes which produced red wine. They aged this particular wine in American Oak barrels with up-front black cherry and an extended rich finish. The guide recommend this type of wine with wild game and southern BBQ. This wine had won several awards. Those included; Wine of the Year, Best Of Dry Red Wine, and Gold from The Alabama Commercial Wine Competition.
These Norton’s had performed well for their owners.
THINKING OF HEAVENLY AWARDS
I thought of us all being members in that other great harvest which is coming at the end of time (as we know it now.) My mind wondered how many awards would be given to those who had overcome the obstacles of the world and followed Christ with all of their hearts. I know God will grant such believers special jobs for The Kingdom of God in the days to come.
This ran through my mind as we left the lovely view of the vineyards. Our group moved back inside to the rooms where the wine was produced and harvested.
Our very thorough guide gave us all the details from the growing, to the tending, to the gathering, to the harvesting, to the crushing, to the fermenting, to the storage in the large vats, to the bottling and the selling of the wine that would end up on dinner tables across the country.
So much time, energy and effort went into everything in order to furnish that special moment of delight at someone’s special occasion or well-thought out celebration dinner. The results still seemed definitely worth the trouble in the end.
OUR LIVES WERE LIKE THOSE GRAPES
Our lives were like these grapes, going through stage-after stage. We will experience long periods of waiting and waiting and waiting while the Father lets us ferment and age. He will wait until the moment that we are ripe for the picking; and just perfect for the wedding in heaven.
Someone had noticed that there were lots of flavors of wine on the tasting sheets that we had been given. There were more than just the wine made from the Norton grapes. Yes; and our guide explained all the other fruits that were used in the wine-making. He explained where all of those fruits came from.
The peaches came from Chilton County – because there are no better peaches on earth. Blueberries are harvested from Shelby County. The apples are shipped in from Washington. We noticed pineapples and bananas shipped in from other various places; but ALL of the wine was processed and bottled right here in this very vineyard.
You KNOW I was thinking of first fruits and the barley harvest!
We would be tasting some of the first fruits of this lovely vineyard today. Soon we would be thinking of Jesus too; our first fruits harvest. The VERY BEST of all the wine harvest of God which had been perfect in every way.
We would all do our best to imitate His flavor; but the flavor from Him would only come forth from the filling of God’s Holy Spirit which He sent down to us. Then, we all will become the latter first fruits of the harvest (harvest of the wheat.)
How exciting this harvesting can be!
A TIME OF FERMENTING
The guide explained they used white oak barrels for fermenting the wine which they bought from Kentucky bourbon distilleries. It was then mentioned that they also sold vodka and whisky brands which contain some of the residue of the bourbon distilleries.
The flavor from the residue for all is because of being stored in these white oak barrels. They were very special barrels which produced a unique flavor in the final product. We would be given a taste of these too.
LEARNING HOW TO TASTE AND SEE
After a very thorough tour, we were again seated in the cozy tasting room.
Some people actually preferred to taste their wine samplings outside on the patio. So this day we had two groups going on at once. It worked well.
I thought of how tasting God’s gift of salvation would be the instrument to bring another two groups together in the end of time. We know the people of Jewish heritage which have passed the scriptures down to us as a rich blessing, will one day come to taste the gift of salvation.
God will then bring us all together as One.
Slowly I looked around this winery and saw that it was like a picture God was showing to me. I thought about how iron sharpens iron. At the same time I was remembering how love can conquer everything. It all starts with the sweet savor of the wine of God’s Holy Spirit working inside our hearts.
TASTING THE WINE AT PENTECOST IN A VINEYARD
We began tasting all of the wines; one at a time.
As a first part of the tasting, we were instructed to look into our wine. After the pouring, we would get our first glimpse of how that particular flavor of wine looked.
I thought of how people get their first glimpse of what Christ has done for them. My mind pondered how special that time can be. The very first glimpse of salvation becomes so amazing and valuable to all of us over time.
Now, I looked deep into this glass of wine. I was wondering what else it had to show to me; because my first glimpse of Christ had taken me so much deeper than I had ever expected.
This wine drinking could be a deep experience too. First you had to look at what you were drinking and realize all of its special qualities with your eyes.
We held our glasses at a tilt. Then we tilted them toward our eyes in order to actually see the wine inside. We then took a long look. It is important to realize that you don’t want to drink something you haven’t seen before. The examination of things is important. You must open your eyes to see before you take that first sip.
The right way to taste the wine was to remember to notice the depth of the color of the wine as you were drinking. Notice the colors from the rim to the center of the glass.
Is it shiny?
Can you tell that it is deep and rich?
Is this wine light and airy?
There are so many flavors. We all have different favorites. As time continues and your taste develops, you begin to look for the qualities that appeal to you.
PEOPLE CAN BE LIKE WINE
Isn’t it amazing how God made people as different as the different varieties of wine?
Some are deep and dark. Others are light and bright. Many have red tints, purple tints, blue tints. There are so many different flavors of personalities. It takes many different parts to make up the whole Body of Christ.
We all do our little part to contribute to the whole unique working and functioning of the Body.
At times we must step back, tilt things a bit, and examine exactly what our colors are. We need to notice what qualities different ones can bring to the whole body. As we see this we are more excited to learn more of our purpose and destiny for The Body.
A PLEASING AROMA
Next we swirled the wine inside our glasses and sniffed the aroma of the wine. We had moved from looking at the wine to smelling the aroma of the wine. For the full effect of this experience; one must learn to utilize all of their senses.
Worship is also about using all of the different ways God has provided. We see by bowing our heads, closing our eyes, and allowing God to provide the visions He wishes us to remember. Sometimes we see with our open eyes. We look at different symbols which remind us of why and how we worship God. That is our seeing.
Sometimes in worship we use our sense of smell. Many congregations use incense in their worship ceremonies. This was done in the wilderness tabernacle days. God’s priest served by bringing the insense to the altar. We smell the incense offered up as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
Wine and worship are about utilizing the senses we are provided by God.
WORSHIP PLEASING TO GOD
I wondered as I twirled my wine inside the glass and sniffed the full aroma coming from the wine samples; if the aroma of my worship was pleasing to God? Surely, I hoped it was so. I thought of the fullness I was smelling from this glass of wine and the sweetness it provided to my day. Immediately I wanted to give this to my heavenly Father too; to provide a way of delight to His senses. To honor God the same as this wine was doing for us today.
After we nosed our wines and pondered the smells of each glass; we imagined what their smells reminded us of. I sensed honey, blueberries, sunshine and flowers in some of the wines I tasted. The desire to really taste the wine was enhanced by the sweet memories of the beautiful things of life from the smells the wine evoked in our memories.
TASTING THE GOODNESS
Finally; it is time to actually taste the goodness of this wine.
Still comparing the wine-tasting to worship we know this is the moment when we feel God reach down to us. He surrounds us with His love and acceptance. We taste and see the goodness of the Lord. There is nothing better; it is the supreme experience.
So now we anticipate tasting the wine. Slowly we take some wine into our mouth. We are tasting enough to be able to distinguish the texture, the flavor, the weight of the wine as it rests upon the tip of our tongues then rolls back onto our throats.
Just drink in the flavor. Be sure to taste it slowly. Let the wine linger. Don’t rush the experience. Notice and savor everything the flavor brings to you.
Each Day of Pentecost, or any other Holy Day, you can do the very same as you worship. Go slow. Listen. Feel God’s presence. Sit quietly. Wait on Him to show you the flavors of life.
Yes; worship is a lot like experiencing the taste of the finest wine. You leave feeling satisfied, intrigued with the new discoveries you have been shown. You rest in the thoughts of the different experiences you have received in the day.
FEELING THE PEACE OF PENTECOST IN A VINEYARD
We left the winery feeling the peace of the wind on our faces. The mood was one of happiness, joy and blessing. We noticed how soft the sun was shining over the sky. All heard how sweetly the birds were singing.
Tasting the wine had been a beautiful experience.
Did everyone have the same Pentecostal experience that I did; combining a beautiful day of tasting wine with a beautiful quiet reflection of God’s love while contemplating how He loves for us to worship?
I’m not sure.
We didn’t discuss our feelings with one another that day. Words seemed out-of-place. But, as I looked around I could see peace and calm and love on all faces. I knew everyone was probably touched in a different way.
God is like that. He meets us where we are. Then He carries us to places we never even imagined.
All I can say is that I think we all tasted and saw God at work in the world around us. Doors were opened to allow Him inside each of our worlds. The vineyards of community were increasing.
We loved our visit to The Ozan Vineyards.
We tasted the wine and it was good!