Pentecost
Sunday 31st May 2020
As public worship has been suspended in a bid to limit the spread of the Coronavirus the service was recorded and made available online. That can be found here.
Pentecost
Acts 2.1-21
John 20 19-23
Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs
Reflection 1 – Acts 2.1-21
Pentecost has been called the “Mightiest Festival of them all”.
But why, you may ask? After all we are Anglicans, not Pentecostalists! And many of us feel a trifle uncomfortable when presented with all that hand waving and hallelujahs; all that ‘enthusiasm’. But this is to overlook the real significance and the sheer joy that this day should hold for us all. The Day of Communication and Trust – and Lord knows, our public discourse is in sad need of both of those at present!
So I am going to begin by sharing with you a short poem by Malcolm Guite –
Pentecost
Today we feel the wind beneath our wings,
Today the hidden fountain flows and plays,
Today the church draws breath at last and sings,
As every flame becomes a tongue of praise,
This is the Feast of Fire, Air and Water,
Poured out and breathed and kindled into Earth.
The Earth herself awakens to her maker,
Translated out of death and into birth,
The right words come today in their right order
And every word spells freedom and release.
Today the gospel crosses every border,
All tongues are loosened by the Prince of Peace.
Today the lost are found in his translation,
Whose mother-tongue is love, in every nation.
You will remember that at the moment of Jesus’ death on the cross – back on that sad, bad, Good Friday, the curtain of the Temple was torn in two? The curtain that concealed the Holy Presence of God from the people, the worshippers was forever destroyed. No longer would God work only through his intermediaries, the high priests. From now on there was a channel of communication established from heaven to earth and back again.
And with the ascension of the risen Christ those connections were confirmed and strengthened. The channel was wide open – fixed. But what would be communicated through it?
Do you remember when the Internet was first created? I am old enough to admit that I do. We wondered what on earth it would be used for…. We could not imagine. But before long we were flooded with information. Social Media appeared. Citizen journalists were spoken of – from that time on the public could (and would) comment directly on the news stories of the day. Would even break news stories long before the professionals could claim a scoop? And because the Internet is a human construct – not divinely inspired – it has potential for good and ill, but it has changed, transformed all our lives in ways that we could not imagine in the beginning…. church will never be the same again after our experience of these past weeks of using technology to reach way beyond our customary congregation – out into our community and far beyond.
The coming of the Holy Spirit was just as transformative – continues to be just as transformative for those early Christians and for us. Our minds – and all our senses are opened up to so much power and information and love – spilling out from God and filling up our hearts if we permit it. It was WH Auden who said that at Pentecost we are given the gift of ears not only tongues. For the first time all those foreigners in Jerusalem were able to hear and understand the message of Peter and the other disciples. So whether tongues or ears, the Spirit is the communicative as well as the creative activity of God…
Reflection 2 – John 20 19-23
After all the noise and the bustle of that first day of Pentecost, it is good to be reminded that the Spirit is also about Peace and the gentle breath of God reaching out to us. Later in this service the choir will be singing,
Holy Spirit, breath of God,
breathe new life into my willing soul.
Bring the presence of the risen Lord
To renew my heart and make me whole.
And we need to be inspired by that gentle breath…. Archbishop William Temple put it like this:
It is no good giving me a play like Hamlet or King Lear, and telling me to write a play like that. Shakespeare could do it – but I can’t. And it is no good showing me a life like the life of Jesus and telling me to live a life like that. I can’t do that for myself either.
But if the genius of Shakespeare could come and live in me, then I could write plays like this.
And if the Spirit could come into me, then I could live a life like that.
When we read about God and Jesus the words may be all very nice, but the story remains on the page – lifeless.
The Church repeats its Creeds, its teachings and doctrines week by week, but they can all wash right over us, until and unless they are brought alive for us by the Spirit. Only then can we know God – and not just know about God.
Our beliefs are very useful to us – but like a road map, unless there is some juice in the jalopy; some petrol or other power in the car, we won’t get very far. It is the Spirit that makes it possible for us to move ahead in our Christian life.
But notice when the Spirit comes to the disciples. It isn’t because they are all being super good and holy. In fact they are at rock bottom. Their friend and teacher has just died a horrible death and they are scared and hiding away. They have locked the doors, fearful that they may be next on the list for the authorities to come and arrest. After all, that was the usual pattern of events. When a troublemaker arises, eliminate him first then pick off all his followers… people will soon lose interest – soon be able to move on.
But then suddenly, quietly with the merest whisper of breath, God is present among them. Inspiring them – literally. Bringing them a message of peace which must have been so comforting just then. But also making it plain that there is work to be done…
“As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And that work was to go about forgiving the sins of those who would listen and give their hearts to Love.
Not an easy instruction. Not an easy task or path that lay ahead. But suddenly giving them new courage, new conviction that they could do this. Let’s do this!
And there is work still to be done. We too may feel scared, inadequate, may try to lock ourselves away. But God will find a way to reach us too…
Holy Spirit, breath of God,
breathe new life into my willing soul.
Bring the presence of the risen Lord
To renew my heart and make me whole.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your people
And kindle in us, the fire of your love. Amen.