In
thinking about Pentecost, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, I am aware that
for many people this is a bit of a weird day. After all, we are not part of a
Pentecostal church, generally we don’t raise our hands as we sing praises to
God, we don’t speak in a special prayer language, and we rarely talk about the Spirit
in our lives.
But
here we are, the church decorated in red and many of you wearing red or orange.
Even though we are not a Pentecostal church, we are a church that believes in the
activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the world.
The
reading from Acts is dramatic. I wonder in our technological world if we
recognise how amazing this was to be part of, or even to hear about. We see things on video and film and we are
used to all sorts of special effects. But this was no special effects
extravaganza from a Hollywood director. This
was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit into people’s lives. An amazing,
incredible, awe inspiring experience!
We
have heard many passages about the disciples in the Gospels. How they left
their jobs and communities to travel with Jesus;
how
they took time with Jesus to learn from him;
how
they understood – or didn't understand - what Jesus did;
how
they questioned some of his ideas.
We
also have heard about the night Jesus was betrayed,
we
have sensed the anxiety of the disciples as Jesus was brought to trial;
the
fear when he was crucified,
the
doubt and amazement of resurrection.
The
joy and relief of seeing him again.
This
morning we heard the passage from Acts that features each year on Pentecost Sunday.
The
disciples and other followers of Jesus were together in a house, and the wind blew,
and flames appeared to be on the head of each person.
For
me, more important than the amazing way the Spirit came into the lives of the disciples
– in wind and fire - was what happened next.
Just
as after the resurrection, the faith of the disciples was renewed, so with the coming
of the Spirit, the disciples have been transformed.
Not
only did they praise God, but people from various parts of the known world
heard the disciples speaking in a language they could understand.
It could be
translated today as:
Filipinos, Chinese,
Czech, and residents of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, France and Germany, Russia and Brazil,
Egypt and Africa and South America, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and
proselytes, Europeans and Arabs - in our own languages we hear them speaking
about God's deeds of power.
The
movement of the Spirit in the lives of the disciples that day, was not only for
the disciples, but for the world.
Just
like the popcorn earlier this morning, and the lives of the disciples, our
lives are also transformed by the Holy Spirit.
I wonder what
that transformation looks like.
Paul, writing to the church in Rome:
All those who dance to the Spirit’s
tune are God’s beloved children. We were not sold into slavery where we would
grovel timidly in the dust, afraid to put a foot wrong. Rather we were adopted
into a family full of love and joy. Like eager children crying, “Daddy! Mummy!”
we come running to God, and with loving arms, God’s Spirit gathers us up,
demonstrating clearly to whom we belong.
©2000
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Just as the
disciples moved from fear to faith after the resurrection, Paul is reminding the
church in Rome that the spirit has not returned us to slavery, but we are children
of the living God.
John records that Jesus told the disciples
that the Spirit would come.
“When I'm gone, your new defence
counsel — the Holy Spirit who the Father will send on my behalf — will take
over, teaching you everything and keeping all I've said fresh in your minds.
The gift I'm leaving with you is peace; my kind of peace, not the mere easing
of hostilities that the rest of the world offers. So don’t go dropping your
bundle or getting all fearful.” ©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
It is easy for us to live in fear, to
be enslaved by fear. The more we watch the news, the more we listen to popular
commentators, the more we hear about fear:
Fear of young people
Fear of Muslims
Fear of people with lots of money
Fear of poor people
Fear of what will happen if this or
that political party gets elected.
It seems that keeping people in a state
of fear helps politicians and companies – when we fear a possible terrorist attack,
we don’t ask about the erosion of civil liberties
When we fear a takeover by foreign
companies we don’t look at the behaviour of local companies.
Fear is easy.
But remember what Paul wrote, we are
not given a spirit of slavery and fear, rather “God’s Spirit touches our spirits and
confirms who we really are.” [Romans 8 the
Message]
The Spirit of God, flowing through us;
sometimes in a surprising rush, and sometimes like a gentle breeze; confirms
who we really are – children of God. Each one amazing and unique. Each one with
something special and individual to bring to the community of faith and all of
God’s wonderful creation.
This [a wooden whistle] looks like a
stick, well it is a stick with a hole in one side, and part of one end blocked
off. What might it be used for? I could burn it, or throw it for a dog to fetch
– but is that its true role in life?
No, it is a whistle.
And just as it needs breath blowing
through it to be what it was created to be, so we need the Holy Spirit blowing
in our lives to be who we were created to be.
We are transformed from fear to joy and
confidence, to be who we are – children of God.
Where have you felt the transforming action
of the Spirit in your life?
