Pentecost 2011
Today we celebrate the day when God breathed life into his people and his Church through the Holy Spirit and we’re invited to go back to those early days – days when the early followers must have wondered minute by minute what God had in store for them.
These were the followers who had lived through the crucifixion, the resurrection and the ascension and now saw God’s power literally transforming their lives – on the day of Pentecost they were given the ability to speak and understand different languages, they were given the courage to go and speak about the incredible things that were happening to them, and they must have been transformed by the joy of knowing that, whilst Jesus had ascended into heaven, God was right there amongst them.
And God was there with them in a way that demanded their attention and commitment – they had no structures to get in the way, they had no rules, not even ideas about how the Church would grow… And yet it was to be a Church that would grow and grow…
And today the Holy Spirit remains just as active and just as powerful as on that first Pentecost day but what perhaps is sometimes missing is the courage to let ourselves be a little more open to God’s Spirit continuing to move today in new and different ways…
We live in a fairly ordered society where we are used to things happening at times and in ways that we expect them to happen. We live in a society where there are rules, some written but some just observed out of decency and morality. That is probably the society most of us would choose to live in if we’re honest, but I wonder if a danger of such a society is that we are not allowing God to do all that he wants to do in our lives, in our Church and in our world today…
The Holy Spirit is an incredibly powerful weapon and this morning I want to think of a few things where the Spirit can fill us with hope and with power and with confidence today…
The first is in tradition – I am no great lover of tradition for the sake of tradition – many traditions are continued for good reason and quite rightly are maintained, but we must also be aware of the danger of tradition clouding the future path that God wants to lead us on.
To suggest that we should continue to do something merely because it has been done for years and years is to ignore the possibility that God is actually guiding us in a different direction – what was good and appropriate and useful a couple of hundred years ago may not be today. God is not dead but alive and active and continuing to work in the world…
And we must let him, even through us, do that work. And this can fill us with hope and power and confidence because we know that in all we do, when guided by the Holy Spirit, we have God with us, working with us, strengthening us and empowering us, and he is a mighty powerful weapon…
The second thing I want to think about is joy… When people are asked what qualities people in Church display the quality of JOY tends to come quite a long way down the list sadly, and yet when we are gathered together we are celebrating together the wonderful love of God for each one of us, and we are praying for those who do not know that love, because we know that that love is there for everyone and that God is just waiting to transform more lives…
When we read of that first day of Pentecost we are told that some of those who witnessed the events thought the followers of Jesus were drunk – they were so happy and so excited. Today we are still at liberty to enjoy and celebrate the gifts that God gives us in an extravagant and excited way – we are talking about lives being transformed – what could be more important, and when they are transformed for the better what could be more worthy of celebrating ?
I like the story of 3 gold diggers who found a rich vein of gold in California during the gold rush days. They realized that they had made a great discovery - one that would make them very rich. But of course they didn’t want anyone else to find out so they each took a vow to keep it secret.
They then headed for town to file their claims and get the equipment necessary to mine the gold. True to their vows, they didn’t say a word to anybody. They filed their claim, bought the equipment and headed back to their mine. But when they did, a crowd of people followed them. They were puzzled by this and questioned the people who followed them. Apparently, despite their silence their faces gave away their excitement… People knew that something was going on and wanted to be part of it!
It’s hard to keep a sense of joy to yourself - And what’s more it’s catching !
And the third thing I want to think about is Peace… Peace flows in all kinds of different ways for different people, but God’s peace comes with the knowledge that in good times and in bad times he remains with us – caring for us, loving us, strengthening us and supporting us…
God doesn’t just take over completely and provide us with perfect peace, but he invites us into a relationship with him – a relationship that can be deepened by prayer and bible study and fellowship with other Christians…
One of the marks of the early Church was a courage to go out in the face of adversity and tell people the good news that Jesus had died and risen for them, and that he loves them… For many of the early followers it was as simple as that – trusting in God to provide for them, they would go out and share his gospel filled with the peace of knowing that nothing was more important than sharing God’s love and nothing could ever separate them from that love…
In serving God we provide the willingness – he will provide the power…
The day of Pentecost was a day that changed history – it was a day when the Church was born – a day when God confirmed that he was going to continue to be active in the Church and the world for evermore – and with all the uncertainties that may bring, with all the challenges that it offers us, we must allow God to continue to work in his Church and in the world today, and that may mean doing things differently, accepting different things, trusting in his power and his transforming Spirit to continue to reveal his glory through us and through his Church, but it will also bring unspeakable joy and peace into our lives and the lives of others who witness his work… AMEN
These were the followers who had lived through the crucifixion, the resurrection and the ascension and now saw God’s power literally transforming their lives – on the day of Pentecost they were given the ability to speak and understand different languages, they were given the courage to go and speak about the incredible things that were happening to them, and they must have been transformed by the joy of knowing that, whilst Jesus had ascended into heaven, God was right there amongst them.
And God was there with them in a way that demanded their attention and commitment – they had no structures to get in the way, they had no rules, not even ideas about how the Church would grow… And yet it was to be a Church that would grow and grow…
And today the Holy Spirit remains just as active and just as powerful as on that first Pentecost day but what perhaps is sometimes missing is the courage to let ourselves be a little more open to God’s Spirit continuing to move today in new and different ways…
We live in a fairly ordered society where we are used to things happening at times and in ways that we expect them to happen. We live in a society where there are rules, some written but some just observed out of decency and morality. That is probably the society most of us would choose to live in if we’re honest, but I wonder if a danger of such a society is that we are not allowing God to do all that he wants to do in our lives, in our Church and in our world today…
The Holy Spirit is an incredibly powerful weapon and this morning I want to think of a few things where the Spirit can fill us with hope and with power and with confidence today…
The first is in tradition – I am no great lover of tradition for the sake of tradition – many traditions are continued for good reason and quite rightly are maintained, but we must also be aware of the danger of tradition clouding the future path that God wants to lead us on.
To suggest that we should continue to do something merely because it has been done for years and years is to ignore the possibility that God is actually guiding us in a different direction – what was good and appropriate and useful a couple of hundred years ago may not be today. God is not dead but alive and active and continuing to work in the world…
And we must let him, even through us, do that work. And this can fill us with hope and power and confidence because we know that in all we do, when guided by the Holy Spirit, we have God with us, working with us, strengthening us and empowering us, and he is a mighty powerful weapon…
The second thing I want to think about is joy… When people are asked what qualities people in Church display the quality of JOY tends to come quite a long way down the list sadly, and yet when we are gathered together we are celebrating together the wonderful love of God for each one of us, and we are praying for those who do not know that love, because we know that that love is there for everyone and that God is just waiting to transform more lives…
When we read of that first day of Pentecost we are told that some of those who witnessed the events thought the followers of Jesus were drunk – they were so happy and so excited. Today we are still at liberty to enjoy and celebrate the gifts that God gives us in an extravagant and excited way – we are talking about lives being transformed – what could be more important, and when they are transformed for the better what could be more worthy of celebrating ?
I like the story of 3 gold diggers who found a rich vein of gold in California during the gold rush days. They realized that they had made a great discovery - one that would make them very rich. But of course they didn’t want anyone else to find out so they each took a vow to keep it secret.
They then headed for town to file their claims and get the equipment necessary to mine the gold. True to their vows, they didn’t say a word to anybody. They filed their claim, bought the equipment and headed back to their mine. But when they did, a crowd of people followed them. They were puzzled by this and questioned the people who followed them. Apparently, despite their silence their faces gave away their excitement… People knew that something was going on and wanted to be part of it!
It’s hard to keep a sense of joy to yourself - And what’s more it’s catching !
And the third thing I want to think about is Peace… Peace flows in all kinds of different ways for different people, but God’s peace comes with the knowledge that in good times and in bad times he remains with us – caring for us, loving us, strengthening us and supporting us…
God doesn’t just take over completely and provide us with perfect peace, but he invites us into a relationship with him – a relationship that can be deepened by prayer and bible study and fellowship with other Christians…
One of the marks of the early Church was a courage to go out in the face of adversity and tell people the good news that Jesus had died and risen for them, and that he loves them… For many of the early followers it was as simple as that – trusting in God to provide for them, they would go out and share his gospel filled with the peace of knowing that nothing was more important than sharing God’s love and nothing could ever separate them from that love…
In serving God we provide the willingness – he will provide the power…
The day of Pentecost was a day that changed history – it was a day when the Church was born – a day when God confirmed that he was going to continue to be active in the Church and the world for evermore – and with all the uncertainties that may bring, with all the challenges that it offers us, we must allow God to continue to work in his Church and in the world today, and that may mean doing things differently, accepting different things, trusting in his power and his transforming Spirit to continue to reveal his glory through us and through his Church, but it will also bring unspeakable joy and peace into our lives and the lives of others who witness his work… AMEN
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