Transformed lives...

When I was in Uni I was a member of the Christian Union, and was paying a lot of attention to everything that was going on, so much so that it took me a year of being a member to realise that I recognised the treasurer of the Christian Union Matt.  I thought he seemed familiar but I was not sure and in the end I asked one of my friends what Matts surname was. It was Davies.  I was surprised I had been in school with a Matt Davies, whom I would never have expected to be a member of the Christian Union as he had been very wild.  

When I got home I checked my school photos to see if the Matt Davies from school might be the same Matt Davies as the one in University. Sure enough the facial features looked similar, but the biggest give away … and you may think that something like this would stand out a lot, but as I say I am notalways the most observant… Matt had bright,bright red hair !  He was fairly distinctive, but the last I had heard of him was him running away from Police outside my school with some money that another boy in school had stolen from holding up a fish and chip shop with a sawn off water pistol !  Now would you expect a boy like that to have turned into treasurer of a Christian Union ? It doesn’t say much about the money of the Christian Union and its safety, unless of course Matt had changed.

I plucked up the courage to ask if we had been in school together and yes we had.  I mentioned the “incident” to Matt, he laughed and said, “ I was very different then, it was before God had changed me.” What an incredible statement to make.  It surprised me, to have actually seen and met the before and after ,and to be honest it was amazing to consider all the ways that a life can change when God changes people.

This is exactly what happened at Pentecost.  The disciples had been told by Jesus to wait for something special to happen to them, and they did this. In our reading from the gospel of John we heard of the fear of the disciples seeing Jesus after the resurrection and the astounding words that He offered them, ‘Peace be with you.’ The disciples had been disorientated to put it mildly after the events we remembered in Holy Week brought to extreme rejoicing at Easter to then be without the physical presence of Jesus after the ascension must have left them feeling confused and frightened all over again especially with the knowledge that Jesus had told them that He had work for them to do.  

They were scared, they knew that if they left the room where they were waiting they could have been attacked by the authorities for being supporters of Jesus.  All of a sudden on Pentecost they went out into Jerusalem which was full of people celebrating a major feast and they ran out talking about Jesus, causing a commotion. That is one way to ensure that the authorities were aware of them. Yet it did not bother them.Why? Something had happened to them, God had changed them and given them strength, the promises of Jesus to be with them always were being fulfilled.

I always think that the account of Pentecost is so exciting and so incredible that it could only ever be down to the wonderful moment when God changes a persons life.  It is incredible, but imagine what a difference it could make to our world today, if Pentecost happened like this again! How would people feel?Would they sit up and take notice, or would they just sit there and think Oh look a religious fanatic, or a drunk is being a nuisance. The disciples had the same accusations, yet from their preaching the Church was born.

It’s so easy to sit back and think that in this world of political correctness we have no right to talk about our faith, we have no right to assume that we are right. Yet, when we have something great to declare such as good family or sports news then nothing will stop us.   The disciples were ready to stand up and make a difference, by leaving the quiet of the rooms they were waiting in and shouting about the ways in which God had changed them.

The ways God changed the disciples, is the same way as the way that He changes us.  God can and does make a huge impact in our lives and we need to be prepared to let Him in, to allow Him to change us continually, asking for His strength to be more like Him, to ask for His love to surround and protect us, giving us the courage and comfort that in all situations everything is going to be ok.

Without God we are empty, and yet we try so hard to struggle on as we are, hoping that the world will get better and God will just do all the work for us. That is when we are feeling positive, sometimes – and I am really guilty of this, we can be so determined to keep a stiff British upper lip and make everything seem ok, when it is really not, that we forget to let God in and ask Him for His help and power.

We can know that we are experiencing the work of God as the Holy Spirit in our lives when we compare ourselves to thefruits of the Spirit which are:- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. To our world of hatred, sadness, war, bitterness, meanness, evil and aggression the gifts of God are the only solution.  With God in our lives, when we allow Him to keep changing us, bringing us closer to Him then we really can have a brand new Pentecost !

May we this Pentecost and always, think of how we can let God make a difference in us, as we ask Him to come into our lives more fully. I would like to finish with some words that could be our daily prayer as we seek the power of God to transform us so that we in turn can transform the world around….

Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew, that as you love, so may I love, and do what you would do.  AMEN