Pentecost
Pentecost
28th May 2023
John 7: 37-39 & Acts 2: 1-21
How do we understand God’s presence with us?
IS God present with us?
The story of the Day of Pentecost isn’t only historical, it is pedagogical.
What? that is… this event teaches us about who we are, as the Church.
The group of Jesus-followers were gathered together in the one place when out of the blue the something extraordinary happened.
On that day of Pentecost this small and vulnerable group no longer felt small or vulnerable.
They were ready to take on the world!
The Holy Spirit did this.
And this same Holy Spirit is present with us.
God is not only in some distant heaven.
Like when Jesus was around, but even more widely available.
A definition I love:
“The Holy Spirit is God in the present tense.”
The experience of the presence of the Holy Spirit that day is described as like ‘wind’ and ‘fire’.
there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. 5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6And at this sound the crowd gathered (vv2-6)
Power that moves among, …and rests upon.
Let me also add in the description of the Holy Spirit Jesus gives in today’s Gospel reading:
“Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” (v38)
Context: Festival of Booths (or Tabernacles) is a reminder of wandering in the desert, thirsting.
In this context, Jesus speaks of abundant water – living water that flows from the centre of a believer’s being.
Wind, fire, water.
How do these fundamental symbols continue to evoke the experience of our faith?
What do they teach us about God’s power in our lives?
What do they broadcast about the new life from God?
What do they promise us, …to sustain our faith…?
Wind, fire, water.
…in our lives.
The Day of Pentecost also teaches us about WHO God is present with.
Although we know the importance of personal faith, God’s presence is for all.
We celebrate this in Baptism (with the symbol of water):
both God’s love for the individual,
surrounded and celebrated by the community of faith.
On the Day of Pentecost
Each person receives a tongue of fire.
A crowd is drawn into the action.
there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6And at this sound the crowd gathered (vv2-6)
Further emphasising the radical inclusiveness, the author lists those ethnicities present from across the Greco-Roman world: Parthians, Medes, Elamites, etc… (v9)
Although everyone is included, not everyone accepts what is happening.
“This cannot be what it seems to be” they must be drunk!
Yet what it seemed to be, is precisely what it was.
New life – sudden, unmerited, irresistible new life!
This helps me to understand why today some around us still reject God’s presence.
People still respond “This cannot be what it seems to be”.
And yet “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (v21)
This is the promise that sustains faith.
That we can know God – in the present tense.
We can trust this Holy One, who is always with us - Whose grace is ever inclusive, embracing us all.
Through circumstances beyond our control –
we might lose our job.
In ways we cannot anticipate –
we may run out of good health.
Through the occurrence of disease or disaster –
we may run out of loved ones.
The hour will certainly come when we will have run out of time.
But the Day of Pentecost teaches us God is present with us always.
Always!
God in the present tense, gifting us with life and love and hope and holy joy!
Always with us and for us and in us - always!
If we come back to those symbols – of wind and fire and water – we are taught about how we experience God’s power, in two different ways.
If I dropped a match into this 5-litre jerry can of petrol, power would be released explosively.
The petrol can also be channelled through the controlled burn of an engine.
Explosions are spectacular, but controlled burns have lasting effect, staying power.
The Holy Spirit works both ways.
On the Day of Pentecost, she exploded on the scene;
her presence was like wind and fire.
Thousands were affected by one burst of God's power.
But God is also present through the church - the institution God began to channel the Holy Spirit's power,
to have a lasting and purposeful effect.
Through worship, fellowship, pastoral care and service, we are provided with staying power.
This presence of God as we live together as Church is vital for our Vision.
‘Getting to know God as a team sport’
We need the Holy Spirit to fuel our Vision to ‘explore and share the gospel with our dynamic neighbourhood. [to] create safe spaces to be, to belong, and to navigate the tough stuff.’
The Day of Pentecost still tells us
God is present
God is present – with EACH of us, and ALL of us.
sustaining our faith – always
May the evocative symbols of wind and fire and water
allow us to see the presence of God’s power in our midst;
the new life of salvation which Jesus promises is ours.
And let us allow the Holy Spirit to continue to sustain us,
and the Vision God has given us.