Introduction
It is a lovely time of the year in the garden. You can hear the breeze gently ruffling the tops of trees and listen to the birds sing. You can smell the smoke of a wood fire. At other times the wind can blow in a furious storm, or you can get caught in a sudden heavy shower that instantly drenches you to the skin. All these are images used in the bible to try to describe the indescribable.
Today we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, what many would call the birthday of the Church. In the Gospels, as well as foretelling his death and resurrection, Jesus goes into some detail about the coming of the Holy Spirit of God to his disciples. And so after the wonder that the disciples must have felt at the Ascension, which Melanie talked about last week, we come to an even more surprising event this week, the coming of the Spirit. When we read in Exodus that God delivered Israel from Egypt, bringing them through the Red Sea, it took them 50 days to reach Sinai, where God gave them the Torah, the Law. God went with them, guiding them by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night. God dwelt in the midst of the camp, in a specially constructed tent structure that served the same function as the temple was later to do.
A New Presence
God is present throughout his world. We are not pantheists, who believe that every rock, every animal, every blade of grass is divine. But by the same token we are not deists, believing that God created this world, set it running, and is now watching from a distance, in no way connected with us. Rather, we live in a world where heaven and earth are connected, overlaid the one on the other. The many angels you can see portrayed in stone and stained glass around this beautiful building are meant to symbolise to us the presence of the divine around and within us. We read often in what we call the Old Testament, of the Spirit of God resting on someone to bring special powers or equip them for a special task.
Jesus promised that in the new dispensation, each and every Christian would have the Holy Spirit welling up from within. This promise was kept on the day of Pentecost, in a way that was obvious not just to everyone present, but to the crowds in the streets outside.
Many of us struggle with feelings of inadequacy, feeling that we are not equipped to lead the Christian life. We struggle because it is true! To be a Christian, it is not enough to study the bible, to know what Christians believe, or struggle to live worthy moral lives in the way that Christians should, or to attend worship with other Christian folk.
How do you give yourself a sun tan? Only by exposing yourself to the sun’s rays and soaking them up. Can you stop your thirst by deciding that you are no longer thirsty? How much better to accept the refreshing drink that is being offered to you?
How can you encounter God and grow in him? By trusting in his Son Jesus, and opening yourself to the presence of his Spirit.
A New Unity
Jesus said that others would know that we are Christians by the love we have for each other, by our unity in him. The synagogue reading for Pentecost is the account of the dividing of the peoples at Babel – the coming of a fundamental disunity into the world. One of the chief effects of the coming of the Spirit was a new spirit of unity and cooperation between the Christians in the early church. “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.” “Then Peter stood up with the eleven ..” Just as Father, Son and Spirit live as one, and yet are distinct, interconnected lovers whose love permeates the whole of creation, so we are made one with the Father and the Son by the work of the Spirit, and we are made one with each other. We may not always instantly agree on every detail, we may even fall out occasionally, but we are essentially one. We are united at a level that cannot be defined or denied, if the Spirit lives in us.
A New Inclusivity
The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost makes it abundantly clear that God’s love is not reserved for a favoured few, whether from a special nation or of a special cast. The list of nations that Margaret read for us summarises the whole known world for a first century Roman citizen. The point is that everyone was connected; they each heard the good news about Jesus in their own native language. Peter quotes the prophet Joel to show that in Old Testament times God was pointing forward to a time when he would pour out his Spirit “on all people”; “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”.
This means that what is described in the book of Acts is for everyone here this morning. There are no exceptions.
Of course, there are plenty of other references to people’s encounters with the Holy Spirit than the one we have read this morning, and every other New Testament book has wonderful, encouraging things to teach us about his work within us. The evidence is that God worked in different ways for different people, always seeking to bless each one and draw them to himself.
So who is the Holy Spirit NOT for? I would say only for those who are not prepared or willing to open themselves to his kind, gracious presence. Some might say also those with whom we have not yet shared the good news about Jesus, but I believe that God reaches out by his Spirit to people any and every where, to all those who are open and searching for him. One evidence of the work of the Spirit in us might be a growing desire and confidence to share the love of God with those we come into contact with.
Suggested Questions
1. What do we think about the work of the Holy Spirit within us?
2. What do we feel about the work of the Holy Spirit within us?
3. What are our aspirations for St Michael’s, as a community of the Holy Spirit?
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