Saturday 30 May 2009

Sunday 17 May 2009 EASTER 5 Acts 10:44-48, John 15:9-17, The Risen Christ: known by the work of his Spirit in our lives, Bruce

St Michael’s Purpose is to Encounter God and Grow in Him. Our Vision is to be a Growing Community of Faith, Open for All. We do not believe this is our idea but his. What does this mean?

We are to be open for all kinds of people, and we are to be open for all that God wants to do in us and for us.

In our readings in Acts in this Easter season we have reached a tipping point. The new church is open for all kinds of believers, it is even open for Saul; it is open for the ‘unclean’ as seen in Peter’s dream, and it is open for the Roman centurion Cornelius. God’s new kingdom is open for the whole world.

We forget the certainty that most early Christians had, that the church was only open to Jews. It took a God-given dream to persuade Peter to go against convention, all that he believed, and the wishes of his companions. He is impressed by Cornelius’ account of the angelic vision that had prompted him to send for Peter. In a state of wonder, he begins his sermon. He acknowledges that only God could have brought about these events. He tells the story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He announces that those who believe in Jesus are forgiven their sins, when he is interrupted. Cornelius and the whole gathering start to speak in tongues just like the disciples had on the day of Pentecost. God has poured out his Spirit on them, just as Jesus had foretold before his ascension.

Peter turns to his companions, and shrugs. They are astonished. They hear them speaking in tongues. It is unclear whether they are hearing people speak in their own language, probably Aramaic, or in strange languages that they do not understand. What they cannot deny is that God is obviously at work. How can they respond? Peter insists that since they have been baptised – drenched, immersed – in the Spirit, they should also be baptised in water. As you read through the Acts, you will see that conversion always involves belief in Jesus, and then baptism in water and baptism in the Spirit (sometimes accompanied by what would later become Confirmation – the laying on of hands by a senior elder or bishop). The order sometimes changes, but the total experience or package does not.

This is one way that we know that Christ is risen and active in his world: he sends his Spirit. His Spirit leads us into new experiences, and helps us to reveal God’s love to others, as we saw in Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian last week, and in his encounter with Cornelius in today’s reading.

How are we at St Michael’s open for all people? We have five regular types of Sunday service, all different. There is Prayer Book Communion every Sunday at 8.00am. There is a short Family Service every Sunday at 9.15am. At 10.30am we have Morning Worship, or Parish Communion, or Liquid Church. It gives us problems, because we are gathering a community of very different people, with different needs and aspirations. Humanly speaking, we would be better off just catering for one kind of person, but that would be to limit God.

How are we at St Michael’s open for all that God would show us? We have Encounter and discussion groups, quiet days, and we engage in joint initiatives with other churches such as 40 days of relationship. We are exploring insights from the Celtic church like pilgrimage, and six of us are off tomorrow to Holy Island. We are exploring the new monasticism, what it means to live in community in the twenty first century, and out of this has come the initiative to inhabit the church on Thursdays.

We are a growing community of faith. Jonathan Sax has described community as a place where everybody knows my name and where I am missed if I am not there. We need to be a community, and probably a collection of communities.

But we must also be open for all.

We must also be open for all kinds of people. If we are humanly successful at building community, we will become cliquish and inward looking. Only with the help of God’s Spirit can we build a community in his image. We will have fuzzy boundaries, be slightly untidy, and retain the urge to reach out to others, and share his love.

We must also be open for all that God would give us. We were all given the gift of God’s Spirit at our conversion. Some of us are more confident or aware in this area than others are. An analogy might help: when we are sent a new bank card in the post, we often have to ring a number in order to activate it for use. God is willing and waiting to hear our prayer for him to fill us with his Holy Spirit.

Jesus is risen: he sends his Spirit into our lives.

There will be fruit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. In other words, not just 40 days of relationships, but 40 years, or a whole life time of living lives that make it easier for others to encounter God.

There will be fruit – his Spirit will lead us into encounters with others. We will expect the unexpected, and realise that God calls all sorts of people.

There will be fruit – his Spirit will lead us into a wider, deeper encounter with God.

The work is God’s, but there are things we can usefully do. Every day for the next fortnight, pray with me to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Use the prayers on the back page of the Peril. Take part in the Day of Prayer for Renewal on Friday 19 June. Consider signing up for the Lost for Words course to be launched in June.

Here I am, Lord.
Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord,
if you lead me;
I will hold your people in my heart.


Questions for Discussion
1. What examples can we give of people who would surprise us if they became Christians? How would we respond if they did?
2. How could St Michael’s be more Open for All? What would be the limits?
3. What experience have you had of God’s Holy Spirit? How helpful is the analogy of the bank card?

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