First Responders

Pentecost Sermon – Sunday 19th May 2024 – St Mary Magdalene, Outwood (Eucharist)

Holy Spirit.

Help us to feel your presence in our lives, that we might know you better;

And in so doing, accept that we are loved more than we can hope to imagine.

In the name of the Christ who sent you to us, and gave us hope. Amen.

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Well. Good morning…. It’s good to be together on this Day of Pentecost.

I see some red being worn, amongst you…. I wonder what you are wearing to represent the great wind…?

We have heard that renowned passage today, from the Acts of Apostles, where the wind blows from the inside of the house! 

And everyone is filled with something… whatever it is, they begin speaking other languages… and being seen as odd….!

I’m not very good with languages, learning enough for holiday based dialogue, and mostly relying on Google Translate…. Imagine having the gift of all languages! 

Less barriers to world peace….Awesome!

And yes, we had a smile when Peter and the others are chastised for being drunk in the morning! 

Imagine….!

Because, of course, what else could it be! 

We are shown a snapshot of this moment, two thousand years ago… as an illustration of something momentous happening to the Disciples, who were lamenting the absence of Jesus in their midst, and wondering what to do next.

Jesus had promised them something…. but what would it all mean?

The Disciples had to trust Jesus – telling them He had to go…. Away…. Someplace…

So that the Spirit – the Advocate – would come to them…..

Could you imagine at least one of them thinking or saying even, – “no thanks, we want you to stay”.

They were not rejecting what was on offer, they just didn’t “know” what it was or how it would aid them.

Just like us, really.

When Christians speak about the Spirit…. They don’t always refer to the same experience, or the same reading of scripture.

The third essential element of the Holy Trinity hasn’t always been popular within the life of Christianity.

So how do we respond?

Personally, I believe that humans have had a difficulty with the Holy Spirit because it’s not easy to imagine it having a face.

I’m not being flippant here, bear with me a moment…!

Jesus – obviously, depicted in a variety of ways, not always with any thought to where He lived.

God – well, I think too many people have imagined an old geezer with a wooly beard!

But the Spirit….?

Jesus had a confidence in the Advocate to come because He knew it well – the Spirit of God was there, at the beginning:

“And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2 KJV)

Many have endeavoured to characterise the Holy Spirit – -giving it form and even shape, so that we might engage with it in the way that humans do.

Is it a way to respond?

There are several readings set for today, of which we have heard two.

The Old Testament offers us that highly visual extract from Ezekiel…. A desert of dry bones.

This lament – this cry for justice… Judah was in a strange land – broken and separated.

The Spirit pulled those dry bones and tendons together and gave life  – just like it can do for us in times of trial.

Israel cried out at the injustice of their exile, at having no one in their defence…. not for the first time, God reminded them that they were not alone. 

The Sprit would restore them. 

How would they respond?

John mentions truth quite a bit in our Gospel passage today.

When Pontius Pilate famously asked the rhetorical question: “What is truth…?” He was probably trying to compare what Jesus was saying with the shifting sands of political and military life – where compromise is the only game in town.

For us, the word ‘truth’ is mostly used in the binary situation of truth and lies – real or not real etc.

One is bad and the other presumed to be good.

However, we are encouraged to consider the truth of what Jesus came to tell us, and how the world in which we live so often pushes back against that – telling us not to bother, that love has a price not a value – that we should only take notice of human power through strength and wealth.

‘Keep buying stuff, and vote for us because we will keep you safe be sending all the strangers away!’

All of what we hear today speaks of truth as something we respond to:  we have chosen Jesus as we too are chosen – but does faith prevail or was it just for a season?

In essence, we are like those first Disciples – First Responders to something that would confirm the truth of God in Jesus…

That any challenge the world would make – against justice, of sin and its judgments… would be countered completely by the Spirit – the Advocate…. The comforter to those trying to live faithful lives.

Everything would be turned upside down!

The Spirit of truth comes to bear witness to the unity of Father and Son and we must respond, with faith, as we recognise this truth.

Now, some will say that making sense of the Holy Spirit can be hard work, especially for Anglicans who might think that it’s all a bit too ‘out there’.

Doesn’t it mean having to speak in tongues…? Or at least acknowledging such a thing?

Or be suddenly propelled in to actions and words beyond our place of comfort and certainty?

Let’s face it – who hasn’t wanted the occasional tongue of fire to rest upon them, or someone else, to win an argument, or be heard, or have courage!

I can tell you, in all honesty, that I try to respond to the Spirit, in pulling together words and ideas that might help us to understand Pentecost. 

On the one hand, I might want to be able to speak without notes… be an amazing preacher with visual aids, sharing a message of hope that is remembered for making sense and being uplifting and fun!

On the other hand…. The Spirit lends itself to a belief that I might work towards that, but for now, in this reality, I will accept the outcome of prayer, and my strengths and abilities to-date…. And the assistance of notes on my iPad.

I don’t know if any of you tried out the readings and resources for Thy Kingdom Come – the ecumenical project for the period from Ascension Day to today.

I did. I didn’t like it all, but some of it was helpful. Christians are not all the same and we don’t respond in the same ways…. With one exception, maybe…. Prayer.

That is our core response to the Holy Spirit.

What else might we do…?

In the days to come, my sisters and brothers, I invite you to consider the Gift of the Holy Spirit.

Now…

As mentioned, there is an awful lot happening in the readings we are given for this Day of Pentecost. 

Acts, Romans, Ezekiel, John and of course a Psalm.

There is action and theology, describing things that are hard to understand and also behaviours we might not even recognise.

Maybe we feel that we too have to feel the fire and wind in a bewildering way.

So, in true Anglican form…. I shall use something else…today’s Collect.

The prayer we are given that “collects” together the strands and themes of the days scripture.

It is a prayer – it doesn’t seek to simplify or reduce. 

It is a prayer…

So, what does it say…?

Well, before we return to it, I would ask you to hold in your hand the little heart-shaped button you received on arrival.

Have you got it? OK…

The prayer, that we heard earlier, says this:

It mentions the hearts of faithful people – that we might hope to be too, but not by our own efforts.

The light of the Holy Spirit…. Offering a way to see the world differently… not always with answers and certainty or  methods or guarantees. 

Just a light…

And in the light of this Spirit, we will receive a right judgement: the judgment of God for the world – in all things…

And to know we have been chosen by God, and we choose to follow Christ…. 

We abide in this love, and this gives us an integrity, a firm grounding that we can see the truth that Jesus spoke of, and we can share that.

And then, we might rejoice in the comfort such an Advocate can give… an advocate we would want alongside us in court – in our darkest moments.

Or maybe when we need to speak up – speak out, go outside our place of safety…. For that which is right, it is there with us.

And all from the merits of Jesus Christ – all that He said and taught; the Way by which He lived and that we chose to follow in faith.

It is all a gift – a free gift….

You don’t have to have a special explanation for the Holy Spirit… or for the meaning of Pentecost.

Tell the story if you wish to.

Just remember the free gift…

How will we respond?

We are one with the Holy Spirit – as we abide in Christ, called in love, by God.

All things are possible – but it will be us in whom the Spirit is active and visible.

Yes, hopefully in big noisy ways… but also, in small ways – in every act of love and kindness, in the moment you notice the colour and joy around you…. When you know that the amazing is here with you…. and also when it is gone.

Please take your little heart home with you.

By all means put it in a drawer, or leave it in your pocket, because we really don’t always know what to make of the Holy Spirit – even though it doesn’t need us to!

Or put it somewhere visible, yes why not stitch onto something!

It is a button after all…so why not!

Fire and wind and excitement; bewilderment, amazement and awe; tongues of fire and tongues of language….

All these are associated with Pentecost, and thus, the Spirit…

Sometimes we need a gentle reminder of the gift of the Holy Spirit….. the truth that God hopes for us to seek, every day! 

I finish with a verse from Ezekiel, and then from Acts….

“I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.’ “ (Ezekiel 37:14)

“Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21)

Amen.

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Image: “Pentecost Buttons” © Simon Beresford

Collect for Pentecost (Whit Sunday) Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England © The Archbishops’ Council 2000 (Lectionary App)