PENTECOST 2014 It must have been quite an experience in Jerusalem that day; little wonder the crowd thought that all the disciples were drunk! Well, they were in a way – they were filled with the new wine of the Gospel. The old wine skins were burst, the new had come and it came with power. What happened? To begin with there was a dramatic fulfillment of John the Baptist’s prophecy: (Mark 1:8 NRSV) “
I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
It is with the gift of the Spirit there is a real sense in which we can say that the Church was born. Well, what do we make of the coming of the Holy Spirit? Over the past 40 years there has been a great deal of interest in things “spiritual”: but the focus has been on self – self fulfillment being the goal, rather than on what spirituality means in the context of what it means to be human. We have seen movements that have a strong “charismatic” content with its emphasis on speaking in tongues, the Toronto blessing phenomena and so on. We have seen a fascination with “new age” spirituality – all of these pretty much about a self absorbed quest for the transcendent. In the meanwhile the world has gone on in its chaotic and self destructive way. The Feast of Pentecost exposes the falsity of such pathways. The sphere of the Spirit is not in the inner recesses of the soul, its sphere is in the public arena of the world. The Psalmist speaks of the work of the Spirit as renewing the face of the whole earth. St Paul speaks of the whole creation groaning in pain as it awaits its renewal. He uses the rich imagery of child birth to describe it all. In John’s Gospel the Spirit shows the world how wrong it is: The world’s cardinal sin is in not believing in Jesus, The world’s notion of justice is wrong: it was the world’s justice that sent Jesus to the Cross. It was the world’s justice that condemned Jesus. The Spirit turns the world’s ways on their head. The coming of the Spirit shows Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of God. The coming of the Spirit shows God’s justice by glorifying Jesus through his death.
And the coming of the Spirit brings about the condemnation of ‘the ruler of this world’. The Spirit comes, not to cultivate my inner spiritual sensibilities, The Spirit comes: To confront a world that has lost its way. A world that has lost its way: - Egypt where the “Arab spring” has turned into a winter of discontent -
Syria which is a terrible killing fields, The plight of Christians in Northern Nigeria Etc……
As one English theologian puts it: “the role of the Spirit is ethical, - that much is clear – and ethics is relational.”
The role of the Spirit is to bring us into harmonious fellowship – Fellowship with God, Fellowship with our fellow human beings and fellowship with the creation itself. And the gift of the Spirit is not some quick fix. As Paul’s imagery of child birth reminds us: There is the discomfort and pain that is all part of the process - and we are experiencing the birth pains as we look forward in hope to the fulfillment of all God’s promises: Which we will see when the Kingdom comes in all its glory. As one writer put it. “The Spirit’s concerns are about sin, righteousness and judgment, not ecstasies in overheated services or the inner calm produced by sitting for a long time with your legs around your neck” We are called, and given the power of the Spirit, to work for the renewal of the creation: We are called to care for the environment, We are called to be reconcilers - in Australia there is much to be done in relation to our Indigenous people, - there is much to be done in relation to people of other faiths and cultures.
We are called to be peace makers – yet so often we use violence as a means of dealing with issues – be it domestically or internationally. We are called to proclaim the Good news so that all people might have the opportunity to enter into the life of the Faith community – the Church. We are to be the mid wives of the new creation; the Spirit being the agent. Now is the time of which the prophet Joel spoke: Acts 2:17-21 (NRSV) 17
‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ We are living in the age of the Spirit: We are in the time of a new birth - the renewal of the whole creation We have our part to play: Will you accept you calling?