Two Rivers Pastoral Charge
June 9, 2019 - Pentecost
Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-21
Have you ever been in
the middle of a huge crowd that has gathered to celebrate something? Maybe a parade, maybe a sports event, maybe a
political rally? A time and place where
there is a crush of bodies, and an energy, an emotion that seems to carry the
crowd?
Two summers ago, I was
in London for the Pride Parade. Now
downtown London is crowded at the best of times, and this day the streets and
sidewalks were packed with people making it almost impossible to move. I was there with a friend and as we walked
along I was terrified that I was going to lose her since my phone didn’t work
and I would have no way of finding her if I did get lost. It was a hot and sunny day – unusual for
England! – and I think that the weather probably contributed to the energy of
the crowd. Everywhere you turned, people
were dressed in bright colours, waving rainbow flags, and singing and dancing
in any little corner of the sidewalk where they found themselves. So much energy, so much excitement in this
crowd that had gathered together to celebrate.
London Pride 2017 - we were standing right by the barrier so you can't get a good sense of the crowds of people right behind us in this picture!
Today is Pentecost –
the day when the Holy Spirit appeared in full force to a group that had
gathered. We are now 7 weeks – 50 days –
after Jesus’ resurrection. The
resurrected Jesus spent 40 days with his disciples, but then 10 days ago he
ascended in to heaven, telling his disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait for
the Holy Spirit to come to them.
And so for 10 days
they have been waiting, hanging around, seemingly at loose ends, trying to
encourage one another to keep their hope up.
And then we come to the day of Pentecost. Pentecost is a Jewish festival, originally named
Shavuot, that celebrates the beginning of the harvest – a time when the first
fruits of the harvest were brought to the temple and offered back to God. It is one of the three major festivals in
Judaism, and so people had gathered from all corners of the known world here in
Jerusalem to celebrate.
And so the followers
of Jesus also gathered to celebrate – not only the inner circle of the 12 named
disciples, but a group of about 120 people, women and men, all of whom had been
with Jesus during his life, and who were now together after his resurrection,
waiting.
And as they gathered
to celebrate the festival, all of a sudden chaos broke out. A wild and deafening wind blew through the
house where they had gathered; tongues of fire danced among them and rested on
each of their heads; and they were each given the ability to preach the good
news of Jesus Christ in languages that they would have had no way of learning
or knowing.
Can you imagine the
commotion that this would have caused?
Can you imagine the people visiting the city, all crowding in to see the
spectacle? Can you imagine the cacophony
of voices, each one proclaiming the good news in a different language? Can you imagine the wonder and amazement and
joy and maybe a bit of fear that would have energized that crowd?
We aren’t told how
many people crowded in to that house to witness this event, but we are told
that when Peter finished preaching, three thousand people were baptized,
joining the group of 120 who had known Jesus in life.
This is the Holy
Spirit at work. The Holy Spirit who is
the “doing” part of God. The Holy Spirit
who hovered over the waters of creation.
The Holy Spirit who is the breath of God, breathing life into the first
human made of dust. This life-giving,
love-spreading, Holy Spirit who is always drawing people back to God. And that is what makes the Holy Spirit
different than the spirits that energize other crowds – the Holy Spirit is
always drawing us back to God, whereas the spirit of nationalism, the spirit of
a sports team, the spirit of a political movement – these spirits are drawing
us elsewhere. The Holy Spirit is always drawing us back to God.
And yes, maybe she had
to create a spectacle that Pentecost day in Jerusalem in order to get the
crowd’s attention, but on that day, God’s message of love and forgiveness and
joy was spreading like wildfire, to people from every place and every language.
This is the origin,
the beginnings of the church. From that
day, all of these followers of Jesus – those who had known him, and those who
had joined the movement later – began carrying the good news to every corner of
the world. Once the Holy Spirit begins,
there is nothing that can stop her.
For me, it’s exciting
that Pentecost, the beginning of the church, falls on June 9th this
year, because today, we are sandwiched between two significant dates in church
history. Tomorrow, June 10th,
is the 94th anniversary of the founding of the United Church of
Canada. On June 10, 1925, the Methodist,
Presbyterian, and Congregationalist churches, led by the Holy Spirit, joined
together here in Canada so that the God’s mission might be better carried out
in our country. And yesterday, June 8th,
was the 21st anniversary of Two Rivers Pastoral Charge. On June 8, 1998, Bayswater-Summerville, Long
Reach, and Westfield United Churches, led by the Holy Spirit, joined together
so that God’s mission might be better carried out in our corner of the country.
The Holy Spirit is
here, the Holy Spirit is moving, the Holy Spirit is dancing in our midst. She is always leading us on new adventures,
she is always comforting us when we need embracing, she is always drawing us to
God, and inviting us to join the dance of the Trinity.
And so my question for
you today is, how can we live, knowing that the Holy Spirit is always with
us? How can we worship, knowing that the
Holy Spirit is present in the waters of baptism, in the bread and the cup of
communion, in the singing, in the prayers?
How can we wake up each and every morning and breathe deeply of the Holy
Spirit, knowing that she is closer to us than our very breath? How can we embrace the Holy Spirit in each
and every thing that we do, because we know that she is always there?
Come, Holy Spirit!
Come, breath of life!
Come, fiery energy!
Come, embrace of God!
Come, Holy Spirit!
No comments:
Post a Comment