Alleluia! Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Collect
Holy Spirit, sent by the Father, ignite in us your holy fire;
strengthen your children with the gift of faith,
revive your Church with the breath of love,
and renew the face of the earth,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
God’s Word - Acts, chapter 2, verses 1 to 21 :-
The day of Pentecost had come, and the disciples were all together in one place. Suddenly there came from the sky what sounded like a strong, driving wind, a noise which filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them flames like tongues of fire distributed among them and coming to rest on each one. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them power of utterance.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem devout Jews drawn from every nation under heaven. At this sound a crowd of them gathered, and were bewildered because each one heard his own language spoken; they were amazed and in astonishment exclaimed, ‘Surely these people who are speaking are all Galileans! How is it that each of us can hear them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites; inhabitants of Mesopotamia, of Judaea and Cappadocia, of Pontus and Asia, of Phrygia and Pamphylia, of Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes; Cretans and Arabs - all of us hear them telling in our own tongues the great things God has done.’ They were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What can this mean?’ Others said contemptuously, ‘They have been drinking!’
But Peter stood up with the eleven, and in a loud voice addressed the crowd: ‘Fellow-Jews, and all who live in Jerusalem, listen and take note of what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose; it is only nine in the morning!
No, this is what the prophet Joel spoke of: “In the last days, says God, I will pour out my Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy; your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Yes, on my servants and my handmaids I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. I will show portents in the sky above, and signs on the earth below - blood and fire and a pall of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before that great, resplendent day, the day of the Lord, shall come. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord on that day shall be saved.”
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
A Reflection on the Reading
When “sharing the peace” first began to happen at services of Holy Communion, we eagerly espoused this in my home church, because we were quite modern and go-ahead, or so we thought, anyway. We did it, though, in an awfully nice and safely Anglican sort of way. The Vicar would stand at the chancel step, and the two churchwardens would come forward, receive the peace solemnly, and then just as solemnly pass it on by shaking hands with the end person on each pew, who would then pass it along the pew. It was a little bit like taking the collection in reverse. Even so, it was too much for Vera, who never came on a Sunday again, but only to the midweek service where dangerous things like passing the peace didn’t happen.
I may well speak about the Peace some other time; suffice for now to say that the way we did it then at St Peter’s does for me neatly encapsulate the way we often deal with the Holy Spirit, who is of course the most troublesome and hard-to-handle person of the Trinity (apart, that is, from the other two). Luke’s account of the gifting of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is profoundly chaotic for the most part. The disciples had been praying for this promised gift, but it still knocked them off their feet. Luke speaks of wind and fire, uncontrollable, dangerous things. The disciples are sent spinning out onto the city streets, no longer exactly in control of their own selves, so full of joy that it overflowed from them, so full of joy that the more sceptical of the passers-by decided they must be drunk. That probably happened a lot at Pentecost, which was the harvest festival of the grape harvest. But the disciples had been filled not with the wine of the grape, but with the New Wine of the Holy Spirit.
We’re not very keen on chaos for the most part, and we like our religion orderly and manageable. So we surround the Holy Spirit with doctrines and liturgies, so as to keep him (or her, as “spirit” is feminine in Hebrew) safely in a box. And, though there are of course Pentecostal Christians who do a lot of hand-clapping and arm-waving and smiling, and indeed there is the charismatic movement within our own church and the other mainstream churches, which is a bit the same way inclined, for the most part we seem to manage to keep the Holy Spirit where he or she belongs, as a fairly brief footnote to God, in the lower third of the Creed.
But today forces us to think again. The Church was born Pentecostal. Charismatic simply means “gifted”, and church history begins with the gifts of the Spirit, showered liberally on the disciples of Jesus as they prayed. Nor is the Holy Spirit somehow different from (and more troublesome than) the Father and the Son: the Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, the Spirit of Jesus, the sheer life changing love of God so profoundly present not only around but within the disciples that day that they could no longer help themselves, they had to get out there and tell the world what God had done for them, what God would be doing for everyone.
And out of that chaotic event came order, for folk on the streets all heard that message in their own language. How should we interpret this strange and unusual event? For me, I see it terms of challenge. We shouldn’t impose limits on who is to hear and receive God’s word. No-one is barred, all are invited in. And what began that day in Jerusalem among Jews - yes, from different places, but all of them Jews - would leapfrog that boundary wall too. God intends and desires the language of his love to be heard and received and understood by people everywhere. People have always wanted to own their own god or gods - but the Holy Spirit came to people who were ready to be owned by God; that’s what their praying had been about. They were placing themselves into God’s hands, to be used by him.
And if what that led to seemed a bit chaotic, chaos isn’t always bad. For example, our countryside has been getting too tidy of late, and when there’s too much tidiness, things die. It’s years since I last heard a yellowhammer; they used to be along all the scruffy hedgerows when I was a child. Pentecost reminds us that true religion, religion that will change the world, can never be us keeping God safely tucked into a corner of our tidy life, and must always be us engaging with, offering ourselves to, the God who is hugely, uncontrollably alive, like wind and fire.
A Statement of Faith
We believe in the living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For Jesus said, ‘Those who are thirsty, come to me and drink. If you believe in me, streams of living water shall flow from within you.’ He spoke of the Spirit his disciples would later receive, the Spirit to be given, once he had been glorified. from John 7.37-9
Prayers -
Begin this time of prayer by simply being silent before God, confessing our sins before him, and seeking the healing and renewing power of his Spirit.
Pray for the world, for peace where there is conflict, for healing where people are hurting, for relief and comfort where people are afraid. Pray that leaders of the nations may govern with wisdom, discernment and integrity. Pray for a spirit of co-operation as scientists and epidemiologists continue to work to battle the continuing threat of Covid 19.
Pray for the Anglican Province of Melanesia, and in our own Diocese for Richard our Bishop and for the churches of the Ross and Archenfield Deanery. And pray for the Church in its mission and service in all the world, and for a joyful, obedient and purposeful openness to the Holy Spirit among all of us.
Pray for all who are worried, grieving or in need today: for those struggling with isolation and loneliness, and separation from loved ones. Pray for all who are ill, including all who are infected by Covid 19, for their care and treatment and recovery. Continue to pray for the safety of all front line workers, in hospitals and care homes, in transport, and in essential and emergency services of all kinds.
Pray for our own families and friends, and for the life of our communities. Pray for our schools as they plan for the possibility of children returning. Pray we may continue to act with care, looking out for one another and keeping safe.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Blessing
May the Spirit, who hovered over the waters when the world was created, breathe into us the life he gives. Amen.
May the Spirit, who overshadowed blessed Mary when the eternal Son came among us, make us joyful in the Lord’s service. Amen.
May the Spirit, who set the Church on fire upon the Day of Pentecost, bring the world alive with the love of the risen Christ. Amen.
And may almighty God bless us, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and always. Amen.
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