Sermon for the 19th of May - Feast of Pentecost
Some have described Pentecost as the birthday of the church.
But I’m not so sure about that. For perhaps the birth of the church is the birth of Christ, or that first Easter morning.
· This morning, I’m going to remind us of our links to I the Jewish Faith.
· Building bridges with strangers. Communicating with strangers and our difference preferences for communicating.
· and I’m going to ask you to revisit today’s Collect as an instruction on how best to access the Holy Spirit.
So here we are, the 50 days after Easter.
Pentecost means 50. The disciples and Mary, the mother of Jesus were together in Jerusalem for the Jewish Feast of the Weeks which took place 50 days after the Feast of the Passover. The Feast of the Weeks celebrated the Harvest of Spring grain. Rabbinic tradition also teaches that this date marks the revelation of the 10 Commandments to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai. The Feast of Shavu-ot . It’s another reminder of the close links between Judaism and Christianity.
In Hebrew Scriptures, the descent of the Spirit on to leaders at the outset of their prophetic life signifies the manifestation of God’s action in Israel. This is about to start for Peter
By recognising what the Spirit is doing, Peter’s leadership of the nascent church is further burnished.
So, having told you I don’t think of Pentecost as the birthday of the Church, what are we celebrating it for?
My theme today is that we celebrate Pentecost as the time when the Holy Spirit was made manifest.
It was the time we recognised the gift of the Holy Spirit; It is as Jesus had said: that the Spirit of Truth comes from the Father.
The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to Communicate the gift Christ.
Communication. That’s what I think Pentecost is about.
Rowan Williams puts it like this: “It's the moment when the friends of Jesus discover that they can communicate to all sorts of people they never thought they would be speaking to.”
It enables Christians to build bridges with strangers.
Building bridges with strangers. How do you feel about that?
I was going to ask you to look around, spot someone you have not spoken to before, a stranger, introduce yourself, say “Happy Pentecost” and share with each other how long you’ve been coming to St. George’s. But because we have Annual Parochial Church Meeting after the service and time is slightly short, we won’t do that.
Williams goes on to say: “The Holy Spirit gives us the words to share good news with one another and even to take that good news into environments that are strange and unfamiliar to us.”
Communication.
How we communicate with others is influenced by our personality (introvert/extrovert/ thinking/intuitive, quiet/loud) and family influences.
Thinking about our individual worship preferences, our choice of Church is determined by our communication preferences.
We have churches whose style is one of quiet reverence. Those who love silence. Those who love Worship Bands - those that feast on perfectly constructed sermons -- from the vicar (pause) vicar’s wife! There are also churches named after this very day, The Pentecostal Church.
But it’s not just about words; The senses also come to mind such as art and music.
Archbishop Temple puts it like this:
“The Holy Spirit has spoken through many a seer, poet and prophet both within and outside the Canon of Holy Scripture. Wherever there is response in the hearts of people to the manifested glory of God, whether that manifestation be in nature or in history, there the Spirit of Truth is at work.”
We remember with thanks on this Pentecost Sunday, all composers, writers and artists who have been inspired by the Spirit. JS Bach, Rubens, Augustine, Benedict, Elgar, Handel, Rembrandt, and I would suggest Rowan Williams too.
We give thanks to God for how, through the Holy Spirit, their work has brought us closer to God.
How best can we allow the Holy Spirit to enter our hearts?
It is easy to listen to the words of the Collect on a Sunday without really taking them in. I suggest that today’s Collect gives us all we need to take the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
Today’s Collect asks us to call upon the Holy Spirit, to ,in the words of our Collect today, do the following:
· Ignite us with your Holy fire - be open to the Holy Spirit.
· Strengthen your children with the gift of faith - prayer, worship, generosity, study and rest- our sermons over the last five weeks of these five elements of faith can be found on our Sermon blog (https://hollandparkbenefice.org/sermon-blog )
· revive your church with the breath of love - the five elements can help us to do this.
· renew the face of the earth through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus asked us to go and make disciples of all nations. I suggest that the world in which we live is changing - it is a different place to ten years ago.
· The face of the earth does need to be renewed through Jesus Christ our Lord. Suggest to those you know that they might like to come to church. The Holy Spirit gives us the gift to communicate. Pray that we may do it a way that is non-threatening and radiates the breath of love. That those we love may know the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.