May the Spirit of God open our minds and hearts afresh now to the Word of God; in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The Pentecostal church was packed; there was an air of feverish anticipation. The minister announced: 'The Holy Spirit will be coming tonight!' The atmosphere was heightened by the singing of emotional hymns and the praying of fervent prayers. Something was sure to happen; something amazing... And then... There was a total power cut.
Perhaps that's how folk in many churches feel about Pentecost? We sing and pray about the coming of the Holy Spirit; we want 'something to happen'. But then, there is a big sense of anticlimax; not literally a power cut, but a spiritual power-failure. Nothing much happens. Some people go away feeling disappointed or disillusioned, while others admit that they didn't really expect to see a spectacular display of divine fireworks anyway.
So what should you and I expect on Pentecost Sunday? When we pray, 'Lord, fill us with Your Spirit' - what are we actually asking for? What does the Bible teach us to think might happen in answer to our prayer for the coming of God's Holy Spirit?
Well, today's first reading, from Acts chapter 2, certainly encourages a sense of anticipation. On that first day of Pentecost, the Spirit came with outward signs of divine power. Wind. Fire. Tongues. On that occasion the coming of the Spirit was noisy. It was visible. There were tangible signs that something amazing was happening - even though it was also confusing and perplexing to those who witnessed it. It wasn't blindingly obvious that it was God who was at work; several in the crowd thought it was just too much new wine. But Peter soon took the opportunity to explain what God was doing - and for many, this combination of hearing the gospel with the experience of the Spirit at work in their midst, moved them to repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. Acts 2: 41 tells us that about 3000 people were added to the small band of Jesus first followers - so that the Day of Pentecost can indeed be called the Birthday of the Church.
Here then, these images of wind and fire and tongues, encourage us to believe that when the Holy Spirit comes, something happens, something obvious and noticeable. And ever since that first Day of Pentecost, many Christians have used similar images to describe what, in their experience, it can be like when the Spirit comes to do new things in the lives of individuals and communities.
I can say that for myself. While a university student, I experienced God filling my life with His Holy Spirit in a way that was powerful and memorable. It was not the moment at which I became a Christian; I'd already affirmed Jesus as Lord of my life several years before. But I had been going through a difficult time spiritually, a time of doubt and questioning which I prayed through with the help of older, wiser Christians. I cried out to God for help and God answered in an obvious and noticeable way. There wasn't any violent wind or flaming tongues. But there were tears and trembling and laughter, and the assurance that something, Someone, totally Other than myself, came from beyond myself and brought God into my life in a way that was deeper and fuller than anything I'd known before. I look back to that time of renewal and refreshment in God's Spirit with gratitude. It taught me that those who ask for God's help should always be ready for some thorough spring-cleaning of the dusty rooms of our lives.
Scripture also teaches us that it is the Risen and Ascended.
Lord Jesus who asks His heavenly Father to pour out the gift of His Spirit; and God gives how and when God chooses. Yes, sometimes - as in Acts chapter 2 - the coming of the Spirit can be amazing and exhilarating. But more often, including on many occasions mentioned later in the Book of Acts, the Spirit comes softly and secretly, quietly transforming people's lives without any big noise or fuss.
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus spoke of two vital but unspectacular dimensions of the Spirit's work which will always be visible in the lives of those who are genuinely filled with God's Spirit. The first is obedience to God's word. Jesus' teaching in John chapter14 makes it abundantly clear that living in the power of the Holy Spirit cannot be separated from keeping the Lord's commands. Holy Spirit/obedience - they belong together, always.
Jesus says: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever... the Spirit of truth..." (Jn 14:15 -17) The Greek word that is here translated as Advocate, sometimes as Helper, is parakletos - paraclete; it literally means 'the one who comes in answer to our call'. Jesus has promised that when we stop pretending that we're good enough to get to heaven under our own steam, when we cry out to God for help, the Spirit will come in answer to our call - strengthening our own spirits and giving us divine assistance to keep divine commands. When we try to do what God wants without the daily infilling of God's Spirit, it's like trying to fly a kite when there's no wind. We must call out for help, call down the wind; then we will make the progress that
draws us ever closer to the heart of God.
You may have heard the true story of a miner, who had become an aggressive alcoholic - always getting into fights and domestic violence. Then, at the age of 29, he became a Christian. He told his wife, "You will never see me drunk again." She never did. He was a changed man, full of joy and praise, and he drew crowds of his fellow miners to the Lord too. His name was Billy Bray and he lived in Cornwall in the 19th century. There are millions of people, all over the world and in every generation, who could tell the same kind of story - their own true story of how the Holy Spirit has empowered them to obey God's commandments and to find true peace and joy.
The Holy Spirit is inseparable from obedience; the Holy Spirit is also inseparable from love. Holy Spirit/love - belong together, always. Not just any kind of love, but the love which Christians call agape. Eight times in that short passage we heard from John's Gospel, Jesus spoke of this agape love. This is the love which circulates in the heart of God; divine love which flows out in creation; the love which God's children receive from God, share with each other and return to God. Someone has described the Holy Spirit as God's kiss - God's gift of love breathed out upon us. The Holy Spirit is the One who teaches us what it means to love and be loved by God. That Cornish miner, Billy Bray, had a favourite expression to describe his relationship with God; he liked to say, "I am the son of a King". It is the Holy Spirit who reminds us of Jesus' teaching about the Kingdom of God and our place within it.
Do you and I share that experience of being beloved sons and daughters of the King of Heaven? Do we dwell in the assurance that our relationship with God is safe and secure, that nothing can separate us from His wonderful love? Or, if we're honest, do we feel more like orphans - alone and unloved in a vast universe? Does all this Pentecost Sunday talk of the Spirit leave us cold - because it seems so "out there" and unreal? Perhaps, rather like Judas in the Gospel reading, we find ourselves saying, "Lord, what's this all about?"
Well, in my experience, there are at least 3 possible reasons for feeling distant from God's Spirit. First, just as obedience and the Spirit go together, so disobedience will distance us from the Spirit of holiness. If we knowingly break God's commandments, if we keep on ignoring what God's word says is God's will for our lives, then we are driving the Holy Spirit away. Bad habits that we don't really want to break; sins that, actually, we quite enjoy; negative or embittered attitudes in which we wallow... Whatever form the disobedience takes - if we persist in it, there will be a spiritual power cut, leaving us, in the end, unable to see or know the Spirit of truth.
Second, it might be fear that's doing the damage. Just as love and the Holy Spirit go together, so fear will distance us from the Spirit. For fear is the opposite of love. Often people are afraid of what might happen if they really ask the Holy Spirit set their heart on fire with the love of God.
Third, it might just be that we're trying too hard to serve the Lord under our own steam, rather than trusting in the Spirit's power. I read recently about a Christian preacher who's travelled the word to share the good news of Jesus. But in his busyness, wanting to get things done for God, he felt the Lord grabbing him and saying, "Would you stop doing this for Me, and start doing this with Me? Stop thinking that you've got to make it happen by yourself". (Mark Ritchie - Flow Magazine Spring 2010)
What about us? When the pressure is on, are we so busy flapping, that we can't do any soaring like a feather on the breath of God? Are we so intent on trying to make things happen, that we leave little or no room for the Spirit to work?
Will we dare, instead, to trust the wind of the Spirit to come under our wings and lift us up, day by day, moment by moment?
What about you - and me?
Are we willing today, to turn away from sin and turn afresh to Christ as Lord, in obedience to His commands, so that His Spirit can fill us afresh? Are we ready to come to Christ as Saviour, with all our weakness and vulnerability, and ask Him to cast out our fear with His perfect love (1 Jn 4:18), so that His Spirit can do new things in us and through us?
Maybe we might receive anointing with oil today, as an outward sign of our willingness to say,
'Yes, Lord, fill me with Your Spirit'.
Mary Barr
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