Dear Friends,
We celebrate Pentecost this Sunday, a really special day in the church’s year when we celebrate the birthday of the church, and if we were meeting in St John’s we might have encouraged you all to wear bright colours. You can still do that at home on Sunday of course!
Our reading from Acts 2 (v1-21) describes the powerful outpouring of the Spirit on the first disciples (a group of about 120 according to v14), sounding like a rushing wind and settling on them like tongues of fire, the promised gift of the one “who comes to baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire” as John the Baptist says of Jesus in Luke 3.16. People of all sorts of nationalities were able to hear the disciples praising God exuberantly in their own languages, and so the Gospel began to spread further afield. The disciples were transformed, and Peter was given courage to stand up in the public square (the first time he’d had the confidence to do this) to speak about Jesus, that he’d been raised from death, and to explain that the extraordinary events that day were fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy, that God’s Spirit would be poured out on all people. Unlike the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus to his core group of disciples hidden away in a locked room, the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost is very public, and the disciples are transformed, and are now ready to go out, to tell the good news of Jesus to the world.
There has been a huge sense of being ‘in-between’ recently: between lockdown and the emphasis on staying in, and things being opened up a bit and our being able to go out, which feels very significant to me in this Ascension to Pentecost season, which is also in-between. In this season we remember that at his Ascension Jesus said to his disciples just wait, wait for the Spirit, and then the Spirit came at Pentecost and sends them out. Some of us may feel like we’ve been waiting for far too long, but there is an element of being equipped and being sent out in new ways at the moment. It seems to me that St John’s, which is already ‘going out’ to the community in terms of practical care, delivering letters and goody bags to those who are isolated, and ‘going out’ in terms of streaming worship online, is opening up what we do to more people during the coronavirus crisis, and looking for new opportunities to adapt and grow, which can only be a good thing.
Our reading from 1 Corinthians 12 (v3b-13) tells of the variety of spiritual gifts, all being given and used for the common good in the growing church; they are not given to enrich people’s personal spiritual lives alone, but to enable others to grow and to be blessed, especially when the gifts are used amongst a group of Christians who complement each other and who are united by the Spirit. I have seen plenty of evidence of this recently amongst our own congregation, as St John’s people have used their gifts in working together to bless the community. Let’s continue to pray for each other each day, and to pray for those in need, those who are ill, and those who are missing someone special.
Finally, if you have internet it’s not too late to look at the Thy Kingdom Come resources online.
A prayer for this week
Lord, help us to live in the light of your promises and your power each day.
Fill us with your Spirit,
transform us by your grace,
and help us to trust you for all that lies ahead.
We ask in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
With grace and peace,
Sue McWhinney
sue@stjohnsfarsley.org.uk
07484 181699