Tag: Pentecost

All together in one place

The Day of Pentecost. Image from buildfaith.org

The hymn I picked from Sing Praise for Pentecost Sunday itself is “All together in one place” by Brian Hoare. The first three verses re-tell the events of that day as recorded in the Bible: the disciples met together for prayer, waiting (as he told them to) for something to happen, then experiencing the power of the Spirit as wind and flame before they were each prompted to pray and praise God in all the languages of the known world (what that actually looked and sounded like, we shall never know!)  

Each verse of the hymn (apart from the last) begins with ‘all together’, and emphasises not only that the disciples had to stick together in order to experience the fullness of Pentecost, but also that they then had to live as community as they carried out Jesus’ work by the power of that same Spirit over subsequent years (verse four) and that the Church today (verse five) also has to act ‘all together’ if we are to experience that same Spirit and be effective witnesses in this generation. 

The last verse brings this together, reminding us that the Church begun in Jerusalem all those years ago is the one we still belong to: ‘One in mission, one in faith, still responding to God’s call, one in telling all the world Jesus Christ is Lord of all”.

Enemy of apathy

The hymn that I chose from Sing Praise for Friday was “Enemy of Apathy” by John Bell and Graham Maule.  I’ve been away from the computer for a couple of days which is why I’m only commenting on it now.  But it was one of the hymns sung by our music group in church this morning, for Pentecost Sunday itself.

The hymn covers several aspects of the role of the Holy Spirit as found in the Bible, reimagined in poetic language.  The Spirit is here referred to as female throughout, maybe as a deliberate balance to the tendency to address God in general or the Spirit in particular by male pronouns, though of course God is neither, yet more than both. 

The feminine character of God is perhaps particularly appropriate to emphasise in the Creation story (verse 1) where the imagery used by the composers is that of birthing: the Spirit is “’like a bird, brooding on the waters … mothering creation, waiting to give birth to all the Word will say’. Here we see the partnership between God the Creator (the divine act of will), God the Word (the divine act of communication) and God the Spirit (the divine power of action).  I love the phrase ‘she sighs and she sings’, expressing perhaps the joy of seeing God’s will being done with as well as the  frustration we equally feel when we long for God to act and it seems s/he is delaying action.

The second verse sees this spiritual bird in a more active role, ‘winging over earth, resting where she wishes, lighting close at hand or soaring through the skies.  Sometimes the Spirit’s way of working is personal and intimate as one person is brought closer to God, and sometimes visible and dramatic, as when a nationwide revival happens.   The birthing imagery is repeated but in terms of human reproduction, as she ‘nests in each womb, welcoming each wonder, nourishing potential hidden to our eyes’. Without wishing to get drawing into a pro-life / pro-choice argument, we must recognise that God must know each developing embryo as intimately as any child or adult who is consciously aware of God.

The third verse brings us to the feast of Pentecost itself. The spirit here ‘dances in fire, startling her spectators, waking tongues of ecstasy where dumbness reigned’. How wonderful it must have been to witness that day, when the Spirit appeared in a form that Luke (or those witnesses whose evidence he heard) must have struggled to express in meaningful ways to others.  But her work was not completed then, rather it lives on as ‘she weans and inspires all whose hearts are open’.

Finally we are reminded in verse four that, as we will consider on Trinity Sunday next week,  there are not three gods but ‘one God in essence’. The creator, the saviour, the spirit all express God’s love.  The final line gives the hymn its title: ‘enemy of apathy and heavenly dove’.  Apathy is usually defined in its literal sense of not feeling emotion, or in common usage as ‘not being bothered’ about something.  Here it is probably used to mean a reluctance to join in with God’s work of creation and redemption. Those who are filled with the Spirit want nothing more than to be the channels of God’s ceaseless activity.

The Bible in a Year – 29 November

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

29 November. Acts chapters 1-3

Have you eve been in a situation where you had to “think on your feet” – to react with no time for preparation to an unexpected change of circumstances?  It might have been a sudden death in the family, a serious illness, or unemployment; or more positively an unexpected lottery win or someone close to you announcing their engagement when you hadn’t even known they were in love.  Or you might have been asked at work to take over someone else’s role; or to give a speech with no time to plan what you were going to say.

Whatever the circumstances, the natural human reaction to such occasions is twofold – the thrill of a challenge, brought on by a rush of adrenalin, and nervousness in case it all goes horribly wrong.  We are all made differently: for some people it is the thrill that dominates, and for others the nerves.  Or you may have found yourself oscillating between the two.  Is this my big break, or my undoing? Can I rise to the challenge, or will it defeat me?  Those who overcome tend to be those who have coped with other challenges before.

Peter had to do a lot of thinking on his feet in the weeks around Jesus’ death and resurrection.  It had not been long, perhaps a few months, since he and his closest friends had been up the mountain with Jesus and seen him transfigured into glory. Peter knew then that Jesus was the Messiah, the promised one from God.  Yet weeks later he had heard the crowds baying for blood, and seen Jesus on trial. At that time nerves got the better of him, and he denied his master three times in a matter of hours.  Later that day Jesus hung on the cross and it all seemed over.  He had witnessed the burial.

But also the empty tomb, two days later, made him think on his feet again – what had happened to the body?  And then the many appearances over forty days of his master alive again (Acts 1:3).  Had the death been an illusion?  Then, just as they were getting used to Jesus being alive, he disappeared from sight (1:9) with mysterious words about the Holy Spirit and power.  No wonder they were all confused. Gain, loss, gain, loss, – what would come next?  The rituals and rhythms of Temple prayer were a comfort to hold on to.

Now on the day of Pentecost their world is turned upside down again as the promised Holy Spirit comes in a most unexpected way.  Fire, rushing wind, and an irresistible urge to praise God that comes pouring our of their mouths in languages unknown to the speakers but understood by the foreigners in the street outside.  They accuse the disciples of being drunk at nine in the morning!  And Peter, the uneducated Galilean fisherman, finds himself thrust forwards as the spokesperson for them.   Time to think on your feet, Pete.

But this time it is not nerves that force him into denial.  No, it is the rush that compels him to speak.  Not just the rush of adrenalin in his body but the rushing wind of the Holy Spirit in his soul.  For Peter has had a revelation, like that which would seize Saul a few months later.  Jesus is the Messiah, not just for Jews but for the world.

It was just as Jesus had promised, “when they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11).  Peter found himself giving a sermon that convinced not a few, but thousands of hearers that they must repent and be baptised.   No wonder the day of Pentecost is called the “birth of the Church”. For Christians it is as important as Christmas or Easter.

Is this of any help if you or I find ourselves caught out, surprised, having to think on our feet?  Surely we can’t expect the Holy Spirit to be poured out on us like that, can we? Well, not quite like that.  But the Spirit is ever-present, and  the words of Jesus recorded at the end of Matthew’s gospel “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age”, do hold true.  The worse the predicament we think we are in, the closer he will be to us.  In desperate circumstances, some people even see angels.  And if we pray, however simply but sincerely, for guidance the Spirit will be with us to guide us to react appropriately. She may even give us words to speak, as Peter found.

That’s not to say that everything will be happily ever after for us. As Peter found, his new ministry as leader of the Christian church in Jerusalem was not without persecution. Jesus never promised an easy life.  But he did promise that his Holy Spirit would be available whenever needed.

 

The Bible in a Year – 6 May

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

6 May. Isaiah chapters 32-35

Chapters 32 and 33 are once again reference to particular political circumstances – King Hezekiah’s desperate and ultimately pointless attempt to appease the Assyrians by giving away all the treasures of Jerusalem.  Isaiah calls on the people to look beyond the immediate threat and to trust God who would eventually vindicate them and rule peacefully over them – but only when God’s Spirit descends (32:15) – a verse that some see as pointing towards the day of Pentecost rather than events in Isaiah’s own time.

 

But once again, that salvation from God can only come when the people truly turn to him in the midst of disaster: “‘Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting flames? Those who walk righteously and speak uprightly, who despise the gain of oppression, who wave away a bribe instead of accepting it, who stop their ears from hearing of bloodshed and shut their eyes from looking on evil” (33:14-15).

 

In chapter 34 the Lord’s destruction turns from Jerusalem to “all the nations” and particularly to Edom (one of their traditional enemies).  Some Christian interpretations of chapters 34-35 see them as referring to the “last days”, the period before Jesus returns at the end of time. Maybe so, but the primary historical meaning must be that all the empires of the Ancient Near East (from Egypt to Babylon) would fall one by one over the coming centuries.

 

Chapter 35 offsets the dystopian horror of 34 by presenting a vision of the return of God’s people to Zion. Again it has a double meaning (as ‘Zion’ often does), both for the literal return of the remnant of Israel to Jerusalem from exile, and for the entry of God’s faithful people into paradise after the final judgement.  When John the Baptist asked how he was to know whether Jesus was the Messiah, the answer Jesus gave was that he performed miracles of healing for the blind, deaf, dumb and lame (35:5-6), clearly showing that he understood this passage in Messianic terms.  But the way to paradise is not for everyone: only for God’s people, who are the “redeemed” (in Christian understanding, those who have put their faith in Jesus), and not for ‘fools’ (those who ignore God’s instruction) or the ‘unclean’ (those who refuse to repent of their sin) (35:8).

 

The commentary I am following suggests that the natural break in the book of Isaiah between the prophecies of exile and of return, usually understood as being between chapters 39 and 40, could equally well be between 33/34 or 35/36, depending how you look at it.