Pentecost

Today’s Pentecost thought comes from Robert Beer, “Bethlehem was God with us, Calvary was God for us, and Pentecost is God in us. “

In 1 John 4:12-14 we read, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world.”

Have you ever noticed that people have more boldness to do something when someone goes with them? A person is more willing to sign up for that challenge if a friend does it with them. A child is more willing to try the ride if a parent goes with them. An employee is willing to keep company policy on an issue if their employer backs them up. So it is with us and God. We are more willing to fulfil a task as people if we know that God is with us. God told Joshua he’ll go with them. God has told us that he’ll be with us wherever we go too (Hebrews 13:5).

Count Zinzendorf, the founder of the Moravians, was converted in an art gallery in Dusseldorf while contemplating a painting of Christ on the cross which had the inscription, "I did this for thee. What hast thou done for me?" This picture had been painted by an artist three hundred years before.

When he had finished his first sketch of the face of the Redeemer, this artist called in his landlady’s little daughter and asked her who she thought it was. The girl looked at it and said, "It is a good man." The painter knew that he had failed.

He destroyed the first sketch and, after praying for greater skill, finished a second. Again he called the little girl in and asked her to tell him whom she thought the face represented. This time the girl said that she thought it looked like a great sufferer. Again the painter knew that he had failed, and again he destroyed the sketch he had made.

After meditation and prayer, he made a third sketch. When it was finished, he called the girl in a third time and asked her who it was. Looking at the portrait, the girl exclaimed, "It is the Lord!"

That alone makes the coming of Christ meaningful to the world--not that a good man came, not that a wise teacher came, not that a great sufferer came, but that God came--Immanuel, God with us.

Jesus promised, ‘…. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you.’ John 14:16-17

God of all time and space,

you initiated the relationship

of love and generosity with creation

at a time before and beyond all knowing.

Through the Word and the Spirit,

you continue in eternal love for all beings.

Fill us with a deep 

and abiding awareness of your presence, your call, 

and your grace in our lives and in our world.

Shape us to into the people you have made us to be

poured out in creative mercy

for the sake of Jesus Christ in all creation. Amen.

Pentecost Today

This week we will look at what famous Christian teachers have to say about Pentecost and the Holy Spirit. We start with  David Wilkerson, an American Christian evangelist, best known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He writes, “When you strip it of everything else, Pentecost stands for power and life. That's what came into the church when the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost.”

Gordon Brownville's Symbols of the Holy Spirit tells about the great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, the first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and to discover the South Pole. On one of his trips, Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him. When he had finally reached the top of the world, he opened the bird's cage and set it free. Imagine the delight of Amundsen's wife, back in Norway, when she looked up from the doorway of her home and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. No doubt she exclaimed, "He's alive! My husband is still alive!"

So it was when Jesus ascended. He was gone, but the disciples clung to his promise to send them the Holy Spirit. What joy, then, when the dovelike Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost. The disciples had with them the continual reminder that Jesus was alive and victorious at the right of the Father. This continues to be the Spirit's message.

As Paul assures us in Romans 8:26 “….the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” God knows our limitations and frustrations. He knows that our flesh is weak even when our spirit is willing, so his Spirit intercedes for us, even for needs that cannot be put into words. God’s Spirit does not remove our weakness, but helps us in our weakness. He bridges the gap between old and new, between what we see and what he has declared us to be.

Father God, in the name of Jesus Christ, guide and bless all of us today God. Free us from whatever safeguards we have placed around us to keep our lives and worship predictable. Free us to encounter you in a new way, that your Spirit might truly dance in our midst and inspire us to love and service in Christ's name. 

God, bless us as we enter into the Spirit-filled celebration of this day. Amen

Pentecost

Tomorrow, we Celebration of Pentecost the birthday of the church and the Coming of the Holy Spirit. 

Someone has written an interesting take from ann imaginary eyewitness to the first Pentecost.

“People ask me about it every once in a while. I remember it as through it were yesterday -- though it's been twenty years or more since then. History was being made, the end of an old era, the beginning of the new -- and I was there.

I was 19 or so, up to Jerusalem from Galilee for Passover. Just a kid. It was the year they crucified Jesus, a fellow Galilean. I was stunned, heartbroken. After his death I just didn't go home. I hung around with some of his followers, in hiding actually. And then on Sunday, word came that he had risen from the dead. And so I stayed in the city.

Those were heady days, with Jesus appearing to the apostles and others for weeks on end. Then he ascended, went up into heaven. We were to wait in the city, the apostles told us. Something about power and witnessing and the Holy Spirit. So we waited -- about 120 of us -- meeting morning and evening, talking, reading scripture, praying. Nearly ten days we waited like that.

Then one morning when we had gathered together for early prayer -- about 8 o'clock or so -- the building where we were meeting was hit by a whirlwind -- or so it seemed. You could hear the howling of the wind but couldn't feel it in the room.

"O dear Jesus," someone called out. And then came the flames -- dancing flames appeared in the room above us.

"God Almighty," another person shouted. Peter was praying loudly, other apostles joining in. It was eerie, when I think about it. Wind that didn't blow, flames that didn't burn -- like the glory of God on the mountain when he appeared to Moses.

All over the room flames were licking, flaring over people. And as they did it seemed like the brother or the sister would explode. Joy would flood their faces, tears course down their cheeks, praise fill their lips. Hands were up and down. People were laughing and weeping, kneeling and standing on tiptoes reaching up, as it were, to God….

Come down, O Love divine, 

seek thou this soul of mine, 

and visit it with thine own ardor glowing; 

O Comforter, draw near, 

within my heart appear, 

and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing. 

O let it freely burn, 

till earthly passions turn 

to dust and ashes in its heat consuming; 

and let thy glorious light 

shine ever on my sight, 

and clothe me round, the while my path illuming. 

And so the yearning strong, 

with which the soul will long, 

shall far outpass the power of human telling; 

for none can guess its grace, 

till Love create a place 

wherein the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling.

Bianco da Siena - Translated by Richard Frederick Littledale

The work of the Spirit is to to convict the world of sin

This phrase, in our era, can seem to be from a different age; the notion of being convicted of sin can seem quite foreign to our modern ears. 

Sociology professor Anthony Campolo recalls a deeply moving incident that happened in a Christian junior high camp where he served. One of the campers, a boy with spastic paralysis, was the object of heartless ridicule. When he would ask a question, the boys would deliberately answer in a halting, mimicking way. One night his cabin group chose him to lead the devotions before the entire camp. It was one more effort to have some "fun" at his expense. 

Unashamedly the boy stood up, and in his strained, slurred manner -- each word coming with enormous effort -- he said simple, "Jesus loves me -- and I love Jesus!" That was all. Conviction fell upon those junior-highers. Many began to cry. Revival gripped the camp. Years afterward, Campolo still meets men in the ministry who came to Christ because of that testimony. 

Brian Foley in his hymn, perhaps, enlightens with the words…

Holy Spirit, come, confirm us 

in the truth that Christ makes known; 

We have faith and understanding 

through your helping gifts alone. 

 

Holy Spirit, come, console us, 

come as advocate to plead; 

Loving Spirit stand beside us, 

grant in Christ the help we need. 

 

Holy Spirit, come, renew us, 

come yourself to make us live; 

Make us holy through your presence, 

holy through the gifts you give. 

Holy Spirit, come, fulfils us, 

you the love of Three in One; 

Bring our lives to full completion 

through your work in us begun. 

Amen

The work of the Spirit is to comfort the believer

The Greek word parakletos is rendered "Comforter" in the King James Version, "Helper" and "Counsellor" in modern English versions. The term denotes the Helper or Counsellor who is always there to give special care in times of need. 

Someone has said that many of us think that the Holy Spirit is like our pituitary gland. You know it's there, you're glad you've got it, and you don't want to lose it, but you're not exactly sure what it does. Well, the Holy Spirit does a lot. For our purposes here, the Holy Spirit is our teacher, reminder, and enabler.

The Karre language of equatorial Africa proved to be difficult for the translators of the New Testament, especially when it came to the word paraclete. How could they describe the Holy Spirit?

One day the translators came across a group of porters going off into the bush carrying bundles on their heads. They noticed that in the line of porters there was always one who didn't carry anything, and they assumed he was the boss, there to make sure that the others did their work. However, they discovered he wasn't the boss; he had a special job. He was there should anyone fall over with exhaustion; he would come and pick up the man's load and carry it for him. This porter was known in the Karre language as "the one who falls down beside us.”

Reuben Archer Torrey, Congregational Minister (1856 – 1928) writes, “If we think of the Holy Spirit only as an impersonal power or influence, then our thought will constantly be, how can I get hold of and use the Holy Spirit; but if we think of Him in the biblical way as a divine Person, infinitely wise, infinitely holy, infinitely tender, then our thought will constantly be, 'How can the Holy Spirit get hold of and use me?’”

Prayer

Holy Spirit, as You are the Advocate, so make us advocates. As You hear our cries for mercy, so let us hear the cries of others for mercy. Save us from the misfortune of seeking mercy only for ourselves, while being deaf to others. As you loosened the tongues of the apostles at Pentecost, so grant us today a Pentecost for the unborn, that we may speak for them before the great and the small, before governments and institutions, and before all Your people. Amen.

The work of the Spirit is to teach us all things

Paul writing to Colossians says to the followers of Christ, “Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven’t stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works.” (1:9)

Of all the responsibilities and great offices that Jesus filled, that of teacher must be top of the list. We can recall the Sermon on the Mount, his visual lessons where he spoke of salt, sparrows, lilies, candles, eyes, hands, feet, lamp stands, cities, gifts, prisons, heaven, earth, Jerusalem, rain, sunshine, neighbours, enemies, hypocrites, and a thousand other common things.

Through his teaching  he gave us his divine wisdom. It was the truth that He taught that made the obedient glad, the disobedient angry, the stubborn defiant, and the strong fearful. Having started this work among the first disciples, Jesus promise of the Holy Spirit enabled his teaching to be shared with all who would follow him.

So the Holy Spirit is the Teacher; we the pupils; our Instructor, and we the apprentices. The Holy Spirit not only teaches facts, lessons and truths, but also teaches us how to live our Christian lives with divinely artistic skill. If we are listening, the Holy Spirit is teaching us constantly. Our responsibility is to listen, to obey, to internalise and put into practice the truths He is teaching us.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful.
And kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.
And you will renew the face of the earth.

Lord,
by the light of the Holy Spirit
you have taught the hearts of your faithful.
In the same Spirit
help us to relish what is right
and always rejoice in your consolation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

The work of the Spirit is to guide us into all truth

The work of the Spirit is to guide us into all truth - John 8:30-32 Then many of the Jewish leaders who heard him say these things began believing him to be the Messiah.

Jesus said to them, “You are truly my disciples if you live as I tell you to,  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Today’s culture may tell us that truth is relative, or that each person can make up their own truth. However, the Bible tells us that there is only one truth, and it comes from God.

But did you notice that in a sense, truth is mentioned 3 times in this part of John’s Gospel. Firstly truth becomes evident when our devotion to Christ is expressed in our whole-hearted discipleship. Someone defined discipleship as “the process of becoming who Jesus would be if he were you.” And who is Jesus; none other than  “the Way—yes, and the Truth and the Life. No one can get to the Father except by means of me.”

There is an historical prayer that has the line, “O God, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom…”

Everybody longs for freedom. But for many people its pursuit leads to bondage. A bird is free in the air. Place a bird in the water and liberty is lost. A fish is free in the water, but leave him on the and they perishes. They are out of their realm. So the disciple is free when they do the will of God and are obedient to God’s leading. This is as natural a realm for Christ’s disciple as the water is for the fish, or the air for the bird.

Wise King Solomon urged his son to understand that true freedom is possible only within the sphere of God-centred living, for which He created us. So it is for the disciple guided into all truth by the Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord,
Teach me to do your will. I know you’ve called me to serve you, but sometimes I don’t know what to do next. I want to be led by the Holy Spirit, so I can live out the special purpose you have for me. I seek you today, Father. Let your good Spirit guide me. Amen

The work of the Spirit is to testify of Christ

In John 15:26 “When the Friend I plan to send you from the Father comes—the Spirit of Truth issuing from the Father—he will confirm everything about me. You, too, from your side must give your confirming evidence, since you are in this with me from the start.” The Message

The Promise of the Holy Spirit has to do with HOW we live the Christian Life. The Helper is your guide, our leader, our revealer, our illuminator – The Holy Spirit is our life! tThe help we need to understand who we are and whose we are. The Holy Spirit’s the help we need to know God. The help you need to be reborn as Jesus promised. The help we need every moment of every day to live life to the full.

Have you ever visited a place for the first time; you’ve read all the travel guides, explored the trip advisor reviews of other visitors and even tried to follow a map marked with all the main places of interest, but haven’t managed to discover all the places you planned to visit. On the other hand, there is a joy in having the support of someone steeped in the local knowledge; someone who brings expert and fulsome understanding of the their locality - one who lives fully in the neighbourhood.

The promise of Jesus that he will send an advocate, a revealer and illuminator, it is not a question of us going to visit other realm, but of the Holy Spirit visiting us in our locality and transforming us and our surroundings into a renewed neighbourhood. The Holy Spirit is the true revealer .

The word “revealed” in the original Greek New Testament is apokalupsis; apo means away, and kalupsis veil, a curtain, or some type of covering. The Holy Spirit is the one who removes the veil or  the curtain so we can see clearly what is God has hidden in plain sight. The moment  see for the first time and observe what has been there all along but wasn’t evident to you — that is what the Holy Spirit comes to reveal to us.

Prayer

Come, O Spirit of Counsel, help and guide me in all my ways, that I may always do Thy holy will. Incline my heart to that which is good; turn it away from all that is evil, and direct me by the straight path of Thy commandments to that goal of eternal life for which I long. Amen.

The work of the Spirit is to give liberty.

In Corinthians 3:17 we find Paul saying to the church, ‘By “the Lord” what I mean is the Spirit, and in any heart where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is liberty.’

The story is told of an aspiring artist who was commissioned to create a large sculpture for a famous museum. At last he had the opportunity to create the masterpiece he had long dreamed of. After labouring over the work for many years, he saw it grow not only in shape but in beauty. But when it was finished he discovered to his horror that it was much too large to be taken out a window or door and that the cost for tearing down part of the building in order to remove it was prohibitive. His masterpiece was forever a captive to the room in which it was created.

Someone once said that he had on his table a violin string. It is free to move in any direction he liked. If he twisted one end, it responds; it is free. But it is not free to sing. So he takes it and fixes it into his violin. He binds it and when it is bound, it is free for the first time to sing.

The Scottish theologian William Barclay qualifies the biblical freedom as, “Christian freedom does not mean being free to do as we like: it means being free to do as we ought.” At some point, every Christian needs to realise that they are free in Christ but what does that mean. Freedom in Christ is being free to be the person God wants us to be and that means becoming more like Jesus. This means that we can live as people Christ has freed and continues to free through the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, I long to walk in the full freedom that You give.  Break the chains of the law, sin and addiction. Free me to live with joy and worship without restrain. I’ll love You and live for You because You’ve freed me to do so.  I choose You.  You’re my love.  I receive Your freedom by faith in Jesus name, amen.

The work of the Spirit is to impart life

In a classic “Peanuts” comic strip, Charlie Brown goes to Lucy for psychiatric help. He says, “What can you do when you don’t fit in? What can you do when life seems to be passing you by?” 

Lucy leads Charlie away from her booth and says, “Follow me. I want to show you something. 

See the horizon over there? 

See how big this world is? 

See how much room there is for everybody? 

Have you ever seen any other worlds?” 

Charlie replies meekly, “No.” She continues, “As far as you know, this is the only world there is…Right?” Even more meekly, Charlie says, “Right.” Lucy presses on, “There are no other worlds for you to live in…Right?” Charlie admits, “Right.” “You were born to live in this world…Right?” “Right,” says Charlie. Lucy then explodes, “Well, live in it then! Five pence, please.” 

While we may disagree with Lucy’s counselling technique, we recognise she is on to something. We need to make the most of our lives and really live. The renowned New Testament Scholar N T Wright  suggests that this is the work of the HolySpirit. “Those in whom the Spirit comes to live are God's new Temple. They are, individually and corporately, places where heaven and earth meet.”

In Romans 8 we read, “Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms.”

Life-giving God,

we stand in Your presence

to offer You thanksgiving and praise

for all that You have done for us.

Through the life, death and resurrection of Your Son,

Jesus Christ,

we have been set free—

free from the power of sin that leads to death,

free to follow the leading of Your Holy Spirit,

free to love You with all our heart and soul and strength,

free to worship!

May Your Holy Spirit inspire our praise and our prayers.

Open our hearts and minds

to Your presence among us and within us,

and to the Word You have for us today.

To You alone, life-giving God,

belongs all praise and honour and glory and blessing,

now and to the end of time.

Amen.