Pentecost Themes

When my children were very small, they're both grown-up children now, we used to go along to the Pembroke coast,

along that beautiful peninsula, right to the end of that lovely little cathedral city of St. David's.

And because when the children were small, we didn't have a lot of money, and we had a little caravan,

and we used to take it to this site every year where you could just kind of walk down onto the beach.

And there were those magnificent views from the top, but the downside of it was the wind.

Well, my goodness, when that wind came off the sea and you could feel it lift the caravan.

That's quite frightening in the middle of the night to feel the caravan lift and drop, you know, because there's a gale going on.

And an enormous power that, you know, I remember getting up one morning, and every caravan awning had been ripped off was two fields away.

Huge power in the wind.

It's that sense of power that we sometimes forget when we think about winds.

Many of you will remember the great gale we had in 1987, you know, the one that came without warning.

And it tore the roof off our garage, and it deposited in the allotments.

You know, that huge sense of power, so powerful that that wind, that storm, ripped the wind meter, the anemometer, off the top of Beachy Head.

You know, you're talking about wind that bends metal and uproots things.

That's the kind of imagery that we're talking about when we talk about the wind at Pentecost.

It's a mighty wind that Luke talks about.

And, you know, I make no apology for using again that reading that we heard on Pentecost Sunday, because we're in Pentecost season.

Now, I'm old enough that when I started my ministry, we would have counted the Sundays from Trinity.

You know, so how many am I from Trinity?

How many from Pentecost?

Sometimes we now call it ordinary season, but we know, don't we, there's no ordinary Sunday with God.

Every Sunday with God is an extraordinary Sunday.

But here we are in this Pentecost season, thinking about the great power that God gives in the life of the church.

And when Luke talks about the experience being not just like wind, but a mighty wind, he's not just saying it was a bit breezy, or it felt a bit drafty.

It's something that will pick you up and shake you about, that great sense of the wind that goes right through you.

So powerful it is.

Now, I have to make a confession that I'm awful about holidays.

I always leave it to the last moment.

And my wife says to me, have you done anything about the holidays this year?

And I never have, and it gets later and later.

And one year, I was so bad that I just had to go into the travel agents and said, tell me where I can go.

Just book me anywhere.

And so she said to me, Fuerteventura.

And I thought, where?

Now, Fuerteventura is an island in the Canaries.

And I can tell you three things about Fuerteventura.

It's very, very hot, because the wind comes straight off the Sahara across Fuerteventura.

Secondly, it's very rugged.

It's where they tested the Moon Rover vehicles before they sent them into space.

And the third fact, and this is always going to serve you good in the quiz, is that nobody quite knows what the name means.

Because if you speak a little bit of Spanish, you'll know that Fuerteventura can either mean a mighty wind, because it's so windy,

but it also in Spanish means a great adventure.

Fuerteventura, a great expedition, great adventure.

And it just struck me how appropriate, and particularly this morning when we were talking, in fact,

about the great adventure of walking with God in this season,

that this was such a powerful metaphor for what we so easily underplay and gloss over.

So what was it that the disciples of Jesus were trying to get across when they spoke about the experience of the coming of the Holy Spirit

like wind and like fire?

Because if you look at the Bible, they're not very common images.

Certainly not common images for the Holy Spirit.

More common in the New Testament are those symbols of the dove, that gentle, warm-winged creature

whom we associate with the baptism of Jesus, as we shared at the baptism this morning.

The point at which Jesus is affirmed in his walk with God, in his ministry, in his Messiahship.

Just as now, at Pentecost, the apostles are affirmed and empowered to be the new missionary community of the church.

But this imagery is something different, something much closer to images that we find in the Old Testament.

A fire and wind, something very powerful.

Now, if you imagine what it would have been like in those days to live in a city like Jerusalem.

A very dry city, where the houses would be very close together.

I mean, if you go to somewhere like Morocco or somewhere, and you walk through the narrow alleyways,

and the houses are made of what's called adobe.

And it's dried earth mixed with sticks and on a timber frame.

Now, you imagine what happens if you have a fire somewhere like that.

That's just terrifying.

And when the wind comes and it fans the flames and it draws them through those narrow alleyways,

that would have been a terrifying experience for people.

It's more like out-of-control bushfire than a cozy fireside on a winter's night.

But, you know, often, so often, we like to keep those biblical images under control.

So that we control them, when the reality is they actually control us.

We don't have the power over them.

They have the power over us.

Now, one of the problems today, of course, when you're talking about power,

is the fact that when we use that word, almost always today, we use it in a pejorative sense.

Unless you're talking about the power of washing power or detergent.

When people talk about power, they're often talking about something negative, the abuse of power.

And how power can so easily become a corrupting influence in the lives of people.

You remember that phrase of Lord Acton's, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

When it's used in a positive sense, so often the word we use today, rather than power, is the word empowerment.

That's a good example how language changes when we use it.

So at Pentecost, the disciples are empowered by God in the giving of the Holy Spirit.

Because empowerment is about letting go of power and giving it to someone else.

So if I empower you, I let go of the power that I hold and I say, it's yours.

You take it on. You use it. You be used by it.

Empowerment is about letting go of power to someone else and trusting them with it.

It's about recognizing worth and value and potential in people.

Empowerment is about making people responsible for the world in which they live.

And the relationships in which they're involved.

That's what the Magnificat talks about.

When it talks about God lifting up the humble and the meek.

It's talking about how God empowers the poor.

Empowers the meek. Empowers the weak.

Empowerment is about giving the vulnerable and the powerless

what they need to change their lives and the lives of others.

Now it seems to me that's exactly what the Pentecost story and the Pentecost experience does.

It takes a group of frightened followers and it turns them into leaders.

It takes people who were bewildered and disorientated.

And we know that because the New Testament tells us that they were hiding themselves away

in those early days before the Pentecost experience.

And it gives them a sense of direction and a sense of purpose.

And it takes people who have no voice and it gives them the voice to speak out.

The story of Pentecost is a story that breaks through our security

and what is all too often our complacency.

And remember that it's a story that takes place in one of the three great festivals of the Jewish year.

when Jewish law required the attendance of every male adult Jew at the temple.

So this isn't something that happens on a quiet weekend in November.

This happens on a bank holiday

when the city would have been full of people from all over the known world.

You did really well wherever you are with those names.

You know, lists of names like that are a real pain to get right.

People from all over the known world.

When I lived in Cumbria, where Jesus' great commission is to go to the people who are at the very ends of the earth.

I said in the Roman world that meant you in Cumbria.

That's where the empire ended.

That's what it meant.

You know, Jesus is speaking entirely to you at that point.

But if the church was going to get maximum exposure,

then this was the time for people to come out and to speak out.

And come out and speak out they did because into the marketplace came the followers of Jesus.

Those same men who in the New Testament, we're told, have been hiding.

Hiding themselves away.

And they come out, not when there's no one around to hear them, when it's quiet,

but into a city full of people.

Full of the followers of Judaism from all over the known world.

And with a confident certainty,

a confident certainty,

they began to speak about Jesus,

the person who had, for the past three years,

lived with them and walked with them and changed them.

And by changing them,

had about changed the world by his life,

his death,

and his coming back to life.

His name, they said,

was Jesus who was called the Christ.

And they had known him as a man,

as a great preacher and teacher.

And now they spoke of him also as God.

God taking on human form

and living among his people.

Pointing them by his teaching and his life

to the kingdom of God.

And as they spoke,

people were amazed

to hear the story

of how he had healed the sick

and raised the dead to life.

How he promised that those who were

downtrodden and oppressed

would be set free.

about how those who were least in this world

would have a special place

in God's coming kingdom.

And all this, they said,

all this,

because although now unseen,

God was still with them

through his spirit.

A spirit who had come to them

in tongues of fire

and the sound of a mighty wind.

And he'd made them

the recipients

of God's promised gift.

And from that very moment,

that very moment,

those ordinary people,

ordinary like you and me,

had become extraordinary

because they had been called by God.

And one of the phrases

that my students always used to hear me talk

when I was teaching

in theological education

was about the extraordinary

ordinariness of the people of God.

That's a great phrase.

They had been called

into a missionary community

with a message so important,

so powerful,

that it could not be contained.

These were people

who had been empowered.

And the effect was dramatic enough

to stop people in the street.

Whether it was out of curiosity

or out of interest,

people stopped what they were doing

and they listened

and the more they listened

and the more they were drawn

into what was being said.

St. Luke says

that they were amazed.

Now the Greek word means staggered.

They were staggered

by what they heard.

Both by the message

and the sheer audacity

and boldness

of those who had the courage

to stand up in the marketplace

and speak as they did.

So much so

that some people thought

it was Dutch courage.

They said

they must have been drinking.

But they hadn't.

Here was something

much more powerful.

It was the courage of conviction.

The courage of conviction.

Here were people

who had been empowered

and who because of that

had been set free.

Free from themselves.

Free from their anxieties.

Free from their timidity.

And above all

free from their silence.

There was

a great German theologian

called Karl Barth.

Do you remember

doing Karl Barth

when you were in college?

Great.

Glad you remember him.

But when he was talking

about the empowerment

of the Spirit

he says this.

It is to have inner ears

for the word of Christ.

To be thankful

for his work

and at the same time

to become responsible

for the message about him.

It's to take confidence

in people

for Christ's sake.

And he says

that's the freedom

we obtain

when Christ breathes on us

and when he sends us

the Holy Spirit.

He makes us responsible

for the world.

That's empowerment.

So what happens

at Pentecost

not just

you know

that one day

but life

every day

after that.

What happens

at Pentecost

is that men and women

you and I

become

irresistibly involved

in the work

of Christ

so that

what began

as a mighty wind

becomes

the great adventure.

I wonder

how often

we say that

to ourselves

in the life

of the church.

That we're involved

in this

great adventure.

And it's not just

for a select few

and that's something

that Peter makes clear

in his Pentecost sermon.

He says

this promise

is for you

and for your children

and for all those

who are still far off.

it was for

sorry

tell me her name again

who was baptized.

Olivia.

It's God's promise

to Olivia.

Today

she begins

the great adventure

of the walk

with God.

It doesn't mean

that God hasn't

loved her

from the moment

she was conceived

in her mum's womb

he has

he's known her

and loved her

but

today

he draws her

into that

great adventure

of the life

of faith.

it's wrong

to think

of the Holy Spirit

as being

something that's

just for a few

within the life

of the church.

It's about

all of us

being drawn

into

the work

that God

has for us

to do

because what

the Holy Spirit

does

is to make

real in the life

of the church

the saving work

of Christ

and what

that does

is to set

people free

to be

disciples

in community

and in

mission.

That's who

we are.

We are

a missionary

people.

The word

missionary

literally means

a sent

people.

Isn't it

interesting how

at the beginning

of the gospels

we hear all

the come

words.

Jesus says

come and

follow me

come and

see.

The end

of the gospels

it's flipped.

Jesus says

go.

Now it's

your turn

to get out

there.

There's a

wonderful phrase

that the

orthodox use

about life

they call it

the liturgy

after the

liturgy.

It's what

you do

when the

service has

ended

and you

go out

into the

world.

Out into

the marketplace.

Out into

the city.

And whether

you're an

apostle or a

sixth former

or a

church member

or a

student

that can

be as

frightening

as a

mighty

wind

and as

exciting

as a

great

adventure.

And for

all of us

there will

come the

time

when we

can't leave

it to

others

when God

calls us

to speak

that word

in season

maybe to

a family

member

maybe to

a friend

maybe to

a stranger

but God

will call

us to

be apostles

and to

speak those

Pentecost

words

those words

of God

that set

people free.

But you

know that

is also

the time

that we

will become

most acutely

aware that

we are not

alone and

we're not

doing that

in our own

power but

in the

transforming

power of

God

who is

at work

in us

like wind

and like

fire

making us

new people

giving us

a boldness

that we

never knew

never expected

that we

might have.

So may

we in

this season

of Pentecost

experience

both the

terror

and the

joy

of that

new

relationship

with God

who calls

and empowers

us

whose coming

is like

a consuming

fire

and a

devastating

wind

that will

change us

forever

so that

life

life in

all its

fullness

becomes

an amazing

adventure.

Thanks be to

God for

his gift

to us.

And let's

just hear

those words

that Paul

speaks in

Romans.

May the

God of

hope

fill you

with joy

and peace

as you

trust in

him

that you

may

overflow

with hope

by the

power

of the

Holy Spirit.

Amen.