The Spirit has come, the church is born, a new creation awaits

Imagine what it must have been like that day, 2,000 years ago when the Holy Spirit poured down on the disciples. There they all were gathered in one place when suddenly came the sound like the rush of a violent wind. Tongues of fire rested on each of them and they all began to speak different languages (Acts 2.1-21).

Such was the noise that the bewildered crowd asked each other “What does this mean?”, some assuming that the disciples had been drinking. And yet despite the commotion and confusion one person had got their head around the event. They stood up and responded powerfully, acting for the common good, serving all those around, explaining to them what was taking place.

The question that is posed to us here today, 2,000 years after that world changing moment is, are we also responding powerfully? We are Jesus’s disciples here in this place, at this time. Are we ready to act for the common good? Ready to serve all the people around us? Ready to explain what God is doing?

Let’s start with thinking about what God is doing, and to do that we need a quick recap of the Bible story to this point. The image we get from the beginning is of God and humanity living together in peace. Sadly, humankind chose to go its own way, and that oneness with God was lost. Through the Israelite people God initiated a rescue plan that started with one community, the law and a temple. In Jesus God came to judge the broken world and rescue us from the sin that enslaved us. In the Holy Spirit God came to dwell in and with his people.

From that dramatic Pentecost day 2,000 years ago God once again lives with humanity as was the original intent from creation. The Holy Spirit is both the advance sign and the means of Gods eventual filling of all creation with God’s presence and love.

2,000 years ago the church was born. The flames of the Holy Spirit fell on the heads of the first members and God’s mission to fill the whole world started.

The arrival of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem that day did not remove the disciples from the challenges and hardships, taking them away to be with God. Rather the disciples were equipped to persevere, and even flourish, amid the challenges.

We are not saved from the world and taken to be with God, instead God comes to join us in the world, and works through us to see that world restored.

The Spirit did not whisk the disciples away from the crowds but enabled them to connect with them. The Spirit enabled Peter, yes even the one who denied, who fumbled, who erred, to recall scripture and preach like never before. Peter who had good reason to believe that the crowds would be at least sceptical, if not outright hostile. As promised the Holy Spirit taught him everything and reminded him of all that Jesus had said. Peter, and all the disciples, did not receive a spirit of slavery that would cause them to fall back into fear but a spirit of adoption. Adoption, as in God abides with you, and God will be in you (Romans 8.14–17).

Our Gospel reading today tells us more about that adoption. On the evening before his crucifixion, as he was preparing to say goodbye to the disciples, Jesus told them, “The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.” (John 14.8–17, 25–27)

The Spirit isn’t a superhero sent to rescue us but rather the one who equips, encourages, and stays with us, helping us to perceive the needs of our community and then rise to the occasion to meet those needs with tenacity, competence, and courage.

The Spirit is described as parakletos, the one who “comes along side” of us, the one who remains with us, strengthens and helps us. The image is like that of a Harbour Master in their pilot ship who comes up alongside other ships vessels entering strange waters in a foreign port. They are shown the way, guided as needed, kept from harm.

I wonder if we often hope that the Spirit will just plain save us, or at least to take us away from whatever challenges threaten to overwhelm us in the moment. But that’s not God’s way, nor God’s endgame. Instead God is with us during challenges rather than taking those challenges away from us.

Why? Because God wants to work through us for the common good, to care for the need of our neighbours, our community. We have a purpose, to care for those around us as God cares for us, to make wherever we find ourselves a better place, to share God’s love in word and action that others may know they are loved and not alone.

We are here not simply for ourselves but for those around us. All of them. This is a call to move beyond our individual concerns and see us as part of larger community. It is not about protecting what we have choosing to be safe with the familiar and cosy, but instead to build something better, with those who are not like us.

Christian communities can be a living, breathing force for good when they are animated by the Holy Spirit. The business of transforming lives and communities is a joint enterprise in which we all have a valuable role. Exercising God-given gifts is not for personal fulfilment, but for the common good.

Over the coming weeks I will be inviting a conversation between us as individuals, churches and communities so that all of us can pause to think of the ways that we can serve one another and see God’s Kingdom grow in this place.

The Spirit has come, the church is born, a new creation awaits. I invite you to join the conversation to come on that journey to be available to God’s Holy Spirit, and be part of something remarkable.

Photo by Caterina Berger on Unsplash