Pentecost Sermon 27th May 2012
Readings: Acts 2.1-21 and John
15.26-27, 16.4b-15
Introduction
At Pentecost we celebrate the pouring out of the
Holy Spirit on the Apostles, 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus, an event
which transformed the Apostles from a timid, fearful little group in hiding,
into a bold, passionate and rapidly growing missionary movement which changed
the world. The Bible clearly teaches that it was the Holy Spirit who made the
difference and that this essential gift is freely available to everybody. And
yet, many Christians remain confused about who or what ‘the Spirit’ is and
sceptical about ‘his’, ‘her’ or ‘its’ relevance to the church and the world
today. I don’t believe this is something God wants us to be confused about, so
here are some other words beginning with the prefix ‘con’, each of which
reveals something important about the Holy Spirit.
Conscience
The first and perhaps the deepest place that the
Holy Spirit touches us is in our conscience. We are told in John 16.8 that the
Spirit (or Counsellor) will prove the world wrong about sin, justice (or
righteousness) and judgement. To put this another way, the world (its people,
its rulers and its religions) have completely misunderstood sin and justice and
judgement. Current affairs and human history prove this to be true, most
clearly of all in the way Jesus himself was treated. The sinless Son of God,
God himself in human form, overflowing with love, peace and healing power was betrayed
and scourged and crucified, as a result of human deceit and ignorance about
sin, justice and judgement.
What human beings need is a change of heart, a
change of conscience at the deepest level, through which they will be able to
understand God and see the world and its wrongs and its needs from God’s
perspective instead of a merely human perspective. This is to be achieved by
the pouring out of the Spirit on all flesh, after the return of Jesus to his
Father. The prince of this world, and the ways of the world stand condemned.
The Holy Spirit comes to enable all people to see sin and justice and judgement
as God sees them and to motivate us to join in God’s mission to heal the world
of its sinfulness and make it truly just.
Confidence
The second effect of the Holy Spirit is to give the
followers of Jesus confidence. Not a brash self confidence, but a calm, holy
confidence, built on the strongest possible foundation, which is a solid
relationship with God. The transcendant and unknowable God has been shown to be
knowable in Jesus Christ, because anyone who has seen Jesus has seen the Father
(Jn 14.9). But even as the disciples are mourning the loss of their intimate
friendship with ‘God-with-us’, their
companion and teacher, the relationship is renewed in an even more intimate and
perfect unity, as the Holy Spirit becomes ‘God-within-us’. All of this had been
predicted by Jesus but the disciples couldn’t have known what it would be like
until it happened. The powerful life of God which they saw at work in Jesus is
now fully alive in them, individually and together. No wonder they are
confident. And no wonder their confidence is like that of Jesus (and Daniel and
his friends), humble, loving, unselfish, peaceful and unstoppable. It is a confidence which is
unshakable, even in the face of mockery, opposition and danger. It is a
confidence the Church needs today.
Connection
Another way of thinking about the Holy Spirit’s
role, connected to the ideas of conscience and confidence, is connection. The
idea of being well connected (Spanish enchufado?) is familiar in society where
people are keen to establish a secure and comfortable position. But the
connection which matters more than anything is the connection with God. And the
way God maintains that connection, by his own initiative and in the power of
his love, is by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
As a person yields his life to the control of this
indwelling Spirit, so their connection with God and God’s connection to the world
are both strengthened. It may seem amazing that God allows his saving purposes
for the world to be made available through something as fragile and
inconsistent as human will, and yet this is what God does. God believes in us,
in the extraordinary power and potential of a growing community of people
connected to God and each other by the life of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The
question for each of us and for the church is ‘how can we keep that connection
strong’ and avoid being pulled in other directions which might stifle the
Spirit’s work in us and through us?
Concluding questions
Conscience, Confidence and Connection are three
aspects of the Holy Spirit’s work in us. Which are you experiencing most
strongly at this stage of your life? How is that manifesting itself in the way
you live and the decisions you make? Which of these three aspects of the Holy
Spirit’s work do you need to grow in? If you did, what kind of changes might
happen in the way you live and the decisions you make? Why not pray for the
Holy Spirit to give you more of what you lack? But be careful what you ask for –
God has a habit of answering prayers!
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