Dear Friends
Today we celebrate Pentecost—when the heavens sounded forth like rushing wind and roaring fire. Today we celebrate Pentecost when the frightened followers of Jesus were convicted and en-couraged to come out and be counted for the sake of the Gospel—the good news of Jesus.
Janet Morley puts it so beautifully when she writes:
At Pentecost, the church celebrates the coming of the Spirit—the outpouring of the sudden power of God to transform a wounded and disillusioned band of stragglers into a community that changed the world. It was a power that was both awaited in obedience, and utterly unexpected in its energy and urgency. It generated both a deep interior fire, and immediate, compelling, and outrageous public witness. … God’s power is potentially overwhelming, like the natural forces of wind, fire, storm, and flood. It is power to break down what is corrupt in the world’s patterns of thought and dominance. But the Spirit is also seen as the “breath of love,” the giver of life, the remaker of community, the waker of the oppressed, the one who sings in the hearts of the poor. … the power of the Spirit [is] to integrate profound change of heart with exuberant and effective action within the world.
A Holy Spirit filled community is a community that changes the world, so let us be warned as we pray: Come Holy Spirit Come.
With fearful excitement, Alan.
Sunday, 23rd May 2010
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