Sunday Worship - Pentecost
Welcome to our Worship on Pentecost Sunday. Our Parish Eucharist is at 10 am at St Thomas' Church, and Revd Christine Steel will be preaching and presiding. If you can't be with us in person, you'll find everything you need to worship from home here on this page.
Our first hymn this morning is "Breathe On Me Breath Of God"
Gospel – John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 - The work of the Holy Spirit
Jesus said to his disciples,” When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.”
“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."
Reflection
For the second year we find ourselves in a situation where we cannot hold our normal celebration of Pentecost - our act of unified witness with our friends and fellow Christians from Churches Together in Lees and District. There is almost a profound sense of something missing, some not quite right in our lives.
Of course, we miss the sense of occasion and tradition. The gathering of our children’s groups; the scouts, beavers, brownies, rainbows and Sunday Schools, not to mention the Rose Queens, and Harvest Queens with their retinues decked out in their finest regalia. We miss the brass bands marching proudly to traditional Whitsuntide tunes like Slaidburn adorned their smart uniforms and brass buttoned blazers. I suspect some of us even miss the rain.
But for me I miss that sense of togetherness and unity which is re-iterated as we listen to the reading from Act 2 v 1-21 which reminds us of the coming of the Holy Spirit filling the people of many different nations and backgrounds. The act of God fulfilling the prophesy that he will pour out his spirit upon all flesh. There is the sense of reality that as we gather together in our joint service that God is doing this all over again and continues to do this, time after time.
If you read the alternative lesson for Pentecost, (Ezekiel 37:1-14) – we are also reminded that God is capable and willing to breathe life into dry bones and bring them to life and of course there is the greatest example of all when God’s power reached into the tomb and raised our Lord from the dead.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus once again tells his disciples that he will leave them and that this time he will return to the Father. Having already lost Jesus once on the cross, his disciples are naturally saddened by this and so Jesus seeks to comfort and reassure them. He tells them that it is necessary to leave in order for him to send the Advocate, the Spirit of the Father to testify on his behalf.
More significantly, he instructs them that they shall also testify on his behalf and that the Spirit of the truth will guide them and will declare to them the things that are to come. He is directing them to share the word of the Lord and glorify the Father. He is directing them to preach the message that through the gift of the Holy Spirit God is constantly with us and ready to breathe life into us. That rather than punish us when we have sinned, he wants to forgive us if we will only allow him to breathe the Spirit into us.
Whilst there is a downside that we cannot meet together for Pentecost; one of the upsides is that lots more people have taken to walking in our magnificent countryside. When we first went into lock-down and there were few cars and lorries on the road it was common for folk to comment on how good it was to hear the sound of birds in our gardens and in the woods. Whilst I was walking in some local woods yesterday listening to the wildlife, one of the thoughts that popped into my head was how amazing it would be if we could understand what each animal was singing, howling or squeaking about - if like Dr Doolittle we could understand them all.
Then I thought it must have been an equally incredible experience when the Holy Spirit descended on people from all nations and all the people who were present could understand each other’s language. Bear in mind there was no Google in those days and few if any understood a foreign language. Many of us think of Pentecost as ‘the’ coming of Holy Spirit onto God’s people. But, like some of the examples above, the bible reveals many more instances of God the Holy Spirit breathing life into us right from the story of the creation and the Garden of Eden.
Just like the bird song – it was always there always will be, it just needs us to tune in. Just like at Pentecost the real miracle is that God breathes and his extraordinary power fills and works in common ordinary people in common ordinary ways, transforming life. God is doing this all over again and continues to do this, time after time.
Our Prayers
