Scripture reading – John 7: 37-39
Jesus is in Jerusalem to celebrate the autumn festival of Booths and is openly teaching at the Temple. And because many of the crowd believed in him the temple police are sent to arrest him.
But on hearing Jesus’ words the temple police left him alone and went back to the chief priest saying ‘Never has anyone spoken like this!’. They were simply amazed by what he said.
Jesus talks about the Spirit, the Holy Spirit that we are thinking about today at Pentecost. And he describes the outpouring of the Spirit by using the element of water. Jesus said, “Out of the believers heart shall flow rivers of water”. A beautiful image of the continuous flow of the fruits of the Holy Spirit out of the heart of a believer.
The gospel writer then explains that the Spirit would come after Jesus was gloried. Not at the time whilst Jesus was still here on earth but when he is glorified.
And so in our next bible reading we fast forward to the time when Jesus has been glorified, Jesus has ascended into heaven. But before his ascension Jesus promised his disciples that they would receive the Holy Spirit so that they would have the power to witness, to tell everyone about who Jesus was, the Son of God, God himself.
So the disciples prayfully wait for this moment to occur and this is where we pick up the story in our second lectionary reading.
Scripture reading – Acts 2:2-21
In our first bible reading the power of the Holy Spirit is described as the Living water.
“Out of the believers heart shall flow rivers of water”.
There will be a continuous flow of the fruits of the Holy Spirit out of the heart of the believer. A continuous flow of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
In our second reading two further elements are used to describe the power of the Holy Spirit.
First there was wind. ‘There came a sound like a rush of a violent wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.’
Then there was fire. ‘Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.’
Water, wind and fire. These are three of the main classic elements. Often we talk of a forth which is earth. Air (the wind), Earth, Fire and Water. These are the elements that not only make up our planet but also the entire universe.
Have any of you ever been to the science museum in Sheffield called Magna? It is a science centre set in former steelworks and their amazing exhibits are split into 4 sections – Air, Earth, Fire and Water.
In the fire section you are able to see the power of fire and wind combined as they have an awesome five metre fire tornado. A spiralling golden tower of fire stands tall in the centre of the fire section. The flames are captivating, the heat overwhelming and the power is immense.
And as people of Clifton you do not need to leave the village to see the power of the wind! For many years I have stood waiting for my children to come out of St John’s school and have been blown about in that playground. I’m sure Clifton has its own weather system. I could be at work in Brighouse and the sun is shining and I have then foolishly decided to pick up the children from St Johns playground without putting my coat on. I learnt very quickly about the power of the wind up here.
On the day of Pentecost power as strong as the first three elements of wind, fire and water was released onto the believers to transform the forth element, the earth.
The awesome power of the Holy Spirit was poured out onto the disciples that day to transform the earth.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit the disciples were given the ability to do their God-given task which was to spread the Good News about Christ. They were to tell everyone about his life, about his death, his resurrection and the message that God in Christ brings love, forgiveness, healing, peace and hope to everyone.
It is a God-given task that is almost impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit. But just like those first disciples, we have been given the same God-given task to spread the Good News about Christ. And just like the first disciples, we need to receive the Holy Spirit in order for us to fully achieve God’s will for us, to be the people God always hoped we would be. To be the people we always hoped we would be.
All we have to do is ask the Lord for help. In verse 21 of the Acts reading it simply says, ‘Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved’. All we have to do is turn to the Lord and ask for his help.
“Out of the believers heart shall flow rivers of water”. We can receive the Holy Spirit so that we can become people with hearts overflowing with the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Those of us who are willing to receive the Spirit bear the fruit of the Spirit. I have brought with me 9 candles to represent each of the fruit of the Spirit. We can show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
We are now going to have a time of thanksgiving for the Holy Spirit and we are going to light these candles as part of that time of thanksgiving.
The Holy Spirit is something that is much easier to understand when you have experienced it touching your life. We can talk about the first experience the disciples and their encounter with tongues of fire and wind but the Holy Spirit is to be experienced rather than to just talk about it and it can be experienced by anyone who wishes to receive the Spirit.
Debbie Story 