The Spirit

1991 (Year B), 19 May, Pentecost

St Peter de Beauvoir Town

Come God, Holy Spirit,
come to our threatened and plundered world.
Come to us, for we are frightened and fainthearted.

Spirit of life, fill us with the livingness of your eternal life.
Spirit of eternal blessedness, fill us with your joy in living.
Spirit of love, fill our world with your righteousness.

God whose life is fellowship, you come among us,
and in you we find one another
and become one heart and soul.

The prayer could’ve been written for us. In fact it was written by a German, but it could be the prayer of the Church of St Peter de Beauvoir Town. And I’ll tell you why. The PCC in its last few meetings has been reflecting on the qualities which need to be present in us as individuals and in us as a community so that we might witness effectively to the truth of the gospel.

We made a long, long list. We said we should all be receptive, challenging, sharing, doing the right thing regardless, forgiving, accepting of differences, compassionate and understanding. All these, and the rest, we thought were qualities which we could see in Jesus. Then we tried to cut the list down. First to ten, then to three. ‘Can’t be done,’ said most of us, ‘We want them all.’ Then Wendy spoke up, ‘Why don’t we have the first three. Our community should reflect Love, Unity and it should be Spiritual’. For a moment, and I’m bound to say it doesn’t happen very often at PCCs, there was silence. And so it’s those three qualities that’ve found their way on to the sheet at the back of church.

It’s those three qualities which we felt encapsulated all the others and which we want to make real here. Love, Unity and a spiritual quality, which I think has something to do with being close to God.

It didn’t occur to me then, although it has since, that those qualities are in fact gifts of the Spirit, poured out with supreme reckless generosity by God at Pentecost. Listen to the story again. First the Spiritual, ‘And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit’. They were united ‘Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no-one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common.’ These first two gifts inspired a third, love. ‘There was not a needy person among them, for as many as possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostle’s feel; and distribution was made to each as any had need.’

The images of that first Pentecost are all about dramatic change. So dramatic that those who saw them thought they were drunk. Since then the Western Church has been a bit down beat. The quality we’ve specialised in is reservation, and moderation in all things. It’s almost as if we’ve not wanted Christ to rise and go to the Father so that the Spirit of God wouldn’t come and set our hearts on fire. We have lived with a spiritless church. We have settled for something safe, controlled, secure.

Yet I have a sense that this church is at a crucial point in its life and witness. We have grown as a worshiping community over the past few years. We’ve gal the building looking beautiful. We now have to decide if we are brave enough to go with the Spirit. We have to decide if we are a pilgrim church, travelling in Unity, Love and in God. I believe profoundly that we are. I have no idea what is going La happen or how we will get there. I’m sure the way will not always be smooth and trouble free. But I do believe that we are being led in the presence of God.

And God is present in his Spirit. We have to understand that God is present in our lives as the Living God. Our limited vulnerable and mortal lives are encompassed and penetrated through and through by his life, which is unlimited, glorious and eternal. With every perception of our minds and spirits, with all the impulses of our souls, and all the needs and urges of our bodies, we participate in; we are drawn into, the eternal divine life. In our existence we sense God’s existence; in our suffering we feel his pain; in our happiness we meet his bliss. Because of Pentecost God is present in his Spirit. That’s what today is all about. ‘In him we live and move and have our being.’

May he fill us with his gifts and lead us Lo where he would have us go. AMEN