I wonder if you can remember your first day doing a new thing. Maybe your first day at school, or at secondary school. Your first day of a new job, maybe your first job. How about your first day of being married. Your first day in a new house or a new town. I wonder if one of those first days has stuck in your memory. There\u2019s all kinds of emotions and feelings associated with a first day. Excitement. Nervousness. Joy. Anxiety. Hope. Fear. Which of those is dominant will be affected by our personalities, our past experiences of new things, how prepared we feel. For each of us it will be different \u2013 some of us love the experience of new things, others of us find them daunting. Usually a first day of a new thing is preceded by a load of preparation. <\/p>\n
Over the next month or so Caroline will be in schools running \u201cmoving on\u201d sessions with Yr 6s getting ready for going to secondary schools. When we\u2019re moving house there\u2019s usually all the organising of getting out of the old place and into the new one \u2013 selling and buying, organising a van. When it\u2019s a new job, there will have been the job search, writing the application, the interview. In some ways \u201cfirst days\u201d aren\u2019t actually the \u201cfirst day\u201d.
\nThey\u2019re the days when all that planning and preparation come together into a reality. <\/p>\n
Today is the feast of Pentecost, when we remember one of the most important \u201cfirst days\u201d there has ever been for humanity. In fact, I\u2019d go as far to say it\u2019s in the top three, along with the first day of creation, and the first day of Jesus\u2019 life on earth. It was the first day that the Holy Spirit came in power on all of God\u2019s people. <\/p>\n
As with all first days, there was a lot of preparation. <\/p>\n
We know that the Holy Spirit was there on that first day of creation. In Genesis we read that \u201cthe Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.\u201d This \u201cfirst day\u201d of Pentecost had been in preparation for at least that long. As we read through the accounts of the relationship between God and God\u2019s people in the Old Testament, we read of the Spirit of God being sent upon people at specific times to fulfil specific tasks. Just as one example, in the book of Exodus, chapter 31 we read that:<\/p>\n
\u201cSee, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills – to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze\u201d<\/p>\n
In our reading from Acts this morning we heard Peter telling the crowd that the prophet Joel had foretold this \u201cfirst day\u201d, speaking to the people of God, centuries earlier.<\/p>\n
Not only do we see this \u201cfirst day\u201d being prepared for in the lives of the people of God in general, but as we get to the New Testament we see it being prepared for in the individual lives of those who received the Holy Spirit on that day. As we read through the eyewitness accounts of Jesus\u2019 life, we see the Holy Spirit at work. At Jesus\u2019 baptism, on his \u201cfirst day\u201d of ministry, the Holy Spirit descends on him in bodily form, like a dove, to equip and empower him for his ministry. Then as we go through, we hear him preparing his disciples to receive this gift as well. In our reading from John\u2019s account, we hear Jesus telling his friends and followers what the Holy Spirit is like, and what the Holy Spirit will do. He is preparing them. Then, later, after Jesus\u2019 resurrection he tells them to go to Jerusalem and wait for the power from on high to be sent to them. And that is what they do, they go to Jerusalem and wait, and pray, preparing themselves for this \u201cfirst day\u201d.<\/p>\n
And what a \u201cfirst day\u201d it is. The sound of rushing wind, the appearance of fire, the gift of other languages. As with all \u201cfirst days\u201d, it provokes a variety of responses. Some are excited, some are cynical, I expect some were overwhelmed. <\/p>\n
Peter, on his \u201cfirst day\u201d stands up to preach, and delivers such a sermon that, as we read to the end of the chapter, that three thousand people were added to their number. That is some \u201cfirst day\u201d on the job. <\/p>\n
In about a month\u2019s time, on Saturday June 22nd, here in the evening is going to be an important \u201cfirst day\u201d for Ellie. She is going to be ordained as a priest and presbyter in the church of God. There has been much preparation for this, in her life and training, and for me organising the service. Please do come along and support her. <\/p>\n
As I\u2019ve been doing this preparation, and remembering my own ordination, and thinking about Pentecost, a couple of threads have come together for me that I\u2019d like to share with you this morning. They have been prompted by my thinking about ordination, but I believe that they actually apply to all of us, as we seek to follow Jesus\u2019 call on each of our lives.<\/p>\n
In one of the affirmations that those being ordained make, we commit to \u201cproclaim afresh in each generation\u201d the good news of Jesus. \u201cProclaim afresh in each generation.\u201d <\/p>\n
This is what the gift of languages was about on that first day of Pentecost. It enabled the disciples to tell the mighty acts of God to everyone who heard. That\u2019s why we read all those names of those places, to remind us that God\u2019s good news is for everyone, and the first thing the Holy Spirit did was to equip and empower God\u2019s people to tell the good news in a way that everyone could understand in their own language. As those people returned to their homes, they didn\u2019t need the gift of languages to tell their friends and families about Jesus. They might have needed other gifts to show the reality of the good news, but not languages.<\/p>\n
We talk about one of our key values here at All Saints being \u201cloving our neighbours\u201d. One of the ways in which we show that love is to ask the Holy Spirit to give us the gifts we need to tell the mighty acts of God, the good news of Jesus to our whole communities, in ways in which they can understand. To all people groups, ages, classes \u2013 everyone. Over the next month or so we are going to be exploring together our welcome, and how and why we welcome people to be part of our church family. This is part of putting into practice our desire to \u201cproclaim afresh in each generation\u201d and to proclaim the wonders of God in their own tongues.<\/p>\n
The other element of the ordination service that caught my attention was an ancient hymn that we will sing as part of it. It begins:<\/p>\n
\u201cCome Holy Ghost our souls inspire, and lighten with celestial fire\u201d<\/p>\n
I know that the language is pretty old, and that might cause us to stumble when we\u2019re thinking of \u201cproclaiming afresh in each generation\u201d, but it seems to me that it is worth just spending a moment with it. This hymn is based on a 9th century Latin hymn, translated into English in the 16th Century, and has been used at ordinations and coronations ever since. It is one of the oldest hymns we have.
\nSince the 13th century, a similar prayer, \u201cCome, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of Thy love.\u201d has been a part of the Pentecost prayers and liturgy of the western church.<\/p>\n
This is the ancient Christian tradition that we draw on when we pray that simple three word prayer, \u201cCome, Holy Spirit\u201d. As I said a few weeks ago, this is not because we believe that the Holy Spirit isn\u2019t here unless we invite him. We know that God is everywhere. It is much more about us expressing our own openness to the Holy Spirit. It is not a command to the Holy Spirit, it is an expression of the posture of our hearts, that we are ready to receive what he has to give, more than ready \u2013 eager for him to come with his fire and set us ablaze.
\nThe thing with first days is that they are usually followed by second, and third, and fourth\u2026. Until what was new and exciting or daunting, becomes everyday and normal. We end up doing things by habit and routine, we no longer have to learn. We settle into patterns. And this is mostly OK \u2013 as human beings most of us can\u2019t live healthily with everything changing all the time. As we read on through the New Testament, we see how the early Christians settled down into live in the age of the Holy Spirit. <\/p>\n
It seems to me that there is a danger, though, to losing too much of the excitement of that \u201cfirst day\u201d of the Holy Spirit. There is a risk that we lose our edge, that we domesticate and tame the Holy Spirit. That is why I believe that the feast of Pentecost is so important, it reminds us of that first day. That in some senses every day is a first day with the Holy Spirit, that there is always the option of something new happening on a day with the Holy Spirit. <\/p>\n
For the last six months or so we\u2019ve been exploring together another Biblical image of the Holy Spirit, that of the river of God. Water washing over us, cleaning us, giving us joy, flowing out with healing and good news to our community. We\u2019ve been talking about how it flows from the front of church here, and have associated that with flowing from the baptistry, from our common commissioning as the baptised people of God. As I was reflecting on this today, I was reminded of the blood and water that flowed from Jesus\u2019 side when he was crucified. And I thought of the Spirit of Jesus, flowing from the cross at the front here, out to the community. <\/p>\n
As you come up to communion this morning, I\u2019d like to encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit for a fresh \u201cfirst day\u201d, to be equipped and empowered to tell the mighty acts of God to those you meet day to day, in a way that they can understand. It might be helpful to picture yourself walking up the river of the Spirit, being washed and invigorated, and then allowing the flow to take you out into your community. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I wonder if you can remember your first day doing a new thing. Maybe your first day at school, or at secondary school. Your first day of a new job, maybe your first job. How about your first day of being married. Your first day in a new house or a new town. I wonder […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[431],"tags":[114,1339],"class_list":["post-1032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wellington","tag-acts-21-21","tag-john-161-15"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1032"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1033,"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1032\/revisions\/1033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carterclan.me.uk\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}