Pentecost - John Ch 14 v 8 - 17

I will ask the Father and he will give you a
special helper who will be with you for ever.
This must have seen a very confusing message
for the disciples, but soon after the day came
when all was to be revealed.

But I suspect understanding the Holy Spirit
is no easier today that it was for the disciples.
I know I have shared this story with some of you
but when I was priested my youngest grand-
daughter who had a good view of all that was
happening - after Bishop Tom had called on the
Holy Spirit to come down on about the tenth
candidate announced "Mummy I have been watching
all the time and I haven't seen the Holy Spirit come
down once!" Now I think she isn't the only one who
finds the concept of the Holy Spirit difficult.

When we talk of the power of the Holy Spirit
what do we mean? On the first Pentecost it
came as a violent wind and then tongues of fire
separated and then rested on them.

In a storm when we are struggling to walk we
become aware of the immense power in nature,
that we have no control over it. Most of us
don't fully understand what creates the high and
low pressures which create storms, but we do
understand the force and the damage they can
cause. We can not see a strong gale, but what
we can see is the effect it has, or the damage it
can bring.

And this is the same with the Holy Spirit, its
power is strong and it changes lives, and we can see
that change, but we cannot see the Holy Spirit.
It is the same today as it was at the first Pentecost.

Peter and the disciples were waiting in Jerusalem
as Jesus had told them to, and whilst they were waiting
for the Holy Spirit to come I think that when it
came down they were probably amazed by its power,
amazed by the strength it gave them.

When I visited the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
some twenty years ago I felt I understood how the
disciples must have felt. For when I entered the
Holy Sepulchre there was an area onto which
nearly all the chapels enter. I sat in an alcove on
my own and I could hear all the services, each in their
own language Latin, Russian, Armenian, Greek.  I
couldn't speak their languages but I could feel the
power of their worship, that the Holy Spirit was at
work and I felt in communion with them.

The power of the Holy Spirit is beyond our
comprehension, but we know it is within us.  Through
the Holy Spirit all of us who call ourselves
Christian are united, are one.   When Christ lived
on earth he was restricted to the Holy Land, but
as with the wind we cannot restrict the Holy Spirit,
we cannot contain it, it is free to go where ever it
wishes, to strike a chord in the souls of all who
welcome it.

The power of the Spirit opens new boundaries,
makes us aware of our gifts given to us by God,
guides us when we are unsure, strengthens us when
we are weak, comforts us.  In the laying on of
hands in the Healing Service we invoke the healing
power of the Risen Lord to bring wholeness and
reconciliation. It is only through the power of
the Holy Spirit that we can do that.

Last week Junior Church acted out 'I am the Vine,
you are the Branches', the visible proof on the
pillars. We were each given a fruit to remind us
of the fruit of the Spirit, that we are called to be
the branches to bear the good fruit so we
can share the Gospel of our Lord. It is the Spirit's
action in our lives  which brings forth these fruits.
It enables us to access our own abilities.  But we can
only do this by being open to the Spirit, for the Spirit
doesn't force itself on us we have to welcome it into
our lives. It is our choice.

The Disciples suddenly saw a new world opening
before them,  a world in which differences
disappeared, they realised they were all one, and
that is still the message.  As Christians we may
use different words, but we should speak the same
language, the language of love, of dedicating our
lives to serving God  seeking salvation through the
cross. And whatever our language God understands
us.

As the power of nature opens  up for us its
enormity how much more does the power of the
Holy Spirit open up a different world.  A
world where all are equal, where gifts are nothing
to do with power, wealth, fame or beauty.
The spirit opens us to new relationships, to seek
reconciliation.

The spirit of Pentecost rushes into the world
as if out of nowhere, and breathes life into
the lifeless. The outpouring of God's spirit upon
today's disciples, us. The Holy Spirit changes
lives for ever it reconciles us to God the Father
We learn to see things differently, know things
differently, hear things differently, and are sent
out to share what we see, and know, and hear.
God opens our hearts, to the fact we are all one
in God's love through the power of his reconciling
spirit.  Through the Holy Spirit we learn to
understand the awe and majesty of creation, of the
power of God's love.

Each Pentecost  we remember how the first
disciples, newly baptized by the spirit, became
apostles and were sent out, sent beyond the
comfort of their homes of  Galilee. They were sent
into pagan communities where for the first time,
"others," those unlike themselves, could be seen
and heard not as others, different, but as "same,"
beloved children of God.  This is the message for us,
for God calls each of us to serve him in different
ways, but however he calls us, the Holy Spirit will
be with us.

Cyril of Jerusalem wrote ' In each person the
Spirit reveals his presence in a particular way for
the common good.'

My grand-daughter was right and she  had not seen the
Holy Spirit, but when Bishop Tom invoked the
Holy Spirit to come down on us we knew that
God was alongside us giving us the strength to
face the next part of our spiritual journey.  He never
deserts us, gets us to do something we cannot do. He
is at our side all the time.  Amen