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The Day of Pentecost
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Scripture citation(s): Isaiah 11:1-9; Acts 4:18-21,23-33
A Sermon by
The Rev. Canon Carl Turner
on
Isaiah 11:1-9; Acts 4:18-21,23-33
✛
The Spirit Changes Everything
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Recently, our Bishop was poorly and he couldn’t get an answer from his doctor. It had been so long since he had seen him that is what somewhat of a shock to discover that his doctor had retired and moved away! So, at the Chrism Mass this year, he urged the clergy to go see their own doctors or, at least, to ensure that they had one. I realized I didn’t. So, a few days ago I had my first trip for some years. I was provoked with needles, prodded and poked by a nurse whose face looked too much like she was enjoying my discomfort. Eventually I met my new doctor: “Hmmm,” he said, looking at my test results, “Episcopal priest – well you may be spiritually healthy but there’s some work to do on this!” as he prodded my stomach with a wry smile on his face. “This is going to be a challenge for you, I think!”
The apostles were changed through their relationship with Jesus; challenged and changed. They were charged by Jesus to tell people the Good News and to baptize them. The results were amazing – people turned to the Lord and were converted by the boldness of their preaching, and yet, Peter was a fisherman by trade and not a rabbi. Remarkable things happened; the sick were healed and the dead were raised. The Book of Acts even tells us that people placed the sick in the street in the hope that even Peter’s shadow would touch them. Imagine that – Peter’s shadow!
But the preaching of the Gospel – of Good News – and its accompaniment of signs and wonders also had less-welcome results. After Peter had healed the lame man in the Temple, the authorities arrested Peter and John and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus; they were threatened with punishment and, of course, eventually that punishment came in cruel ways.
How did Peter and John react to these threats that came, significantly, not from the civil authorities but from their religious leaders? – By giving Glory to God. Far from discouraging them, the apostles prayed for more boldness: “Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” As they prayed this prayer, the Holy Spirit filled the room – they were filled with the Holy Spirit just as had happened on the Day of Pentecost.
Jesus had promised this indwelling of the Holy Spirit; in John’s Gospel, Jesus prays to the Father that his disciples might see his glory and he tells them that he and the Father would make their home in each one of them – transforming their lives. What we see in the Book of Acts is the action of the Holy Spirit on individuals and on the Church, which is the Body of Christ. Through the operation of the Holy Spirit, things were changed and a new world order began to be slowly ushered in.
Look at the result of this indwelling of the Holy Spirit – it not only transfigured the apostles as individuals, it also changed their community living: “the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.” This is radical stuff – this is putting into practice the prophecy of Isaiah we heard earlier in our service:
“The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.”
Just as the Spirit hovered over the waters of creation, so shall the Spirit hover over God’s new Creation – over the new Israel, as the Kingdom of God slowly breaks into a broken world. In order for this to change the world, God must first change each one of us; the radical nature of the New Testament Church can easily be mistaken for a social movement, or worse, an ideology. But, as Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has said, this is ‘The Jesus Movement’ and, therefore, it is not about an idea or policy or even an organization – it is about Jesus – the shoot from the stock of Jesse who has, who can, and who will change people’s lives. This radical re-interpretation of community living which could change the whole world and bring peoples of different cultures and races together in love can only begin when individuals are open to the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit. By inviting Jesus into our hearts we begin the process by which the world can be changed.
The great Indian Jesuit priest, Anthony de Mello, reflecting on the various religious traditions of his home country, which would sometimes seem to tear it apart, once shared some words of the Sufi Bayazid, speaking about himself:
“I was a revolutionary when I was young and my prayer to God was ‘Lord, give me the energy to change the world.’
“As I approached middle age and realized that half my life was gone without my changing a single soul, I changed my prayer to ‘Lord, give me the grace to change all those who come into contact with me. Just my family and friends, and I shall be satisfied.’
“Now that I am an old man and my days are numbered, my one prayer is, ‘Lord, give me the grace to change myself.’ If I had prayed for this right from the start I should have not wasted my life.”
(From ‘The Song of the Bird’)
