Refreshing lives, transforming faith, at the heart of the community Haere Mai, Piki Mai
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A Sermon by Dean Charles Tyrrell
Nelson Cathedral
Sunday, 11 May 2008
As I was preparing this sermon, I was faced with a dilemma! Today we acknowledge the coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples at the time known as
Pentecost, 50 days after Easter. After reading about people in both old and new testaments prophesying, of eerie winds and visions of flame, it all
seems so esoteric, so obscure when compared to the suffering of the people of Myanmar and the unresolved situation in Zimbabwe, for example. Is
all this talk of Pentecost other worldly or have I just got it wrong?
Well, let's begin by looking at the scripture passages appointed for this morning. The first is from the Old Testament book called Numbers - Arithmoi -
in the Greek, because of the tally (numbers) of the male Israelites it contains. In the verses preceding today's passage in chapter 11, the people had been
complaining about their lack of food in the wilderness. They had gone to Moses their leader who, acting as go-between, went and presented their complaints
to God. What transpired (according to the author of the book) was a tense and sometimes comical debate between God and Moses about the rights and
wrongs of providing meat. Just listen to some of it:
'The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and said, 'If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to
eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but
this manna to look at!'
Well, after that Moses saw red and stormed off to God:
'So Moses said to the Lord, 'Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favour in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this
people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, "Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a
sucking child", to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to
me and say, "Give us meat to eat!"'
It didn't end there.
God said: 'You shall eat not only one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but for a whole month — until it comes out of your
nostrils and becomes loathsome to you — because you have rejected the Lord who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, "Why did we
ever leave Egypt?" ' (See Numbers 11).
Being full seemed to be the order of the day! Full of meat, to illustrate one point about God's provision and generosity and yet, more than that, being
filled with his Spirit in order to prophesy, or speak as "Thus says the Lord". From Numbers we heard about the gift of the Spirit being given to 70 elders
and then later to two men, Eldad and Medad.
Do you recall what happened next? A young man and then the future leader Joshua, heard these men prophesying and were alarmed and both ran up
to Moses, appealing to him to stop it. Moses refused, and calmed them by saying, 'Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were
prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!'
Now, just hold those words in your mind as we take a quick peek at the reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Surely, such a significant passage
demands a more detailed examination, some of you may be thinking. I can understand that and hope that you will take the opportunity to look at the
chapter for yourself and come to your own opinion.
In the meantime, may I offer a few comments to start with? First, the disciples of Jesus. Think about them and their mindset after all they had been
through. A close relationship with Jesus, interrupted by his arrest, trial and execution but then reinstated three days later when he re-appeared, full
of life. They were just getting used to him when, Elijah style, he ascended into heaven only to be told by angelic figures that he would return again one
day. Think through the state of mind of these beleagured disciples. Their emotions must have been shot through.
And that's exactly when and how they experienced the signs of the Spirit. Occurring on the 50th day marking the start of the harvest in the Holy
Land (pente - means 50), the disciples must have wondered what had hit them. Tradition told them that at this time they were to "Rejoice before
the Lord your God - you, your families, your households, and all the foreigners in your land - rejoice, at the place that the Lord your God will choose
as a dwelling for his name." (See Deuteronomy 16:11 for instructions about the first pentecost). Did they feel like rejoicing even with the harvest
safely gathered in? I doubt it.
The dynamic presence of the Spirit would have helped them to understand that just as their ancestors were once hungry and homeless but then satisfied
and situated in the promised land, so now having wandered through the spiritual wilderness, they were experiencing the harvest of their souls, rich and
bountiful and overflowing. Pentecost for them meant a true fulfilment both of flesh and spirit, a real appreciation of what the atonement of Jesus meant.
And what's more, in the coming of the Spirit, the promise of Jesus had been fulfilled.
I was reminded of these words from Psalm 148: 'Fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!' The combination of fire and wind is
never far away when God is present. These elements speak eloquently of the burning passion of God for us, inviting ours in return and the power and
effect of God's presence, invisible - as is the wind - but purposeful and exhilarating. That's what I think of when I dwell on the coming of the Spirit in Acts.
What sort of emphasis do you place on it?
Finally, let's take a look at the short Gospel passage from St John's very spiritual gospel. If by Pentecost we understand the fiftieth day after Easter, for
our Gospel reading today we move right back to the evening of the resurrection day itself, Easter, the start of the spiritual harvest.
In the words of the risen Jesus we learn that Easter and Pentecost are one and the same process. Jesus stood among his followers showing them his
hands and his side, proof that he was the crucified Christ come back to life. The first Christian Pentecost occurred on Easter Day when Jesus said to
his friends, 'Receive the Holy Spitit. If you forgive the sins of any, thet are forgiven them; of you reatin the sins of any, they are retained.'
Jesus doesn't want us to wait for the outpouring of the Spirit but filled with risen life as if it were new wine, he wants us to be joyful, effervescent Christians
who are a credit to him and his Word. The proof comes not here and now in the context of divine worship, but the moment we leave this cathedral. As
the Spirit-filled disciples poured out onto the streets of Jerusalem with a new fire in their bellies, telling all and sundry about Jesus, so people will know
that the Spirit is upon us by the way we love each other and by the way we proclaim the freedom of Christ to an embittered and suffering world.
So, what is the Spirit saying to us about Myanmar or Zimbabwe or wherever innocent people are suffering? I believe the message is that we do not, we
must not tolerate injustice in our own land or anywhere, for that matter. Injustice leads to suffering and that goes against the Spirit of God who works for
peace and truth. We must pray that the military regime in Myanmar sees the light and allows international aid in to assist the people, without pocketing
the aid for themselves. We must pray for the end of such mindless, cruel regimes and hope that other countries do not fall prey to such tyranny. We
must pray that the international community reacts to the need without being accused of hypocrisy in other areas. We must pray that the wind and fire
of God may be felt by people everywhere, whatever their religion. For God is impartial and loves the souls of all people.
Today is the start of the Pentecost season, when we realize that without the presence of the promised Holy Spirit, our worship is valueless, our praises
are empty and our prayers are as so much smoke rising to an empty sky. With the power of the Spirit in our hearts we are truly fulfilled and energised
by the nature of God to worship wholeheartedly and serve sensitively. Pentecost is the day we come alive and the world is given hope.
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Amen.
This sermon was written and delivered by Dean Charles Tyrrell QSO at Nelson Cathedral on Sunday, 11 May 2008
