Skip to main content

The Holy Spirit – disturber of the peace

There is a scene very near the start of the first Lord of the Rings movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, when the hobbit Frodo Baggins meets up with Gandalf the wizard. According to Frodo, Gandalf has been officially labelled as a ‘disturber of the peace’. Based on the events of Pentecost and beyond, I wonder if this isn’t also a good description of the Holy Spirit.

When we think about God’s Spirit, we’re more likely to think in terms of the Spirit being our Comforter or Helper or the one who gives us peace. Those of us in the Uniting Church might also recall the Spirit coming upon Jesus at his baptism in the form of dove, a symbol that appears in the centre of the Uniting Church logo.

Yet even the dove symbol is also a red flame, reminding us of Pentecost where tongues of fire were seen to rest on each person as a sign of the coming of the Spirit. Fire may provide warmth on a cold night, but fires can also be wild and unpredictable, like the wind which is another symbol of the Spirit that features in the Pentecost story.

When the Spirit comes at Pentecost, the disciples are disturbed, their neighbours are disturbed and indeed the whole city is disturbed. Later in the book of Acts, some Christian missionaries are accused of turning the world upside down. It seems to me that in Luke’s telling of the story of the emerging Christian movement, the Spirit stirs and disturbs and sends people out much more than comforts. I wonder if that is why we are cautious to embrace this day more fully and the ramifications for what it might mean for our mostly comfortable life as the church. Are we prepared to be disturbed and shaken out of our apathy?

From the Minister

Jesus prays for us

This week the church celebrated Ascension Day, the day when we remember the ascension of Jesus to be with God. For the disciples it marked their final physical separation from Jesus and one imagines it was a day of mixed emotions. Before leaving, Jesus had prepared the disciples for his departure as best he could with the promise that the Holy Spirit would come and dwell among and within them and also praying for them and for future disciples like us.

This prayer of Jesus, as recorded in John’s Gospel, gives us a rare insight into how and what Jesus prayed. It is an intimate prayer to the Father but also quite bold. Jesus asks three things of God for disciples – that they be protected from the evil one, that they experience the same close relationship with God enjoyed by Jesus and that they be kept safe by the truth (especially about God’s love for us and about God sending Jesus to us). I wonder what comfort you draw knowing that Jesus still lives in God’s presence and that he prays for you. Given that Jesus experienced some of the best and the worst that humanity could throw at him during his life, he knows what it is to live a human life. He knows the joys and challenges of our life. And he promises to be with us. So when life gets tough, it’s good to remember these truths and these promises.

From the Minister,

The mothering nature of God

This Sunday we celebrate Mother’s Day in Australia, the day in the year when we pause to acknowledge and honour mothers and other significant women in our lives. These are the people who brought us into the world, who (in most cases) loved and nurtured us and guided us through life. Being a Mum is not a one day in the year role, of course, but more like a 365 days a year role that lasts for a lifetime.

What can mothers and mothering teach us about God, who is nearly always imagined with masculine imagery in the Bible (e.g. Father, Lord, King) and always described with male pronouns? Just occasionally we catch a glimpse of another side of God’s nature, a maternal side if you like – God who brings us to new birth, who nurtures and cares for us like a mother. In the wisdom tradition in the Bible (e.g. book of Proverbs), wisdom is depicted as a woman teaching others about life, justice and mercy, a tradition that appears to have profoundly shaped the ministry and outlook of Jesus and which was probably taught to him by his mother, Mary.

In Genesis we are told that God created humanity in his own image as male and female. So if humanity reflects the image of God, traits or characteristics that we might think of more in feminine terms help us to a fuller appreciation of God’s character – things like compassion, empathy, gentleness. So this Mother’s day let us celebrate those who do and have Mother-ed us (including those who struggle with being a Mum or who were never able to be a Mum or who have a difficult relationship with their mother or children). And let us also reflect how mothers help us imagine what God is like.

From the Minister,