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The challenge of Pentecost

Pentecost is the third great Christian festival along with Christmas and Easter. But unlike the latter two festivals, Pentecost has never really caught on in popular imagination. There are no special foods associated with Pentecost, no well recognised music and no extra holidays on offer. So Pentecost is just there for Christians to enjoy.

The story appears only in the book of Acts where it kick starts the witness of Jesus’ followers as commanded by Jesus in the opening chapter of the book (You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth).

The story begins with a violent wind blowing from heaven and fiery flames, both signs of God’s powerful presence. As Jesus’ followers are filled with the Spirit they praise God in multiple languages. All of this attracts a crowd and Peter talks about what has happened (the coming of the Spirit) and at length about Jesus. Many people come to place their faith in Jesus and a thriving new community emerges that is full of joy and generosity.

While it’s easy – and safe – to focus on the wind and flames at the start or the vibrant community that emerges at the end, the heart of the story is about previously afraid people now praising God openly and speaking confidently about Jesus. The Spirit has changed their outlook and given them new boldness.

Here lies one of the real challenges of Pentecost. If every Christian has received this gift of God’s Spirit, why do we find it so difficult and intimidating to speak about our faith and about Jesus? Perhaps it is our historical distance from the extraordinary person of Jesus. Perhaps it’s because our rational and logical ways of being stop us from experiencing God’s spiritual presence. Or perhaps it is that we are afraid of what people may think of us or say about us. The challenge is not just that we’ve lost our nerve to speak about Jesus, but also that we’ve lost much of the joy and generosity of the early Christian community that also derives from the Spirit’s presence.  How might we recover our boldness to speak of Jesus and our joy?

From the Minister

Jesus prays for us

Prayer is practised in many religions. We may pray for ourselves or our situation. We may pray for others and their situation. Often we stumble in trying to find the right words or the right way of expressing our prayer. In the Christian tradition of faith, prayer is seen as communication with God. There is no one right way to do this, but most often it involves both speaking and listening (which may include contemplation, meditation and silence).

In the Gospel tradition, Jesus is portrayed as spending much time in prayer, often early in the morning and sometimes all night. Very few of his prayers are recorded. Once the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray, namely how to pray in a way similar to how he prays. His response is what we know as the Lord’s Prayer, a prayer recited every day by millions of Christians.

As is often the case in John’s Gospel, we find a different version of this prayer as Jesus prays for himself, for the disciples and for future followers. The so-called High Priestly Prayer completes Jesus’ long farewell address that covers chapters 13-17. Many of its themes resonate with earlier chapters (e.g. life, truth, love, glory, the mutual indwelling of Jesus and God the Father).

Three aspects of Jesus’ prayer stand out. First is the priority in praying for protection from evil. This is an ever present and serious risk according to Jesus, and is also captured in the Lord’s Prayer. Second is the request that all believers be one, one with each other but also one with God and with Jesus. This invitation into an intimate relationship with God is closely tied up with the notion of eternal life. Third is that despite the risks and hostility of the world, the purpose or mission of the disciples – and for us – is to go out into the world as witnesses of Jesus and to extend his mission (as the Father sent me, so I send you).

How does it make you feel that Jesus prayed for us and our situation … that he prayed for our protection, our union with God and our purpose in the world? When we feel uncertain which way to go or feel overwhelmed by events, it’s helpful to remember that Jesus is in our corner and wants us to know God’s love and presence and protection with us as we live as his followers in the world.

From the Minister

Being friends with Jesus

Friendship is a precious gift. Friends accept us as we are and for who we are. Friends can be honest and frank with each other. Friends spend time with us, encourage us and inspire us through their love and care. While we don’t get to choose our family, we do get to choose our friends.

In this week’s Gospel passage from John 15, Jesus continues to prepare the disciples for life without his direct presence with them. If they are to live fruitful lives, they must remain connected to Jesus. They – and we – will continue to stay connected with Jesus and dwell in his love as we embrace his commands, especially the command to love one another.

Jesus then says two amazing things. He chose us, just as he chose the first disciples, and he wants to be our friend. So just like other friends we may have, Jesus chooses to be our friend. This is a great gift and assurance. As the old hymn puts it, what a friend we have in Jesus …

How might we cultivate this friendship with Jesus that he is offering? By doing the same sorts of things that we do with our other friends. We spend time together, we enjoy each other’s company, we share stories and joys and heartaches.

We can do these same things with Jesus through prayer, if we take the leap of faith that prayer can be a conversation. It may take some time to tune our hearts and spirits to hear what Jesus is saying to us and we should always seek the counsel of others before making major decisions. But as we deepen our relationship with Jesus we will find ourselves following his ways more often and learning more about how we love one another. Before long we will be extending the friendship of Jesus to those around us.

From the Minister