Year A 7th Sunday of Easter 5 June 2011
Acts 1: 6-14 Psalm 68: 1-10, 32-35 1 Peter 4: 12-14; 5: 6-11 John 17: 1-11
I have previously mentioned that a couple of weeks ago there was a group who predicted that judgment day was happening about two Saturdays ago, and this week we have our reading from acts which talks about the Jesus ascension and his coming back- and some misunderstandings. The apostles asked Jesus, after he had risen, if he was at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel. As far as they were concerned, the return of the kingdom to Israel was the bigger picture, but God’s plan is way broader than their already broadened minds could comprehend at that point.
Acts 1:7,8 “He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””
The followers of Jesus had witnessed his resurrection. They understood far more than the average citizen in that community because they had been taught by Jesus, but they still lacked so much understanding. These people would not cope without Jesus there with them, and he was about to ascend to heaven. But God had a better plan.
In the beginning Jesus was there with God. He always existed, but other than being described as the “word” of God, he was somewhat apart from the people. Then the word became flesh.... the visible expression of God walked among us, yet as human he was limited to time and place. God needed his people to be aware of His presence with them at all times. He needed His people to know they could access His power in the same way as having Jesus right there with them.... and so he promised them a helper – the Holy Spirit.
Many years ago I met a person who had at one time been involved in the charismatic renewal and had previously experienced the gift of tongues (that is praying in an unknown language). He said to me that he had grown out of it and didn’t need it anymore. My thoughts about that are; how can you be so arrogant as to think that you could possibly grow out of the need for a gift of the Holy Spirit that God gives?
We live more than 2000 years after Jesus walked the earth. If the followers of Jesus, after being personally taught by him (which is being taught by God himself), needed the gift of the Holy Spirit, how much more do we need this gift?
The primary expression of the gift of the Holy Spirit that came upon the believers was the gift of tongues. There is a lot of misinformation about this, but to put it simply, this is praying to God in an unknown language. It is our spirit communicating with God through the gift of His Spirit. Many times we don’t know what and how to pray effectively – so praying in the spirit takes away all concern about this. In this matter we are no different from the first believers, except that we need the gift more.
Other expressions of the gift of the Holy Spirit are things like discernment, knowledge, healings.... etc... I’m sure these things will come up in readings in the next few weeks and so I don’t want to go into anything in detail, but just to make it really clear that we need this gift of the Holy Spirit far more desperately than the first believers.
Jesus prayed for those first believers and he prays for us:
John 17:6-11 ““I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.”
Jesus prayed that we might be as one. This prayer is answered through the Holy Spirit. There will always be issues that divide us. Some things that we can’t agree on, but when we have the gift of the Holy Spirit and God at work within us, there will be unity in spite of our differences.
On Saturday night, Don Ford preached a very crucial sermon. He got us all to repeat, “I in you and you in me”. These were the words of Jesus from the Gospel last week. The meaning is that, how we accomplish anything for God is by our being “in Him” and he in us. It is the Holy Spirit – God in us, which works to bring blessing to others. It is Christ living in us by his Holy Spirit that is a witness to the reality of God and the message of Good News.
When the chips are down and there are challenges to our faith we have an even greater need for the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to be witnesses when we would otherwise be too scared or too worn out.
1 Peter 4:14 “14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”
We may not have the persecution in our community that other countries face for being a Christian, but there is a lot of social pressure to confirm to the politically correct way of thinking and being.... sometimes these pressures are enforcing a good thing, but sometimes they are in opposition to our faith and what the Holy Spirit tells us is right. It is possible that if you have not experienced any opposition for your faith that you are not actually active with your faith....
To begin with, as Christians we proclaim that there is one true God. This offends people and many would say that because religion is to do with beliefs rather than facts that we need to keep quiet about it and admit that we don’t really know. BUT, a Christian who has had God revealed to them by the Holy Spirit doesn’t merely believe that there is one true God. St. Paul when he was struck blind by God did not merely believe that Jesus was the Christ and the one true God; he knew it and he witnessed it. This is a fact which commanded his life.
This whole idea of the trinity is beyond our human understanding but the Holy Spirit reveals it to us and makes it known to us.... not just a belief.
These are just a couple of things confirmed by the Holy Spirit, but also we find in our Gospel reading.
John 17: 1 “After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”
We can read and believe with all our might, but without the Holy Spirit these things would become mere ideas and not Gospel truth.
Jesus prayed for his followers because he knew that while we are on planet earth there will be many trials. And it is the Holy Spirit that helps us through these trials. Sometimes there is nothing written in black and white in the Bible to tell us what to do in certain circumstances. We then need the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Even when things are written in black and white we can get it wrong – the Pharisees did. And so we need the gift of the Holy Spirit.... sometimes we particularly need the gift of discernment as we have so many laws and ideas being put forward to us in our government – also, and in so many ways we need the Holy Spirit gift of wisdom.
Come Holy Spirit!
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