The Holy Spirit – Sermon by Anneke Oppewal   Readings: Genesis 1: 1-5; John 1: 1-5;   Matthew 28: 16-20 When Peter told me he was doing a series of sermons on the Holy Spirit with you I was excited and daunted at the same time. I’ve always had a bit of an awkward relationship with the whole idea of the Holy Spirit personally and it was always a bit suspect in the Church I grew up in. It conjured up images of raised hands and ecstatic scenes I, and the Church I come from, didn’t want to be identified with. A little bit, once a year, on Pentecost Sunday was fine, but for the rest we mostly made sure to steer well clear of it as much as possible. We were more focused on Jesus, as a friend and companion, our saviour and Lord, and the Father, creator and sustainer of the world around us. I guess we didn’t quite know what to do with the Holy Spirit, and even less with the related concept of the Trinity that seemed even more confusing and hard to understand. In our scriptures the Holy Spirit is on the scene from the very beginning. It is God’s Ruach to use the Hebrew word which has a difficult to translate meaning, but means something like breath or life essence that is said to be hovering over the waters from before creation. It is this Ruach, this essence that is said to be present in the Holy of Holies in the Temple, it is what descends in the shape of a dove on Jesus at his baptism, it is what Jesus promises his disciples will stay with them and work with them after he has gone, it is what he breathes onto his disciple when he meets them after the resurrection in an upstairs room in Jerusalem. In other words: The Holy Spirit is a concept and a presence that is there from the beginning and keeps popping up all through the bible. But if you feel a little awkward, confused or not entirely sure around the concept of the Holy Spirit or the idea of the Trinity that is connected to it, you are definitely not the only one. It took the Church a couple of centuries to figure it out and find words to define it, and when it did what it came up with in the creed was, and is, more often than not, not experienced as very helpful by many. I guess that is simply because when we start talking about the Holy Spirit or the Trinity we are trying to find words for something that is very difficult, if not impossible, to define or fully grasp. And perhaps that is the entire point of the exercise, that we discover, when we try to define God, when we try to find words for who and what God is, that we discover that when we move a little deeper, there are no words that adequately describe or define God. That there is more to God than we can ever grasp or say. And yet we try, and have tried, as Christians, to say something about what is the essence of God, about our core understanding of God in that concept of the Trinity, saying that God for us is Father, Son and Holy Spirit in equal measure, one yet three, three but one, with the Holy Spirit, at least in our teachings, equal to the Father and the Son, giving expression to what God is together. Christian doctrine, our faith, says that God can and will be experienced in three main, and very different ways. As Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, Father of Jesus Christ and of all creatures. As the Son, saviour, brother, example, guide, a man of flesh and blood who lived our life, suffered our death, and is alive today, walking beside us, now, guiding and caring for us still. And as Spirit, as breath, movement, energy, inspiration, comfort and a powerful intangible presence that is way beyond what we know or define. Putting it like that may complicate things, but it also creates room for us to have different experiences of God and relate, at different times and in different contexts to God in ways that are not always the same but may vary, wildly. It means, it tells us, that what we know of God, what we experience of God, how God may reveal Godself to us, does not necessarily have to be the same all the time. There is room for difference. God speaks, reveals and relates to us in different ways. As Creator/Father, as Son/brother and as Spirit/ energy. It may not be a coincidence that these three ways of God relating to us, coincide with the three ways of us being in the world according to the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber. He says we all are an ‘I’, a person, an individual that relates to itself. We are aware that we are, individuals, entities, defined and differentiated from what is around us. We are also a you, an entity, and individual, defined and different from others that always are in relation to others. Our ‘I’ not really fully known or knowable until we are, until we encounter others and become a ‘you’. I am an I, but when I become a you because I relate to another person something is added to who we both are. Me knowing you and you knowing me adds to each of our knowing ourselves and our being known by another. Confused? If I lived on an uninhabited island all my life and never met anyone but myself I would never learn to speak, express, think, or be as much and as deeply as when I am there with another, or more than one, other. We get that, right? But then we are also infinitely more than that. There is a whole host of things that go

What the Bible says about ‘Sex’! Leviticus 18: 1 – 24;  Romans 1: 16  – 27 I had a strong sense that I should focus on a growing concern I have. Every time I switch to a news commentary programme on TV or talkback radio the subject comes up.  Well, it seems like every time and the same claims are made. The insulting denigrations of the Bible are uttered. And what the Bible doesn’t say is trotted out as something that it does say. It concerns and annoys me that a half-truth becomes a full truth resulting in belittling the Bible.  I’m referring to the alleged claim of Israel Folau who has stated that homosexuals will go to hell. I put up a post on my ‘Facebook’ stating that the Bible doesn’t say that homosexuals are going to hell; that the Bible doesn’t understand the concept of homosexuality;  that I am saddened by the silence of Church leaders on this matter and it has nothing to do with religious freedom.  In the four passages of Scripture in Leviticus [18 & 20], Genesis [19], Judges [19] and Romans [1] hell is not mentioned in connection with sexual acts between same-sex people.  Now we can easily dismiss the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 and Gibeah in Judges 19.  They are not stories about homosexuality, as we know it today, but about the custom of heterosexual men raping men as an act of terror. We call that buggery and it is not uncommonly used as a weapon of terror in war zones even in our time.  The Leviticus and Romans references certainly aim at same-sex intercourse. Not surprisingly the act is condemned. That has been true right up to the end of the 20th Century. However by the end of the 20th Century many Western countries decriminalised homosexuality as we had come to understand that homosexuality is not a matter of choice but a natural sexual orientation for some of the population. A simple test is to ask yourself if you chose to be heterosexual. What homosexual people choose is to declare what they have known since their awareness of sexuality. They have had to struggle against the conventional wisdom of a heterosexual society.  That is, if your gender is male then you are sexually male and vice a versa. Today homosexuality refers to a same-sex oriented person desiring a relationship with another of a similar orientation,  just as heterosexual people desire heterosexual relationships.  What is the Bible talking about when they refer to same-sex coupling? We can’t get away from the fact that such an act was taboo, but still the references in the Bible are specific. The references in Leviticus [18:22; 20:13] and Romans [1:27] are respectively about ritual cleanliness for worship and eroticism.  Leviticus 18 is all about how God’s people should behave and keep themselves pure to worship God. In the opening verses of Leviticus 18 God’s people are told not to behave like the Egyptians and the Canaanites. In Canaan the popular religion was the worship of fertility gods. Part of the fertility cult’s worship involved sexual acts which were both hetero and homo-sexual. They also conducted sexual acts with animals. The context is a wild erotic culture.  It is a step too far to conclude that this is a condemnation of homosexuality as we understand it today.  It is a condemnation of fertility cult practices. Romans 1 also condemns same-sex relationships and sex with animals! The context is about seeking erotic experiences [See Plato’s ‘Symposium]. Let us hear what Scripture says. In Leviticus we read; You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. You shall not have sexual relations with any animal and defile yourself with it, nor shall any woman give herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it: it is perversion. [Lev 18:22,23]  In Romans we read: Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. [Rom 1: 26,27]  To simply conclude from these texts that God condemns homosexuality is a step too far. Notice too, that hell is not mentioned. Such behaviour taking place for fertility cult rites and erotic experiences is condemned along with touching a woman with a menstrual flow and child sacrifice.  What I find interesting is the list of sexual activities carrying the death penalty in Leviticus. Yes, same-sex sexual activity carries the death penalty for both and equally so for a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, his father’s wife, or his mother-in-law or an animal. In each case both the man and the woman or other person or animals are to be put to death. Adultery carries the death penalty! We also read that a man shall be excommunicated from the community if he uncovers the nakedness of others and if he lies with a woman who has her menstrual flow [Lev 18:20]. If we are going to jump to literal conclusions about one thing shouldn’t we include the others? Adultery in the Bible is rightly condemned because it is an unfaithful and a selfish act. However the Bible is a complex book and we cannot avoid the episode of adultery and murder committed by David with Bathsheba. For all of King David’s dastardly acts he remains a revered Biblical figure.  And there is that instance of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery. Jesus says to those who would stone her – the Law at that time allowed this and I am not sure where the man was – those who are without sin can throw the first stone. No one dares to pick up a stone and Jesus sends her away with just a word not to do it again [Jn 8:1-11]. It seems that Jesus wasn’t ready to respond to the letter of the Law, but rather to respond with grace and mercy. 

The Untapped Power!   2 Kings 2: 1 – 2, 6 – 14;  Mark 1: 4 – 12, 21 – 27 Power over other people, power over nature, power over supernatural forces and power over oneself – such is the four-sided goal of humankind.  It is quite amazing how much energy and cleverness goes into these pursuits. In contrast we feel so lost when we have no control. Powerlessness devitalizes. Our Bible texts tell us that Elisha wanted the power of Elijah and got it.  Jesus is described as a man of authority and power.  In the brief extract from Mark’s account of the Gospel the authority and power of Jesus is clearly recognised by the crowds. Jesus demonstrated his authority and power in his teaching and the exorcism of evil spirits [Mk 1: 21 -27].  The Gospel according to Mark has numerous examples of this. Jesus had the authority to forgive sins  [Mk 2:10] and the authority to drive out demons [Mk 3:15]. Mark gives us a very interesting insight into Jesus’ power in the story of the woman with the haemorrhage. When she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment and she was healed, and he felt the power go out from him [Mk 5: 28-30]. Jesus’ authority and power amazed people. This instance of the woman being healed and Jesus feeling the loss of power begs the question; ‘What was the power that Jesus had?’ The Gospel writers, Mark, Matthew and Luke, each tell us that the Holy Spirit descended upon him when he was baptised [Mk 1:10; Mt 3:16; Lk3: 22]. They tell us that the Sprit directed and sustained him in the wilderness [Mk 1:12; Mt 4:1; Lk 4:1]. Now Mark does not refer to the Holy Spirit often, but he says enough to make it clear that the Spirit is working in and through Christ Jesus. However Mark is speaking indirectly about the Spirit when he refers to Jesus’ authority and power.  What we find in both the Old and New Testament is that when the Spirit works in the servants of the Lord they have an authority and a power. Jesus’ authority and power is a sign of the Spirit being in him.  We witness the presence of the Spirit in others when we sense they speak with an authority and power that is healing and energising. We recognise the Spirit in ourselves when in doing the Lord’s work and we feel carried or strengthened to a point where we are surprised.  However we may not always recognise the Spirit at work amongst us because the Spirit’s work is to point us to God and Christ. The Holy Spirit’s work is partially hidden because the Spirit never points to herself. We know the Spirit by her work not her person. We identify the Spirit by looking for the Spirit’s effect upon us. That is, we are looking for those mysterious little nudges that move us to do things. We might call it our conscience but it is more than that. We experience the Spirit when something strikes us about the Bible or something is said about God.  The Spirit is working within us when we are moved to be thankful to God, feel blessed in worship or convicted of wrongdoing. The Spirit is working in us when we sense our need for God.    In contrast we read about Jesus revealing the nature of God through his profound teaching, driving out of demons, his crucifixion and resurrection, but the Spirit is always pointing us to the Father and the Son.  Grammatically speaking the Spirit is not the subject or the object of the sentence but the verb: the Spirit is the theological doing word. The Spirit is always helping us see the work of God in Christ in the world. The Spirit touches our hearts and minds and leads to God. Our mistake is to overlook the Spirit’s ministry or underestimate it.    From the Bible passages read today we learn a few things that help us. We learn that the Spirit’s power is available to do God’s work, not to achieve our own ends.  J. Stuart Holden wrote; God does not invest a person with power for any other work than that of the Kingdom of God. That is very important to remember.  We learn that God wants us to be powerful.  It is a wonderful thought that God wants us to be strong.  God wants us to have the confidence to speak God’s truth and to act for the good of others.  When Jesus saw that his disciples were anxious about standing up for themselves he said to them; I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict [Lk 21:15]. If we pause in the midst of our anxiety and stop to listen to God we will not be disappointed for God’s wisdom will come. In my early Christian years I recall doing just that – praying for the Spirit’s guidance – and at times being amazed at what I said. Every Sunday morning we see the Spirit’s work helping us worship. I know that to be true.  I know because there are times when I feel far from being ready and willing to be here, but God honours my faithfulness. I know that the worship leaders increasingly are experiencing God’s strengthening presence.  I also sense that the Spirit works amongst you. Sometimes it might be more correct to say to me at the door, not ‘thank you, Peter’, but one of the following.  ‘Thanks to the Spirit for speaking to me through the sermon.’  ‘Praise God as the message spoke to me.’  ‘God spoke to me this morning.’  The great joy in my ministry is seeing the work of the Spirit in you and watching your growth and maturity in Christ.  Jesus’ metaphor of the Vine & Branches found in the Gospel according to John 15 helps us understand

Life, Promise, Hope!   Ezekiel 36: 22 – 27, 37: 11 – 14, 24 – 28 Remember Dot-to-dot puzzles? They might help us better understand the Bible’s teaching.  Connect the dots with lines and a picture emerges. The Bible is like that. Connect some of the thoughts scattered through the Bible and a picture emerges, just as we do with ‘dot-to-dot’ puzzles. Let us have a go this morning. We’ll begin at the second verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:2, where we are told that the Spirit or Wind of God blew over the chaotic waters and there was order. Now we draw a line from that verse to Genesis 2:7 where we are told that God created humankind and ‘breathed’ life into humankind’s body.  The clue here is that Biblical translators take the wind or breath of God to mean the Spirit of God. This tells us that it is God’s Spirit that gives order to creation and life to humankind. Then move a line to Psalm 104, which confirms this that when God hides from us our breath is taken away and we die; and when God sends the Spirit we have life again. Now this isn’t exactly like a dot-to-dot puzzle but the principle is there. We read a verse in the Bible and forget to see its connection to another verse. When we do make the connection a picture emerges. In this instance the picture being formed shows that God the Holy Spirit is the source of order and life. So if we were to continue drawing lines we would find numerous examples of God’s Spirit empowering leaders and prophets, priests and kings, men and women. In the Bible the belief is there that God is the source and the energy of life and that the wind of God or Spirit is the means. The Bible abounds with word pictures of the Holy Spirit working. A good example is the vision of the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel.   God gives Ezekiel a vision in which Ezekiel views a valley full of dry bones. At God’s command Ezekiel instructs the bones to rise up and then summons the four winds to breathe life into the bodies. This happens.  This is followed by an interpretation that the dry bones represent the exiled Jews.  Although the Jews have been unfaithful and deserve punishment God is going to reinstate them.  God is doing this because the Jews carry God’s name and God by reinstating the Jews will honour God’s name. Observers will say; ‘Look at what their God has done!’  But this is not all. God is not only going to set them free, bring them back to Jerusalem, re-instate their community, and give them a new attitude, but God is also going to put God’s Spirit in them [Eze 36:24-27]. Without God’s Spirit God’s people would neither know God nor have a right attitude. Wow, all that stuff plus God’s Spirit! This is the punch line:  God promises to ‘dwell’ in them [Eze 37:14, 27].  That’s right, dwell in them. This is an intimate action. The Hebrew concept of dwelling with them conjures up the picture of God pitching a tent. God is going to come and live with us. This imagery is so rich and useful even for us today.  Our lives do go through periods of barrenness – dry periods. When we turn to God and acknowledge our failures and confess our sins God breathes new life into us. God doesn’t simply forgive but restores us with life. Like the cool summer breeze God’s Spirit refreshes us. We must be wary of these spiritually dry periods. They are not necessarily like the disastrous droughts that sweep through this land. They can be, but often the spiritually dry periods are like lean seasons. There are crops but the harvest is poor. The farmers just make do. They scrape through meeting their daily needs and paying the mortgage. Sometimes they are reduced to paying only the interest. Such lengthy dry periods can be devastating both for a farmer and for those associated with them. Likewise our spiritual dry periods look like that. All seems well. We are making do, but there is no energy, no excitement and no renewal. It seems we’re in a holding pattern.  Think, my Christian friends, of such times. You may be in one now. I assure you that I am perfectly familiar with them, but I am also familiar with the breath of God renewing and refreshing me.  I thank God for the renewing Spirit. Of course these spiritually dry periods are not so much that God has moved away, but that we have decamped and moved away from God’s tent. The dots we have joined together today and the imagery that we have looked at tells us some very important truths. Firstly, we get from this Biblical picture that God gives us life.  That is, we don’t control life and even less are we the source of our lives. Life is a gift to us.  You may want to say, ‘Peter, aren’t you just playing with words?’  In a sense yes, but the perspective I am providing is important.  Thousands of years ago when humankind reflected on life it was realised that life was a gift; they hadn’t made it on their own. I remember sitting around the lunch tables on the sailing club’s deck looking over the lake and beyond to the beautiful city skyline. It was a delightful picture on that sunny day, one which I often enjoy. I sat there in silence reflecting about my sailing companions and the Gospel of Jesus. The chatter was energetic. The camaraderie was healthy. I thought,  “These people have no need of God. “They are self-sufficient. At least they would say so. They enjoy reasonable financial well-being, good health, a genial camaraderie and the club is their community. Insurances, superannuations, pensions and social security all ensure they can cope with the

What’s the Trinity? Romans 5: 1 – 6,  8: 12 – 17;   John 16: 12 – 15 I had a chuckle to myself when commencing sermon preparation this week. It is what I read that made me smile.  You see, I find certain Sunday themes rather onerous. They are onerous in two ways. Firstly there are those themes that are just heavy work.  Secondly, there are themes that are regularly repeated and I wonder if the congregation will be bored hearing them repeated. Well, Trinity Sunday is a bit like that. In the first place it is very hard to explain and secondly it is repeated in the same format each year. So, I turned to the Internet and I found the following comments that made me smile.  Preachers said things like this.  ‘Trinity Sunday is my least favourite Sunday in the Year.’ ‘My people would just roll their eyes and tune out if I preached on the triune God.’ ‘I’ll just go with the Peace and Justice theme and ignore Trinity.’  Another protested: ‘How can you not preach on the Trinity? It is the essence of our Christian lives.’  It is also noted that ministers will get a guest preacher in on this Sunday or run with some other diversionary tactic. Well I’m going to run with the Trinity theme.  I have had time to read some rich and meaningful stuff on the Holy Spirit and Trinity, so let’s have a go.   The first point I want to make is this.  The Trinity has been difficult to understand because of our need to explain things and wrap things up neatly. We sit uncomfortably with mystery. The Trinity is not easily ‘wrapped up’ nicely. Some of the unhelpful approaches have been to define the nature of God in a set of concepts. For example we have the three-‘omni’ words – omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent – which mean all-powerful, all-knowing and all-present. Then there are those other words we use some theologians prefer such as Immanence, Immutable, Impassible and Impeccable. Such words don’t tell us much except that God is aloof and remote. In contrast our experience is that God is personable and approachable. So how shall we approach this concept of the Triune God?  I’m hoping to throw some light on the Trinity by looking at how we know one another.  Getting to know a person involves some very basic actions. When you get down to the basics of knowing a person something very simple yet profound has to happen. The other person must speak to us in a language we understand, using concepts we can grasp and shareing something of themselves with us.  Of course, we need to do the same.  To develop a relationship that is meaningful we must be prepared to reveal something of ourselves.  This self-revelation takes time. Now there is another important ingredient to knowing another: their words must match their deeds.  For us to get to know another there must be a level of congruence between what they say and what they do.   Their doing becomes as important as their telling.  To put it simply we know more about the nature and character of God by what God does and how God relates to us than we do by reading a set of ‘big’ words.  We must begin at the beginning. Way back in time, before the nation of Judaism was formed and before there were any holy scriptures were written, there was an understanding that there was one high god – the god of gods.  The story of Abraham and Sarah tells us this. God spoke to them.  God called them to move away from their home to a new place.  That in itself is profound, because the common belief was that gods were specific to a location. This call to Abraham and Sarah meant they had to leave the old ways of worshipping many gods and worship the one God. This was radical thinking. Abraham and Sarah learnt to trust God and as they moved around they learned that God was always present and God that kept God’s promises. That is a revolution in thinking because it meant that God was more powerful than local gods. So we start with this concept of One God. This we share with Judaism and also Islam. Now we know God must speak to us and also God’s words must be consistent with God’s actions.  God’s protective and rescuing presence becomes even more evident in the story of the Exodus.  It was not long before those ancient people spoke of God’s Spirit being with them. That is a concept we share when we speak about the spirit of a person. We use the concept of spirit to speak of the non-physical part of a person, which often includes their true self.  We use the word ‘spirit’ to describe the influence, character, mood, energy and meaning or intention of someone.  So we find on the first page and in the second sentence of the Bible a reference to God’s Spirit actively involved in creation.  We read;  In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,  … a wind/ the spirit  (Hebrew word for wind means breath or spirit) from God swept over the face of the waters. [Gen 1: 1; Job 26:13]  The Scriptures increasingly speak of God’s Spirit coming upon people empowering and guiding them. Here are some examples of God’s Spirit working with individuals:  So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand upon him. [Num 27:18]   The spirit of the LORD came upon him (Othniel), and he judged Israel. [Judges 3:10] When they were going from there to Gibeah, a band of prophets met him (King Saul); and the spirit of God possessed him. [1 Sam 10:10] And when he (God) spoke to me (Ezekiel), a spirit entered into me and set me on

An Eruption at Pentecost Festival  Acts 2: 1 – 21;  John 14:  8 – 17, 25- 27 Volcanoes erupt and in the process shape the world around them. God’s creation is dynamic. Volcanoes are a dynamic part of creation and we humans are also part of the dynamic nature of creation. The eruption of ‘tongues’ at that Pentecost festival in Jerusalem almost 2000 years ago was significant. It might have been just a small tremor or a rumbling to the Jerusalem crowds, but what erupted that day went on to shape Western society and influence the wider world. What happened that day led to people from every corner of the world following Christ Jesus.  On that day the Church was born. Let us pause and wind back the clock of history and see what information we can glean that will help us imagine what happened that day. Jesus had been crucified. Three days later Jesus’ closest followers went to the tomb and found it empty. Then in a number of ways they encountered Jesus, not in a dream or vision, but in real time. The only concept that helped them understand what was happening was the concept of resurrection. There was a belief then that God would raise the dead at the end of time. The raising of the dead to life was called resurrection. It was not about resuscitation but being raised to life eternal. Jesus had been raised from the dead. He is alive.  Those followers were a small group of about 30 men and women. Jesus’ resurrection appearances brought them together. They sensed something dramatically new was happening. They continued to wait together meeting regularly for worship, prayer and the fellowship of eating together. Jesus had told them to wait until God’s Holy Spirit had empowered them. They waited. They waited obediently. On the first day of the Jewish harvest festival, Shavuot, they were together worshipping God. Then it happened. The picturesque language of Luke’s account – wind and fire – helps us imagine the moment.  Jesus followers – all of them women and men – were deeply moved. They broke forth with a burst of ecstatic sound. It seemed that they didn’t know what the sound meant, but the Jewish pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover and stayed for the Shavuot heard spoken the languages of the regions they had come from.  Let us pause again. What is this festival? It is the spring harvest festival of the ancient Jewish people called Shavuot. It is celebrated 7 weeks and 1 day after the Passover. The 7 weeks and 1 day make 50 days. Fifty days in Greek is Pentēkostē.  That is where the name Pentecost comes from. Fifty days after Jesus’ crucifixion at the feast of Shavuot Jesus’ followers are blessed with the Holy Spirit. All this information is in the Bible in Deuteronomy (15:9), Leviticus (23:16) and Numbers (28:26). The other important information is that Jerusalem’s population had swollen enormously during this festive season. The Jews had been scattered throughout the Empire. In their local regions they would have had to communicate in the local language and in Greek, and at the same time keep up their own.  These Diaspora Jews, as we call them, made the effort to come to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem at least once in their life-time. Many of them stayed over for the Shavuot festival. Now we can see what God is doing. Jesus’ folowers had learnt to wait and their obedience was honoured. Then on the first day of the Shavuot festival the crowds had begun to gather again around the centre of Jerusalem and the Temple.  At this critical point a group of Jews burst out into ecstatic praise of God. They were lost in the ecstasy of the moment, but unbeknown to them many of the visiting  Jews recognised what they were saying. This phenomenon had erupted in their midst and a crowd gathered. A few cynics assumed they had, had too much wine for breakfast. Possibly those cynics were locals who didn’t recognise that the ecstastic sounds were other languages. Peter preached and he explained what had happend. The rest is history …  and we are here today. There is much we can learn from this eruption of the Holy Spirit. Firstly, the Promise of the Spirit is fulfilled.  Jesus had told his followers – men and women – to wait until the power of the Spirit had come upon them [Act 1:8]. Then Jesus, according to the Gospel of John, said to his disciples; “I will not leave you orphaned” [Jn 14:28]. Then later Jesus said to them; “When the Advocate (Helper) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.” [Jn 15:26] At Pentecost that promise was fulfilled. Secondly, the disciples obediently waited. Their waiting was an active waiting. Real waiting is active rather than passive inactivity. Those disciples waited worshipping, praying, reflecting on the Scriptures and sharing food together. They learnt that God’s timing is better than theirs. Thirdly, they were together united in Christ Jesus. The strength of the Church is its unity and its weakness is its disunity. Our historic disunity was over theological disputes keenly felt and some disputes were over secondary matters. Luke makes a strong point about their unity writing,   When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place [Act 2:1]. We read that after that Pentecost day the disciples gathered together fellowshipping by sharing a meal.  I think we have lost something in our Western churches where our individualism drives us home to our private and family affairs rather than together around a meal.  I think we have too few shared meals, and I must confess that I have failed to promote our meals together.  So I do point a finger at you, but I also have three pointing back

Easter Eruptions Continuing! Acts 16: 16 – 40; John 17: 20 – 26 Just a few days after the level of danger had decreased regarding the Sinabung volcanoe in Sumatra (Ind.), a massive explosion was reported on Saturday, May 25th.  There are a number of active volcanoes around the world.  I counted 10 earlier this week.  There are some 1500 volcanoes and a number of them in Australia. The vast majority are dormant.  Now you needn’t worry or have a sleepless night worrying about the volcanoes as there are watchers who have the knowledge and equipment to read the signs. But their warnings don’t always register with us. When the eruptions come we seem surprised. Sudden volcanic eruptions are deeply disturbing.  In fact any kind of sudden eruption is disturbing. You may be wondering why I have started this sermon talking about volcanoes. Why start with volcanoes?  Well, I was reflecting on the texts set for this Sunday, especially the lengthy story about the Philippian jailer. (I have extended the reading to get a fuller picture of the situation.) The readings suggest that the Holy Spirit is bursting forth everywhere.  I thought of Easter when Jesus rose from the dead.  It was like an eruption bursting forth from the bowels of the earth.  The Resurrection was an eruption of energy that empowered Jesus’ despairing followers. Jesus’ Resurrection disrupted the normal tasks and expectations around his death. Jesus was dead and dead means dead – no more earthly life.  But Jesus erupts – he bursts onto the stage of life upsetting the normal process. We well know how it works! A death occurs followed by grief and mourning and then there is the slow adjustment to living. Not with Jesus. His resurrection was like an eruption. It was sudden, unexpected and life changing. In fact it changed our perspective on death itself. Now we think that things would return to normalcy. They did in a way. The disciples gathered for worship, prayed and fellowshipped around the meal table. Then the second eruption – Pentecost! We’ll reflect on Pentecost next week. What followed Easter was this burst of energy in the life of the Church.  The Church was then persecuted and it scattered throughout the known world. Little groups of Christians gathered in many towns well beyond the borders of Judaea and Galilee. Travellers, merchants and Apostles had spread the Gospel. Today we have an account of Paul and Silas travelling through the lands and towns of what we know as modern day Turkey. But the text tells us a number of things. The first thing we are told is that though the disciples of Christ made plans to work systematically through the southern towns of Asia Minor their plans were interrupted by the Holy Spirit.  We read that the Spirit had prevented them from ministering in certain parts and had directed them through a vision to go to Macedonia. All we are told is that the mission of the Church was Spirit directed. We can conclude that the Spirit’s direction was more adventurous and strategic than their mission plan. So they went to Philippi and Thessalonica.   The second thing we learn is that they were open to the Spirit’s direction. In my life I have had to wrestle with my conventionalism and conservatism and the call of God. I have also found that I have let my life be dictated more by the regular chores of ministry than bold new plans. I would think that the disciples’ willingness to hear the Spirit and respond is a challenge to us all. Thirdly, there were quite a few small eruptions in the life and witness of the Church. The Holy Spirit caused these eruptions. They went to Philippi and encountered challenge and opportunity through two women. Firstly Lydia, a Gentile and a wealthy merchant. Her wealth and independence is significant. She received the Gospel of Christ and welcomed Paul and Silas to her house. Her house becomes the home-base for the church. It became what we call a ‘house-church’. Then there was that eruption of the Holy Spirit in the incident of the slave girl, who followed Paul and company declaring that he was the ‘servant of the God Most High’ [Acts 16:17]. It was an eruption of sorts. The slave girl disrupted the mission.  The slave girl’s owners falsely accused Paul and Silas. The issue was about her owner’s loss of income. Paul and Silas were wrongfully imprisoned. However out of what seems a bad experience emerged healing and salvation. An earthquake caused Paul, Silas and other prisoners to be freed from their imprisonment. This greatly frightened the jailer. He would be held accountable. He decided to ‘fall-on-his-sword’.  Paul stopped him assuring him they would not escape. The Gospel was preached and the jailer and household became Christians. Paul and Silas’ suffering became the pathway for more grace and blessing.  Now we can see the Holy Spirit’s direction of God’s mission in these stories found in the book of ‘The Acts of the Apostles’. The Holy Spirit directed Peter to go to the wealthy and powerful Roman Officer, Cornelius. The Spirit convicted and blessed Cornelius and his household. Then the Spirit directed the Apostles to Macedonia where more households became Christian.  The success of the mission was due to the Holy Spirit.  That is another lesson the Church must remember.   And so we read that Lydia, the wealthy Gentile merchant, became a Christian. We are told that the ‘Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying’ [Acts 16:14]. Lydia was baptised with her household. We can confidently assume that the Holy Spirit blessed her and her household as the Spirit had done with Cornelius. Likewise the Philippian jailer and his household turned to Christ Jesus and were baptised. This was followed with a fellowship meal [Acts 16:33 & 34].  There are things we learn from these stories of our Faith. Firstly, the Holy Spirit directs

SUCH LOVE By Geoff Serpell From a magazine sourced from 7th Day Adventist called “Signs from the Times”, a Kim Peckham wrote that you could be dead by now. That is, if you had lived 100 years ago. She says we are living so long now that we can receive greeting cards from Centrelink saying, “Happy one hundred and first birthday, and here’s another cheque. If you live much longer, we’ll be a fiscal wreck” The card comes with a gift pack of cigarettes. If you were a baby girl in 1850, you couldn’t expect to live past 40. She also wrote if you go back to ancient times, the average life span drops to 28 years. During these times banks were very reluctant to give anyone a 30-year home loan. That is why most people then lived in tents. Life insurance companies disqualified you then for drinking water. The point I want to make is, what are you doing with all that extra time? Let us return to this later. Judas went out into the night; it was very dark! The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was now a certainty. We have moved beyond this year’s Anzac Day during which the ABC covers the dawn service, Melbourne Anzac Day march to the shrine, and the services conducted at both Gallipoli and at Villers-Bretonneux in northern France. William Barclay in his Daily Study Bible, states that “The greatest glory in life is the glory which comes from sacrifice”. The supreme glory belongs not to those who survive a war but to those who lay down their lives. Lawrence Binyon wrote:  “They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.” It was the obedience of Jesus which brought glory to God. Jesus gave the supreme honor and glory to God because he was obedient even to death on a cross. The full and final triumph of Christ, after dying on the cross is of course the resurrection and ascension. Jesus laid down his farewell one and only commandment recorded in John’s gospel, to his disciples as he washes their feet. Time then was short. He walked a lonesome road. The disciples must love one another as he had loved them, even including Judas. What does this mean for us and for our relationships with each other? Soon I will invite you to share with the one next to you, how you came to have your faith. When did you accept Jesus as your lord and savior? Jesus loved his disciples selflessly. His one desire was to give himself and all he had for those he loved. His love was given sacrificially. Even to that cross. It was given understandingly. Jesus lived with his disciples; he knew them through and through. He loved them forgivingly.   All the disciples from Peter down, denied Him and forsook him as craven cowards. He forgave them!  We are asked to approach our life and each other with his focus on love. The kind of love with which we are to love one another is the kind of love with which Jesus loved his disciples. Today the media does not promote: “God First”, it doesn’t even promote “others first”. We live in a world that suggests our needs and our wants must be met first. Jesus’ love for his disciples and friends was like the love of a father, the Heavenly Father, to whom he taught them, and us, how to pray. He referred to his disciples as brothers. He identified himself with people who were hungry, thirsty, naked, or a stranger or in prison. These examples of friendship, of fatherly love and brotherly love, from Jesus, he commands of us too. May I indulge myself by sharing with you a mini testimony? I was a regular attender of both Sunday School and Church during my childhood and during my teens. During my three month’s service in 1957 with the Army at Puckapunyal, I had a few wake-up calls to deal with away from my sheltered homelife. My interest in the fairer sex had been awoken and I found that dancing was a good way to meet. “Tinder”, the on-line dating service, was not around in those times. With all the good fellowship I experienced at Hampton Methodist church, I still had a few things to come to grips with, some unsettling things at home and a workplace in a bank with a less than inspiring atmosphere. The Billy Graham Crusade came along in, I think 1959, in Melbourne and whilst attending with my mother and sister, I stood up and committed myself to Christ. Later at another crusade, I volunteered as a counsellor at the MCG. I thus had a personal savior in Jesus Christ and ever since have endeavored to do His work ahead of my own interests.  Jan and I have both just read “The Billy Graham Story” by John Pollock.  We picked the book off the bookshelf in the middle room. There is always some great books and good CD/DVD’s there. Between 1949 and 2003, Graham addressed more than 83 million face to face, it would be another billion he reached on TV and radio. 3 Million came forward as inquirers at his crusades. In 1954 he had audience with Winston Churchill, and he was friends with most American Presidents during his lifetime. Queen Elizabeth granted him an honorary knighthood in 2001. He passed away recently in his late nineties. Our 2019 Friendship book reading for April 27 wrote of Graham, “he said we need to learn to say, ‘I was wrong; I’m sorry.’ And we also need to reply, ‘That’s all right; I love you”.  When we learn that lesson, we might also begin to spread this attitude further afield. How did you come by your faith? Would you like to share

Great Expectations!   Acts 9: 31 – 43; John 10: 22 – 30 George Bernard Shaw said of Charles Dickens’ notable novel, Great Expectations, “All of one piece and consistently truthful.”   Great Expectations is the story of the growth and development of the orphan, Pip.  Through all the misery and suffering, Pip endures and good triumphs over evil. The theme of good defeating evil connects with us.  I believe hope and expectation are essential to our being.   Our readings address the tensions in the early stages of the Christian Church. All was not plain sailing. Storm clouds surrounded the followers of Jesus. Persecution on the one hand and natural sickness struck the Church. Disappointment and failure touched the early Church;  sickness and death touched the Christians in Joppa west of Jerusalem. When a significant disciple died the church sent for Peter! They had great expectations of him. First a little bit of background. After Pentecost and the initial miraculous expansion of the followers of Christ Jesus they were persecuted. The main persecutor of the Church was Saul of Tarsus who became the Apostle Paul. During this time many Christians left Jerusalem because of the persecution.  After things had settled down and the persecution fizzled out Peter, the leading disciple, went on a pastoral visitation of the Church. Our reading today finds Peter in the region of Lydda and Joppa on the Mediterranean coast. Here two healings take place: the healing of Aeneas and Tabitha. Now Tabitha’s name means gazelle in Hebrew and in Greek dorcas.  In this story the woman who dies is called by both her names – Tabitha and Dorcas. We are provided with quite a lot of information about her healing. We are told that Tabitha was a respected Christian who made clothes and was generous with her wealth and talents using them to look after the less fortunate.  Tabitha is the first female to be described as a disciple of Jesus. She was an example to others [Acts 9:36].  She was a leader.  We are told that Peter was summoned. Two men were sent to summon Peter to Joppa. Tabitha had died. He arrived and listened to the story about Tabitha and was shown her handiwork. He then asked all to leave the room and he prayed. Then Peter turned to Tabitha’s body and commands; “Tabitha, get up!’ Tabitha opened her eyes and sat up and Peter took her by the hand.  We might remember the healing of Jairus’ daughter by Jesus. In Mark’s Gospel account Jesus was approached by one of the leaders of the synagogue, Jairus [Mk 5: 22].  Jairus’ daughter was sick. Jesus went with Jairus but on the way he was met by Jairus’ servants who reported that the child had died. But Jesus said she was merely asleep.  Jesus went on.  On arrival he entered the child’s room, prayed and then commanded her saying; ‘Talitha, get up.’ [Mk 5:41] We can see a number of parallels between the healing of Tabitha and Talitha. I want to suggest that Peter was modeling his ministry on the ministry of Jesus. That is a natural thing to do. The miraculous healings in Acts are important.  (By the way the word miracle describes an extraordinary event that is not explained by rational or scientific laws.) 1) The healing of Tabitha and Aeneas were for the growth of the Church. I say that because they were public healings and they blessed others. 2) These miraculous healings led to others following Christ Jesus. 3) The healings were the work of the Holy Spirit not Peter.  4) The Christians had high expectations of their leaders. 5) Peter is obedient to the call of the Church. 6) The Lord is the director and healer here, not Peter.                                                              The Jews that surrounded Jesus in the Temple had great expectations too. They were expecting God to send a Messiah/Christ figure who would drive out the Romans from Judea. Their question as to how long Jesus would keep them in suspense has possibly two meanings.  It could be that there were Jews who genuinely wanted Jesus to confirm who he was so they could finally decide; and there were those who wanted to trap him into claiming to be the Messiah. Those genuinely wanting to know whether Jesus was or was not the Christ were hoping and expecting the Christ.   Those who wanted to trap Jesus were also expecting the Christ, but they saw Jesus as a false Christ. Jesus answered them; “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” [Jn 10:25,26]  Jesus’ answer reminds us that we know through faith not simply through some physical demonstration or reasoning of the mind. It is the eyes filled with faith that see and understand.  Strangely this is not some irrelevant spiritual truth to scientific humankind. It is a practical reality. In everyday life we see and understand because we have a belief about the things we look at. We see what we expect to see. Our knowing is influenced by our believing and vice versa. The first great miracle of the Jesus-movement was that people came to see that Jesus is the ultimate revealer of God.  The miracle included seeing the truth that love leads to freedom and the truth sets us free. The miracle was that people found that the gentle way of Jesus – love – was the answer. The miracle was that they saw that being in Jesus’ company was where God’s kingdom is. The presence of God is a powerful liberating feeling.  It was only the other

God’s Salvation More than a Peaceful life. Acts 9: 1 – 20; John 21: 1- 19 Today I want to offer you some of my musings  (my pondering / my reflections) on suffering. I am not offering any definitive theological explanation.  My musing arises from what I have noticed in the Bible – almost between the sentences.  They are the things I see that we often read as secondary to the main story. In one sense they are secondary! For example, take the story of Paul’s Damascus Road experience. We note the blinding vision, the fear of Ananias when asked to go and heal Paul and the amazement of the people that this prosecutor of Christians has become the Christian proclaimer.  But did we notice what God said to Ananias about Paul? God said; “I am going to show him how many things he is going to have to suffer for the sake of my name.” [Acts 9:16 NTW*] Yes, God chooses Paul to be the prime apostle to the nations and kings – and the children of Israel [Acts 9:15].  However God knows that Paul will suffer for the faith.  From the very beginning of Paul’s call to follow Jesus suffering is forecast.  I wonder if this understanding that the call of God involves suffering helps Paul understand that to suffer for the Gospel is a great honour.  Paul saw his suffering as a sharing in the suffering of Jesus.  In Paul’s letter to Timothy he says; “I was made a herald, apostle, and teacher for this gospel; that’s why I suffer these things.  But I am not ashamed, because I know the one I have trusted, … ” [2 Tim 1:11-12].    When you heard the story of Jesus’ appearance by the seashore of Lake Galilee to seven disciples did you skip over the same point?  We have heard John 21: 1 – 20 read and preached many times. It contains that wonderful encounter between Jesus and Peter where Peter is given the opportunity to renounce his three-fold denial of Jesus with a three-fold declaration of love. There is also the miracle catch of fish in the story. You might be surprised to know that many hours have been spent and much ink ‘spilt’ deciding the significance of the number 153 of fish caught. One scholar tells of an incident in his lecture theatre. The students had debated the meaning with no satisfactory conclusions. There are none. Then one quiet student said. ‘My hobby is fishing and fishermen count fish!’  That’s what fisher folk do.  But how many of us have heard sermons on or thought about verse 18 and 19 where Jesus says to Peter; “I am telling you the solemn truth.  When you were young, you put on your own clothes and went about wherever you wanted. But when you are old, you’ll stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you up and take you where you don’t want to go.” He said this to indicate the sort of death by which Peter would bring glory to God [Jn 21: 18-19]?  Church history tells us that Peter was crucified for his faith in Christ. When he came to be crucified he asked to be crucified upside down as he felt unworthy to be crucified exactly as Jesus had been. Jesus said to Peter follow me, I have an important task for you and you will suffer a painful death for what you do for me.  Do we expect to follow the Truth and witness to the Truth and not be challenged, ignored or rejected? To tell the truth is usually uncomfortable for others. Suffering for the Faith is to be anticipated. And it is an honour to suffer for the Faith. Writing to the Philippian church Paul says; “Yes: God has granted you that, on behalf of king Jesus, you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake [Phil 1:29]. Our love for our neighbour  [Mt 22: 34-36] ultimately leads us to empathy for the needy. To care for others is costly. Christianity is about care, compassion and costly service. The first thing I want to say about suffering is that suffering is part of the Christian life. We can’t expect to be a follower of Christ Jesus and not suffer at all.  If we have never suffered any rejection at all for our faith and if we have never given to others to the point that it begins to hurt then maybe we have never witnessed for Jesus? The second observation I have made is that as you mature as a Christian and grow in compassion for others, you encounter another level of suffering.  We see that in Jesus. Luke tells us that after the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday Jesus came near and saw the city and Jesus wept over it [Lk 19: 41].  Jesus could see that the stubbornness of the Jerusalemites would end in great suffering and disaster for them.  He was deeply saddened.  Jesus was moved by the suffering of others and healed and fed the crowds even when he was tired [Mt 14:14; Mk 1: 40-41].   We are called to carry the burdens of others and mourn with those who mourn  [Gal 6:2; Rom 12:15].   To love always carries the potential for suffering. Our compassion leads us to empathise with others. The evil of the bombings in Christchurch and Colombo deeply saddened me. I am saddened by the loss lives, by the grief and suffering of those left to mourn,  and by the hate and anger that so blinded the perpertrators. Can one begin to understand how hate and anger imprisons? I am saddened by the growth of fear.  Grief, hate and fear must be redeemed by the love of God or else the downward spirals of grief, hate and fear continue.  God calls us to be with each other.  Florence Nightingale said; ‘My mind is absorbed with the sufferings of