By Revd David Salsbury
Transcript below
On Sunday the 8th of June, we will celebrate Pentecost, the day when we remember how the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples as they gathered in Jerusalem, seven weeks after the Passover.
The coming of the Holy Spirit is one of those glorious moments in the New Testament.
Here, as when Jesus was baptised, God’s Spirit is seen to descend to the earth, giving life and power.
But the image of the Spirit at Jesus baptism is quite different to that of Pentecost.
At his baptism the Spirit descends like a dove, whereas at Pentecost the Spirit fills the house where the disciples were gathered.
There is a sound like that of a rushing wind and divided tongues of fire.
All of the disciples were said to be filled with the Holy Spirit before this happened.
The state of the disciples has been described as dispirited.
They were depressed, disheartened, lacking motivation, not quite knowing what to do next.
Maybe they were anticipating many things, not least the imminent return of Jesus.
And when the Spirit did come, it was in a manner far exceeding the expectations of even the most faithful disciples.
Through the Spirit’s life giving power, they are set free from their dispiritedness to spread the good news about Jesus throughout the world.
On the day of Pentecost, the church was born.
It sometimes seems to me that the description of the disciples as dispirited has many resonances with the way we might describe the church today.
Depressed.
Disheartened, lacking motivation, not quite knowing what to do next.
The church in many places is finding itself rethinking it’s life, work and mission, and the United Reformed Church is no exception.
But if we do feel dispirited, then we should remember that the Spirit of Pentecost, that same mysterious, life giving Holy Spirit, is present and alive today, able to shatter all reasonable expectations and set us free from whatever gloominess we may have about the future.
So let us pray.
Come Holy Spirit, come on this day of Pentecost, fill our lives, the church, and the world with your transforming gift of love, powerful as a rushing wind, yet gentle as a dove.
Amen.