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You, too, can be part of the St Giles caring,

celebrating comunity,

O God, I am somtimes afraid.

I am somtimes tired.

O God, let there be for me the spirit

I need to live fully.

I

THE COMING OF THE SPIRIT FOR US!

Acts 2.1-21

Do I see everyone smiling?

Do I see everyone happy and care-free?

Has ‘The Budget’ solved all your problems?

Are all your worries over?

Maybe not.

We have had some cold, dismal days.

And what do we know?

We have more ahead -and colder and more dismal!

In the winter months beginning,

we will sometimes struggle to keep warm,

we will probably get colds, coughs or flu.

About now, as we move from autumn to winter, some people feel depressed.

They might be suffering from ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder’ -S.A.D.

Some people have problems moving from one season to another.

Maybe you are feeling a bit out of sorts.

Maybe you are feeling a bit dispirited.

Maybe you are feeling a bit sad.

I have good news for you!

You have come to the right place!

If you are feeling dispirited,

today you will be re-spirited!

Today we celebrate the coming of the Spirit.

This is the Spirit that carried Jesus through crucifixion,

still loving, still caring, still looking forward.

And you and I can have that Spirit!

On the Pentecost Day a strong wind filled the house where the believers were.

The Greek for wind is pneuma.

Pneuma is the Greek also for spirit and for life!

From pneuma we get pneumatic.

What does pneumatic mean?

What does a pneumatic tyre do?

It handles the bumps and holes.

With the Spirit, you and I handle the bumps and holes –the rough patches in our life.

What is a pneumatic tyre like?

It’s bouncy!

With the Spirit, you and I bounce back.

With the Spirit, you and I are bouncy people!

Let’s do a bounce!

Let’s celebrate our bouncy spirit!

I invite you to bounce up and down on your pew a few times!

And on the Pentecost Day what looked like tongues of fire touched each person.

Remember it was in a fire, Moses heard God speaking to him.

Do you like a fire?

When I got home in the evening with my broken fingers, what did I feel like doing?

I felt like lighting a fire.

I wanted to sit by a cheering, comforting fire.

We have a heat pump.

The house is warm. But it’s a cheerless, comfortless warmth.

Do you find a fire lifts up your spirit?

Do you like a fire?

The Scots have a prayer,

Lang may your lum reek. –Long may your chimney smoke.

If your chimney’s smoking, it means your fire’s going and you’re all right.

Let’s engage with the Spirit in fire.

Let’s light one or two fires!

Let’s light some candles.

………………

Karen has been thinking about the people on the Pentecost Day, though they spoke different languages –everyone understood everyone else.

Elements of the story:

I think the Holy Spirit can bring everyone together:

people of different classes and races are all responding to God’s love for them.

People are not talking about their differences but of what they have in common.

On Wednesday I was in Dunedin , speaking at the funeral of a relative.

My relative, Clyde , at his birth suffered deprivation of oxygen.

He was a little slow.

He had his routine. Every morning he walked along to the supermarket.

He didn’t buy anything. He just walked up and down the aisles, smiling at people.

He lived next door to the police station. The policemen and women were fond of him.

They had a pet name for him, something like ‘Mr Mop’

because they saw over the fence, only his hair.

Last week one of the policemen realised he hadn’t seen Clyde for a while and took him in a tub of hot chips. He found Clyde had died.

There were a lot of people at Clyde ’s funeral service,

people from all walks of life.

Many people had loved him.

The Holy Spirit of love had brought us all together.

Flying to Dunedin , we were diverted to Invercargill.

I had appointments with the celebrant and the funeral director I couldn’t keep.

I phoned them. The celebrant was a little uneasy that we hadn’t had time to prepare.

When we finally met, I quickly found:

her name is Tricia, she’s a lovely person, she’s an Elder at Knox, she’s a very old and dear friend of Andrew and Judith Souness, she’s knows Ruth Churcher well.

We immediately clicked. She was no longer uneasy.

The Service flowed beautifully.

The Holy Spirit brings us together as one.

Luke tells us, ‘Peter stood up with the other eleven disciples and in a loud voice began to speak to the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem , listen to me and let me tell you what this means. These people are not drunk as you suppose: it is only nine o’clock in the morning. Instead, this is what the prophet Joel spoke about, ‘I will pour out my Spirit on everyone.’”’

Notice this:

1. Peter is proclaiming God’s love in Jesus.

This is the Peter who just before had denied he knew Jesus!

2. The disciples are standing with him.

These are the people who just before had been hiding behind locked doors!

3. Peter embraces everyone.

His words are not for Jews alone.

4. Some thought the believers were drunk.

Why would they be thought drunk?

      Karen imagines they were happy, laughing, showing affection.

      We spirited people don’t need to be drunk to be happy and affectionate!

Let’s celebrate the Holy Spirit with us!

Let’s laugh and show affection together!

I invite you to stand and hug your neighbour.

On Thursday at Orthopaedic Outpatients, the nurse cut off my splint with great care and tenderness. When it came to pulling off the sticky bandage she said, ‘I am very sorry Mr Hunt, this is going to be a bit painful as we tear out the hairs on your hand.’

They are busy people. They could be forgiven for being brusque.

They are thoughtful and kind.

From the stranger who helped me in the airport car park, to the people who drove me about enabling me to do my work and took me home, to the people who expressed concern, to the nurse on Thursday –I have been blessed.

The loving Spirit of God is moving in people’s hearts everywhere.

We spirited people don’t look to The Budget for our happiness.

We spirited people don’t worry about winter coming.

We know the loving Spirit of God everywhere.

A Response

A thought or a story of your own - click here to email  stgiles@xtra.co.nz