Wait here for the Present- Acts 2.1-42
We’re marking the feast of Pentecost today. It is the church’s birthday, the disciples of Jesus gathered in a room by themselves all frightened were suddenly bold in speaking out no matter how odd it sounded about the reality of Jesus and the gift of grace that God includes you, and you and you, and you in his long term plan of a world better than this.
Pentecost was a Jewish celebration and it came 50 days after the Passover which marked God rescuing the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt. In Hebrew it was called Shavuot, which was also known as the festival of weeks, and it fell at the time of harvest, a time of plenty, so feasting was exactly the right thing to do but for the Jewish people it also marked the occasion when the Old Testament law, those 10 commandments and then some were given to Moses on that old mountain top.
Moses heard the spirit of God telling the good way to live, and it became the Old Testament. Peter and the others heard Jesus telling the good way to live and it became the gospels. Now Peter and the others heard the spirit of God and it became the start of a whole new chapter where the values of scripture weren’t written with pen and ink, but with actions.
Pentecost is also known by us as Whitsun of course which is a contraction of White Sunday. The vicar usually wears Red at Pentecost, so where does this white all come from? Well it’s an association with baptism clothes. Today was traditionally a baptism day- where people hoped to respond to God with as much energy and vitality as those 3000 people in the crowd that responded to Peter, which we are going to hear about in a little while. Picking up from that in this country, Whitsun was traditionally the time when families all around would have new clothes for their children in the family, even the very poorest.
And in a way the idea of being clothed from on high with God’s presence, is a way we can hold on to some of those older thoughts about how this day used to be marked. St Paul uses imagery of clothing ourselves with the armour of God for example, it was an imagination prayer-exercise to help his readers stand up against being ostracised or undermined by society back in times of persecution. And we could use a similar approach today.
What would it be like to be clothed with the Spirit of God?
If we closed our eyes and imagined that raw power wrapped around us like a light, invisible layer, what would we feel? How would we live or act?
Let us listen in to the story now.
Read Acts 2.1-42
We’re talking about gifts in the scripture story today. The gift of God’s presence. It was the birthday of the Church, so gifts, thats a good analogy to play with today.
I’m not going to talk for long- the drama group have said all that needs to be said. But, using that image of a gift we could help ourselves a bit to know that God is all for us and never, never, ever about damning us or throwing us away.
Those disciples were frightened originally. Jesus had said to them, wait. Wait in the place where you’re staying for God’s gift.
Have you ever waited for a gift? Think back to a birthday, perhaps one in your youth where there was some anticipation about what you might receive. The wait is a big part of the gift. Without the wait, the gift is left bereft of some of its value.
Incidentally I recall hearing a story about a little child that was starting at a new school once. The child was introduced into the classroom on the first day, and the teacher looking around the room for a place with a spare tray for him to sit at, said to the little boy “Well now, sit there the present.”undefined
Come home time the boy’s mum asked him how his day went.
“It was fun,” he said, “But I never did get that present.”
Oh I know, I can read your thoughts..... You’re all groaning to yourselves and thinking, ‘Yeah, on your bike with these so called of jokes of yours’ But, the anecdote has a point. That little boy was anticipating a gift (a misunderstood one), but can you imagine how that idea of a present would have been going more and more around his mind the longer the school day went on?
So too, we are meant to wait a while, to cherish with anticipation the exciting thing that we hope will come to us. When that moment finally arrives, wow how the excitement can fly.
In the disciples case: from fear, they were transformed to boldness. They wanted to share this good thing that they had received with everyone around. In fact, it just spilled out of them like overflowing champagne. They shared the goodness of God even without trying, even if they hadn’t wanted to. And people around noticed and listened and they too got a gift that day. How amazing it must have been to have so many people experience God’s presence deep within their hearts.
We have that presence, we carry it always. The promise have been given. Sometimes I’m asked why isn’t God so dramatic with these days. Why was it so different in the bible? Well, I can’t say for sure, but it might be something to with learning to wait with anticipation something that has been definitely promised.
