Tag: Luke

Trinity 9: Peace?

17/8/25 – Trinity 9

Psalm 80:1-2, 14-end
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Luke 12:49-56

I have said in my last few sermons that we are in a season of teaching as we hear again the parables and stories of Jesus’ life and ministry. This was all well and good until I read this week’s readings. All this talk of fire, hammers, torture, unfulfilled promises, division, superficiality, and uncertainty. It’s August, it’s supposed to be summertime and living is easy!

To ease us in, I came across a story about the great composer Beethoven. He used to sometimes play a trick on polite salon audiences who were not really interested in serious music. Beethoven would perform one of his pieces on the piano, usually a slow movement which would be so gentle and beautiful. The audience would be lulled into thinking that the world was a soft, cosy place and relax into semi-slumber and think beautiful thoughts. Then, just as the final notes were dying away, Beethoven would bring his whole forearm down with a crash across the keyboard. Then laugh at the shock he gave to the assembled company. I think that we have something of a crash in the readings this morning.

“Many great heroes of the faith,” who died gruesome deaths, “did not receive what was promised.” writes the unknown Hebrews author. “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I came to bring division!” Jesus cries as he makes his way towards Jerusalem and death.

Maybe we need a reminder in this summer season that a real Christian faith is not one that is soft or easy, without cost. Maybe a reminder that peace comes with a price and how easily we can mis-read the signs.

There are a few phrases that I want to highlight from the readings this week and what they might have to say to us:

Run with perseverance the race that is set before us

Hebrews chapter eleven is often called the “Faith Hall of Fame,” since it highlights the remarkable lives and achievements of those who lived “by faith” in the Old Testament. Indeed, the achievements of these faith-filled men and women are awe-inspiring.

During their lifetimes, they “administered justice,” “shut the mouths of lions,” “quenched raging fire,” “won strength out of weakness,” and “received their dead by resurrection.” How much more impressive can you get? Yet maybe they feel distant, the persecution they faced as unrealistic to us now and their actions are ancient history; not practical to today. The lions we face are likely to be metaphorical and the foreign armies are over there, somewhere.

What is the race set before us? Many people are tired; we see that in the faces around us. The race feels endless, the finish line is not even a speck on the horizon. Whatever it is – physical, social, psychological or spiritual, look to Jesus. Perseverance takes energy and effort; when we run out of those we need to take a pause to rest, to recover. Simply gritting our teeth and trying harder often leads to less energy, less joy and to exhaustion.

Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. We do not have to have a photo finish, Jesus will run alongside us, cheering us on to the finish line.

“Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised.”

The “Hall of Fame” has a dark side to triumph and victory. Many of God’s faithful were tortured, flogged, mocked, and stoned to death. Many went about “destitute, persecuted, and tormented.”

Many spent their lives wandering in deserts and mountains, in caves and holes in the ground. And all of them — all of them – died without receiving what was promised to them. What does this mean? Well, among other things, it means that God’s timing does not always align with ours.

It means that crisis, feelings of meaninglessness, pain, and horror are part and parcel of human existence, regardless of whether we profess faith in God or not. As Christians need to be clear and honest about the faith we profess and not pretend we are immune. Yes, there is joy in the Christian life. Yes, there is beauty. Yes, there is the promise of love, wholeness, healing, and grace. But the life of faith is also hard and risky. The life of faith does not ever guarantee us health, wealth, prosperity, or safety. To suggest otherwise is to lie, and to make a mockery of the Gospel.

Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? NO, I tell you, but rather division!’

The Gospel of Luke begins with the proclamation that Jesus will “guide our feet into the way of peace.” At Jesus’s birth, an angelic choir sings “Peace on earth!” On numerous occasions during his ministry, Jesus offers men and women words of peace: “Go in peace and sin no more.” “Peace I leave with you.” “My peace I give you.” “I have told you these things, so that in me you might have peace.

Many of us, following Jesus’s example, “share the peace” with each other every Sunday morning: “The peace of the Lord be always with you.” “And also with you.” We assume — the vast majority of us, anyway — that ours is a religion of peace. Of peace-making, peace-loving, and peacekeeping.

It is not Jesus’ desire or purpose to set fathers against sons or mothers against daughters. It is certainly not his will that we stir up conflict for conflicts sake or use his words to justify violence or war. His words are a necessary reminder that the peace Jesus offers us is not the fake peace of denial, dishonesty, and harmful accommodation. He will expose the lies we tell ourselves out of cowardice, laziness, or stubbornness. Jesus will disrupt all dynamics in our relationships with ourselves and with each other that keep us from wholeness and holiness. This is not because Jesus wants us to suffer. It is because he knows that real peace is worth fighting for.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus forced choices from just about everyone he met during his years of ministry. No one met him without feeling compelled to change. He consistently brought people to the point of crisis, tension, movement, or transformation. He consistently led people to decisions their families and communities did not understand. And he still does. When Jesus speaks of divisions in households, he is talking about the division that his message will bring. Families will split up over it, the OT prophets spoke about this happening too.

Jesus did come to bring peace and wants everyone to put their faith in him. The reminder is that this is not easy or to be undertaken lightly. We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who are cheering us on so we can run with perseverance. We have been set examples in the heroes of the faith. Like Beethoven’s arm coming down on the keyboard and shocking his polite audience, let’s let the words of the readings this morning grab our attention again.

Trinity 8: Hello Hebrews!


Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Luke 12:32-40

As I keep reminding you that we are at Sunday summer school, it is time to learn (hopefully) something new. We have had some great Gospel stories over the last few weeks: Jesus sent out the 70 ahead of him to find labourers for the harvest, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan which challenges us on what it is to give and receive mercy and consider who is our neighbour.

Martha and Mary had their lesson in balancing work and activity with the need to sit and listen at Jesus’ feet. The start of Luke 11 took us deeper into spending time with God as it started with Jesus at prayer. We reviewed the Venture Week stories: Jesus and the first disciples, the blind man and Zaccheaus the tax collector. All changed by encounters with Jesus in the way they needed to be changed.

We are taking a little detour this morning into the Letter to the Hebrews and its 13 chapters tucked at the back of the New Testament. Hebrews features for the next three weeks so it is good to do some digging.

The letter to the Hebrews is something of an oddity in the New Testament. The author has never been confirmed and the audience is unknown. Who were the Hebrews? A new church, a group of people in a city somewhere? Is this a letter or a series of sermons? There is extensive reference to the Old Testament, more than any other New Testament letter or Gospel.

The letter was likely written between 50-90 AD by someone who knew their audience and circumstances. The dating is important to understand that this was a new-ish Christian community who had broken away from Judaism. This can explain the Old Testament references. These are people who knew their Jewish history (1:1-14).

This community had been persecuted and some members had been imprisoned. They were generous to fellow Christians in need (10:32-34). Yet something is wrong in this community. The writer is telling the Hebrews to imitate its former leaders and get along with the current ones (13:7,17). This suggests they were inclined to go their own way. They were following ‘strange’ teachings (13:9) and had stopped meeting together (10:25).

Worst of all was that they had stopped growing as Christians (5:11-12). The writer accused them of lazy discipleship (6:12). He begs them to persevere (10:36), to hold on to hope (10:23) and to not drift away (2:1) or shrink back (10:37-39) in their faith.

What is going on in this community?!

It was incredibly difficult for people in the early church. They were being persecuted for turning their backs on the Jewish faith and religion; at the same time as trying to remain faithful to the teachings of Jesus.

Temptation would have been great to give up. Is that our temptation too? When things get hard and do not turn out as we would like or think they should, give up to get out?

The writer is trying to stop the Hebrews from giving up by pointing them towards Jesus in three ways.

Importance of the OT

What do you think about the Old Testament? A lot of Christians struggle with it. They see it as not relevant, difficult to understand, it is violent, God is mean, misogynistic and distant and does all sorts of terrible things. These are common arguments!

However, the Old Testament reads more like this: it is the story of a people who messed it up completely. Repeatedly. For centuries.

This is their simplified story: God called Israel to be his people over others. We do not know why. He provided in every way and loved them. In return, God asked that they love only him, be obedient to him and look after their neighbours. Israel refused. Either they could not or would not. They were unfaithful as they worshipped other gods, killed their neighbours, wanted to be like the other nations. So God punished them.

Yes the punishment was harsh and the consequences significant. Think for a moment of the justice system. Punishment is the consequence of doing wrong. We often hear stories of people being punished too lightly or getting off too easily. There are people on the other side working very hard to increase punishment, length of sentences. Both sides fill the news with stories. Disobeying God has consequences too.

Which side would we be on if we or someone we love were the ones being punished? Why am I willing for someone else to be punished far harsher than I would want for myself? The point is that following God, obeying God is a matter of life and death. There is reward and punishment. There still is. Jesus is the reward.

The Hebrews needed to hear their story again with the added ending that Jesus fulfills the prophecy and promises of the Old Testament. Jesus is the Messiah that is spoken throughout the OT. We catch glimpses of Jesus throughout. Jesus is the One that was promised.

‘Heroes’ of the Faith

Hebrews chapter 11 is often called the “Faith Hall of Fame” since it highlights the remarkable lives and achievements of those who lived “by faith” in the Old Testament. Indeed, the achievements of these faith-filled men and women are awe-inspiring.

However on closer inspection many of these people made some big mistakes along the way! These are the people who messed up. Imperfect people, like you and me, are used by God to achieve some amazing things. It is great that their faithfulness is being celebrated and not their mistakes. Otherwise they would not be all that heroic.

Just a few examples.

Rahab the prostitute. She is remembered forever as a prostitute. How would you like to be known for that?

Gideon was initially spineless and blamed God for his problems.
Samson got involved with the wrong women and ate stuff out of dead lions.

David and Samuel were both great men and leaders and both had serious issues in their roles as husbands and fathers.

They are all commended for their faith and/but they did not receive what was promised.
They all lived in faith.
They all died in faith. (v 13)
This really struck me – they died in faith. We only die in faith when we do not give up.

Faith

Faith is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” In Luke’s Gospel the servants who put their faith in the Master’s return are blessed and rewarded. The heroes in chapter 11 were rewarded – for what though?

So what is faith?

For some people faith is a matter of creeds and doctrines; an intellectual exercise. To accept Jesus into my heart, to be “born again,” is to affirm a set of claims about who Jesus is and what he accomplished through his death and resurrection. To enter into orthodox faith is to agree that certain theological statements about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the human condition, the Bible, and the Church, were true.

Both Hebrews and Luke are pointing us in a different direction. People of faith, Abraham, Sarah, Issac, Jacob and the servants are described as those who set out for new places, wait for big changes and for the master to return. Abraham set out not knowing where he was going but he trusted God’s promises. They had a baby even when Sarah was way past child-bearing. The slaves were to be dressed and ready for action so that when the master arrived they were ready. Not sure for what. It will be unexpected and wonderful.

Faith described in these readings is not a destination. It is not a conclusion or a form of closure. Faith is a longing. Faith is a hunger and a desire. Abraham was pursuing his inheritance promised by God. Faith is taking the journey because God asks us to. It means a willingness to open our imaginations to new life and new joy even when we do not feel it.

It is through faith that the promises of God come. All of the heroes in chapter 11 lived and died with unfulfilled promises. If you have unfulfilled promises of God, you are in good company. We are part of something bigger. The biggest promise that God has ever made has been fulfilled. Jesus is that promise. He is the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

This is bigger than any broken or unfilled promise. The Hebrews needed to hear this. We need to hear this: something better has come and is coming again. It will be at an unexpected hour. We need to be ready.

Trinity 6: The Lord’s Prayer

July 27th, 2025

Colossians 2:6–15, 16–19
Luke 11:1-13

School is finally out for summer! Yeah for the teachers, parents and children! However, the church is in a teaching season as we read and study the (hopefully) familiar gospel stories about Jesus. We are at summer school!

The lectionary spent the last three weeks in Luke 10. It started with Jesus sending out the 70 ahead of him to find labourers for the harvest. Next, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan which challenges us on what it is to give and receive mercy and consider who our neighbour is. Luke 10 ends with Martha and Mary; that great lesson in balancing work and activity with the need to sit and listen at Jesus’ feet. Each of these encounters give us examples of the activity and instructions needed to spread the kingdom and show God’s love.

The start of Luke 11 takes us deeper into spending time with God. It starts with Jesus at prayer. This is the first and best way to get to know God; spending time with Him. There is obviously a quality about Jesus’ prayers and praying that provoked curiosity in the disciples. They would have seen and heard Jesus pray many times before. Finally someone is brave enough to ask Jesus to teach them how to pray.

Jesus’ gracious response is to teach them a prayer which we now recognise as the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus teaches the disciples to talk to God and to bring the whole mess and muddle of our lives, the mundane, the exciting, the big and small, to God.

That is what prayer is; talking to God. Talking. Not begging, pleading, negotiating, bargaining, hiding, pretending all is well when it is not. We have been shown work and activity, sitting and listening, and now we have a guide for talking to God.

Who taught or told you to pray? I remember as little girls, my sister and I being taught to pray by our Nana and our parents. The first prayer that we learned was the classic 18th century children’s prayer – ‘Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep’.

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
If I should die before I wake
I pray the Lord my soul to take
If in the morning light I wake
Lay down my feet
That I may take the path of love
for thy dear sake
God Bless Mommy, Daddy, Susie, Jenny, etc.
And it always ended with ‘God bless all the little children in the world. Amen.’

I realise this is a combination of the many versions (thanks to Google) but this is the one that I know. For many of us, the Lord’s Prayer might be our default prayer. Much like ‘Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep’, the wording can be different and we can use it at different times.

My version of the Lord’s Prayer is said with ‘thy’ and ‘thine’ and ‘trespasses’ not sins. Again, family influence comes into play: my Mom’s upbringing on the old Anglican Book of Common Prayer and my Dad’s love of the King James’ Bible. The language of the Lord’s Prayer is simple and intimate as it affirms the fatherhood of God. We are cared for as his children; we are reminded that God is holy and we must reflect this in our words and worship. It ends with addressing our physical, spiritual and safety needs.

The simplicity of the wording makes it easy to slide in our own needs and requests as there is a space for every plea, cry and desire; without need of particularly eloquent language. It is talking to God and bringing our concerns, which I may remind you, He already fully knows about. You are not fooling Him by withholding! I often think that God uses our prayers to bring needs and issues to our attention.

Luke 11 also reminds us of the need for persistence in prayer. I have always found the ‘Parable of the Friend at Night’ in verses 5-8 rather annoying. Just get up and give him a loaf of bread.

Jesus uses this story of the irritating friend to get the disciples to see prayer as something basic, day-to-day. Prayer does not need to be carefully sanitised or scripted. Nor do we have to worry about bringing to God only what we think he will accept. Back to: God already knows.

Prayer can come with a great sense of frustration. Has this been true in your prayer life and in the situations that have required persistence? There is always ‘work in the wait’ and a sweetness to both the prayers that have been answered through persistence and those that still await an answer. As uncomfortable as it may be we are to persist.

Jesus is encouraging the disciples to bombard God with requests, tell him everything, talk constantly to him, involve him in every part of life. We are not to limit God and prayer to Sunday mornings in a particular pew with particular words. The more we communicate with God, the more we learn about him and the more we learn about ourselves in relation to God.

In verse 9, ‘so I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.’
These verses are not about the prayers we pray for the stuff, the answers, the problems that we want God to respond to. Many people feel misled when they read these verses and then ask God to heal their loved one dying of _____ (and nothing short of that), or for a million dollars or a million other things.

When these prayers are not answered in the way that is expected, it is all God’s fault. They then give up on God or turn away from faith as they have created a vision of God as a genie in the sky waiting to grant wishes. Their view of God is fundamentally flawed.

The asking, seeking, knocking that Jesus is talking about is in relation to pursuing God, talking to God, learning more about God and who we are in relation to Him. It is about seeking God’s will and not solely our convenience.
Ask for God to come into your life and He will be given to you.
Search for God and you will find Him.
Knock on the door of heaven and it will be opened for you.

Paul, in Colossians, is imploring that young community to live their lives in Christ. Stay rooted and grounded to be built up and get established. We all have needs, wants, struggles and desires, both secretly and publicly, in all areas of our lives that we (I hope) would want God to be our ever present help in trouble.
Paul goes on to warn them of all the empty deceit happening around them. That hasn’t changed! There is so much deceit and empty philosophy in the world today and it is so attractive. Ultimately it will fail. Jesus is the only one who will ever fill us. We can be alive together with him.

Finally, Luke reminds us that our Father in heaven will give us good gifts, more than we can ask or imagine. It is all for the asking.

How is your prayer life at the moment? Do you?
How is it going? Need a change or boost?
If not – why not?

Do you want to do anything about it?
Maybe you need to want to want to do something about it!

Talk to God. It is not eloquent or fancy, not just an activity for Sunday.

I am going to leave some space for a few minutes to do just that. You are not bound to your seats – get up. For some people sitting in a pew is not conducive to prayers. Kneel if you’ve got the knees for it.

Trinity 4: Neighbourhood Mercy

Vincent Van Gogh


13/7/25
Trinity 4

Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37 – Good Samaritan

The Gospel reading this morning should be rather well known to you! When the familiar is clung on to, the significance can get lost. Many of us might hold a simplistic view of this story. There is more to the Good Samaritan than simply being a good person who helps people.

The idea for the next few minutes is to look at points in the story that often go unnoticed.

Over three weeks we have Luke 10 as the set Gospel. Last week Jesus sent out the 70 to find more labourers for the harvest. They were to cure the sick and proclaim the coming of the kingdom. The disciples returned to Jesus with joy as they told him about all the amazing things they had seen and done. Jesus is overjoyed by their news and rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and prays to God the Father. Jesus blesses them for what they saw and did.

What are the disciples seeing and hearing? The answer is Jesus; they are seeing His works and hearing His words. The disciples had amazing experiences and saw the amazing power they were sent out with at work.

How is our seeing and hearing this morning? Are we missing out because we are blind and deaf to the works and words of Jesus? It happens sometimes; even to the best, most holy of us!

Many of the problems in our world and in our own lives (to some extent) stem from blindness and deafness to those around us. How can we love our neighbours as ourselves if we are blind and deaf? Many people are lonely, have no one to visit them. Some people can go for days or weeks without seeing or speaking to another person. Are we watching and listening out for those people? Are we one of those people? The priest and Levite demonstrated this kind of blindness as they passed by the beaten man. They saw but did not act; moved to the other side of the road.

I say this as much to myself as I say to you: how is our seeing and hearing? Do we need a check-up? Is there someone who this week we could practice on?

What is the Question?!

Immediately following Jesus’ comments the young lawyer stood up to test Him. What is the young lawyer really asking? His question is genuine, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus answers the question with a question, “what is written in the law?” The lawyer (no fool himself) gives Jesus a concise, A+ answer: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and you shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

Jesus provides an A++ answer: “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” The young lawyer wants more. Maybe the lawyer really means, “Who is not my neighbour?” As in: how much love are we talking here, Jesus? Can you be specific? Where should I draw the line? Outside my front door? At the edges of my neighbourhood? Along the religious and cultural boundaries I was raised with to keep me pure and holy? I mean, there are lines, aren’t there? There must be lines. We can’t be neighbours with everyone!”

We all have lines but are they in the right place?

The Good Samaritan was not blind or deaf that day on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. He was likely inconvenienced and out-of-pocket by helping the beaten man. He did it anyway.

The Good Samaritan would have not have been the good guy in the original telling of this story. If we put it in a modern context: An Israeli or Russian soldier is robbed, and a Ukrainian or Palestinian villager saves their life. A racist white cop is robbed, and an African-American teenager saves his life. A transgender woman is robbed, and an anti-LGBTQ activist saves her life. An outspoken atheist is robbed, and a Bible-thumping fundamentalist saves his life.

I am not for a moment trivialising the real and consequential differences that divide us politically, religiously, racially, or ideologically. I dare not do that — not when those differences are costing people their lives this very day.

The enmity between the Jews and the Samaritans in Jesus’s day was not theoretical; it was embodied and real. The differences between them were not easily negotiated; each was fully convinced that the other was wrong. Jesus deeming the Samaritan ‘good’ was radical and risky; it would have stunned his Jewish listeners.

The Beaten Man

The man at the centre of the story does not have a voice. Everything is done to him. His name and what his business was on that particular day is unknown. If he was unconscious he couldn’t have spoken. What might he have thought or felt about his situation?

We can assume that he was Jewish. That is how the people listening to Jesus tell this story. Yes, it is a story – Jesus made it up!

Given the great hatred between Samaritans and Jews, the beaten man may not have wanted to be ‘touched’ by an enemy. Not that he was not in any state to accept or decline help.

The Samaritan man would have had to change all his plans for that day and night as we are told that he spent the night with him. The Samaritan then ensured continued care and left him safely at the inn. His help cost him both time and money; two important resources. The man could not have done anything for himself; he was completely dependent on the Samaritan at that moment.

The final question

Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?
The young lawyer answers, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’

Mercy. Helping a neighbour, regardless of who they are or where they are from, shows mercy. God desires mercy and not sacrifice. How is our vision and hearing today? Are we looking for opportunities to show mercy? The obvious and the obscure.

Often those with no voice, like the beaten man, remind us of our own frailty and our burdensomeness. Remind us of our own need for mercy.

The story of the Good Samaritan is ultimately about mercy. Anyone who needs help, needs mercy is our neighbour. Let us not forget the times when we need mercy shown to us.

Pentecost! Come Holy Spirit!

6/8/25
Pentecost

Acts 2:1-21
John 14:8-17, 25-27

Creator God, as your spirit moved over the face of the waters bringing light and life to your creation, pour out your Spirit on us today that we may walk as children of light and by your grace reveal your presence. Amen.

Today is a day of celebration in the Church! What an exciting day! After Jesus’ resurrection at Easter, he told the disciples to tell other people about what they had seen. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to be with them once he left. At this point, the disciples are confused, sad, nothing seems to be happening, I bet they had lots of questions – when? How? What?

Then, in the quietness, they heard a new sound, like a strong wind, God’s presence was with them; like nothing they had ever experienced before. The Holy Spirit is the part of God and Jesus that is active in the world today. The Spirit was sent to help us and guide us along in our lives.

At Pentecost we are celebrating four things that all begin with P.

Party
We know that something astonishing is happening in Acts 2; barriers of culture and language are being broken down as the Spirit falls on those gathered that day. Luke, in his writing, is struggling to find the language to describe what is going on; things ‘seem like’ and ‘sound like’ which indicates he has never seen anything like what he is seeing before.

After all the trauma of Jesus’ death, the working out and waiting for what was to come next, the arrival of the Holy Spirit was a wave of relief. The mood of the people made others think they were drunk. I imagine it in that happy, celebratory drunk kind of way. They were hearing, Luke tells us, God’s deeds of power in their own languages.

This is what we are celebrating today – God’s power that brought about the birthday of the church. From this point, the people who gathered that day went out to tell the Good News of Jesus. If those who were there on that first Pentecost had just gone home after – none of us would be here today.

Punctuality
The timing of Pentecost is important. God was using a long-standing appointment on the kingdom calendar of the Jewish people. This is why Jerusalem was so crowded with Jewish people from across the known world. The Feast of Pentecost was meant to pour out the ‘old’ spirit in a ‘new and powerful way’.

For centuries, before the first Pentecost, the Jews had been celebrating the Feast of Weeks which happened 50 days after their Passover. The number 50 points to fullness, ripeness, to a time that is ready for something to happen.

At the Feast of Weeks, the Jews had to do three things. Firstly, remember the promises God had made and kept in the past and be thankful. Sometimes memories can be short during tough times.

Secondly, they had to be generous. The Jews were not allowed to come to the feast without a gift to say thank you to God. Thirdly, they were to celebrate the harvest, the first fruits. The people were to bring the first of the harvest as an offering to God. The best of the harvest and present it joyfully to the Lord. No rotten apples or mouldy wheat with a bad attitude would do.

Promises
The third thing to celebrate today is promises.

Who here is good at keeping promises? Ever break one? Or has someone made a promise to you and then broken it? Big or small, when a promise is broken, it breaks trust and can cause much grief. When we break promises we have to live with guilt or embarrassment and work to rebuild trust.

We sometimes get it right and sometimes not so much.

Do we believe in the promises of God? Do we take them seriously? It might take a long time for those promises to come through; often longer than we want. God’s promises might look different to what we think the promise should be. And God is faithful; far more faithful than we ever can be. Jesus promised that he would never leave us alone. That the Advocate, the Holy Spirit would come.

The other promise we see in Pentecost is found in Acts 2:21, ‘then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ This is the biggest and best promise of all. Salvation. This is what Jesus offers, gave his life for – that we could be saved for eternity with God.

People
Pentecost is about people experiencing God in new ways. You all look pretty good to me, nice, respectable people. I can see you from the outside and as I get to know you more and better, I get glimpses of the inside. I can hope and pray that the person you are on the inside matches the outside presentation.
Jesus came to save us, to heal us and change us from the inside out. We are not meant to be the same once we have met with Jesus. The Holy Spirit leads and guides us, it brings joy and peace beyond what we can imagine even in the most difficult of circumstances.

Abundant life is what Jesus came to bring. Not just a little but or enough but big and abundant.

In the Gospel reading, the disciples and Jesus are together for the last time at the Last Supper. They are still unsure of what is to come. Philip has an easy suggestion for Jesus, ‘just show us the Father!’ Come on already! It seems an easy solution; who does not want an easy answer to a difficult question?

Jesus rarely offers an easy solution. He says to his disciples, ‘if you love me, you will keep my commandments.’ Our love for God and the people around us should be a reflection of the love we have for God. We do not have to love under our own steam. It is the Holy Spirit that helps us – keeps our troubles hearts at rest and brings peace.

On this Feast of Pentecost we celebrate the party, the punctuality, the promises and the people. We thank God for all that he has done in the past and will do for us in the future; do not forget that! Especially when life is hard. Remember that He first loved us; our love is a response to that. We show our thanks for what He has done by being generous to others and to the church.

We take a moment to give thanks and ask for the Spirit to fill us again.