Reuben's Theme: "His spirit is with us"
(Whit Sunday) - MORNING MASS
0900hrs at Saint Aidan's Church - Billy Mill, North Shields.
Sunday, 19th. May 2002 Anno Domini.
Morning Mass: Acts: 2.1-21 Ps: 104.25-35, 37 1Corinthians: 12.3b-13 John: 20.19-23

May 19, 2002 Cycle A Pentecost.

FIRST READING

Acts 2.1-21

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, 'Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?
9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
11 Cretans and Arabs - in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power.'
12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, 'What does this mean?'
13 But others sneered and said, 'They are filled with new wine.'
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, 'Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning.
16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 "In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."'


PSALM Psalm 104.25-35, 37

R Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.

25 O Lord, how manifold are your works! in wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. R
26 Yonder is the great and wide sea with its living things too many to number, creatures both small and great.
27 There move the ships, and there is that Leviathan, which you have made for the sport of it. R
28 All of them look to you to give them their food in due season.
29 You give it to them, they gather it; you open your hand and they are filled with good things.
30 You hide your face and they are terrified; you take away their breath and they die and return to their dust. R
31 You send forth your Spirit and they are created; and so you renew the face of the earth.
32 May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; may the Lord rejoice in all his works.
33 He looks at the earth and it trembles; he touches the mountains and they smoke. R
34 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will praise my God while I have my being.
35 May these words of mine please him; I will rejoice in the Lord.
37 Bless the Lord, O my soul. Alleluia! R


SECOND READING

1 Corinthians 12.3b-13

A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
3 No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord;
6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.
7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.


GOSPEL (Alternative readings)

John 20.19-23

Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
19 It was evening on the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked
for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.'
20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
21 Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.'
22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'

Reuben's Sermon:

Reuben's Theme: "His Spirit is with us"

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

It's our birthday today!

The most wonderful thing that you could possibly imagine happened; on this day about one thousand, nine hundred and seventy years ago!

Jesus' death has been a tremendous blow to the disciples.
Things hadn't happened the way they had expected.
But, Jesus conquered death and appeared to them several times.

Our Gospel reading today takes us back to before The Ascension...
"For fear of the Jews" they had gathered behind locked doors when Jesus appeared to them."

But now Jesus seems to have gone and left them behind.
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place, again hiding behind locked doors.
Now, they are alone... ...well they think they are.
It's Pentecost and they are all together in one place.
Jesus has ascended into Heaven.

They are frightened, unsure of themselves and feeling very vulnerable.
All that Jesus has told them is still echoing in their minds.

They cannot make sense of it all.

Again from our Gospel reading today...
"As the Father has sent me, I am sending you"

They don't feel much like being sent anywhere!

Something is missing.

"If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

They're too frightened to step outside the door, let alone forgive anyone.
The disciples are in a room, all by themselves, somewhat lost rather dejected and very frightened...
...when suddenly the most wonderful thing that you can ever imagine, happened.
The coming of the Holy Spirit!
And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.


You know when something you didn't understand suddenly makes sense.
When the penny drops and it all becomes clear?

Well, such an occurrence is often symbolised by a light bulb which appears in a thought balloon above the head.

They didn't have electricity in those days, so fire is the best symbol to use.

To symbolise something wonderful!

The fire that burned inside them!

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Yes, the disciples not only understood what it's all about, but they could explain it to anyone... ...and be understood!

Now we come to the crunch!

I want you to imagine what was going on in Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost, all those years ago.
As it says, "Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem."

Devout Jews!

Let's get this clear in our minds...

Jerusalem was packed.
There were thousands upon thousands of Jews in Jerusalem.
Jews who had travelled from everywhere to be there.

We're not talking about your average run of the mill, ordinary Jew here.
We're talking about devout, fundamentalist, hard line, 'must-be-in-Jerusalem-for-Pentecost' Jews...

...and in a room, hidden away, in the middle of all this, there are twelve Christians who have just understood the plot!

They are so elated that they cannot keep quiet!
And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, 'Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?
'What does this mean?'
Suddenly all of the disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit and they begin to speak so that everyone can understand them.

The Holy Spirit has come among them.

The penny has dropped... ...Suddenly they understand.

They are so overjoyed, so moved, so very excited...

...and so very talkative.

Jews gather outside, remember? as it says, "Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven - in Jerusalem."
"What is going on?" they ask.
Jews from all nations can understand what these Galileans are saying and are therefore a little confused.
"Are these Galileans drunk?"

Peter, bless him, he has to speak up.

Is he going to put his foot in it, like so many times before?

Peter raises his voice and speaks to them...


Today is not just about what Peter says, it's about what gave him the ability and courage to say it, and to say it so very well.


Our story continues...
Peter raises his voice and speaks to them.
Filled with the Holy Spirit, he starts on a light-hearted note:
"Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, listen to me, I have something very important to say. These men aren't drunk, it's only nine o'clock in the morning."

There's got to be some "Peter Logic" in there somewhere.

Peter continues... ...and quoting from the prophet Joel...
...this lovely man, who tried so hard to get it right (and often got it wrong)... ...this lovely man is now getting it right.
Quoting from the prophet Joel, Peter states the case for Christianity, and concludes...
"Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Everything has become clear to him, and indeed to the other disciples.

What happened after that?

Peter went on to preach the first Christian sermon.

Right there in Jerusalem.

At Pentecost!

Among thousands upon thousands of Jews.
The very people they had been hiding from only a short time ago!

Peter, an ordinary fisherman who tried so hard to get it right, and so often got it wrong.

Peter, who was the first to recognise Jesus as the Messiah.

Peter who, Jesus said, would be the rock on which our church would be built.

This Peter had spoken so powerfully, and with such conviction, that he had an enormous effect on the now enormous crowd that had built up.

A Christian preaching to Jews!

Peter preaches Christianity to them...
...a very dangerous thing to do.

Peter preaches the word of God...
...about as dangerous as it would be to do it in Jerusalem today.

and what happened?

Well, it's not in the reading today, but the story does continue.

About 3,000 Jews turned to Jesus.

Peter preached the word of God...
...and about 3,000 Jews became Christians.

Peter preached the word of God...
...and about 3,000 Jews were Baptized that very day.

About one thousand, nine hundred and seventy years ago, the Christian Church was born.

The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and through them the power of God was made known to the world.

What about us today?

Don't expect the sound of rushing wind and tongues like fire.

You and I receive the Holy Spirit in many ways.

We ask to be sent out in the power of God's Spirit, to live and work to His praise and glory.

We pray for the Grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and the Love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, to be with us all, evermore.

During the Eucharistic Prayer, to which we all must say "Amen", we receive something that is given to us with the direct authority of Peter himself.
With the authority of Peter, passed on in the laying on of hands by the Bishop who ordained him, Fr. Roger, holding his hands up, will say something like, "...renew us by your Spirit, inspire us with your love, and unite us in the body of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord...."

During the Eucharistic Pray, Fr. Roger, with authority passed down from Peter himself, will call upon the Holy Spirit to come upon us.

The Amen at the end of that Eucharistic Prayer is the most important Amen you will say today. You don't mumble it. You don't say it. YOU PROCLAIM IT! It's called the Great Amen.

We receive the Holy Spirit in so many ways...

The Lord asked the disciples to the have courage to announce the Gospel, without worrying about the resistance and hostility they were to encounter. They were able to do this only by receiving the Holy Spirit.

The presence of the Spirit in the Church, in each one of us, must lead us to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Show the world that we are Christians - and not be frightened!

As Paul says, in our second reading today, "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit."

The presence of the Holy Spirit within the Christian community gives us our profound unity.

Paul goes on, "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit and there are a variety of services, but the same Lord and there are varieties of activities, but the same God who activates all of them in everyone."
Each of us has our own function, our own skill, our own way of proclaiming the Gospel.

The power of the Spirit led the disciples to announce the kingdom of God, the core of Jesus' message... ...and everyone understood.

The power if the Spirit leads us all to announce the kingdom of God!

Each in our own way.

God's gift to us at Pentecost... .....The Holy Spirit.

The Lord is here... ...His spirit is with us!

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

© Reuben Condie May 2002
©Bible texts: Morning Mass - NRSV

1550 words (about 15 minutes)