Reflection on the readings for the 24th May, Pentecost Sunday
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Readings: Acts 2:1-21; John 7:37-39
Today’s reflection is by Reader, Cal Bailey.
What are you looking for?
Three years ago, a group of us started looking after the peat moor above the Wharfe near Denton village. It had been dried out about 50 years ago, and the peat was slowly dying causing enormous carbon emissions. We did some homework and learned that peat grows in conditions I found very surprising - when it’s cold, dark and wet. So we set about creating the right conditions.
This Spring, I’ve walked up there a few times, and where there was uncovered peat, there is now grass and heather. There are lots of boggy areas. Most of the moorland is covered - so most of the peat is cold, dark and wet!
We’ve also stopped shooting birds and stopped using any pesticide, fertilizer and insecticide. The result this Spring has been a massive recovery of birdlife both in number and variety. We have every owl species which inhabits the UK on our moor. And a further 10 types of birds of prey. Life has returned to a dying peat moor.
Today is Pentecost Sunday – the day, 2000 years ago, when the Holy Spirit was given and the people in Jerusalem from 15 different countries were amazed that they heard the wonders of God in their own language, and so the church began.
John’s gospel begins with 2 questions, which the rest of the gospel answers. The first is the question different people asked Jesus: Who are You? The second is the question Jesus asked his first followers: What are you looking for? That’s the question I want us to answer for ourselves this morning.
I’ll give the answer for me – and invite you to think about the answer for you. Because our answers are about Pentecost.
I’m going to start around the time I became a Christian – which was when I was 15. I’d heard someone talk about Jesus – and he seemed the kind of person I was willing to follow, learn from and find what I was looking for.
The first thing I was looking for was Life, with a capital L. I wanted evidence that this person I’d decided to believe in was real and alive in our world, as he claimed to be, despite having lived and died 2000 years ago. That the resurrection was true; and that what he said in the gospels was true.
And the Holy Spirit was that evidence. I prayed for years to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and finally, one quiet evening while I was at uni, I was.
It really made sense of our gospel reading – it really did seem as if I was in the midst of streams of living water coming from Jesus, and those close to him. And just like life returns to empty moorland when it’s allowed to be wet, life seemed to come to me.
The second thing I was looking for was Love. I’d had experience at school of being unpopular and lonely, and then of a few friends changing all that. And I’ve found Love in school groups, on Christian boys’ camps, and in every church I’ve ever belonged to.
In our Acts reading, the Holy Spirit comes to people of all shades, all types, all languages, through the newly given language skills and the newly discovered boldness of the disciples. Nobody was left out, unless they chose not to be included. That’s Love.
The third thing I’ve looked for is goodness. I’ve always enjoyed most working with people who care about what they’re doing, and how they’re doing it - people who care about their impact on others. In business, it’s always seemed to me there are people who care only about profit, and then there are people for whom profit is only good if the other outcomes are good too. Completing only half the job isn’t good. Leaving the customer dissatisfied isn’t good. Leaving rubbish behind isn’t good.
I want to be among folk who want to do a good job. And what I’ve discovered is that to do a good job, you need a broad collection of people, with different skills. Some need to be good at numbers and some good at talking with the customer. Some need to be good at the technical stuff and some good at the people stuff. Rarely are all skills in one person. Difference is good. And the Pentecost strategy embraces difference. Noone is left out – unless they want to be left out.
It’s worth pausing here to recall the other consequence of difference. Difference also causes conflict, which can create division. That too has been the experience of the church at times. It was also the experience of Jesus. But it didn’t stop him. He had to work with it, and around it, and despite it. So must we. But conflict doesn’t mean difference can’t also be good.
I wonder if you like cooking?
Having been a useless cook, I’ve come to love cooking.
Suppose you need 15 ingredients in your meal, and you’ve only got 10 of them. You can probably prepare the meal more quickly! But the meal will be less tasty, less nutritious, less enjoyable. Love of difference means you want every ingredient in your meal.
I think that’s how to view Pentecost. God’s given us life, streaming to us from himself in every variety. At Pentecost he gave us the way to understand it – welcome everyone; embrace their differences – and so to enjoy it. The recipe makes Church good, with as few ingredients omitted as possible. And, Yes, there’ll be conflict. For the moment, that’s part of life.
Life, Love, Goodness. That’s what I’m looking for.
What are you looking for? Jesus is asking. And he wants us to know what we’re looking for too. Because he wants to make sure we find it, and find us the right role in the team, to include us, involve us, help us grow, be fulfilled through serving the needs of the wider team.
Pentecost is about God embracing not just not one small group of disciples when Jesus was here, but everyone. The streams of living water are for everyone. The fulfilment of who you are is for each of you. The formation of a good, loving church needs everyone’s skills. In the first reading, the people from all the different countries were delighted to hear about “the wonders of God (NIV) / God’s deeds of power(NRSV)”. Are you delighted?
If not, I want to ask you again: What are you looking for? [There’ll be people willing to pray with you at the end of the service, if they can help, and if you can find the courage to ask.] Pentecost says, God can help, and does help, everyone. He wants everyone, delighted, fulfilled in their own way. That’s church.
So: What are you looking for?