June 2022 – 'A little surer of being a little nearer…'

A poem for Pentecost…what would yours be? Sermon for Adel Parish Church, Pentecost 2022.

Acts 2: 1 – 21 John 14: 8 – 17

When we were teenagers, some friends had a school exchange student from Germany. They brought her to church – and I remember my brother trying to translate ‘Holy Spirit’ for her after the service. The best he could manage was schnapps, or the German for ghost…neither very much use.

Mind you – unless she already knew the word – even an exact translation might not have told her much. The Holy Spirit…more verb than a noun…more person than thing…perhaps most of all a list of experiences?

As a primary school teacher – I loved teaching poetry. We had great fun using kennings – two-word phrases to describe something without using its name. It seems to me that some time composing kennings for the Holy Spirit would be a good way to spend our sermon slot this Pentecost Sunday.

So let’s start – as we did in those poetry lessons – gathering some of what we know about this wonderful, elusive part of the trinity.

From our readings today:

To frightened disciples in an upper room, the spirit came as a rushing wind. It seemed to awaken them and fill them with joy. The rest of the book of Acts tells of similar encounters, where new spiritual life blows into a community as they are baptised in the Holy Spirit…something experienced down the ages since. Holy Spirit as Life Breather.

On their heads were ‘divided tongues as of fire’. After that event in the upper room, the good news of Jesus Christ spread a bit like wild fire across the known world. Once the Spirit starts something – it can’t always be contained. Holy Spirit as Fire Setter.

‘All of them began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability’…there are different ways of understanding this. Did those, mainly uneducated, disciples suddenly find themselves able to speak languages they’d never been taught…did the Holy Spirit gave them the words to share the good news? Holy Spirit as Voice Bringer.

Or perhaps it was in the minds of the listeners…perhaps the Spirit opened people up to new thoughts, new ways of seeing…so they were ready to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and the love of God. Holy Spirit as Mind Opener.

Jesus, when he promised the coming spirit, talked of an advocate – a spirit of truth who would speak on our behalf. Jesus was talking to people who risked ridicule or persecution for sharing the good news…but whenever we feel misunderstood or even ashamed of our actions the thought of an advocate fighting our corner is reassuring. Holy Spirit as Defence Counsel.

Other translations of the bible call the promised spirit a ‘comforter’. I’ve spoken to people who recall really dark and difficult times in their lives…and how they felt held and comforted by someone or something they could not see. How they knew somehow God was with them. Holy Spirit as Warm Enfolder…giver of hugs.

I think my most obvious experience of the Holy Spirit was when I took my first funeral…at Lawnswood, not in my curacy church…without the reassuring presence of vergers or my training incumbent…

I was so nervous it’s a miracle I didn’t crash driving round the ring road. But when I stood up to speak, I felt a calm presence that took away the fear and the nerves and carried me through. Holy Spirit as Calm Centre.

And one more example – this time from Julia who last week spoke at her mother’s funeral. Of course, Julia was anxious about holding it together, about getting it right for her Mum, and her Dad. You won’t be surprised to hear that she managed really well. She says the lectern cover in the church read, ‘Come Holy Spirit’, and that she’s sure the Holy Spirit was there that day to give them all the strength they needed. Holy Spirit as Strengthener.

So there we have our Pentecost poem:

Life breather.

Fire setter.

Voice bringer.

Mind opener.

Defence counsel.

Warm enfolder.

Calm centre.

Strengthener.

I wonder what stories, what experiences you have of the Holy Spirit? What your poem would be. I would love to hear some…perhaps by the end of the service?

Let’s pray…

Holy Spirit