Perching on the edge of a miracle – Sermon by Jo Wetherall, Pentecost 2008

Just occasionally during times of deep concentration and reflection, as I see the multitude of connections within people and scripture and worship, I can feel as though I have a palpable sense of the essence of God.

It's an incredibly intense feeling as though I am somehow perched on the edge of a miracle.

This week as I have been delving into the roots of Pentecost I have kept company with another group of people who I imagine were in a period of deep reflection about God and found them selves perched on the edge of a miracle

Pentecost, the palpable sense of God's presence, his breath, his spirit, is a defining day in the life of the early church, a day which should forever continue to define who we are as individual believers and as a group.

Our reading from Acts tells us it is on this festival day that the followers of Jesus are “all together in one place” when the Spirit appears.

and it arrives as...

well the description isn't precise they can only say what it was like, that it was

like rushing wind. In Greek and in Hebrew the word for Spirit, wind, and breath is the same: pneuma in Greek; ruach in Hebrew.

but what ever it was this Spirit, this breath this wind, it inspired them, causing them to breathe deeply and to speak.

And to speak in a way which all could comprehend.

Perhaps this shouldn't surprise us because they are speaking about God whose Word breathed the world and all creation into existence, why in that moment wouldn't every one present recognise the source of their existence.

This scene at Pentecost, offers a real insight into our own spiritual lives and the questions God asks of us.

The disciples don't pause to consider how they feel or think about what has happened, but immediately respond to the presence of God by sharing their experience with people outside the room, with the thousands of Jews gathered for Shavout.

Our Christian festival of Pentecost finds its roots in the Jewish tradition, where it is called Shavuot or the Festival of Weeks.

Falling fifty days after Passover, Shavuot is a harvest festival and also commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.

It is no accident that Pentecost is celebrated at the same time as the giving of the ten commandments.

A time in history when the Hebrew people, having escaped from captivity in Egypt were concentrating on who they were and on their relationship with God, and God's presence was palpable and his voice was heard

Their experience is recorded partly as the ten commandments and standing as sentinel at the gateway to the ten commandments are the words “I am the Lord your God”.

Jonathan Wittenburg, rabbi of New North London Synagogue, says that God's voice “speaks with redeeming beauty, it restores the soul,' [but equally] “it never fails to interrogate piercing to the essence of who we are” “It is”, he says ”as if the sequel to “ I am the Lord your God” is “and who are you? “ “what are you doing in my world”.

These are questions about the world and our place in it that we often fail to hear and even less often try and answer.

The faith journey of the Hebrews, is recorded as a dynamic dialogue between history and myth & infused with theological meaning by the writers of the book of Numbers.

In spite of their new freedom Those very Hebrew people soon forgot to ask these questions of themselves, they wanted to contain God to provide specifically for their physical needs.

No matter how God helped them and what God provided for them, the Hebrew people were always craving more, and by craving more they effectively reject God's real presence in their lives and their own role in the relationship, creating for themselves a new kind of captivity.

In Numbers, chapter eleven, when they were hungry, God provided manna for them to eat in the desert, but they didn’t want manna; they wanted meat.

So God said, “Okay, if you want meat I will give you meat.

In fact you can have so much meat that in a month’s time it’s going to come running out of your nostrils and you will detest it!”

And we thank that particular contributor to the book of numbers for their delightful image!

Moses, as their spiritual and civic leader was frustrated because God was going to give in to the Hebrews' demands

He said, “God, don’t you know that for these people it will never be enough?”

Moses was ready to resign in fact he was ready to die...

and that’s when, God taught Moses a lesson, a lesson that in his heart He already knew.

The lesson that God recognises and uses everyone's spiritual gifts whether they are part of a recognised group or not - and so should we.

So when Joshua is anxious about people exercising their gifts Moses gave a reply which echoed down through the centuries and goes to the very heart of why Pentecost is a defining moment for us as people of Christian faith.

Moses says,

“I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on all of them!”

What was Moses wishing for?

I think he was wishing for everyone to hear God's voice saying

“ I am the Lord your God” “and who are you? “ “what are you doing in my world”.

I think Moses was wishing that everyone would find themselves perched on the edge of miracle

A miracle in which faith would embrace them from head to heart.

That religion would help them understand their relationship to the world and one another. Not something to manipulate as a source of power, fear or social engineering.

That their spirituality would be the very breath of life.

Moses knew from his own experience, lets not forget that he killed a man, that God's spirit is not something elite to be guarded jealously that God's spirit breaks conventional boundaries.

This was understood too by those first disciples. Think of the picture John's gospel paints of them as they hide in a room for fear of their own lives, this ordinary fallible group of people who have so recently denied and deserted Jesus.

These are men and women who really understand forgiveness, people who begin their ministry from a place of personal brokenness.

And these are the same people who showed such excitement and energy in Acts that the bystanders thought they were drunk

Theirs is an act of vision and generosity, they do not want to hold onto this gift for themselves but to share it, to shout from the roof tops about what God has done.

They see their responsibility, they understand, as Moses did, that charismatic leadership is aimed at building community.

They see themselves and the whole world perched on the edge of a miracle.

What of us today? How does Pentecost, the gift of God's spirit, continue to define us?

Are we energised and excited at the possibilities that the holy spirit living in us can bring to the world using this gift to build community.

Do we use God's spirit with vision and generosity

Are we inward looking, grumbling Hebrews who are not satisfied with manna and demand meat?

Captives of our needs and desires who want to domesticate God to gratify all our personal needs.

I'm not going to try and answer those questions, for each of us experiences the presence of God in different ways, at different times.

God Speaking with redeeming beauty, stilling our souls but also piercing the essence of who we are.

I am the Lord your God

who are you?

and what are you doing in my world?

Do you feel as though you are perched on the edge of a miracle?