As you all know, it’s the usual practice at both St Mark’s and St Gabriel’s to mark the birthdays of our members by singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to them on the Sunday nearest their birthdays. And, if we were in church today, we’d have a ‘Happy Birthday’ to sing. Not necessarily for any of our members, but one for all our members regardless of their date of birth, and indeed, one for all members of the Church, regardless of where they are, because today, Pentecost Sunday, is seen as the birthday of the Church herself. But the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday is cause to celebrate far more than the birth of the Church, for all of us, because the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Jesus’ disciples, was a sign of their, and our, adoption as children of God.
I’m sure we all know the story of Jesus’ baptism. When he was baptised, after he rose from the water, the Holy Spirit came to rest on Jesus and a voice from heaven was heard to proclaim him as God’s “beloved Son”. And in one sense, that gives us a claim to be God’s children too because we believe that we’re all brothers and sisters of Jesus by virtue of his Incarnation: we’re his brothers and sisters ‘in the flesh’ so to speak. But the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost signifies that we’re God’s children in a very powerful way because now, not only do we share ‘the flesh’, our humanity, with Jesus, we share his Spirit too; we share that same Spirit that descended on him at his baptism and caused him to be proclaimed as God’s Son.
But being God’s children and sharing in Jesus’ Spirit is something of a two-edged sword. The coming of the Holy Spirit not only gave us the great privilege of being able to call ourselves God’s children, it also empowered the Church and gave us the privilege of being able to proclaim the Gospel and to continue Jesus’ work on earth, to share in the on-going work of salvation. But, of course, having been given these great privileges and such empowerment, we’re expected to do something about it! We’re expected to see these things as privileges and to use the power of the Holy Spirit that we’ve been given for the purpose it was given.
There’s no doubt that we, in the Church today, have been given the Holy Spirit. In our reading from 1 Corinthians this morning St Paul says that,
“… no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.”
and all of us, in the Church, do acclaim Jesus as our Lord. So, unless we’re just paying lip service to that acclamation, and don’t really believe it or mean it, there’s no doubt that we have been given the Holy Spirit. And that being the case, nor can there be any doubt either, that we’ve been empowered to proclaim the Gospel and continue Jesus’ work, nor that we have been given the Spiritual gifts to enable us to do that.
But, having said that, I do know that many people in the Church, whilst they don’t doubt that gifts have been given to some people in the Church to enable them to carry out this great privilege and commission, do doubt that they have much, if anything, to offer to the Church in the way of gifts. But this is simply not true. We have all been given a share in the Holy Spirit and so we must all have been empowered, in some way, to play a part in Jesus’ on-going work in the world. That’s summed up in the words of St Paul that we read this morning:
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
Whilst it’s true that not all have been given the gifts that St Paul mentions here:
“For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.”
he mentions many other Spiritual gifts elsewhere in his letters; the gifts of being an Apostle, of teaching, of being a shepherd, of exhorting or encouraging, of leading, of serving and helping, of administrating, of giving and the gift of showing mercy. There are many activities that fall under these categories of Spiritual gifts and we’ll all have been given at least one of these gifts, and probably more than one. We might not see some of the more prosaic gifts as Spiritual because many people outside the Church have them, but all we have comes from God, so they are Spiritual gifts. Whether we acknowledge and use them as such, is up to us. But one sure sign that we are using our Spiritual gifts in the right way, whatever they may be, is that we’re using them in the service of God and the Church. That is a sign of faith and faith itself is a Spiritual gift. Faith is the Spiritual gift that enables us to use all our other gifts in the right way, to be about Jesus’ work and to build up the Church, rather than using them selfishly and purely for our own benefit.
So, on this Pentecost Sunday, as we wish the Church a ‘Happy Birthday’, let’s also give thanks to God for allowing us the great privileges of sharing in his Holy Spirit, of being able to see and call ourselves his children, and of sharing in the great, on-going work of Jesus in the world. And let’s take some time too, to think and pray about the Spiritual gifts we’ve each been given, and the best way to use them. Whatever our gifts are, whether they are what St Paul calls the “higher gifts” or they’re more prosaic, everyday abilities, God has given them to us to use in his service and for the building up of the Church. As St Paul explains very clearly, the ‘lower’ gifts are just as important in the Church as the ‘higher’ gifts, and the Church needs them all. And, as we look forward to the time, hopefully not too far away now, when we can return to church, that need for all our members, using all their Spiritual gifts, whatever they may be, will be a great one, as we look to rebuild after so many months away from our churches.
Amen.
You will find the Propers for Pentecost here.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 