Gerry’s Geriatric Glimmerings

by Reverend Gerry Bennett, Assisting Priest, from May 2003 Tidings

Easter, Ascension, Pentecost: Three events that changed the world

"Put off your old nature ... and be renewed in the Spirit ... and put on a new nature." — Ephesians 4:22-24

Christianity is rooted inthe past and looks toward the future, but memory and hope exist only in the present. What a message this is, as we worship on the Day of Pentecost, a celebration of what has already been given by God, and a time of rededication and new beginning.

The disciples were a crestfallen group, as their Master was taken from their midst, but over and over our Lord admonished them to do the work they were called to od. How easy it was for them to turn into themselves, form a small nucleus of like-minded people and sit on their spiritual haunches, bemoaning their fate. But three events occurred which changed their direction, changed their lives, change the world. Those three: Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost. All of these combined to force the disciples to refocus their lives. No longer could they live in the past, nor in the future. God required of them that they live today, with tendrils stretching in both directions, backward and forward.

The Holy Spirit brings the past into present memory and, at the same time, fills us with a new hope, forging us into a community. However, we must always act in the present, for the future is beginning right now.

I think I am not veyr subtle in this Pentecost message, for it is obvious that the Pentecost experience must and does speak to us at Church of the Nativiyt. We are those frightened disciples, feeling despair and loss, living and re-living chreished memories, turning inward. But it is time for a Pentecost experience, with its time of new creation, to give us purpose and power to do God's will.

We have a glorious history at Nativity, with strong feelings of community. We have had a mission fervor, with a common purpose, which unites us in a way that produces strong bons. It is hard to maintain anything over a long period of time at a high intensity level without having a letdown from time to time. Our Lord never promised that we would be without periods of "down time," but He does produce strong experiences that can jolt us back to our reason for existence: to serve God and His Church. Pentecost can be such an experience!

The Holy Spirit often seems to be so elusive, for our days are not always spirit-filled. Scripture talks of the Spirit in at least two ways — as a Presence that is always there, or as a dynamic visitation by a divine power. Both are true in our lives. The Holy Spirit can ndergird all our human awareness and consciousness, and since that relationship is so fundamental, we may fail to appreciate the work of the Spirit. But on some rare and wonderful occasions the Spirit can blow and burn with a wondrous power of God, creating a people with strong roots to the past, with great hope for the future, but living for Godin the present and doing His holy work.

Let us pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit in this church.

In the Spirit of God,
Gerry+