Pentecost

 

 

 

Pentecost

 

There can hardly be a greater way to give thanks for our life together than the celebration of Pentecost. Through the Holy Spirit, the new creation of the church came into being. The church is the spiritual Body of Christ, sharing in his relationship with the Father, and in his mission from the Father to the world. The church is the new creation where the communion of the Father, Son and Spirit is to be experienced and lived out.

On Pentecost we celebrate the giving of the Spirit; we celebrate that and more. The Holy Spirit, of course, was not “new”. What was new was this creation of a “new humanity”, as Paul calls it, in Christ, by the Spirit. So, while the work of the Spirit in the lives of individual believers is essential and fundamental to our Christian walk, on Pentecost we celebrate the work of the Spirit in the communion of the church – in our lives together in Christ.

Yet the church is made up of frail, mistake-prone human beings. It is often difficult, sometimes even stressful, to be part of a church. It can certainly seem very “ordinary”, week in, week out. This is an old argument, an ancient response to the reality of doing church. So some want to reject the visible church, and say “It’s just me and Jesus”. Sounds good, but it rejects or ignores the whole story of the New Testament, and the point of Pentecost. It misunderstands the nature of Christ and the work of the Spirit in the world.

Yes, often the lofty description of the New Testament doesn’t always match our experience “down here”, here and now. (“The church is not peripheral to the world, the world is peripheral to the church” says Paul in Ephesians 2, The Message.) Pentecost deals with this directly. Church is not about our wish-dream, but about God’s reality at work in the world. It is the place where we learn to love each other, with all our faults and shortcomings and differences.

Pentecost is a “week of weeks”, or seven weeks from the resurrection of Jesus (Easter Sunday). The early church took this very seriously. Pentecost is tied directly in to the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Without the resurrected Jesus, we have no spiritual organism of the church. The “new creation” of the resurrection is played out in the “new creation” of the church.

The resurrected Jesus cooked fish, ate with his disciples, taught them personally, and offered them “peace”. (He didn’t reappear to Pontius Pilate, or the Emperor for that matter, tap him on the shoulder, and announce: “I’m back!”).  He gave his life in humble service and self-sacrificing obedience to the Father. He took the worst that human beings could do to him, and loved us anyway. He united himself with humanity; he took humanity into himself. And through his resurrection and ascension he transformed life forever.

Atonement is not just about forgiveness – it is about fellowship. Our fellowship with the Father through the Son by the Spirit. As Karl Barth has written, the Holy Spirit is always in fellowship. It is through the Spirit that we can have fellowship with the Triune God. So it is not just about one’s personal possession of the Spirit (or the Spirit’s possession of us), it is about the fellowship of the Spirit into which we are drawn together. Salvation is relational; salvation is communion.

On Pentecost, we celebrate the new creation of the church. We rejoice in the pouring out of the Spirit, and the fellowship we are now privileged to share and participate in. We give thanks that through the Spirit, we have fellowship with the Father through the Son, and with one another. And we participate in the Father’s mission to the Son, to share that good news with all humanity.

May God richly bless and encourage you this Pentecost weekend.

 

John McLean

Mission and National Director

Grace Communion International, Australia

 

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. John 1:16

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National Day of Thanksgiving

 

 

National Day of Thanksgiving

Tomorrow marks our annual National Day of Thanksgiving. The day is designed as a celebration to thank God, and to thank one another. It is endorsed by the Governor General, and has bi-partisan political support.

Thanksgiving is at the heart of the gospel; it is the spring from which our Christian life flows. When we see who God is for us in Jesus Christ, we can only respond with gratitude and thankfulness. All we are and do then flows from appreciating and experiencing the transforming power and insight of this eternal reality. We are not slaving away, hoping to please a critical, angry and easily offended God. We are sharing in the grace of God who is love – who has always loved us, and always will. For which our lives become a constant expression of grace and gratitude.

As one church leader put it, hopefully a day of thanksgiving can work as an antidote to the “culture of complaint, criticism and cynicism” that is so prevalent. We see the culture of complaint all about us every day; it oozes its way into just about everything we see and hear. It becomes “normal” that human beings are quick to believe the worst. To impute negative motives. It becomes accepted that it is always the most negative innuendo that makes its way so briskly through the rumour mill. That bad news sells, that good news rarely makes it into the public domain.

A culture of thanksgiving and gratitude, and a culture of affirmation, go together. Thanksgiving is a vital part of the blood flow of our Life Together. So, while giving thanks to God is an integral part of daily life, why not find time for special thanksgiving this weekend. And why not say, write, email, or text someone who has been a blessing to you and say “thanks” as well. (You just might change their lives for the better in the process.)

After all, our desire is to reflect Paul’s beautiful prayer to the Thessalonians: to always be a joyful church, a praying church, and a thankful church (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

John McLean

Mission and National Director

Grace Communion International, Australia

 

 

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Pentecost Service: Ross Town Hall, Sunday May 27th, 11am

We are holding our annual statewide Pentecost gathering at the Ross Town Hall, Main St. Ross, on Sunday May 27th, starting at 11am.  There is a hot lunch provided.

We will be celebrating the beginning of the Church brought about by the Holy Spirit.  In particular we will discuss the Holy Spirit, and the results of the Spirit’s work on earth.

If you’d like to join us but need a lift, please contact Phil at 03 6243 1231.

 

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