Acts 2.1-21; John 7.37-39
As some of you know, I recently went away to spend four days at Lee Abbey, North Devon. While I was there, I became something of a celebrity. The programme had an evening where people were invited to tell a story, read a poem or contribute some music and I offered to speak about what it was like in 1947. I went there with my family when I was fourteen years old just one year after the place was opened. After the talk, a number of people came up to me to ask me more and the person who edits their monthly magazine asked me for an interview. Lee Abbey, as some of you know, was started by two men praying, for two years, for revival. They were joined by, I think four others, who felt guided to buy the run down house with 60 rooms which had been a bankrupted hotel and then, during the war an evacuated school but with a 360 acre estate of outstanding natural beauty.
I still remember going there because the fire of the Holy Spirit was burning brightly with miracles and answers to prayers, confirming my teenage faith and answering my parents’ desire for the revival of our own Parish Church. When I went last month the fire is still there but I had a talk with the Chaplain because I felt, along with a couple of other guests, that it was just simmering and needed to burst into flames.
Isn’t that the case with our church - there is a fire here due to the faith of a very loyal congregation but don’t we need this fire to burn much more brightly?
And so, to go to the reading from Acts, and think about the three signs of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit - a rush of violent wind, divided tongues as of fire and speaking in other languages. I would like to speak briefly about the first and the last sign but concentrate on the tongues of fire.
First, the wind. Again, as many of you know, the Hebrew word for wind is ruach which also means breath or spirit. These first Christians were filled with the breath of God. And there is the delightful passage in John’s Gospel of Jesus talking with Nicodemus by night, possibly sitting on the housetop with a gentle breeze blowing as happened at that time of the day - and Jesus says “the wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes - so is every one born of the spirit.” So it is with Christians - those two men I described at the beginning had no idea that one day they would buy Lee Abbey. It is the same with us - we do not know where the Spirit will take us.
Second, the speaking in different languages, with the later addition in Paul’s letters of speaking in tongues which the speaker does not recognise but in some cases - and there are modern examples of this - the language is one that the hearer knows. Often Christians dismiss this speaking in tongues - I must admit that when I was a student I thought the first day of Pentecost was a glorious outburst to start and lay the foundations of the church, but not to be repeated. But then it occurred to me, if speaking in tongues is one of the gifts of the spirit, who am I to criticise or reject it. And if I reject it, then I am insulting the Holy Spirit for the Holy Spirit clearly regards tongues as an important gift. It is one of the gifts, along with healing, prophecy, knowledge and so on, not for everyone but certainly right for some.
So now I come to the tongues of fire - fire which purifies and which bursts into flames with power and enthusiasm. We need the fire in our hearts, this real enthusiasm for God. But what is stopping it. Three things, I think. The first is to some extent despair. So many times we are asked to go out and proclaim the Gospel - and we can’t. We can help and care for others but drawing them to faith - it just doesn’t happen in our country. It does in other countries, countries in Africa for example, but apart from some notable examples - the gaslight church in Birmingham is one - it seems to be an almost impossible task especially in country areas. The hymn we have just sung contains the lines “Loose your shyness find your tongue” but it’s not that simple. I have some very good neighbours and I love them and pray for them. I am not at all afraid of speaking about my faith. But I know full well if I push it I would embarrass them and possibly destroy our friendship. So I have to patiently wait to see if the Holy Spirit gives that opportunity, the right opening. Perhaps we can take some comfort in the story in Acts. The Apostles were told to wait. And the Holy Spirit came upon them at exactly the right time when Jerusalem was picked with visitors - it was the festival of the Giving of the Law and the Offering of the first fruits of the barley harvest. And many of those visitors would be looking to build up their faith and service to God.
The second reason why we can be reluctant to go too deeply into the fire of the Holy Sprit is that some people filled with the Holy Spirit go over the top - heaven forbid that we should go over the top! I must admit some Pentecostalist worship does put me off and I have taken part in quite a few such services. I think to myself that St. Paul warns his readers to use gifts wisely. But again, I once attended a Pentecostalist service in the North East which seemed to me to be way extreme. However, they had built an entirely new large church paid for within 9 months and packed it with a congregation which included many young people. Just because we think the worship of some Christians is really extreme, that doesn’t mean we should be afraid of the fire of the spirit.
For the third reason behind our hesitation is that we ourselves are afraid - afraid of letting go and really putting ourselves into the hands of God. Many Christians in this country are afraid of the gifts of the spirit - for example stepping out into the healing ministry or giving a prophetic word in the middle of one of our services or at a PCC meeting. Do we want to be guided by God, like those men in Devon who committed everything they had and bought, in faith, a huge property? We certainly have a deep faith but do we really want to go further, to let go and surrender ourselves to God? Do we want the fire in us which is there simmering away to burst into flames? Yet that is what is needed - not to go out shouting about it but having deep in our hearts a real fire for God so that answers to prayer happen a lot, miracles happen and guidance becomes clear.
The two hymns still to come contain prayers about this. The first, was chosen by Emma and written by Charles Wesley who was involved in one of the greatest movements in our country to be inspired by the Holy Spirit. His hymn has the words “kindle a flame of sacred love”. I like to think of this as very personal - stirring into flame the fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control as St. Paul reminds in his letter to the Galatians. The last hymn, chosen by me is a Graham Kendrick hymn. Graham Kendrick has a great longing in his heart for revival in our country. His hymn has the brilliant chorus “Blaze Spirit blaze, set our hearts on fire.” Can you make these two sets of words a daily prayer for both your own Christian life and for the life of our Church? “Holy Spirit, grant that the fire simmering in our hearts may burst into living flames of love and power to fulfil your plans for me and for your church. Amen.'
The Revd Colin Hurford