Enthronement Sermon

July 10, 2010

In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

May the Holy Spirit give us our voice, that we might sing God’s praises

Today is celebrated as a Feast of the Holy Spirit, and rightly so. For many months we have been praying to the Spirit that we might be guided in our lives; as individuals and as the Church in this Diocese. We have prayed for wisdom and right judgement, and that every step of this time of discernment be God breathed. Each of us has prayed, in hope and in expectation, whether as synod members, the people of the Diocese, our caring friends in the wider community and other denominations, or as one of those considered for the role of Bishop.

Now we stand at the beginning of a new chapter in the story of the Diocese, and in our individual lives. And our prayer becomes more fervent. Lord you have brought us to this place, inspire us that this new chapter may be God breathed and blessed. May you give us our voice.

The all-pervasive engagement of the Holy Spirit is reflected in today’s readings. The Numbers passage describes a time of challenge and uncertainty for the people of God. In response to the needs of the community God’s Spirit is given to chosen leaders; and to two outside the tent. It is an account of the rich gift of the Spirit for leadership, and for prophetic word. And it offers a reminder that the Holy Spirit goes where it will, not constrained by the expectations and regulations of human beings.

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Church in Rome, movingly proclaims the work of the spirit in prayer. Here the Spirit takes the inarticulate yearnings of our human heart and intercedes for us with the Father. It is a beautiful description of the power of the Spirit to bring each one of us close to God; to a place that our own words cannot take us.

And in the Gospel, Jesus gives to his disciples at the last supper a promise that the Holy Spirit will come as advocate, the Spirit of Truth, who will act for us.

As other passages in Scripture make clear, these are just some of the marks of the Spirit. Here we have heard of inspiration - for leadership, for prophetic word, for intercession; we heard of the advocate, the Spirit of truth.

Such is the richness of the Holy Spirit, so many gifts to be given.

We are the people of a God who acts in history, so with such gifts to bestow where did the Holy Spirit begin? What I’m asking is, if you are the Holy Spirit, bringing gifts for leadership, for God’s word, for truth, where might you start with God’s people.

The account of the coming of the Spirit on the disciples at Pentecost gives an answer. The Holy Spirit begins by giving the people a voice. Luke’s account in the second chapter of Acts describes a waiting people who, animated by the Holy Spirit, run into the street, giving voice to the saving act of God.

For those disciples gathered in one place in Jerusalem three things are experienced. There is sound, and flames rest on each disciple, the disciples start praising God and rush into the streets, even though it is only 9.00 in the morning, and their words are understood by people of many different languages. It is an account of the work of the Holy Spirit in three acts.

There is a physical manifestation of the Spirit. A sound, like a violent wind, moves through the place; tongues of flames rest on the heads of each one.

There is a physical response. The disciples speak and move, out of the room, into the streets, praising the acts of God

And there is spiritual transformation, the disciples words are translated so that as each speaks they are understood by the hearers, each in their own language.

Three acts; the first, the sound and the flame, is personal reassurance. Each person is transformed by the Spirit. The second; the words, celebration and moving from the room to the street, is a personal response.

It is the third, being understood, that is for all humanity. This is the first gift of the Spirit for and through the renewed community of Jesus. The people of God are given a voice.

At Pentecost the world is turned upside down. No longer divided by language, people hear of God in their own tongue, in a way that they can understand.

The Holy Spirit; The Advocate, the Truth teller, the one who can take the unarticulated hopes and fears of our heart to the heart of God, begins with a simple gift. The gift of speaking and being understood! God gives the disciples a voice

There is so much for the Spirit to do in and with the people of God, yet here is the beginning. The Spirit of Truth inspires with sound and vision, moves the gathered up and out, and gives the first gift  - a voice.

How deeply human beings need to understand and be understood. And how hard it is for human beings to speak of the things that matter.

And yet each of us has a deep yearning, to be understood and to understand. This yearning encompasses all of our life; our relationships with family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues. And it touches every aspect of our being, from relationship with God to relationship with the whole of creation.

What might you say if you knew that you would be understood? For many of us words remain unspoken for fear of being ridiculed or rejected. Words of love and compassion withering within us rather than risked

What would you say to your closest friend, your lover, or your neighbour or work colleague, if you knew that they would understand? What would they say to you, if they knew that you would hear love and acceptance, not judgement.

It feels that spoken out loud a word of concern is too often felt as a barb of criticism; a word of anxiety is felt as a wave of rejection. And so words are not spoken, for we do not know how to give or receive Truth.

Into this inarticulate reality of life that the Holy Spirit brings the first gift for the community, a voice that can be understood; that a word of God may be shared.

If you knew that you could be understood, what word of God would you share? And if God calls each of us to a mission of speaking of God, where might that mission begin?

What and Where?

Dear friends, the word of God that is most in need of sharing is not to those who are a distant ‘other.’ It is the word of God to those closest to us.

I yearn for way of speaking about the God I know, the One who fills me and fulfills me. The voice I want is a voice that is understood by my family, my brother and sisters, my children and their families, my grandchild. I want a voice that is understood by neighbour and colleague.

Those first followers of Jesus were given a voice.

What a gift, a voice that is understood.

We, the pilgrim people of God, have to find our voice. That we might speak of God’s love,  A voice that speaks in such a way that people hear the love of God, not the rejection of nay-sayers. A voice that speaks of hope in a way that people hear the promise of a transformed life.

Our voice must be a voice of ‘Good News.’

A voice that says everyone matters, the whole of creation is of value.

A voice that says that broken lives, broken people, can be made new.

It must be a voice of God’s love, inspired by the Holy Spirit.

To be a voice of truth the Church must speak in many different ways. As we begin this new chapter in the life of the Diocese, there are some particular marks of the church’s voice which I pray the Holy Spirit will God breathe in us.

May the voice of our Church be a voice of Hope.

May we speak of the hope that is in each of us. A hope that says that every human being has purpose and meaning. Every life is precious, everyone loved by God. A hope that says that those who live in darkness may know light. A hope that says that the end of life on earth is not a full stop. A hope that shouts and sings of the life that is shared in Christ.

May the voice of our Church be a voice of Humility.

May we learn to humbly wait, to sit and to listen, before we speak. With humility may we know the brokenness of the life of our Church when we dare to speak to others of the brokenness in their life. May this humility be the voice of one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.

May the voice of our Church be a voice of Healing.

May we live as a community of healing, a community of restored wholeness. Through the power of God let our church be a place where the broken in body, in mind or in spirit find healing. Let this voice of healing speak of new life, restored humanity, transformed relationships.

May the voice of our Church be a voice of Hospitality.

May we celebrate together the God of feast and acceptance. Let our church be a place of welcome where there are no distinctions, neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, but rather where all are one in Christ. Let this voice of voice of hospitality speak of feasts where is always room for the stranger, always room in the Inn; where there is a place of honour waiting for those who consider themselves the least.

Hope, Humility, Healing, Hospitality. May these be some of the marks of the voice of our Church in this new chapter of the life of this Diocese. But it cannot be done in our own strength. If we try in our own strength we shall fail, for our voice is a gift of God, the work of the Holy Spirit.

And so, rightly, we begin this journey together with prayer.

Lord God, inspire us and transform us. May we find our voice as your people, to speak of your truth to those around us. May we find our voice as your people, to speak of hope and humility, of healing and hospitality to the world you love and died for.

Come Holy Spirit, inspire us, that we find our voice.

In the name of God, Source of all Being, Eternal Word and Holy Spirit. Amen