Joy

Many of the congregation have inquired how attending my granddaughter’s recent birthday was for me. Although there were many people attending and much effort in preparation for this special event, some small memorable moments particularly lifted my spirits.

One was witnessing the ‘pass the parcel game’. You might know this game from other children’s parties. It was delightful to watch the 14 children mostly four years of age and under, participate and share the excitement as they each unwrapped a layer of white paper when the music stopped to find a surprise gift was there for them. Indeed, their eyes and faces lit up, there was excitement and genuine joy at finding that they too, got a gift, as did their neighbour.

As adults we tend to lose this sense of enthusiasm, however we might remember that the stories describing God’s Spirit in Scripture, speak of such shared enthusiasm and amazement.

In this Season of Pentecost, we hear about how people’s lives were changed, how they found renewed energy to share good news about the Way of Jesus attributed to the gift of the Holy Spirit being given to God’s people. The passage in Acts chapter 2 speaks of the Holy Spirit’s coming at the feast of Pentecost in powerful ways as like fire and a great wind and of the experience of those gathered as enabling them to witness in acts of mission and service. The ancient prophecy of Joel about God’s Spirit being poured out upon all flesh, is preached, and attributed here to the creation of a larger inclusive faith community which includes people of all ages, genders, and nations and this story has been described over time as symbolising the birth of the church. The story also tells of the community’s amazement and surprise at this bestowal of the Spirit and in the church’s life, we celebrate this season in our worship with joy.

The gift of the Holy Spirit is not of course a one-off event but has a present continuous tense experience for Christians in all ages. It is the dynamic and effective presence of the God of life in our lives even today, in our being and our doing. By the Spirit we are granted energy, and comfort to be and act and follow in the Way of Jesus. We each receive a gift; indeed gifts, that we can share with others.

As I looked on at the wonder and excitement of the children playing pass the parcel, and the joy they felt when they received their surprise gift, it lifted my own spirit. So may we celebrate and encourage each other in the church today, to take hold of our God given gifts and see how we all belong in the larger feast of God’s goodness.

Happy Pentecost!!

Share the joy!

Rev. Lynette Dungan