Summer 2026: ‘Wildfires’ – The Holy Spirit, from Genesis to Revelation
This summer, we’ll immerse ourselves in the person and work of the Holy Spirit: from the first verses of Genesis, to the last verses of Revelation. Often the ‘forgotten’ part of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is there at Creation, and also at the climax of the New Creation, throughout history revealing the reality of God’s presence and power to the world. So, let’s celebrate the Wildfire of the Holy Spirit, and continue to welcome His presence in our lives today!
Monday 8th June – Genesis 1:1-3 ‘The Spirit in Creation’
In 1998, Dame Judi Dench won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Queen Elizabeth I in the film ‘Shakespeare in Love’. Despite the fact that she only appeared in the film for 8 ½ minutes, her presence as the reigning monarch was felt throughout, and, being the supreme actress that she is, when she does appear she dominates the screen.
In some ways the Holy Spirit plays a similar role in Scripture. Appearing only occasionally in the text of the first three quarters of the bible (the Old Testament), nevertheless the Spirit’s presence is known and felt throughout – and, when the Spirit does appear front and centre in the narrative, whether ‘coming upon’ a Judge or King, or rushing through the room at Pentecost, the power and glory of God dominates the page.
If Jesus Christ is the unquestioned ‘hero’ of Scripture, the Holy Spirit plays the decisive supporting role. This is true even at Creation. Whilst New Testament writers St John and St Paul make it clear that Christ was the ‘Word of God’ declaring creation into being through the narrative of the bible’s first chapter, Genesis 1:2 tells us that it was the Spirit of God who was hovering (or brooding, in the marvellous phrasing of the old translations) over the waters, making Christ’s creative word a powerful reality.
From the beginning, God has always been a Trinity – Father, Son and Spirit, a perfect inter-relationship of love and glory. People often mistakenly think that God started as one, then became two with Jesus, and finally three at Pentecost. But Genesis 1 tells us otherwise. And the extraordinary truth is that we are invited into that relationship: effective through the work of Christ and the indwelling witness of the Spirit. We get to ‘eat with God, and God with us’ (Rev 3:20), to share in this divine web of love forever.
In this season we will explore what that means, and I hope this journey will reveal new depths to you about God, and your life in and with Him. But today, let’s reflect a moment that the fullness of the Spirit was only revealed many, many years after creation, at Pentecost. In the divine will and wisdom of God, what had always been there finally became a visible reality.
The fact that we bear God’s image means that this too can be a reality for us. Gifts and talents, causes and opportunities, can still come unexpectedly to the fore later in our lives. In God’s economy, all of life can be used for His glory. How is God at work in you currently? Are there deep facets of who you are being revealed for His glory, even now? As the Spirit of God hovers over the waters of your life, where might God be saying: ‘Let there be light….’?
God is always making everything new. Amen, come Holy Spirit.
The First Letter of Peter
In these months after Easter, as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, St Peter’s amazing letter helps us put that hope into practice. Written in challenging times, its life-giving wisdom is just as relevant today!
Saturday 6th June – 1 Peter 5:1-14 reprise
It’s always tempting to move on quickly to the next piece of scripture, and sometimes that’s the right thing to do. But Chapter 5 is one of those ‘end chapters’ of a New Testament letter which crams a huge amount of teaching into a small amount of text, often giving barely a line to a significant thought or instruction.
So, today, as we end our week and our time in Peter, can I suggest that you read the whole chapter one more time, slowly (and maybe twice). Open your mind and ask the Lord: what are you showing me today? What new jewel do you want to catch my eye, glinting its truth or radiating its light?
May the Lord speak to each of us again once more from this letter. And may His glorious word bear fruit in our lives – today, and every day.
Friday 5th June – 1 Peter 5:12-14 ‘Peace to all of you’
I’m always writing PS’s. It’s natural for many of us to want to add a line or a paragraph to a piece of text we’ve just written. Maybe we’ve forgotten something; or maybe we want to reinforce something, offer some additional greetings or encouragement. What’s true for us is also true for the church leaders who wrote the letters which form the second half of the New Testament. Writing material was expensive, every square inch of paper (or equivalent) had to be used.
As Peter ends his letter – which he does formally in verse 11 – he now wants to add a few final lines, and in doing so, he makes it clear that it was his friend and co-leader Silas who had written down the content that Peter had dictated to him, until this point. But this last small section – Peter’s PS – was probably written by Peter himself, just as Paul did on a number of occasions (e.g. Galatians 6:11, Colossians 4:18).
Peter takes the opportunity to remind his readers that his purpose was to share the true grace of God, and to encourage them to stand firm (v12). I hope over these last few weeks we have received similar encouragement. Peter’s wonderful letter has reminded us of the glory of Christ’s resurrection, and our joy as ‘resurrected people’; the promise of strength in our present trials and hope for the future; our secure and privileged status as the family of Christ; and the need to keep loving, and standing with, each other.
Peter also sends greetings from his fellow-believers in Rome (the Babylon referred to in v13). Given that Peter only visited Rome at the end of his life, as a prisoner, and that he does not mention Paul, who had left Rome (temporarily) after his first release from prison cAD62, this little snippet allows us to date the letter to approximately 62-65 AD. The fact that Silas is with him, and also Mark, shows not only the support that the Christian community offered each other, but its unity of leadership at this stage. Silas and Mark both served with Paul, too; the writer Eusebius was later to declare that Mark was the scribe who in effect recorded Peter’s life of Jesus – which became Mark’s gospel.
Peter’s encouragement to his readers to ‘greet one another with a kiss of love’ reminds us that these letters were read aloud to a whole church community as they gathered. It’s amazing to imagine what that must have been like, hearing the legendary old leader’s words read directly to you! Although the ‘kiss of peace’ was later formalised as a ritual by the church, in the first generation it was a simple declaration of the importance of our unity and commitment to each other.
Finally, Peter ends where he began (1:2): bestowing a blessing of peace on all of us who read it (v14). As we conclude our own time spent with Peter, may that blessing of peace rest upon us, too. As one commentator neatly puts it: ‘The roar of the lion or the flames of persecution cannot overthrow the shalom of Christ’s salvation.’ Amen, come Lord Jesus.
Thursday 4th June – 1 Peter 5:8-11 ‘Standing firm’
Dieter ‘Didi’ Senft is one of the great characters of the Tour de France – my favourite annual sporting event, and only four weeks away, which always gives me a little lift in my spirit. He’s not a cyclist, at least not a professional one, or a team manager, or a tour organiser, or even part of the extraordinary entertainment machine that packages the world’s most popular race, by number of visitors (average of 12 million watching by the roadside each year).
No, Didi is a devil. Literally. His name to Tour fans all around the world is Didi the Devil, and his ‘job’, if I can put it like that, is to attend every stage of every tour every year since 1993, dressed in a red costume, complete with horns and a pitchfork. As the cyclists pass his motorhome on each stage, he runs alongside them, jumping up and down and waving his pitchfork. Crazy, yes; but after 33 years (only missing 2012 through ill health) and well over 600 stages, he has become a legend in his own right. L’Etape magazine even summarises his presence on the Tour as symbolising ‘a moment that evokes positive emotions: joy, playfulness, eternal youth, cheerfulness, life = a game, wakening an inner child of each of us … With a little magic all worries are forgotten.’
Strange way to describe a devil! But Didi symbolises a sanitised version of how many people picture him: a sort of darkly comic creation, creepy but relatively harmless. However, it’s definitely not how the bible represents the devil – something which today’s passage bluntly reminds us: (v8) ‘Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.’ That’s altogether more sobering. If Jesus is the true and ultimately triumphant Lion of Judah, there is another lion – the Scar to Jesus’ Simba, if you will – a lion we need keep an eye out for.
The important thing when it comes to how we understand the devil, as C S Lewis wisely reminds us, is neither to make too much of him nor too little. No-one who knew there was a lion nearby would be complacent; at the same time, many millions of people live near lions and have to go about their daily lives just the same, relying primarily on just being alert (v8).
Peter’s advice is similarly wise, and straightforward: alongside being alert, we are to be realistic (‘sober mind’ v8), and resist (v9). If this sounds vague, Paul’s advice in the letter to the Ephesians is that we have the armour of righteousness (right living), faith and salvation, alongside the weapons of God’s word and prayer. We don’t attack, but this armour and weaponry allows us to resist, to ‘stand firm in the faith.’
It’s not something we undergo alone, either: we stand firm together (v9), and ultimately in the power and strength of the Lord (v10). Lions generally only ever attack isolated prey. If they confront a group, they try to separate one from the rest – they never go after all of them. In the same way, if we stay plugged into the Christian community, and our relationship with the Lord, we are ‘safe’. So, as we pray today, let’s pray not just for protection, but for community – for ourselves, and also for all who need it currently. And may the Lord make us all ‘strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.’
Wednesday 3rd June – 1 Peter 5:5-7 ‘He cares for you’
We live in anxious times. Anxiety has always been a feature of human society, but it seems particularly prevalent at present. About 20% of the UK population admits to feeling anxious all or most of the time, and almost three quarters feel anxiety sometimes. There are many things to worry about: personal circumstances and global events; health, income, family and future; the small things we might be able to change and the big things we are pretty sure we can’t.
Where do we take our anxiety? How do we reduce it? A balanced answer to that question should highlight a number of things: good diet and exercise, supportive relationships, the natural world (being out in creation has a significant positive effect on our wellbeing, scientifically proven).
All this is good, and right. But there is one other answer, the one we need most: (v7) ‘Cast all your anxiety on him (God) because he cares for you.’ We need more than strategies to reduce anxiety, we need someone to carry it. Someone who can take the ‘bags’ of worries which weigh us down and hold them in our stead. That person is God.
It’s very easy to try and take the bags back, though, isn’t it? To want to carry them ourselves again. Casting our anxiety onto God is a daily, even hourly discipline; it takes courage and perseverance. It also requires confidence in the character of God: ‘…because he cares for you.’
There’s one other thing we need, in order to see real change through this advice. This verse is often quoted, and rightly so; but the verses before it form the backdrop to this famous piece of wisdom. Peter reminds his readers about the importance of humility, of ‘humbling yourselves… under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.’ There can be pride in our anxiety. We carry our burdens because we don’t want to let others help: ‘no,’ we say, ‘I want to carry this myself. No-one else has to.’ We might even feel this before God – that somehow it’s a failure to let Him help. Have none of that, says Peter: choose humility before God, trust that He will lift you up – and then you’ll also find yourself more able to give your anxiety and burdens to Him, too.
Today, give your anxiety to God – whatever it is. Let Him carry it, and keep choosing to release it to God whenever you feel tempted (and you will) to pick it back up again. This God cares for you. Always.
Tuesday 2nd June – 1 Peter 5:1-4 ‘True shepherds of the flock’
Serving in an ecumenical church I get called all kinds of things! Those from a Catholic or high church background will call me ‘Father’, Anglicans may call me Reverend, and those from an evangelical or Pentecostal background usually call me ‘Pastor’. I don’t really care, they’re all valid terms – but the last one is particularly important, as it means ‘Shepherd.’ But very few people are actual shepherds nowadays – what does it really mean? How do we make best use of it in a modern church?
‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.’ Probably the most famous verse of the bible – the beginning of Psalm 23 and David’s heartfelt description of his relationship with his Lord. And this iconic Psalm gives us a good guide to the role of a shepherd, in both a literal and a spiritual sense. The shepherd provides, protects, guides, nourishes and leads; ultimately the shepherd is simply there – always with his flock, seeking their flourishing.
All good stuff, and integral to how we might define a minister, even now. Today’s passage, however, takes our understanding of a true shepherd, a true pastor of God’s flock, a bit further; in verses 2-3, St Peter defines the work of a spiritual shepherd primarily in terms of character:
First, a shepherd leads out of desire, not duty: ‘not because you must, but because you are willing.’
Second, a shepherd seeks to give, not to get: ‘not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve.’
Third, a shepherd practises humility, not hubris: ‘not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.’
Our model, as always, is Jesus, whom Peter describes as the ‘Chief Shepherd’ (v4). In a sense, all church leaders are only Under-Shepherds, serving the Chief. And sadly, we all know of leaders who have fallen prey to any of these pitfalls: lifeless duty, or the temptations of wealth or pride. It takes discipline and resilience to keep eagerly choosing the path of humility and service. We can only do it in the strength of the Chief Shepherd, allowing His Spirit to keep transforming our hearts. We carry always before us the example of Christ, our inspiration and our challenge.
Today, let’s pray for our pastors/shepherds, that they might model this kind of life and ministry. May each of them daily remind themselves that, despite the cost, the prize is eternal: they will ‘receive the crown of glory that will never pass away.’ (v4) The Lord truly is their shepherd, too; they shall not want. Amen.
Monday 1st June – 1 Peter 4:12-19 ‘Committed to our faithful Creator’
Some years ago, I read an interview with a Chinese pastor, who described the challenges the underground church had suffered in his country. Towards the end of the interview, the interviewer assured him of the prayers of many Christians around the world that the persecution would end. The pastor was shocked. No, he said, don’t pray for it to end, for our suffering has caused the amazing growth you want to hear about today!
This kind of attitude may seem strange to our ears, and to many in the West, where we rarely have to face real persecution for our faith. But the attitude of this pastor echoes a strand of our discipleship which goes right back to the first church and its original leaders. After being flogged and ordered not to speak about Jesus, ‘the apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.’ (Acts 5:41)
St Peter, of course, was one of those apostles referred to in that verse, so as he writes this letter many years later, he knows exactly what he is talking about, when, in today’s passage, he draws together the strands of a theme which has occupied much of the letter: that of how we respond opposition to our faith – and especially the suffering we might experience for holding fast to what we believe and practise. Let’s clarify here that, in this case, the suffering to which St Peter is referring is not the general suffering of, say, illness or bereavement; rather, this is specifically what we experience as a direct result of our faith and witness.
As he summarises everything he has taught on this subject, he reminds his readers – and us – of two things: first, suffering is unsurprising (v12) – it is part and parcel of following Jesus. This is a sobering truth, but the second thing is its antidote: if suffering is unsurprising, suffering is also glory (v13). Jesus identifies most closely with those who suffer for his Name, and those who experience this kind of trial often testify to how close Jesus is to them, how often they see miraculous answers to prayer, how many ‘divine appointments’ they receive.
If these are the two realities of life as a follower of Jesus, there are also two practical bits of advice from someone who has ‘been there and done it’; bearing all this in mind, Peter draws this section of the letter to a close with two very simple principles which enable us to meet this kind of suffering head-on (v19): first, we ‘commit ourselves to our faith Creator.’ Ultimately, we can trust in the character of God: He made us, and He is faithful. He always has our best interests at heart.
Second, we ‘continue to do good.’ It may be hard when we face opposition for this, but, as Peter has said several times previously, we should keep doing it anyway, because we’re doing it for God, not for anyone else. As we begin our week, may the Lord grant us all grace to continue doing good, as a sign of our faithful commitment. And may we do so, trusting that ‘the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.’ Amen.
The Week After Pentecost 2026
Saturday 30th May – Acts 2:37-41 ‘In the name of Jesus’
The Sunday after Pentecost (in the traditional church calendar) is Trinity Sunday, a day when we celebrate the fact that the God we love and worship is one being with three natures: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. On this Sunday of the year we reflect on why this profound idea is such an amazing thing: it means we worship a uniquely 3-dimensional God, someone we can relate to in many deep ways – a magnificent monarch, a wise teacher and judge, an inspiring example, a comforting presence in our lives, a close friend. God is both up in heaven and in our hearts. If God had only one nature, think what we would lose!
Today though, we remind ourselves that there is a ‘way in’ to this extraordinary relationship. God is Christlike – and Jesus (the Son) is also the way to the Father and the Spirit. The Christian faith is ultimately a Christ-centred faith: we trust in, and follow, Jesus. And this idea runs throughout the last part of Peter’s sermon:
- We are forgiven in the name of Jesus (v38)
- We are baptised in the name of Jesus (v38)
- As a result, we receive the Holy Spirit (v38: noting it was Jesus who received the Spirit from the Father and pours it out on us – v33)
- Ultimately, we are called by God (v39) to believe in the promises fulfilled by Jesus.
It’s all in the name of Jesus. This is how we change our lives (the meaning of the word ‘repent’ – a word sadly obscured sometimes by too much religious baggage).
What always touches me when I read these amazing stories of the early church is how much Jesus is at the centre of everything – how much the apostles loved Jesus, and built everything they said and did around this love. Every time I read them, I think to myself: I want a bit of that! Maybe you do, too.
The good news is that this is not just a historical record. As Peter insists, this kind of life is available to everyone: us, our families, and even those who are far off. No-one is too young or too old, too good or too bad, too cynical or too gullible. Jesus is for all of us. And in his name we have forgiveness, a new life, and power by his Spirit to live that new life. May that new life be ours today, this week, and for eternity.
Friday 29th May – Acts 2:29-36 ‘God had promised’
Promises, promises. It’s something we all find ourselves doing, but fulfilling them is not always straightforward. During the covid pandemic, so many promises have had to be postponed or cancelled, through things outside our control. Is it better not to promise at all?
Interestingly, God doesn’t have an issue with making promises or vows. Jesus’ teaching on not swearing oaths in the Sermon on the Mount is more to do with abusing language to manipulate people than the idea that we shouldn’t make firm commitments. Indeed, our integrity should be such that a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is enough for people to know that we will do what we said we will do.
And God makes promises to us, too. Indeed at the heart of what we call ‘faith’ is that sense of trust that God will do what he said he will do. That God does wonderfully forgives us, fully and freely; that God does send us the Holy Spirit – what Peter indeed calls in this passage ‘the promised Holy Spirit’; that God will take us to enjoy eternal, abundant life in heaven. Faith rests on the promises of God.
And God also promised many centuries ago that a new anointed rescuer would come, a king to sit on David’s throne. ‘God had promised’ this to David – and it is now remarkably and perfectly fulfilled in Jesus.
The result of these promises: ‘God has made this Jesus…. Lord and Messiah.’ (v36) Our great rescuer and now the One we can worship and follow.
When life is tough it’s easy to get weary of commitments and promises. But a deeper truth is at work: a certain foundation on which our lives can rest. God’s promises never fail. He has not forgotten you. He still loves you. He is still with you. And you are still with him. Take a few moments today to call to mind some of the great promises of God. And may that lift your heart and soul in praise.
Thursday 28th May – Acts 2:22-28 ‘Death cannot keep its hold’
I spent time looking at my patio today. A strange thing to do, you might wonder. About 50 slabs of paving stone, grey and uniform. Pretty dull, I guess. But what I was really looking at were all the things pushing up between the cracks. Grasses, weeds, the occasional wild flower. Every few months we clear them – and they always just grow right back again.
For those of you who love order, it’s a mess – perhaps a headache you’re aware of in your own garden. But I like to look at it another way, and not just because I’m a lazy gardener. What I love about seeing all those plants pushing their way up and out into the fresh air is the sense of irrepressible life. However hard we try to destroy it, abundant life just keeps reappearing.
This has long been a passion of mine. Until we moved to MK, I’d lived virtually all of my life in urban areas, many of them on the rough and ready side. My world was concreted, bricked and paved. And yet, what was remarkable was how often life would push out through the cracks – up the side of a wall, through a crack in the pavement, peeping out through a fence. We usually dismiss them as weeds – but in the city, I used to call them beautiful. Signs of irrepressible life, no matter how hard we tried to stamp it out.
‘This is the testimony: God has given us life, and this life is in his Son.’ These words of St John remind us of a simple but profound truth. God is the author of life – and as people made in God’s image, we are made for life, too. Where God is, there is life.
So when God comes to earth, how does this play out? At one point, not as we expect: the author of life dies. Wrongly charged, corruptly convicted – innocent and betrayed, alone on a cross. But this could never be the end of the story. How can you destroy irrepressible life? Or as St Peter says in today’s reading: ‘But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.’ (v24)
The agony of death for Jesus was not so much the physical process of dying, but momentary separation from his Father. And yet it could only be temporary, because life cannot be held back forever. The resurrection reminds us that God has life within himself, and God’s purpose, not just for Jesus but for all of us, is life. Death is not the final answer – the ultimate destiny of all those who choose to live their lives in God is life.
May our prayer today be David’s cry of joy at the end of this passage: ‘You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’ And, perhaps, take a look at the weeds on your patio or your path and give thanks for irrepressible life! It’s what we were made for.
Wednesday 27th May – Acts 2:14-21 ‘On all people’
We all love a bit of ‘secret knowledge’. Access to information that others don’t have. A couple of years ago I watched a documentary about the group of spies who created the deceptions that allowed the Allies to carry out the D-Day landings. It was absolutely fascinating to see how this group of five (codenamed Treasure, Tricycle, Garbo, Brutus and Bronx; great names!) played on a very human trait – our shared love of insider knowledge – to achieve something remarkable.
For most of us, it’s not that glamorous. A bit of gossip here, a tip about a sale item there. Early in 2020, as the pandemic took hold, we swapped endless stories of which shops had anti-bac or toilet rolls. And in the religious life most cultures have always been drawn to the idea of special people, or secret wisdom. Call them seers, shamans or senseis, it’s thought that certain people have privileged access to the spiritual realm.
At one level, we can recognise the value of this: humans have always needed leaders, in the spiritual life as much as in other spheres. But – humans being what they are – this brings with it the risk of unhealthy control, manipulation or downright deceit. God is the Lord of the whole earth, and every human being is made in God’s image, we carry the divine imprint. Is it right in the spiritual life to grant privileged access only to some?
At Pentecost, amazingly, the answer is ‘not any more’. The great gift of the pouring out of God’s Spirit is not just the new power it brings, or the energy for mission, or the birth of God’s great community (the Church) – it is the possibility of direct access to the presence of God for all people. ‘In the last days,’ Joel prophesies on God’s behalf, ‘I will pour out my spirit on all people.’ (v17) Young and old, women and men.
God’s Spirit has always been at work in the world – but until Pentecost, it tended to be for particular people at particular times. But from now on, all of us can encounter the presence of God, can have Jesus dwell in us by his Spirit, can know the joy and intimacy of a real and close relationship with the Almighty Lord of all creation. Or to use St. Paul’s words 25 years later: ‘By the Spirit we cry “Abba, Father”.’ By God’s grace and the gift of his Spirit, we can all become children of God.
So today, give thanks that this gift is for you. Not just for the great and the good, for the specially chosen and those privileged with ‘secret access.’ The secrets of the kingdom of heaven are laid open to all! Ask God to draw close to you again, to fill your heart and to grant you the joy of sharing in this remarkable gift with hundreds of millions of people across the world. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Tuesday 26th May – Acts 2:1-13 ‘What does this mean?’
Many of you will be familiar with the scene at Pentecost. A group is gathered, praying, and suddenly the place is filled with wind and fire. On Pentecost Sunday we usually look at what it means for God’s Spirit to manifest as fire and wind – how we need the fire to ignite our passion for God and whatever God calls us to; how we need the wind to blow us to the places God wants to be and the people God wants us to love. And that is vital.
But let’s look today at the immediate aftermath. This dramatic experience was not for its own sake. It set about a chain of events. The outcome for the disciples is that many of them received the gift of new languages. The gift of tongues is usually understood now to relate primarily to a form of ‘heavenly language’, unintelligible to most people – and that is the most common form of the gift today. But here at the start these were actual languages. What the disciples spoke was understood by a large multi-lingual crowd who had gathered from across the known world to celebrate a big Jewish festival. No Google Translate in those days: God was equipping a group of largely ‘unschooled’ people (Acts 4:13) to do his work in a remarkable way.
The second link in the chain is perhaps not surprising: this large crowd was ‘utterly amazed’ (v7) to hear their own language being spoken. More than that, they were ‘perplexed’ (v12). It is almost inevitable that they ask the million-dollar question: ‘What does this mean?’
A lot is spoken – and mis-spoken – about spiritual gifts. Some make them a requirement of real faith, others a dangerous distraction. All I can say, from my own experience, is that such gifts are not faked, or forms of self-deception: they are absolutely real, and wonderful – but they also have a purpose. They are never given just to provide us with an ‘experience’. They are Jesus’ gifts – and as such, they are there to do Jesus’ work in the world. The exercise of such gifts in a Christlike way always prompts people to explore further: ‘What does this mean?’
Faith in Jesus is not just true, it’s real. And sometimes people need a divine prod to back up what we speak and how we live. Most of the most ‘noticeable’ gifts of the Spirit happen in the context of mission – in other words to demonstrate that Jesus is real, and exactly who he says he is…. just as we see here. This chain of events in today’s passage sets the scene for Peter’s great speech that comes next.
You may or may not have experienced this kind of thing. It doesn’t matter – there is no place either for pride or a false sense of inadequacy in the journey of faith. But perhaps we can all take a step today to pray for more of God, for openness to whatever gifts he may graciously want to give us – and for opportunities to meet those asking: ‘What does this mean?’ Our God is the same, yesterday, today and forever.
Monday 25th May – Acts 2:1-21 Introductory Reflection: ‘Weak made strong’
Pentecost, the pouring out of the Spirit in a new and glorious way: on all people, for all time.
There’s so much we could say about this wonderful passage. How the manifest presence of God came to Jesus’ friends in wind and fire. How it ignited mission, and fulfilled what we looked at yesterday, as the gospel could now reach ‘to the ends of the earth’. How it came at just the right moment, when multitudes of nations were gathered and could take this good news back to their homes and neighbourhoods. How it was mistaken for drunken behaviour and ridiculed, as sadly it sometimes still is today. How it represented a ‘new law’ for God’s people, which is what Pentecost had traditionally celebrated. How it brought Joel’s famous prophecy (day 17) to life….
And we can celebrate all of those things. But as we spend this week in Acts ch2, celebrating this world-changing moment, let’s begin by looking at what it meant for the disciples, and how that might speak to us. I’ve been reminded recently of something profound written about St. Peter by the great Christian writer, G.K. Chesterton (and please forgive the non-inclusive language, Chesterton was of his time):
“When Christ at a symbolic moment was establishing His great society, He chose for its cornerstone neither the brilliant Paul nor the mystic John, but a shuffler, a snob, a coward – in a word, a man. And upon this rock He has built His Church, and the gates of Hell have not prevailed against it. All the empires and the kingdoms have failed, because of this inherent and continual weakness, that they were founded by strong men and upon strong men. But this one thing, the historic Christian Church, was founded on a weak man, and for that reason it is indestructible. For no chain is stronger than its weakest link.”
At the heart of our story today is Peter, who stands up before the crowds as a person transformed. Chesterton is right to note that Peter is essentially someone like us, and that this is why he proved such a great choice to lead in the upside-down kingdom of Jesus.
But this Peter has a new power inside him. He is no longer operating solely out of his human weakness, but in the power of Christ, which fills and equips Peter by His Spirit. Which means we can now look at Chesterton’s insight two ways: not just celebrating that God uses weak people (like us) to achieve His purposes. But also, since Christ indwells every Christian, then in fact every ‘weakest link’ is now far stronger than we could ever dare to imagine. Not our strength, but Jesus’.
Pentecost may have been a unique occasion, an unparalleled experience. But it speaks to a deeper truth for each of us: that the Spirit enables us to do things we could never have imagined possible. The Spirit is still enabling us today. What does – or might – that beautiful truth look like for you?
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