Spirituality

When you hear someone described as “spiritual” what picture comes into your mind?

Maybe it’s a monk living in a monastery. Silent, calm, peaceful, wise, disciplined.

Maybe you have an image of a hippie yoga guru, a vegetarian, environmentally conscious, believing in the power of crystals, trying to be in harmony with the universe.

Or perhaps you think of American TV Evangelists and their congregations jumping, shouting, over-excited, emotional, chaotic, strange.

The people in Jesus’ day had their own ideas of what a “spiritual” person should look like too.

The religious elite in Jerusalem believed they knew what it would look like when God showed up. It should happen in the temple they had built for Him. It should fit within the traditions they had faithfully preserved for 100s of years. God had spoken to Moses, His words had been written down and that was God in a nutshell: confined to the pages of the Torah, confined to the traditions and rituals of the Jewish nation, His chosen people.

So, it is not surprising then, that when Jesus – God in Man – showed up the religious elite didn’t recognise him as God, let alone a spiritual person.

Their picture of God was Law-shaped not man-shaped.

And Jesus was the sort of man who seemed to enjoy not fitting into how the religious rulers felt God’s law should be interpreted and applied.

He did uncomfortable things like touching someone with leprosy – a contagious disease – even though the Law said that doing this meant he couldn’t worship with other people in the temple until he had been quarantined. But Jesus touched the leper in order to heal him, not just physically but emotionally, as that man had been starved of human contact for so long and needed that touch so he could feel human again.

Jesus refused to stone a woman caught in a sexual sin – instead showing mercy and challenging those who wanted to condemn her to go ahead and stone her if they themselves had never sinned. He helped non-Jews, foreigners, outcasts.

Jesus’ friends were fishermen, former tax collectors, former prostitutes, women and children. Yet he had harsh words for the Religious elite who worked so hard at obeying every full stop and dotted “i” of God’s Law.

The elites wouldn’t describe Jesus as “spiritual”, full of God’s Spirit. How could they? This man who claimed to be God did not fit into their God shape. God being the Law, God being just for the Jewish people.

But maybe these elites had got it wrong with their picture of God and Spirituality.

The Law and religion they practised was given to them by God: but it was NOT God.

God is bigger than the Law. He can’t be contained in it. It is a tiny part of who He is: This infinite, immortal, all powerful, ageless entity. This invisible Spirit Being who created the entire Universe does not fit neatly on a page or stay wrapped up in a scroll.

We can only describe Him with the language and concepts we have available to us. When Jesus told His followers about God he would describe Him as being “like” the Father of a prodigal Son, or “like” a woman who is searching for a lost silver coin, or “like” a shepherd searching for a lost sheep. He gave us these descriptions in terms we can understand but they are not the complete picture.

These descriptions aren’t a perfect picture of God because God can’t be contained in human language.

God doesn’t fit tidily into our picture of who He is, and what we think He will do and how we expect Him to do it.

Jesus – God in Man – didn’t fit the picture so the religious elite wanted Him dead. They wanted rid of this disruptive force that was stirring up the people and interfering with their traditions.

And in the crucifixion they believed they had succeeded.

But they didn’t realise that God can not be contained. Not in their Law, not in their books, not in their traditions, not in their temple, not in their nation.

And not even in the grave.

God, the Holy Spirit, is too powerful. Today’s reading from the Book of Acts describes God’s Spirit coming with a sound like the rush of a violent wind, filling the entire house and everyone in it.

This violent, powerful wind is the same wind, the same Spirit, that swept over the chaos in Genesis at the creation and created life, diversity and order. And how we long for the Holy Spirit to sweep over the chaos, horror and broken lives in our world caused by wicked acts like the terrorist attack in London last night and bring healing, life and order in this troubled world.

God’s violent, powerful wind blew into a bunch of frightened disciples and gave them boldness. God’s Spirit transforms a rag tag bunch of ordinary fishermen, ordinary men and women, young and old. The Spirit gives them boldness, He gives them new abilities, new languages to talk to the diverse crowd around them about the greatness of God. The Spirit gives Peter – a humble fisherman – knowledge to explain God’s promises given through the prophet Joel. To understand that this Day of Pentecost event is the fulfilment of God’s promise to “pour out His Spirit upon all flesh.”

God the Holy Spirit creates life, He creates havoc, He shakes up traditions, He shakes up people’s understanding of who is “Spiritual” and who God is. He breaks out of the boxes and the labels and the definitions we try to contain Him in.

And when God the Holy Spirit turns up we have to respond.

We can be open to Him and where He is blowing like the disciples were. Open to the new gifts he gives us to connect with other people. Open to using whatever language, whatever personality traits, whatever gift we are given to be part of His mission to the world in all its diversity. Open to speaking boldy about God even though we may be scared of the people surrounding us that are indifferent or hostile towards God and religion.

When God the Holy Spirit speaks through us and announces God’s love and offer of forgiveness, people will have many responses. They may be amazed or confused like the God-fearing Jews were who heard the disciples. Some people may sneer or mock. “These people are drunk”, these people are stupid to believe in a “Sky Fairy”. They may, like the religious elite, want to squash the Spirit down, stamp Him out, stop Him from interfering with their tradition and knowledge.

But if we are open to God the Holy Spirit. If we refuse to try to confine Him to the limitations of our imaginations, our traditions, our buildings. If we allow ourselves to stand in the full force of that violent, powerful, rushing wind then we, like those disciples, will be recreated.

New life, new power, new gifts, new opportunities to share God with others.

We will be blown by the Spirit in whatever direction He chooses, into the path of whoever He wants us to connect with.

Because, whatever our language, whatever our gift, they are from the same Spirit and have the same purpose. To bring us and all the world around us into the knowledge of this undefinable God. So that everyone who calls on His name shall be saved.

Acts 2:1-21

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13 But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

Peter Addresses the Crowd

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

17 “In the last days it will be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

and your old men shall dream dreams.

18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,

in those days I will pour out my Spirit;

and they shall prophesy.

19 And I will show portents in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below,

blood, and fire, and smoky mist.

20 The sun shall be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood,

before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.

21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”