Quest 23/5/21

Pentecost or Whit Sunday. When I was little, Whit Sunday was a favourite of mine as it always marked the beginning of the half term break from school. The bank we now called the ‘Spring Bank Holiday’ (on 31st May this year) was always on the after Whit Sunday and as Whit Sunday falls 5 weeks after , the date could vary quite a bit. For centuries it has been a time of celebrations and holidays - perhaps going back to pagan times, marking the start of summer. Still today you find ‘Whit walks’ or fetes, morris dancing, parades and races. In Manchester it became known as ‘Gaping Sunday’ as the cotton mills often closed for a week at this time and all the workers flocked into the city centre to look or ‘gape’ in the shop windows - but couldn’t afford to buy anything…..

Cheese rolling down Cooper’s Hill near Gloucester on Whit Monday. You have to chase a round cheese down a very steep hill. It was banned for a while because it caused so many injuries but so many people complained that they brought it back!

The church tends now to call it ‘’, marking the five weeks since Easter. (‘Pentagon’, ‘pentathlon’ etc.) It is marked by the colours red and white; if you are in church today, look at the flowers, the altar covering, what the priest is wearing etc. Can you guess why the key colour is red? If not, read on and pick up a clue.

For Christians, it is the day the comes to the disciples, to ‘replace’ the gap in their lives left by Jesus’ death and then his ‘ascension’ into Heaven, when even the resurrected Jesus leaves them for good. His bodily presence may have gone, but his spiritual presence is still with this - and with us.

Acts 2:1-21

2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.” Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.

The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

This is a Bible passage which gives us 2 wonderfully vivid pictures, firstly the 11 disciples with tongues of flames on their heads, being blown by a great wind and speaking strange languages (not a likely ability for poor fishermen from Galilee) Secondly, Peter quotes the prophet Joel who said that “In the last days” there would be blood, fire, smoke, a darkened sun and a red moon, with people prophesying and seeing visions. At the time of Jesus there was a strong belief that the “end of the world was nigh” perhaps understandable for people who had no knowledge of modern science, the ‘big bang’ theory etc. This view has dimmed rather, now that the world has survived at least 2000 years since it was spoken, though there are people who see the Covid pandemic as the beginning of the end of the world……

So what can we make of all this? The thing that strikes me most is the “global” nature of it. I think the different languages spoken indicates that Jesus’ message is for everyone, the whole world over - it’s not just for the Jews. Perhaps it’s also suggesting that it’s for the whole of creation - for animals, plants, oceans and that we must care for them?

The flames coming out of the apostles’ heads is a lovely image but I don’t think it happened literally. However, flames are a great visual way to show the presence of something we can’t see - the Holy Spirit. Think of it like a bar of iron which gets heated and turns first red and then white with the heat. The heat is a bit like the spirit in us - it changes us. Perhaps it’s our conscience? Some very ‘spiritual’ people say they feel moved to do something like call a friend only to find that that friend is going through a bad time and needed that contact. Was that the Holy Spirit nudging them? I suspect that the experience of the Holy Spirit is different for all of us but however invisible it is and however much it can’t be proved by science, I think there is something there. Perhaps in another 2,000 years we will have a clearer understanding of what it might be…

Things to do: 1. Make your own picture of Whit Sunday. I’ve included some examples here. A dove is often used as a symbol of the holy Spirit as well as a flame.

2. Listen to this hymn - one of my favourites which always makes me cry!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6grXk3e5bs0

3. Try to have a quiet moment this week to feel the Holy Spirit in you. Perhaps go for a walk or look at a beautiful flower (if it stops raining!)

Have you now worked out why the altar covering, flowers etc. are red on Whit Sunday?