Sermon: Dance of the Spirit
From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul
Dance of the Spirit: 23rd May 2010: am: The Very Revd Frank Nelson
- Psalm 104: 25 - 34
- Acts 2: 1 - 21
- Romans 8: 14 - 17
- John 14: 8 - 17
Come, Holy Spirit, whisper of divinity, speak to us, and, through us, to the world. Martin Warner
In January 1990 the opening ceremony of the 14th Commonwealth Games took place in Auckland. It was a splendid affair of pomp, colour and ceremony. Included in the ceremony was the telling of the story of Aotearoa New Zealand – beginning with the arrival of the first waka and the early Maori colonizers. Then followed the European settlers with their traditions and religion. Still later came new people from the Pacific Islands. The whole provided a spectacular blending and celebration of cultures, beliefs and music.
Unbeknownst to the organizers a video of that event would make its way across the world to the small university city of Grahamstown where a couple with two small children watched enthralled at a country where people could be welcomed and celebrated because of their differences. Each new group that arrived seemed to have something more to offer to the rich texture of this far-away country. That video of the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony played a large part in our decision to leave South Africa and come to New Zealand. It is a film I often think about when I read the story of the first day of Pentecost – and the outpouring of God’s Spirit on all those people coming from places which challenge the unfortunate reader.
Here we are today, 2010, celebrating the Feast of Pentecost, hearing again the familiar story of the events in Jerusalem: the disciples praying together, the sudden rush of wind and fire, the extra-ordinary outburst of praise to God recognized by people of many different languages, the amazement and the sneering; and Peter standing to declare that it was too early to be drunk! (What would he have said had it happened in the evening?)
In the scheme of things, Pentecost marks a clear turning point in the story of God and God’s people. Peter understood this. For him, this was the long awaited day of the Lord – when the Spirit of God would be poured out on all people, not just individuals called to specific tasks. This was the time for dreams and visions, to think big, to think differently, to make bold decisions, and take decisive action. Many did and we are told some three thousand people were baptized that day alone!
Much has happened since that day – not all of it good; not all of it in line with the dreams and visions of a world of peace and harmony that the prophet Joel had in mind. Some have been quick to seize upon the notion of the Holy Spirit as a power somehow bound to do what they want – and find scriptural backing in Jesus’ words. I well recall a Pentecostal pastor telling me that it was quite alright for him to ask, no – tell, his congregation that he should get a new Mercedes. When I expressed surprise at his audacity he quoted John 14: 14, “If in my name you ask me for anything I will do it.” I went scurrying back to the Gospel of John to read not only the text itself, but the whole chapter. It seems to give a slightly different take.
John chapter fourteen is a passage which needs careful reading and unpacking. We cannot simply lift one phrase out of its context. Jesus is about to be arrested and executed. He is spending his last hours with the disciples. They still do not ‘get’ who he is, or what he is on about. Jesus’ frustration with Philip comes through clearly. “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14: 9) There is much about love and obedience, and about not being abandoned. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever.” (John 14: 15 & 16)
It is the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father and the Son, who is the presence, the energy, the whisper of divinity, in our lives in our world today. Without lives grounded in the knowledge of the love of God there will be no obedience to God’s ways and will. I do not mean the sort of blind, unthinking, unquestioning obedience demanded by dictators – but the obedience that comes from careful listening to and for the voice of God in the world. The Bible gives us a record of how some people heard God’s voice in their world. It suggests that we will hear many different voices, and that it will not always be easy to discern which is God’s and which is not. The Bible is a measure against which the authentic experience of God can be measured. We talk about the Canon of Scripture, the measuring rod. And central to that Canon are the four Gospels which lead us to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As we listen to God, as we seek to be obedient to God’s will, so we will slowly discern what one person has called the cantus firmus of life; the melody that underpins the most ornate interweaving of notes, which keeps bringing us back to the central core. Referees of sport such as netball or rugby must know the rules of the game very well. If you can cope with the mixed metaphor, they are there to keep the cantus firmus going so that the game can be played with all its intrigue, excitement and innovation. Liturgy does the same thing for us in our worship. Underpinning what we do when we gather together week by week is the cantus firmus of the liturgy. We can and do change the hymns, the readings, the order of procession, whether to say the Creed or not – but we keep coming back to the Liturgy which ensures that we remain part of the worshipping church of God.
As God’s people gather this morning, we are the Church, the Ekklesia, the called together people; let us make music together, based on the cantus firmus of our faith. What is that cantus firmus? Perhaps nowhere better expressed than in John 3: 16. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” With this knowledge that we are loved by God – called Abba by St Paul - we begin to weave together the dance of the Spirit.
The dance begins with a greeting by the leader for the day: The Lord be with you. He or she waits expectantly. Will there be an answer? Will there be anyone to dance with? Our Liturgy, our Eucharist, is not a concert piece; it is very much a shared activity, where celebrant and people work together. The classic Anglican stance of head buried in the prayer book and mumbled responses simply does not work. The Lord be with you calls for a response: The Lord bless you. The same is true at other points in the Liturgy. Some we sing. Some we say together. For some we have to get out of our pews and move about – turning to greet people at the Peace, or coming up to the altar rail hands outstretched to receive the precious Body and Blood of our Lord. We are called to participate in, enjoy, the dance of the Spirit.
Underlying what we do each week is the recital of the events God has done. The Great Thanksgiving invites us to hear again and again that God is the source of all life and goodness, that we have sinned and turned away, that God has an answer to our disobedience, that Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread and wine. One special part of that prayer is called the epiklesis. It is the specific invitation to God to send the Holy Spirit, not only on the bread and wine making them the Body and Blood of Christ, but on us, that we may be renewed for the service of God’s kingdom. (See page 423 ANZPB)
Nor does it end in the Cathedral. The very last part of the liturgical dance, the cantus firmus, is a sending out into the world, to continue the dance of the Spirit in the world in which God has placed us. Here, in this world of work and play, of great celebration and deep questioning, of suffering and sickness, of learning and boredom, we are to continue to dance the Spirit’s dance. Now perhaps, we begin to grasp and enflesh the words of Bishop Martin Warner, as the Holy Spirit, the whisper of divinity, speaks to us and to the world.
Come, Holy Spirit, whisper of divinity, speak to us, and, through us, to the world. Martin Warner
