Come, Holy Spirit, be the presence we need

The Spirit meets our every need

Come, Holy Spirit,

Be the presence we need

In the darkness of uncertainty

Be the light of our lives

In moments of doubt and despair

Be the fire in our souls

In times that are dry and devoid of feeling

Be the dew that refreshes and renews

In days of turbulence and conflict

Be the dove of peace beyond understanding

In days of weakness and fearfulness

Be the wind of unseen strength

Come, Holy Spirit,

Be the presence we need.

I feel very much betwixt and between.

I have to confess to being a touch cynical about the torch and its arrival in town as Wednesday drew closer.  But in the event it wasn’t a disappointment.  It was great to have a presence organised by Felicity, Helen and the Scout Group on Pittville Park complete with face painting and bunting and to be joined by others from Highbury too.  It seemed as half of Cheltenham was out – a wonderful sense of bringing people together and such a happy coming together of people from all over the town.  And the other half were at the Race Course to welcome the flame.

There’s something inspirational about the planning that has gone into the Torch Relay that slowly over 70 days brings communities together the length and breadth of the land.  The seed of a thought was sown in one of many emailings that came out from Morethan Gold and I think from the Methodists that it’s good to share in prayer.  It was a couple of hours before the official presence that the open top bus went through that’s travelling the route with prayers and praise.  It may just be a moment’s prayer but as news comes day by day of the torch’s progress around the country a moment of prayer.

And next weekend is the Diamond Jubilee Weekend – an extended holiday, again a sense of communities coming together – and again we’ll be doing our bit with a Big Diamond Jubilee lunch.  Again the Queen touring the country through the year, the flotilla on the Thames.  A sense of celebration.

And this is the lull between whiles.

Or is it?

This is the Day of Pentecost.

It’s one of the great festivals of our Christian year.

A day of great celebration.

But it’s no longer a bank holiday.  It’s no longer a festival occasion.  It’s in our hands now to do with it as we will.

The Day of Pentecost is one of those moments of transformation when things change and all is different.  It’s the moment when the followers of Jesus sense collectively and individually that the risen Christ may no longer be seen and heard and touched and felt with the senses, but his presence is going to be as real and as strong and as powerful as ever.

It’s exactly what Jesus had been talking about with his closest friends at the last meal they shared together.  He had promised them they would not be alone, they would have another Helper, a Strengthener, A Counsellor, an Advocate – it’s  a word so difficult to translate and yet so rich with meaning.  I like William Tyndale’s word – another comforter to be with you for ever.  And that is the spirit, the breath, the wind, the unseen strengthening power of God deep within and all around – and the Spirit of God will be with you.

The great thing about the Holy Spirit as the story of the early church unfolds in the New Tesatment is that the Spirit’s presence is a presence that is real and unique for each person and for every person.  Every one has gifts from the Spirit of God, suggests Paul, each person who follows Jesus is prompted by the Spirit and will bear fruit in the living of their lives in that love, that peace, that patience and that joy that the Holy Spirit develops deep within us.

As I was preparing for this morning’s service my eye fell on a hymn.  It’s a hymn that invites us to think of different ways of thinking of the Holy Spirit and then to see the Holy Spirit coming deep into our lives at that point at which we need the touch of God in Christ by the unseen power of the Spirit most.

In a moment we are going to sing that hymn very much as a prayer.  But first, I want to take out of the hymn each of its images.  And I want us to take these few moments in the quiet of this place to turn to God in prayer and to see the touch of the Holy Spirit upon our lives.

Come, Holy Spirit,

Be the presence we need

In the darkness of uncertainty

Be the light of our lives

In moments of doubt and despair

Be the fire in our souls

In times that are dry and devoid of feeling

Be the dew that refreshes and renews

In days of turbulence and conflict

Be the dove of peace beyond understanding

In days of weakness and fearfulness

Be the wind of unseen strength

Come, Holy Spirit,

Be the presence we need.

Spirit divine, inspire our prayers

This church was less than two years old when that hymn was first sung.  It was Good Friday, 17^th April, 1829.  A call to prayer had gone out a couple of months before – it was made by ministers of Congregational churches all over London.  That day was to be a day of prayer for ‘a revival of religion in the British Churches’.

There was an excitement in the air.  There was a passion for sharing the Gospel of Christ.  It was the passion that led to Congregational churches grouping together in order to make a difference in people’s lives.  It was the passion that prompted people to plant this church here in what was a new town rapidly expanding at that time.  It was the passion Andrew Reed had in planting a church that was to open a couple of years later in London, and to found a home for orphans in London that was to make its mark in London society.

Maybe that should be our passion too.  And we can capture something of that passion in the words Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:8-17

With the unseen yet real stregnth of God in the power of the Spirit at work within us then we shall have that kind of unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another tha tPeter speaks of.  We shall seek a tender heart, a humble mind and instead of repaying evil for eveil will repay with a blessing. 

The key to living the kind of life that draws people to the love of God is in verse 15

In your hearts sanctiry Christ as Lord.

That’s something that we cannot do in our own strength. That’s the whole point of the wonderful good news we celebrate on Pentecost Sunday.  It is only by the power of God at work within us that we have that Holy Spirit of God to make a real difference in our lives.

With that in our hearts – then our lives will be shaped by the love of God in Christ.

But still on occasion we need words to explain why it is we seek to do as we do, and who it is we seek to follow in our lives.

Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an account of the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.

Then it is that we shall capture the passion, share the vision and fulfil our calling together as a church to share in the mission of Christ.