Mission and Pentecost

Mission Sermon FMM12

Acts 2:1-21; Romans 8:22-27 & John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Mission for many of us may seem to be a fairly daunting prospect! Something that is perhaps best left to the professionals!  What are the first images that come to mind when you think of the word “mission”? Perhaps you place it very firmly in the past as you think about some of the great pioneer missionaries of the nineteenth century, such as Livingstone or Florence Nightingale as they went into often uncharted territory seeking to improve social conditions as well as proclaim the gospel. Maybe the first thing that comes to mind is something like a huge evangelistic Billy Graham style revival meeting! As a fourteen year old in 1984 I had the privilege of being a part of Mission England, as I made my first real acknowledgement of faith in just such a setting.  I know that certainly for myself, four years on from that experience, when I was eighteen years old, and a student at an evangelical Methodist Bible College, much of my time there was spent either on, or preparing to go on periods of “mission” in various parts of the  UK. There we would take school assemblies, hold evangelistic events in local cafes, sometimes knock on doors trying to talk to people about Jesus, or stand on a beach attempting to draw a crowd with my dodgy efforts at drawing a Rolf Harris style sketchboard, while at the same time giving my testimony. Looking back at it now, over half my lifetime away, it was a fantastic experience, and is something that I have no regrets at all in doing, being, as it was, my first real experience of anything to do with mission.

Today here at St George’s, and around the world, we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, considered by some to be the birth of the church. The moment when the Holy Spirit came upon the infant church and empowered it to go out and declare the gospel to ALL nations! Our reading from Acts was the probably the first major act of mission the disciples had engaged in after the death and resurrection of Jesus. They are standing in the upper room, no doubt still filled with uncertainty and fear about what lies ahead for them, when we are told the Holy Spirit comes upon them and they receive the ability to communicate the gospel to the crowds in a way that those people filling the streets of Jerusalem were able to understand. They become so emboldened with the ability to reach out to the people of Jerusalem, that that moment in time becomes a great turning point in the early days of the church.

The disciples receive the promise of the Holy Spirit from Jesus himself as he prepares them for when he will no longer be physically with them. He speaks in John’s gospel of the “Advocate”, the Spirit of truth, who will point towards Jesus and the Father. When he is no longer with them, the point he is making is that they will not be left all alone, floundering around, not knowing what to do. The work that Jesus began will be continued by the Holy Spirit, who will come upon the disciples and guide them into all truth.

So here we are then, at Pentecost, gathered perhaps with the disciples in our own metaphorical “Upper Room” here at St George’s, wondering “what on earth is going to happen today”. Of course most, if not all of you will be aware that today we also mark Sea Sunday and this afternoon down at the Marina there will be a group of us from St George’s, and other churches in the city too, including Father Andrew and Bishop Mark taking part in a service in which thanks will be given for the links we have with the sea, those who work on it and a blessing will be prayed over the boat that has been built for the cultural Olympics and is sailing along the South Coast linking communities and sharing their stories.

The boat project is all about peoples stories and sharing those stories with one another. It is a boat built from wood that has been donated from many different sources. Pieces of wood from the old West Pier, wood from Hastings Pier, even apparently a piece of wood from a guitar that belonged to Jimmy Hendrix. What every piece of donated wood has in common though, is that it has a story to tell, and this floating story is travelling along the coast connecting with people in a way that sometimes the church might envy. People are drawn to it, perhaps out of idle curiosity or perhaps because they have a sense of it being part of a much greater whole……the upcoming Olympics, and they want to somehow be a part of that themselves.

As I mentioned a moment ago, the church, THIS church will have a visible presence down there this afternoon……not least because we are the parish church. And we go there because we believe that we have something to offer. We go not in the name of St George’s Church or even the Church of England, but we go in the name of the One who sent the Holy Spirit upon those first disciples at Pentecost. And I don’t believe that we go there primarily looking to convert people. We go to the Marina this afternoon to share in the stories of the communities that have helped build the boat, to hopefully listen and be part of the ongoing stories of those who live and work in the Marina, and yes (here comes the scary bit) to share something of our own story with them.

Maybe it doesn’t sound very Anglican; perhaps for some of us it may be a little too evangelical for comfort. It’s not perhaps the way we are used to doing things at St George’s. It is all too easy sometimes to stay inside our own comfort zone, to keep with what we are familiar with. There are times when like the disciples (of which we are the 21st Century Kemptown version) we need to think about going beyond the safety and comfort of our own four walls to share with others what we consider to be the greatest story ever told……that of God’s undiluted, absolute love for ALL. And we do so, particularly on this Day of Pentecost not simply in our own strength, but in the strength of the Spirit who guides into all truth. Of course, we don’t just do that with words. Our mission is also hopefully evident in our lives, in who we are and what we do. When we feed the hungry, reach out to the homeless or offer support to someone in need, we are in a very real way also offering Christ to them. Don’t think that mission is only something for the extrovert and outgoing to do or that it is something that needs special training. It’s not about being clever with words and knowing complicated theological language. Mission is simply about reaching out and being there wherever people are and offering them the love of Jesus. Maybe for you that will come in the form of simply sitting with someone and listening to their story. Read the gospels and you will see many accounts of Jesus himself doing just that!

So this afternoon, come down to the Marina with us. Simply be there, be a part of other people’s stories and maybe allow them to be part of yours, as we share what it is for us all to be part of the bigger story…..the story that the disciples were able to proclaim with confidence on that Day of Pentecost.

AMEN