Midweek Reflection, Pentecost
Pentecost 2021
Holy Spirit, sent by the Father,
ignite in us your holy fire;
strengthen your children with the gift of faith,
revive your Church with the breath of love,
and renew the face of the earth,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(Collect for Pentecost Sunday)
‘I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.’ (Ezekiel 37.14)
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,
Now hear the word of the Lord!
The toe bone’s connected to the foot bone,
The foot bone’s connected to the ankle bone,
The ankle bone’s connected to the leg bone,
Now hear the word of the Lord!
And leg, knee, thigh . . . you get the idea!
The Valley of Dry Bones from the prophet Ezekiel which inspired the Spiritual ‘Dem dry bones’ perhaps sums up how many of us may have felt during the last 12-15 months or so. The Covid19 pandemic has been hard and will have affected us in many ways and for some they will have been painful and left us in a very dry place, to say the least.
You can find the words of Ezekiel at the end of the prayerful reflection
Here are the closing words from Ezekiel:
I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.
In my teens, in the North West of England we were alive to the sounds coming out from Manchester, Liverpool and all points in between. They were far from dry and we felt so alive to the sounds.
Love, love, love. . .
There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done
Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung
Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game
It’s easy
Nothing you can make that can’t be made
No one you can save that can’t be saved
Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time
It’s easy
All you need is love . . .
(the Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour – 1967)
Music with its many genres can lift us, can move us from dry places. Music is one of the ways we are transported and find new vistas. It touches our mind and our body, sometimes we cannot stop the rhythm, we tap our feet, click our fingers and hum aloud. Is that not like the movement of the Spirit? I read recently of someone’s first visit to a church and the musician started to play ‘All you need is Love’. What happened next, he described as a Pentecost event, the people started to sway, and joining in:
All You Need Is Love
As we reflect on the words of Ezekiel and also that we are celebrating Pentecost and the gifts of the Spirit let us move forward and embrace the words ‘All you need is Love’, when we experience the love of God it is a transforming moment.
The love of the Spirit within us. The love within begins a healing process, touches and reminds us, God loves me, I am worthy. Then, as a whole person, a loved person we go out to heal the world.
From the personal we move outward. What are the issues of our society? We respond with food banks and grain banks. This is important care and it also demands us to ask why are there such needs? Knowing the needs are created by social structures and values, we then seek in the political realm the healing of the brokenness of society. This is the movement of the spirit in our time. (George Hermanson)
Sing out loud:
Love, love, love. . .
There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done
Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung
Other tunes and words are available but sing out loud and act and re-act to God’s Spirit of love within us. Amen
Let us pause and recall a piece of music, a song that touches our hearts and makes us want to sing out aloud. If you have the music easily available play it.
Let now pause for a moment and bring our prayers to the Lord.
The Lord’s Prayer
Almighty God, Your holy Spirit,
was present from the beginning,
was present in the message of the prophets,
and in the words and mission of Jesus,
and is present in the church empowered by Your Spirit,
Gracious Lord, we give thanks that:
The Spirit came
and your Church was born,
in wind and fire
and words of power.
The Spirit came
blowing fear aside,
and in its place
weak hearts were stronger.
The Spirit came
as your word foretold,
with dreams and signs,
visions and wonders.
The Spirit came
and is here today,
to feed the hearts
of a world that hungers.
Blessing
May the Spirit
who hovered over the waters when the world was created,
breath into us the life the Spirit gives
May the Spirit
who set the Church on fire upon the Day of Pentecost
bring the world alive with the love of the risen Christ.
And the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
be among us and those whom we love now and always. Amen
Reflection by Rev Derek Akker
