Birth Pangs (May 2024)
by Rev Paul Graham
So here we are. My 48th and final (at present) article for the Fellowship Matters magazine. I’m not about to spend the time reminiscing about times past, and the ways that these articles have given me the opportunity to add my voice to the church’s many conversations over the past nearly nine years. However, I am going to briefly take the time to thank everyone who has contributed to the writing and production of the magazine throughout my tenure. Thank you to everyone who has contributed something to these pages, in whatever form it has taken and about whatever subject has been written. Particular thanks are also due to Rita and Janet, who continue to compile and edit each issue, coaxing articles out of people, always encouraging and graciously flexible when it comes to deadlines. My grateful thanks for their continuing ministry in this way. Please support them by saying “yes” and putting pen to paper (finger to keyboard) in the future…
As for me, the only way that I can realistically finish my written ministry here is to provide you with a reflection for the current time. The span of this magazine takes us through the few weeks remaining before Ascension, Pentecost and the anticipation of summer, with its attendant flash flooding, flies and hosepipe bans (particularly during Wimbledon fortnight). During this time, we will have our fair share of opportunities to curse the weather for being either too hot or too cold, we will find reasons to be cheerful and disheartened at the various sporting events that pepper the late spring/summer calendar, and we will start to enjoy the first fruits of gardens and allotments that will soon be awash with salad leaves, courgettes and other tasty treats. And in the midst of all that, we will once again celebrate the birthday of the church as it was established in the upper room in Jerusalem a mere 10 days after Jesus ascended into heaven.
Let’s just for a moment put ourselves into that upper room, sitting alongside the disciples and the other followers of Jesus who we understand from Luke’s writing in Acts numbered around 150. Picture yourself as one of those unnamed people, present at the day of Pentecost.
Imagine your thoughts as you arrive. You will have had to travel across the city to get in, maybe wary of those in soldier’s uniforms as much as your fellow Jew, remembering that it was only a few short weeks ago that the crowd cried out “Crucify him”, less than a week after they clamoured for him to be declared their messiah. But you make it to the secret meeting place, away from prying eyes and amongst friends.
How long have you been a follower of Jesus? Are you one of those who heard his teaching in the Temple, when he fearlessly confronted the Pharisees and challenged the prescribed order of religiosity and rules, instead preaching of a third way, a way of peace and grace in the face of violence and restrictions? Or are you one of those who saw Lazarus emerge from his tomb, his resuscitated breath forcing its way out of the tightly woven bandages around his head? Or have you been with Jesus for longer, one of those who were there on a hillside being fed with a portion of five loaves and two fishes, and having heard stories of runaway sheep, errant sons and violent attacks on the road to Jericho?
However long your association with Jesus, and with those gathering now in the upper room, you are united in prayer and waiting. Waiting for the promised Holy Spirit, a few days after the long-promised Saviour disappeared from view. What keeps you going during this time of waiting? Is it the company of others, those who have shared in these remarkable days, their testimony of healing and restoration sustaining you during the silence from heaven?
Ten days may not sound a long time, after all they say that a week is a long time in politics, but Jesus didn’t give a time limit when he left. The Psalmist wrote that a thousand years is as a day to the Almighty, so maybe there will be a bit longer to wait than anticipated.
John and Peter, James and Andrew, now gaining in confidence since their encounters with the resurrected Jesus on the beach, leading the prayers of the faithful as you look around the faces of your fellow pilgrims. What are the prayers that are offered? Surely there will be prayers for safety, for the threat of death will not have diminished just because the cockerel crowed three times. There will also be prayers for healing, for those who are dying and for the families of those who have died. There are too many of you to make such prayers unlikely during this less than sanitary time in earth’s history. So much for prayers for the present situation that you all find yourselves in.
But what of prayers for the future? Do you dare ask for the Holy Spirit to get a move on and make its presence felt sooner rather than later? Do you ask for a change in the hearts of the authorities, both religious and military, to become more accommodating to the followers of the man they could not silence? Do you pray for a better, brighter tomorrow? Or do you still fear what might happen to you when you leave later in the day?
Or do you just sit in silence, lost in the memories of the life you left behind to join with those who answered the call of “Follow me”?
Paul, your soon to be mortal enemy will later in his post-Damascene fervour encourage all believers in Jesus to pray continuously, giving thanks whatever the circumstances, so maybe it’s a chance to simply say thank you for being where you are, for the people you are with, for what you have seen, heard and experienced since you made your choice.
Whatever the future may hold, you can’t be robbed of your past. And just for the moment you can appreciate the time you are spending with like-minded people, many with still unanswered questions, doubts and certainly plenty of fears. But also the reassurance that you are not alone. The promise is yet be realised, but when the Holy Spirit does finally come, in who knows what way and through who knows what method and with who knows what effect, this will yet again vindicate you in your decision to back Jesus. You may well have been one to have deserted Him on the road to the cross, but your presence in the room hints of your rekindled commitment now.
It is because of His grace that you are in that room. It will be by His grace that you and your fellow pilgrims will carry the good news into the world when the Holy Spirit finally arrives, facing whatever response you receive. God’s grace that was sufficient for you previously will continue to be sufficient for you and all those to whom you bear witness of all that Jesus means to you.
And God’s sufficient grace is what continues to be offered to us today as we are challenged to live lives that bear the same good news message as those who sat waiting in that upper room. It is God’s grace that sustains us when we face the darkness and celebrates with us in the light. Although we cannot predict the future, we can be confident in God and His grace, at all times and in all places.
Go in peace, love and especially in grace.
