Coming Soon

Scripture - John 14: 23-29

Dan Joseph

We went to the pictures this week, and as usual the film didn't start at the advertised time, as we had to sit through 20 minutes of trailers for films that were 'coming soon'. Pirates 3, Die Hard 4, Fantastic 4 Two, 28 Days Later 2…. all of them trying desperately to sell us the next instalment in a film franchise, all of them saying "You've seen this before, you should know what to expect, but you should really get excited about this - and it's coming soon"

We are very used to being told what is coming next - we've known for years who the next Prime Minister will be even though the current one had yet to resign - but for the disciples, well, things might have been different.

One of the most obvious things about Jesus' ministry was that the power of God was working through him and making its presence felt. The disciples were a part of this; I often wonder about how fabulous this must have felt. Even though they would often have been hounded and harassed, they were witnesses to God's miracles. They'd lived their whole lives under Roman rule: everything they knew, the fabric of their society, the way of the world would have had an order to it. And then Jesus came and started to talk about change: change that wasn't going to stop when he left them.

The disciples were present as the Lord poured the Holy Spirit out into the world to affect people lives in a very real and direct way. So we read in the Gospels these amazing stories, stories about healing the sick, about raising the dead, about rescuing the demonised. All of this done with grace, done without showmanship, done with the glory being given to God at every turn.

But the power of this spirit didn't just reach out to those people who were suffering and in need of God's physical healing: those people who listened and received the word found the spirit working through them, moulding their lives and beliefs. Through the Holy Spirit all people come to know God for themselves. This is one of the ways God uses to communicate with people, to give them direction and to be aware of God's presence.

I wonder how the disciples felt when they sat sharing the Passover meal which we celebrate every week in communion. They'd been witness to all these wonders and Jesus is there telling them that he's going to be cut down, to be taken away from them. Jesus' promise to send the Holy Spirit was a promise made not only to them - but to us all. The spirit brings us the presence of our Saviour and our Creator. To experience the work of the Holy Spirit is to experience Jesus and the living God. The spirit extends and deepens our grasp of what Jesus message and ministry was all about. The Holy Spirit makes disciples of us all. All of us become witnesses to the power of God's work, and while we may not know what it was like to be there when Jesus healed a lame man or raised Lazarus, all of us are witnesses to God's work, we do witness miracles.

Jesus told them, "Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid". We can all feel lonely. Sometimes it doesn't matter if you're in a room full of people, you can still feel lonely. Jesus' promise still stands. The Holy Spirit brings us the nature of Jesus. Just as Jesus promised that he brings us into the presence of God our creator. Everything that the Apostles were witness to everything that Jesus promised to them he has promised to us.

How many 'brand' clothes- 'designer labels' do we wear? If you watch a big sporting event you can see the names of sponsors on the front of shirts or plastered over hoardings or the side of cars. Big businesses put their names on their products because they can then use the people who wear them as walking advertisements - as signs - to the world that the person wearing their clothes prefers them to anything else. That's why you're more likely to see sponsor's names on sportspeople's clothes actually woven into the fabric rather than embroidered on top.

Since our baptism we have something far more important than any commercial logo woven deep into the fabric of our lives - Jesus' love for us, and his life in us. And Jesus wants us to make his love more visible than any designer logo we wear on our clothes. We do that in the way we allow Jesus' love to work through us

The more we open ourselves up to letting God play a part in our lives the more change we see. We don't have the privilege of a 'coming soon' trailer to tell us what's around the corner, not for ourselves and not for our church. But Jesus tells us not to let our hearts be troubled by such change, the more we let God into our lives the more God's purpose for us will start to become evident.

In the three years that I've been a part of this church here in Manchester I've seen such change, many wonderful things have happened, these are our miracles. As we move into the season of Pentecost, we use this time to reflect on the gifts of the spirit that we've been blessed with.

What ministry will we start to support? Come into the village once a month to hand out cards, pluck up the courage to sing with the choir, make the effort to come to the Spiritual Chill service, these things do more than just help build up the church - they change us. Maybe we learn to overcome shyness maybe we find a new way of communicating with God that calms our stressed lives, maybe we take stock of our behaviour and ask 'why do I keep on doing that?'

What part will you play in the 'coming soon' trailer for our church?