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Pentecost Sunday 2009 and Baptism
SERMON – 10.15am, Emmanuel Church, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Sunday 31st May 2009
Revd. Canon David Pickering
This morning we welcome Nadia John Nagpal and her family as they join us for her baptism into the family of Christ.
Acts 2.16, 17a pour out my Spirit on all flesh.
We pour out many things everyday – water, tea, coffee, beer, wine and any other drink that takes our fancy
Sometime we pour out our troubles or complaints.
But let's stick with the liquids this morning, especially as we are going to be pouring water over Nadia in a few minutes.
A few years ago a space probe was sent to the planet Mars with the scientific intent of trying to find water on the red planet.
To find signs of water would be to find signs of life.
Both physically and proverbially water is a sign of life.
In this morning's baptism it is a sign for Nadia of her life in and with God. As water is poured over her head so the Holy Spirit is poured into her life.
The pouring out of the Spirit is a good way of trying to understand the meaning and activity of the Holy Spirit.
In the profession of our faith we say that we believe in a God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit – the Holy Trinity whom we celebrate next Sunday.
Of the three, Father, Son and Holy Spirit it is probably the Holy Spirit that gives us the greatest difficulty in our comprehension of God.
Yet it is the so vital.
We can have some understanding of what we mean by talking about God as Father, the one who is the maker of all things.
(It is set out for us in the Profession of Faith in the Baptism)
We can also have some understanding of what we mean by Jesus, the Son of God, who came to save us.
(Again it is set out for us in the Profession of Faith in the Baptism)
But when it comes to the Holy Spirit, well that's a much harder question. (It is set out for us in the Profession of Faith in the Baptism – but only briefly)
But what does it really mean?
Let's return to the simple idea of pouring out water.
Two jars and water.
a) a sealed lid – no water gets through
b) no lid – all the water fills the jar
c) holes in the lid – some water gets through
Which one do we want to be, or rather, which one are we?
Are we closed tight, completely open, or will just let a little seep through.
We need to remember that God always takes the initiative.
God is giving us his Holy Spirit, his power, all the time.
He is poring out the Spirit in a constant stream.
Are we letting it flow into our lives?
Yes! A lot of the time we do.
We are like the jar with holes.
Remember that wonderful list in Galatians 5 of the fruits of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. Wherever there are any of these things in our lives, there the Holy Spirit of God has seeped through into us. We are like the jar with holes in it. That is probably most of us most of the time.
But of course we can also be like the jar with the sealed tight lid. We can shut up our hearts. We can be totally cold and uncaring, miserable and selfish, and whole host of other negative characteristics.
The sealed lid may have something to do with the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit – but that has to be a subject for another occasion.
But what does God want us to be.
He doesn't want to us to have lid at all.
He wants us to be full of his Holy Spirit.
A lid with holes only allows a few drops to get through.
They are no more than droplets of love, joy, peace etc.
The wide-open jar allows the Holy Spirit to fill us with nothing but the fullness of the fruits of the Spirit.
In St Johns' gospel, chapter 3, which forms next week's gospel reading, Jesus says to Nicodemus that he must be born of the water and the Spirit.
Now let us pour the water and the Spirit on Nadia in her baptism so that her life may be filled with Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self-control.
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