The Pentecost reflection series has been written to explore and celebrate the role of the Holy Spirit in Scripture and in our lives.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
(Genesis 1.1–2, ESV)
In 1998, Dame Judi Dench won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Queen Elizabeth I in the film Shakespeare in Love. Despite the fact that she only appeared in the film for eight and a half minutes, her presence as the reigning monarch was felt throughout, and, being the supreme actress that she is, when she did appear, she dominated the screen.
In some ways the Holy Spirit plays a similar role in Scripture. Appearing only occasionally in the text of the first three quarters of the Bible (the Old Testament), the Spirit’s presence is nevertheless known and felt throughout. When the Spirit does appear front and centre in the narrative, whether ‘coming upon’ a judge or king, or rushing through the room at Pentecost, the power and glory of God dominate the page.
If Jesus Christ is the unquestioned ‘hero’ of Scripture, the Holy Spirit plays the decisive supporting role. This is true even at creation. While the apostles John and Paul make it clear in the New Testament that Christ was the ‘Word of God’ declaring creation into being, Genesis 1.2 tells us that it was the Spirit of God who was hovering (or brooding, in the marvellous phrasing of the old translations) over the waters, making Christ’s creative word a powerful reality.
From the beginning, God has always been a Trinity – Father, Son and Spirit, a perfect inter-relationship of love and glory. People often mistakenly think that God started as one, then became two with Jesus, and finally three at Pentecost. But Genesis 1 tells us otherwise. And the extraordinary truth is that we are invited into that relationship: effective through the work of Christ and the indwelling witness of the Spirit. We get to eat with God, and God with us (see Revelation 3.20–21), to share in this divine web of love forever.
In this season we will explore what that means and I hope this journey will reveal new depths to you about God, and your life in and with him. But today, let’s reflect a moment that the fullness of the Spirit was only revealed many, many years after creation, at Pentecost. In the divine will and wisdom of God, what had always been there finally became a visible reality.
The fact that we bear God’s image means that this too can be a reality for us. Gifts and talents, causes and opportunities, can still come unexpectedly to the fore later in our lives. In God’s economy, all of life can be used for his glory.
God is always making everything new. Amen, come Holy Spirit.
Dear God, thank you that I am invited into relationship with you through the work of Jesus Christ and thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit dwelling in me. Thank you that you are always at work in my life and that you can use me for your glory.
These Pentecost reflections were written by Revd Matt Trendall, a minister working in Milton Keynes. Check out his blog at www.dailyinspiration.org.uk.
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