The Sunday services in June will take us from quiet expectation to concrete renewal. The Holy Spirit was longed for and received, and its enduring power can now be experienced in the church.
June 1st: a room bursting with expectation
In expectation, the disciples withdrew to pray for the promised power of the Holy Spirit. Their collective prayers strengthened their unity. They were still able to feel the presence of the Risen One, but only the promised fire from on high would enable them to go and spread the gospel and bear witness.
This is the image used to commence the Sunday services in June. Believers today also withdraw spiritually in order to seek unity in prayer and create space in which the Spirit can work. Those who pray together learn to listen: first to God, then to each other. In this way, the congregation prepares the ground on which the Spirit can later unfold and carry out its work.
June 8th: wind of change
Pentecost comes with a bang. The Spirit of truth opens our hearts and minds, makes clear who God is, and who we ourselves are: sinners who need mercy, but at the same time pardoned human beings who are empowered to proclaim the message of Jesus. This double realisation makes us credible; words and deeds begin to resonate together.
Authenticity does not remain private. Those who are gripped by the Spirit dare to speak plainly without coming across as know-it-alls, and they keep their promises when things get a little uncomfortable. This new truthfulness lays the foundation for the diversity of gifts that will unfold the Sunday after.
June 15th: a combination of gifts
“Diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit … differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God.” Apostle Paul’s well-known triad provides an answer to the question of unity in diversity. Then as now, there can be considerable divisions in a congregation, with different gifts and different ideas about the freedom that faith in Christ gives.
The blueprint for building a harmonious congregation is the nature of the triune God. That means no one rises above the other; every gift and talent complements the other for the good of the whole community. In this way, the church itself becomes a living mirror of the richness of the relationships of the Trinity.
June 22nd: church as a pillar of truth
The fourth Sunday will focus on the church. It is the “pillar and ground of the truth”. Not to secure power, but to preserve the purity of the gospel. Truth has faces: it carries the word, lives love, and keeps the focus on Christ.
For truth to remain audible and visible, the Spirit demands that we actively share responsibility. Everyone is invited to contribute their gifts and be like an open church window to the world in everyday life. In this way, what we have learned so far leads to renewal.
June 29th: renewal for the living and the dead
“Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice.” This exhortation by the prophet Isaiah is the last stop on our journey in June. Isaiah makes it clear that spiritual growth leads to active repentance. Where people allow themselves to be cleansed, they themselves become ambassadors of mercy.
The perspective widens to include the invisible: the church is a community of the living and the dead. Those who experience renewal here are at the service of a hope that is stronger than a gravestone.
And thus we come full circle: those who had been full of expectation became witnesses, individual gifts and talents became one body, and a listening congregation became an active one. The Holy Spirit remains the driving force, as quiet as a breath and at the same time powerful enough to move walls.
Photo: Romolo Tavani – stock.adobe.com