It’s my birthday this week – I hope you remembered! You forgot? Well, there’s still time to send me a belated e.card. I’m not the only one celebrating a birthday this week either. Christians have been celebrating Pentecost – the birthday of the Church – the day when 120 new believers began a movement that today has grown to 2.3 billion: the largest family group on earth.
How did it all happen? Well, if you’re interested in church history, you can look it up in the fifth book of the New Testament, appropriately named The Acts of the Apostles or, to put it another way, “The Acts of the Church”. If you can’t lay your hand on your bible right this minute … keep reading here. I like to think it happened a bit like this …
Jesus gets back to heaven after a successful life on earth, during which time he has told people about the Kingdom of God, been crucified, come back to life and left his followers with an important mission. He is met at the pearly gates by the angel Gabriel who greets him warmly and asks how he got on. Jesus explains that his ministry was a great success and that he has left his ongoing work in the hands of a few of his “disciples”.
Gabriel is horrified as he realises how inept and useless humans are and protests that Jesus can surely not be serious. God’s work is far too important to be left to a handful of fishermen! Jesus is insistent that those he has called will carry his mission across the face of the earth into succeeding generations. “Yeah, right!” scoffs the angel; “well, don’t hold your breath!” “I don’t intend to,” replies Jesus and with that he takes a deep breath and breathes out …
And on our planet, the breath of God’s Spirit touches human lives in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria and on to the ends of the earth. As I say in my Gazette Thought this week, it doesn’t matter how you look outside; it’s what’s inside that really counts!
You may be full of high ideals and have plans to make a difference in the world. That’s great! But on your own you are going to meet all kinds of difficulties and face many overwhelming challenges. “Inspiration” – literally, breathing in will help you, especially if you know the indwelling breath of God and the presence of his Holy Spirit.
You’re facing a big challenge? You know what to do … ready? Take a deep breath …
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