Suddenly a roar!

 Pentecost haiku

Seven week had passed.

His friends were all together,

gathered in one place.

Suddenly a roar

of rushing wind filled the house;

tongues of flame, resting.

Filled with the Spirit,

their tongues were released, speaking

other languages.

Outside in the street

the crowd from many nations

hear in their own speech.

They’re from Galilee,

yet we understand, as they

speak of God’s power!

Some ask, What means this?

Others scoff, sneering: they’re drunk

on too much new wine.

Peter stands up, speaks:

It’s too early to be drunk;

only nine a.m!

In the prophet, Joel,

we read how God will pour God’s

Spirit on all flesh.

Young folk, old folk, slaves,

men and women; they shall dream

dreams and see visions.

It is coming near,

the Lord’s day; when all who call

on God’s name are saved.

© Ken Rookes 2024

Roaring wind sound

Haiku of wind and fire

On Pentecost Day

they were gathered in one place,

waiting and praying.

A roaring wind sound

filled the house, shaking them all

to their foundations.

Tongues of holy fire

dance through the air; alighting,

warming hearts and minds.

The Spirit arrives

to ignite love’s fire, bringing

tongues of ecstacy.

Spilling noisily

outside, diverse languages

commanding a crowd.

Folk from all nations

are puzzled, hearing the speech

in their own language.

We’re not drunk! Peter

counters. Rather God’s Spirit

has come upon us.

As Joel, the prophet,

spoke, God pours out God’s Spirit

on all humankind.

Men, women, young, old,

slave, free; the Spirit has come.

The Day has arrived!

These tongues are a sign,

one among many. Be saved:

call upon God’s name!

© Ken Rookes 2023

The promise to you

 

Haiku for a preacher

Powerful preaching

from one touched by the Spirit;

the man called Peter,

He preaches Jesus,

given over, put to death;

raised to life once more

The assembled crowd

is deeply moved by his words;

ask, what should we do?.

He tells them “Repent!

Be baptised in Jesus’ name;

ev’ry one of you.

You’ll be forgiven

and you’ll receive the Spirit,

be joined into God.

The promise to you

and all who are far away:

Find your life in God!

© Ken Rookes 2023

Peter, once frightened.

Haiku for witnesses

Peter, once frightened,

no longer fearing to die.

stood before the crowd.

I speak of Jesus,

who came among us with signs

he was sent from God.

You ignored his words

and killed him. But it goes on:

God raised him to life.

Full of life and love;

why should we be surprised that 

death could not hold him?

He was crucified;

now God has raised him from death.

We are witnesses.

© Ken Rookes 2023 

Promise (Holy Spirit)

Haiku for Pentecost

The works that I do,

John’s Jesus assures us, should

be enough for faith.

The works that he does

show his close relationship

with God, his Father.

The works that he does

will also be done, John says,

by those who believe.

Ask me anything,

Jesus says, I will do it.

All to God’s glory!

Show that you love me.

by keeping my commandments.

I’ll send my Spirit.

The Spirit of truth

is sent to stand beside you,

recalling my words..

John’s Jesus is sure,

full of authority, joined

and equal with God.

Peace: his parting gift

to his friends. Don’t be troubled,

do not be afraid.

© Ken Rookes 2022

 

The Advocate Comes

Haiku for Pentecost

The Advocate comes;

Spirit friend standing beside

and taking our part.

Speaking truth into

the soul, and bearing witness

to Jesus the Son.

Time for the parting.

I must go. Feel the sorrow;

I share it with you.

You are not alone.

The Spirit will take my place,

will speak to your hearts.

The Spirit brings truth,

shining light upon the world

and into your heart.

It is for the best.

Together you will declare

the truth that he brings.

I could say much more.

It is enough for now, as

much as you can bear.

The Spirit completes

what I have begun, and brings

all things together.

© Ken Rookes 2021

An understanding beyond speech.

Can you imagine this … The United Nations has gathered as whole to hear about the problems of the world, war, famine, religious difference; the leaders of North and South Korea, the USA, Israel and Palestine all are in the one room, and as they gather and the interpreters begin their work of translating the vast numbers of different languages, a mist fills the building and when it lifts, it is slowly realised that all the delegates can understand each other. They have an understanding and respect that is beyond mere speech. Not only do they appear to be speaking the same tongue, but they can really understand each other’s perspectives and dreams. Into the crowded chamber comes a feeling of real wonder and awe and a profound sense of hope.

We are in the Christian season of Pentecost and in this Season, Christians are reminded that the Spirit of God seeks to draw us closer to each other and to God. At the first Pentecost, there was a strange sort of event, where people from all corners of the then known world found themselves speaking in the same language. Though they were different, they understood each other.

This is the sort of community that God wants and this is the activity of the Spirit of God; to draw us closer to each other; to make the stranger a friend and to love the neighbour, who may well be different to us. But this sort of Spirit love does not always come easy or cheap. When those around you are telling you to hate it takes a divine power to move towards love. 

The work of Pentecost is one of profound miracle and hopefulness. It is a dream of a Spirit that can draw us closer, can assist us to truly know each other’s pain and dreams, and can draw us closer to a vision of a compassionate world, and to believe this despite what we may see in the news and hear around us. Let us pray for the gift of such a Spirit and know her presence in our midst.

El Greco - Pentcost

I love this painting by el Greco. It feels unusual and enlightened with women disciples at the center and the feeling of quite, gentle wonder.

When the Advocate comes

Haiku for breaking out

The Spirit of truth

AKA the Advocate

will be coming soon.

I will send to you

one who will stand beside you,

who will take your part.

He will testify,

speak of me and what I say;

you must do so, too.

From the beginning

you, my friends, have been with me;

you know who I am.

This is the promise;

you will not be left alone,

the Spirit is yours.

On Pentecost morn

wind and fire roaring through,

blowing dust away.

Imaged by fire,

water, and by rushing wind,

the Spirit has come.

Surprise us Spirit!

Drive us deeper into love,

disturb our comfort.

Needing to be healed,

the world and all its peoples;

come, Holy Spirit!

© Ken Rookes 2018

Pentecost prayers of the people

PRAYERS FOR CHURCH AND WORLD

Response: Spirit of God,

breathe out your new life:           hear our prayer

Holy Spirit, life of creation

You moved over the face of the waters

And called living creatures into being …

Spirit of God,

breathe out your new life on us:

            hear our prayer

We thank you for the First Peoples of this land,

And their ways of belonging in this place;

And for all who have come here seeking new opportunities,

Sharing them with people for many lands:

Spirit of God,

breathe out your new life:

            hear our prayer

We pray for all who are treated harshly,

Receiving not a welcome but cruelty

And continue to be outsiders.

Spirit of God,

breathe out your new life:

            hear our prayer

For authorities and the powerful,

Who drive nations and peoples to war,

And refuse to share the wealth of this world;

Break in with lively power:

Spirit of God,

breathe out your new life:

            hear our prayer

For your pilgrim people

Called to live expectantly,

Prompt us to live expecting your future.

Spirit of God,

breathe out your new life:

            hear our prayer

We pray for those longing for your gift of new life;

For those in our local community; who are exposed to random violence; who live in fear; who long for you.

We ask your presence for those fired up by you, who work for a just peace. In silence we pray for those we know.

We pray that our sisters and brothers who have died will be drawn into resurrection light.

Living and holy Dove, come to us and keep us alive to your hope

Through Jesus Christ,

Amen

(Rev Dr Wes Campbell)

Breath

...These things that are familiar to us also recall the upheaval in and among the first Christians in Jerusalem.  As they stood out in Jerusalem they were learning to be citizens of a new country. They were not first citizens of the Romsan Empire with its boots and swords, keeping order and ‘peace’, they said. Rather, the first baptised community began to learn of a new loyalty: - headed by Jesus, who took the hurt and wounds of our world onto himself – into himself - breeding courage and new imagination, so that the strange peace of the crucified Lord shaped a new path in the nworld, just as Paul spelt it out to the new congregation in Corinth.

 We are being called into that new style of community. For that we are baptised with water, fed with bread and wine, and pushed out into the wider community, so together we may celebrate the gusty, swirling life of the Spirit, who with Jesus the Son and the Father draw us into new life. AMEN

Rev Dr Wes Campbell (for full sermon see sermons page 2)

Unless

Unless the eye catch fire,
The God will not be seen.
Unless the ear catch fire
The God will not be heard.
Unless the tongue catch fire
The God will not be named.
Unless the heart catch fire,
The God will not be loved.
Unless the mind catch fire,
The God will not be known.
William Blake (1757-1827) from Pentecost

Breathing the Water

All others talked as if
talk were a dance.
Clodhopper I, with clumsy feet
would break the gliding ring.
Early I learned to
hunch myself
close by the door:
then when the talk began
I’d wipe my
mouth and wend
unnoticed back to the barn
to be with the warm beasts,
dumb among body sounds
of the simple ones.
I’d see by a twist
of lit rush the motes
of gold moving
from shadow to shadow
slow in the wake
of deep untroubled sighs.
The cows
munched or stirred or were still. I
was at home and lonely,
both in good measure. Until
the sudden angel affrighted me––light effacing
my feeble beam,
a forest of torches, feathers of flame, sparks upflying:
but the cows as before
were calm, and nothing was burning,
nothing but I, as that hand of fire
touched my lips and scorched by tongue
and pulled by voice
into the ring of the dance.
Denise Levertov

pentecost cartoon

But how will I know?

My eyes, my mind and my heart,

I like to believe, are open.

But when the Spirit of truth comes,

how will I know?

Perhaps she has already come.

She will, I assume, speak to me of Jesus

and his teachings; telling of love

and generosity, of justice and defiance,

of courage, anger, compassion and peace.

I am emboldened, and challenged

to join with my sisters and brothers

and pray: Come Holy Spirit!

But when she comes;

how will I know?

© Ken Rookes 2016

The gentle water bird

This poem by the Australian poet, John Shaw Neilson, is, for me, a Pentecost poem. The awakening of his heart to the bird and the Divine spirit within the bird, speaks volumes to me.

In the far days, when every day was long,
Fear was upon me and the fear was strong,
Ere I had learned the recompense of song.

In the dim days I trembled, for I knew
God was above me, always frowning through,
And God was terrible and thunder-blue.

Creeds the discoloured awed my opening mind,
Perils, perplexities - what could I find? -
All the old terror waiting on mankind.

Even the gentle flowers of white and cream,
The rainbow with its treasury of dream,
Trembled because of God's ungracious scheme.

And in the night the many stars would say
Dark things unaltered in the light of day:
Fear was upon me even in my play.

There was a lake I loved in gentle rain:
One day there fell a bird, a courtly crane:
Wisely he walked, as one who knows of pain.

Gracious he was and lofty as a king:
Silent he was, and yet he seemed to sing
Always of little children and the Spring.

God? Did he know him? It was far he flew?.
God was not terrible and thunder-blue:
- It was a gentle water bird I knew.

Pity was in him for the weak and strong,
All who have suffered when the days were long
And he was deep and gentle as a song.

As a calm soldier in a cloak of grey
He did commune with me for many a day
Till the dark fear was lifted far away.

Sober-apparelled, yet he caught the glow:
Always of Heaven would he speak, and low,
And he did tell me where the wishes go.

Kinsfolk of his it was who long before
Came from the mist (and no one knows the shore)
Came with the little children to the door.

Was he less wise than those birds long ago
Who flew from God (He surely willed it so)
Bearing great happiness to all below?

Long have I learned that all his speech was true;
I cannot reason it - how far he flew -
God is not terrible nor thunder-blue.

Sometimes, when watching in the white sunshine,
Someone approaches - I can half define
All the calm beauty of that friend of mine.

Nothing of hatred will about him cling:
Silent - how silent - but his heart will sing
Always of little children and the Spring. 

John Shaw Neilson

A Season of miracle and hopefulness

Many of us live in towns we would define as friendly towns, but in any place there is the possibility of defining people as either ‘in’ or ‘out’. Those from outside can sometimes come to be seen as of less value than our selves and this can lead to mistrust and even hatred. Community is a great thing, but when it is used as a tool to separate one from another, rather than to bring greater understanding it can be a tool of bigotry. It is a drive that sees us moving away from each other, rather than closer together.

We are in the Christian season of Pentecost and in this Season, Christians are reminded that the Spirit of God seeks to draw us closer to each other and to God. At the first Pentecost, there was a strange sort of event, where people from all corners of the then known world found themselves speaking in the same language. Though they were different, they understood each other.

This is the sort of community that God wants and this is the activity of the Spirit of God; to draw us closer to each other; to make the stranger a friend and to love the neighbour, who may well be different to us. But this sort of Spirit love does not always come easy or cheap. When those around you are telling you to hate it takes a divine power to move towards love. As John Williamson said “Anyone can hate. It costs to love.”

The work of Pentecost is one of profound miracle and hopefulness. It is a dream of a Spirit that can draw us closer, can assist us to truly know each other’s pain and dreams, and can draw us closer to a vision of a compassionate world. Let us pray for the gift of such a Spirit and know her presence in our midst.

WORDS AND MEANINGS

 I was in the manse next door to the church building and Op Shop. The door bell rang. A young man in a uniform stood there. “Excuse me,” he said most politely, “Can you tell me what a manse is? I have come for to inspect the fire appliances. The women in the shop let me into the church and showed me the one in the shop. They said the last one was in the manse. I’ve looked around and I can’t work out what a manse is.”

During a recent hair cut, I mentioned that I had worked as a chaplain. “What’s a chaplain?” She asked.

These things reminded me of asking the minister what the word, ineffable, meant. It had been in the last hymn. “Haven’t got a clue,” he said.

The story of the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples in Acts, tells us that one of the most remarkable things about that day was that people gathered from all round the Roman world, heard the message in their own languages.  

When we speak in words others understand we are more likely to help them know God’s love.

Rev Julianne Parker

But you cannot bear them now

 

 

Spirit of Truth, Advocate:

you see all things,
know all things.
Reveal it,
show us; but not too much.
Open our eyes and let us see;
but, if you don’t mind,
keep hidden those things
that might cause anxiety
or shame.
 
You know what we can bear;
just a little for now.
A single LED rather than a floodlight.
There are scenes we would rather not view,
stories we would rather not hear.
Tales of suffering and cruelty
of which we prefer to remain ignorant.
Injustices, that, intruding into our pleasant reality,
might impel us into action
or compel us to change.
 
It’s not that we lack courage
to take on the many things,
but one at a time;
if that’s all right.
 

 

© Ken Rookes 2015

"Hope" is the thing with feathers

I see connections here. Hope - Bird - Spirit - Soul

"Hope" is the thing with feathers - (314)

BY EMILY DICKINSON

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.