Fixing the Order of Pentecost

Good morning God,
There's no doubt about it - having to prepare worship for a Church does steal some of the spontaneity of worship. I mean - here I am worrying about Pentecost and the coming of your Spirit and trying to figure out how to pin you down to an order of service..

What an odd expression that is -


'Order of Service'

It reads like an honour of some sort about to be bestowed - like the Order of the Garter,
Yes.. it is an honour to serve you by participating in worship.. but I'm not sure that is what most of the congregation think they are doing.
'Nice service', 'good service this morning', or my personal favourate 'I really enjoyed the service'.. all wonderful compliments which suggest that the 'service' is something that the congregation thinks it has just received rather what it has just given to you!

But that's an issue for another blog - back to my main concern.. scripting your holy Spirit..

You do know don't you God, that according to my current order of service you are due to make a personal appearance at 28 minutes to 11?  I know you are always with us, but on this rather special day it would be helpful for the congregation if you could be more, well, 'present' - perhaps you could be a little louder, rush around for a bit, slam a door or two.. but only for three minutes if you don't mind, because at 25 minutes to 11 we need to be singing our first hymn.

You see.. I just can't do it, I end up ridiculing us both - and that's not what this is about.

There does need to be some 'order' to our service - I know that.
People like to know when they are reading, or when the hymns are, or when the Children are to come in/go out or when the offertory is to be taken, and, of course, when they are free to go home!

BUT - I know you best as the God of surprises, you surprise me often- especially in worship! So preparing for Pentecost is something I find especially disturbing.  I can't help feeling that we go too far, that we 'script' your appearances and dictate our responses as our way of trying to impose our order on your glorious, creative, gracious, chaos.

The very idea of a congregation just bursting into song because the words come to mind and heart would terrify most organists (to say nothing of the projectionist who would have to find the words in Easy Worship or Songpro or whatever..) yet we do know the words to some of our hymns .. it could happen.. And as for the whole congregation breaking into spontaneous extemporaneous prayer or testimony... just because its improbable doesn't mean it's impossible.. And would it really matter if we forgot to take the collection or if the Lord's prayer wasn't said, because some of the congregation began to dance with joy and others to weep with relief at their release from sin and fear..? It happened before in England.. it could happen again.

And all in one hour...?

You are the God of surprises - and I choose to believe you might yet surprise me with an outpouring of your Spirit in the heart of the congregation at 28 minutes to 11 on the 23rd of May....

Emerging ministers and the Liturgical Calendar

Good morning God,
Don't you think it's ironic that so many ministers are tired out by Easter and that far from being energised and inspired by the discovery of the risen Christ, they tend to be exhausted and drained by the demands of Holy Week..
It's about now that most ministers are beginning to  emerge again... but emerge to what?
The Church places great store on its  two great times of preparation - on Advent and Lent
We invest an astonishing amount of time and effort into waiting and on being ready to receive you when you come to us as the baby Jesus or the risen Christ... with our lent study groups, and advent calendars, lent liturgies and advent rings, Christmas trees and advent crosses..
We even manage to turn Easter into a time of waiting - Christ is alive - now wait for the Spirit...
another 40 days...

But when the Word becomes flesh..?

and when that same flesh is risen?
and when the Spirit is given?
What then...?

There is something comfortable, reassuring and faith affirming about the rhythm of the liturgical year, but there is also something deadening, numbing and faith destroying. We are lulled into a sense of order and conformity by the routine expectations.. Christ will rise on Easter Day,  the Spirit will come on Pentecost - and once that's done we will be once again in  'Ordinary time' - until Advent of course...
And we know what to do, we have the right words to say to take us from Advent to Easter and back again. 'We've always done it this way before'.

Christ is risen..
he is risen indeed, 
so what?

So we can get back to the business of being Church week in and week out..?
So we can wait for Christ to come again?
and again..
and again..

The challenge that we face is the same as the challenge that has faced every generation before us: how to turn the liturgical calendar inside out: how to and use the wonder, amazement and joy of Easter, the fire the passion and the power of Pentecost to ignite the spark of faith so that you can turn a Church full of comfortable 'Ordinary time' Christians into a world changing, life-giving, miracle working, band of disciples?

Christ is risen -
He is risen indeed..
What should our response be?
To wait and see what happens next?
To carry on doing what we have always done?
Or to let the story unfold in our lives..
As the Acts of your modern day apostles...?

I am convinced God that the Church emerges best when it participates in your determination to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary: when it is prepared to risk what has always been in order to participate in what will be by responding in the power of your Spirit to the fact that Christ is risen - he is risen indeed.

Risk-taking God..
as I emerge from the tomb-side of Easter, 
shake me and disturb me,
and form me again as an apostle,
ready and willing to act for the sake of the gospel,
for I know that Christ is alive;
what was has been changed.
I want to be a part of what will be.


Amen.