Those who put up with my sermons will know that I often say the two poles of the cross point to the two central aspects of Christian faith: the vertical reminds us of our connection to God; the horizontal of our connectedness to one another.
To put it another way, it is a waste of time going to church or having faith if it does not affect how you see people and how you treat them. Jame’s in his very practical letter, says “faith without works is dead”. There needs to be a connection or what is the point? I remember an example given to me in my Confirmation classes: a car needs petrol: but then there is no point in just leaving it in the garage – it needs to be driven around. I do think both the petrol (worship and focussing on God) and the travelling about (how we live) are needed!
There are many ways that the two poles are joined together, the church’s celebration of Pentecost being one of the most important. I know the tendencies in myself to think firstly of my self – my needs, my wants, my priorities. Thinking of others doesn’t always come naturally to me. (Perhaps that’s just me; but looking at the world round about me, I don’t think so). I need God’s help to learn to put others first, to love them, certainly to love my enemies which is what Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus doesn’t beat around the bush on that one – in his typical forthright way he says anyone can love their friends, but we are to love those we find difficult. That horizontal bar of the cross is inclusive – it reaches out to everyone.
God’s Holy Spirit – which is what Pentecost commemorates and remembers – helps us to try and orientate our life towards others, though there is always the temptation to look after “Number One” (a telling phrase in this context in itself).
The New Testament is very clear on this point: Paul refers to the fruits of the Spirit. Contrasting the fruits of the Spirit with our selfishness, Paul says: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law”. (That, by the way, is our Church of England Primary School in Slindon’s motto).
Pentecost is celebrated this year on Sunday 8th June – it is always a real celebration of those gifts and this year, being a second Sunday it is a Family Service. Everyone is so welcome. It is a very good week for me because three days later on Wednesday 11th June the church’s calendar remembers Saint Barnabas – which means “son of encouragement”. That is precisely what he was – there is quite a lot written about him in the New Testament. He was always encouraging others and, in my book, being an encourager is a great gift of the Spirit.
Peter