Sermon for Pentecost Sunday: 9 June 2019
Mrs Linda West LLM
Readings: 	Acts 2.1-21, page 1093 Pew Bible; 
Luke 24.45-49, page 1062 Pew Bible; 
Holy Habits Sharing Resources

Theme: 	Pentecost and the principle of sharing and giving

Happy Birthday!  It’s Pentecost Sunday, the day which we  regard as the birth of the Christian Church.  The Wycliffe Bible Commentary (page 1126) says that Pentecost was the Greek word meaning 50th for the feast of seven weeks described in Leviticus 23 which celebrated the conclusion of the harvest.  If we look at the passage in Leviticus we find that during that time the people were required to make many sacrifices of animals, oil and grain to God.  The commentary also says Pentecost was when the Holy Spirit was given to men as a new way to bring believers in Jesus together in a new relationship.’

These two points link well into our Holy Habits theme this morning of Sharing Resources and Giving.  

We don’t tend to make animal and grain offerings to God nowadays, but we do give to Him from our finances, time, talents and resources.  But what proportion should we give? The Old Testament spoke a lot about tithing a proportion of one’s income.  But the most challenging statement is by Jesus in Mark 12 where we read:

He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury.  Many rich people put in large sums.  A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny.  Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.  For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.  

Does this mean that we need to give or share all of our money, our time, our talents or our resources?  As Holy Habits says (page 14) ‘To create a common fund, or any sort of share resource, each must give according to their means.  We have a responsibility to ensure that people are not expected or encouraged to give beyond what they can afford.  How often do we allow individuals to give excessively, leaving them with no money, or more often no time, for themselves or for their families?  

Here in Holy Trinity, Cassa has introduced a very valuable ministry of celebrating people giving up jobs in the church, so that they can spend more time with their families, on their work or whatever God may be calling them to do at that moment of time.  

I am not going to speak any more on the subject of money, as Paul Bosson will be talking about giving later in the month.  So this morning, I will think about sharing in other areas of our life.  

There are 4 areas where, as Christians, we need to share with others:

•	We live in a global society, and what we do with our resources affects others
•	We need to share with our community, those we work with and with our families and friends
•	We need to share with other Christians both here in Holy Trinity and in the wider Christian community, and  
•	We need to share with God

Holy Habits gives all sorts of ideas on how to share in all these areas, but if I tried to cover them all this would be a very long sermon and by the end of it you would all have given up sharing my thoughts!

The first area I would like to think about is sharing across our world and in particular how what we do affects others.  ‘Our buying choices can influence how the world’s resources are distributed.  The choice of where we spend our money determines whether we support practices such as slavery, exploitation and plundering of natural resources – or whether we support a fair distribution of wealth, organic and sustainable farming and a living wage.’ (HH page 37).  Fair trade is, of course, one way in which we can help in this area.  

Another way we need to share responsibility as global beings is in what we are doing to God’s creation.  ‘In many places in the world, the reality of human-induced climate change is already being felt.  Selina, aged 29, from Bangladesh, takes up the tale:

Climate change is causing many changes.  Previously I used to grow rice, but now this is becoming really difficult.  People are beginning to farm fish because the water in the area is so salty, but sometimes it’s so salty the fish die.  The salt water makes it difficult to grow rice like we used to.  It’s damaging to our environment and to the rice fields.  (HH page 12).

This (for those who can’t see at the back I am holding up a toothbrush) will take 400 years to biodegrade and we are each recommended to change ours every 3 months (source BBC Radio 4).

I counted up, before I even left the house to come to church this morning I used 21 different items containing plastic.  When I was a child only 3 or 4 of those items would have contained plastic and I wouldn’t have regarded many of them as essential as I do now.  It is no wonder that Christians are sharing in demonstrating against the way we use plastic and others resources which are destroying our world.

Members of this church are involved in innumerable ways in sharing in helping our community and with the people who live around us.  As a church we share with other Christian churches in our ecumenical activities and within the church we have many of ways of sharing with each other, both to study God’s word and to do outreach activities together.  As individuals, we share in many ways with others, both with church members and those outside, whether they be family, friends, neighbours, colleagues or people we meet socially.   

We have discussed many of these activities in other talks and sermons, so today I would like to share ideas on making the Holy Habit of sharing part of the rhythm or rule of life, and again I have to thank the Holy Habits booklet for the ideas.  This includes practical commitments to living simply and generously, with resources seen as gifts not possessions.  

Thinking about this I am reminded of the verse we often use when taking up the collection ‘All things come from you and of your own do we give you .  A salutary reminder that everything we think we are sharing of our own, is actually God’s so what right have we to hold on to it?  

‘Rhythms of life can be very simple.  The Hebrew prophet Micah provides a famous early example:  

What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?  : Micah 6.8

… They can be more sophisticated.  … The Venture FX pioneers, an evolving missional community within the Methodist Church, has adopted a rhythm of life with 3 core values: 

•	Innovation: breaking new ground and planting for the future 
•	Imagination: dreaming God’s vision for what church could become (something we are doing through the Partnership for Missional Church)
•	Incarnation: immersed in our communities in the name of Christ

They seek to express those values by: 

•	Daily reflecting on their spiritual journey as disciples of Jesus
•	Weekly observing a common day for the discipline of prayer and fasting
•	Monthly gathering together for support, encouragement and learning
•	Annually sharing in a retreat to renew their individual and common life with God

If that sounds too ambitious at present another suggestion is to plan a season of sharing, doing different sharing activities over a specific period.  These could include lunch with a friend, watching a film with someone, praying with someone, buying Fairtrade products and sharing a recipe.  This could be done within the church community or as individuals. 

If is worth reflecting on our sharing as a rule of life.  We might like to add to our quiet times with God praying about the sharing we will do over the coming day or reflecting on how the sharing we have done during the day has gone. Some people like to do this by journalling (a sort of devotional diary) noting down the opportunities they have had for sharing that day, the different emotions or attitudes connected to these occasions, when they have found it easy to share, when they have found it difficult, how their attitude towards their possessions has changed and, perhaps most importantly, how sharing has affected their discipleship.  

We might also consider doing this as part of house group activities. 

We’ve talked a lot about sharing and there’s a lot more that could be said.  We may not live in such a communal way as the early disciples did, but we can take their example as a challenge to develop the holy habit of sharing and giving.  The ultimate purpose of this is not for us to be seen as nice people, but for us, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to show the love of Jesus so that all  the world may come to know his redeeming power.  

Let us pray:

Dear God

We confess that we are really selfish at times and don’t share as you taught us to.  Please help us this day to do one extra thing to share with others.  For the sake of your Kingdom.  Amen. 

(12 mins) 

Bibliography

BBC Radio 4, The origin of stuff: the toothbrush, Wed 5.6.19, 9 pm).

Patella, M F, The gospel according to Luke, (New Collegeville Bible Commentary), Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press.
Pfeiffer, C F and Harrison,  E F (1962), The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, London: Oliphants Ltd.
Roberts, A; Johnson, N; Milton, T (eds) (2018), Holy Habits – Sharing Resources, Oxford: Bible Reading Fellowship 
Wright, T (2004), Luke for everyone, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.