creator liberator inspirator a magical mystical way

Creator

Liberator

Inspirator

A

Magical Mystical Way

An Alt-Pentecostal

Magical Mystical Way Of Engaging

In Community Transformation

Dave Andrews

An Alt-Pentecostal Magical Mystical

Way Of Engaging In Community

Transformation • Lets read the Story Of Pentecost and answer the question – What role does the Spirit play in community transformation?

• 21When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 5Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9. We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues.” Acts 2.1-11



Transformation • One image used here for Spirit is ‘wind’.

• What does this metaphor of ‘wind’ represent?

• The words used in the Bible for ‘Spirit’ are the Hebrew ‘ruach’ and Greek ‘pneuma’ - ‘moving air’ like ‘wind’ and/or ‘breath’.

• We all know what its like to be ‘winded’ or ‘breathless’ and how debilitating that can be. We all need to ‘take a deep breath’ in order to function - to be fully human, fully alive.

• It is only as we take ‘a deep breath’ and are ‘filled with the Spirit’ the Spirit animates us, enabling us to be fully human and fully alive to our capacity for vitality, sensitivity and community



Transformation • Another image used here for Spirit is ‘fire’.

• What does this metaphor of ‘fire’ represent?

• This suggests the Spirit is like fire - spontaneous, passionate and explosive. It is ‘the divine spark that sets off revolutions’.

• John Taylor says ‘the Spirit is the source of any profound human response’. ‘The Spirit demands a response. This invisible go-between activates each of us from the inside’. ‘It stirs, inspires, elicits, evokes, and provokes’ a responsiveness to one another as human beings which creates community. Taylor p15,17,18,



Transformation • Another image used here for Spirit is ‘tongues’.

• What do ‘other tongues’ or ‘other languages’ represent?

• Paul Tyson says ‘Pentecost is the redemptive inverse of Babel’.

• Babel was an attempt to build a centralised global political economy, based on technology rather than morality, using a single universal common language to create a hegemony .

• Pentecost is an attempt to develop a global community of local communities, that are decentralized, not centralized, but empowered by the Spirit to relate to ‘different people’ in ‘different languages’ with the ‘same kind of sensitivity’.



Transformation • So, by ourselves, we cannot create community.

• The Spirit creates the possibility of community.

• We can only realise the possibility of authentic community to the degree we take ‘a deep breath’ and are ‘filled with the Spirit’ again and again and again; allowing the Spirit to ‘spark within us’, ‘fire us up’ and ‘inspire us to respond passionately and com-passionately to one another’; relating to all the ‘different kinds of people’ in our community in the ‘different languages’ that they speak with the ‘same kind of sensitivity’.



Transformation • At Pentecost, the Spirit helped people create true community.

• The scripture says: ‘They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as they had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved’. (Acts 2. 42-47)



Transformation • The Spirit helped people create true authentic community.

• It says: ‘All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles testified to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There was no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales put it at the apostles' feet, and distributed it to anyone as they had need.’

(Acts 4.32-35)



Transformation • This is an not an exclusive Christian community, but

an inclusive Christ-like community – committed to the way of Christ as a way of relating respectfully to all people regardless of religion, tradition, status, class, caste, age or gender.

• It creates a society – albeit partially and temporarily – in which the grace of God is the order of the day. The people ‘have everything in common’; they ‘distribute their resources to anyone according to their need’; and, so there is no-one with an unmet need – ‘no needy persons among them!’



Transformation • This is an not an exclusive Christian community, but an

inclusive Christ-like community – committed to the way of Christ as a way of relating respectfully to all people regardless of religion, tradition, status, class, caste, age or gender.

• It creates a society – albeit partially and temporarily – in which the grace of God is the order of the day. The people ‘have everything in common’; they ‘distribute their resources to anyone according to their need’; and, so there is no-one with an unmet need – ‘no needy persons among them!’

• But, like every revolution before and every revolution after, this spirited little community revolution was hard to sustain.



Transformation • We read earlier that ‘those who owned lands or

houses sold them, brought the money from the sales put it at the apostles' feet, and (the apostles) distributed it to anyone as they had need.’ (Acts 4.32-35)

• However, it wasn’t long before there were complaints that the distribution favoured the majority group – the Hebraic or Hebrew speaking Jews – over the more minority group in the community at that time – the Grecian or Greek speaking Jews.



Transformation • Lets see what they did about it

• ‘The Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Friends, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them’ (Acts 6.1-6)

•



Transformation • Now it is clear this process still has a long way to go

before it is completely congruent with the modus operandi of the Spirit.

• Most obvious to us from our vantage point would be the fact that there is still an obvious gender bias in the proposed solution to the problem – ‘men dealing with women’s issues’.

• Nonetheless there are significant signs of substantial progress.



Transformation • One positive sign is the Grecian widows felt free to complain.

• Another positive sign is the Hebraic majority heard what they said, took it seriously, acknowledged there was an injustice and agreed to address the issue expeditiously.

• Yet another positive sign is the proposed solution to the problem was accepted on the basis that it ‘pleased the whole group’.

• And yet another positive sign is the people elected to supervise the distribution to ensure that the Grecians got a fair go, were –according to the list of the Greek names given – all probably Grecians themselves. This meant, they had all agreed to give the power to the minority, to control the distribution of the resources, so they could ensure their rights for themselves.



Transformation • This is a great example of the Alt-Pentecostal

Magical Mystical Way Of Engaging In Community Transformation as a work in progress – as a group of people, grappling with ongoing issues, slowly but surely working towards a practice of revolutionary self-organised, self-managed ‘self-control’ that reflected the ‘power of the Spirit’ in the process. (Gal.5.22)



Transformation • To the great consternation of the key stakeholders in

the status quo, Paul and his co-conspirators were ‘able to do immeasurably more’ than one might have imagined they would have (Eph. 3:20). They chose the “things that are not” – to nullify “the things that are”.’ (I Cor. I:26-28). And time and time again they helped ‘foolish’ people confuse the ‘wise’ and ‘weak’ people confound the ‘strong’ (1 Cor. 1:26) in their quest to develop radically inclusive and egalitarian communities of faith in the midst of an established religious tradition which had previously disenfranchised them. They succeeded to such an extent that one horrified observer is recorded as saying – ‘these people have turned the whole world upside down!’ down! (Acts 17:6)



Transformation We will only be able to do likewise if we likewise

1. Try to meet one another’s needs.

2. Create spaces for each other to share our concerns.

3. Hear what people say and respond to them sensitively.

4. Re-solve problems in a way acceptable ‘to the whole group’.

5. Support, equip and enable people to develop their own power to deal with their own ongoing dilemmas the best that they can.



Transformation • At the end of many services Christians often pray The

Grace.

• John Taylor says ‘The Grace’ in 2 Corinthians.13.14, refers to ‘the communion’, the ‘in-between-ness’ of the Holy Spirit.

• The phrase ‘is often translated “fellowship”, but (Taylor says is that) “fellowship” is the result which we can feel and see. What causes the “fellowship” is the gift of awareness which opens our eyes to one another.’ This is the gift of the Spirit.

• The Spirit is not merely the ‘ground of our being’ but the ‘ground of our meeting’. ‘The Holy Spirit (is) the elemental energy of communion itself.’

• ‘May the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.’

Creator

Liberator

Inspirator

A

Magical Mystical Way

creator liberator inspirator a magical mystical way

Documents

spirit play

holy spirit

metaphor of wind

wind andor breath

story of pentecost

violent wind

day of pentecost

human beings