Pastoral Letter
Dear Friends,
One of the greatest events in the history of our country in the month of June is the Battle of Waterloo, which took place on Sunday 18th June 1815. On that day the Duke of Wellington, commanding a British and continental army of 67,000 men, and assisted by a Prussian army of 48,000 troops, defeated the Napoleon Bonapart's French Army of 69,000 men.
The news of the defeat of Napoleon was communicated back to the Admiralty in London by means of a Semaphore signalling system using a series of towers on high vantage points (a precursor of the telegraph system), that connected London to Deal. The message that was communicated by this means was:
"W-E-L-L-I-N-G-T-O-N- - -D-E-F-E-A-T-E-D- - T-H-E- - -E-N-E-M-Y!"
Unfortunately, part way through the communication process, heavy fog obscured the vision from one tower to the next, and the message that was actually communicated was "W-E-L-L-I-N-G-T-O-N- - - D-E-F-E-A-T-E-D- -." You can imagine the dismay and despondency that greeted this, what was on the face of it, dreadful news throughout the population of London.
Suddenly the fog lifted, and the remainder of the message could be read. The message had four words, not two. It took only a few minutes for the good news to spread. Wellington had defeated the enemy! Defeat was turned into victory, and sorrow was turned into joy.
That picture of the sorrow of defeat being turned into the joy of victory was exactly what Jesus talked about with his disciples just before his crucifixion. He said to them: "I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy." (John 16:20) He was talking about the pain and loss of his crucifixion being replaced by the joy and excitement of his resurrection from the dead.
As he talked to them he also held out to them an even greater promise. He said to them: "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me any more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realise that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you." (John 14:18-20) In that promise Jesus talked about his continual presence in the hearts and minds of his followers. He explained it like this: "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." (John 14:23) Then he gave a name to the presence that would 'make our home'in the hearts and minds of his followers. He said: "All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:25/26)
The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is the means by which millions and millions of Christians have been inspired, strengthened, healed and guided by God over the past 2000 years. He is the Spirit of Christ, who, as he dwells in the hearts and minds of his followers, helps them to be more like him. We celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, which used to be called 'Whitsunday', which is a derivation of 'White Sunday', in reference to the white robes traditionally worn by the newly baptised in the early Church. Whitsunday is second only to Easter in importance in the Church's year, and was, therefore a special time for baptisms. Pentecost is so important to the Christian Church because it is really the birthday of the Church. The coming of the Holy Spirit marks the empowering and formation of the Church.
Pentecost always comes seven weeks after Easter Day, and this year it falls on 31st May. It is then immediately followed by Trinity Sunday, which this year falls on 7th June, and which celebrates all three members of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Jesus really sums up the importance of the Trinitarian belief of the Christian Church in those words from John 14:25/6. The joy of his message is that we don't have a remote and unreachable God, but a God who wants to be intimately involved in our lives and delights to be with us and in us.
May God bless you all,