This is my final column as your acting primate, a ministry for which I am deeply grateful to have been called to serve. It has been an honour and a sacred trust, and I thank you for the encouragement received and the prayers offered over the last nine months.
As we approach General Synod and prepare to elect the 15th primate of our church, I invite you to join me in praying that God will raise up a faithful shepherd after God’s own heart—one who will guide our church with wisdom, compassion and vision in the days to come. We pray especially for the primatial nominees Archbishop Chris Harper, Archbishop Greg Kerr-Wilson, Bishop Riscylla Shaw and Bishop David Lehmann, giving thanks for their willingness to offer themselves for this ministry.
Let me leave you with a few words about being a church that is carried away by wind and flame.
I’ve never had the experience of a hot-air balloon ride, of being lifted from the earth in a giant basket to catch a glimpse of a bustling city or a picturesque landscape below. Game reserve owners in South Africa make the bold claim that floating above the savannah is one of the best ways to view game. Hot-air balloons are rather magical really, filled as they are with initially cold air that’s heated by a flame. It’s those two things, wind and flame, that lift the balloon and carry it away through streams of air.
I’m not sure I would ever be brave enough to risk being carried away in a nylon sack filled with flame-heated air. But I wish I could be.
The disciples never imagined they could be carried away by wind and flame either as they huddled together for solace and comfort that first Pentecost. But it happened anyway. First there was a rushing wind and then tongues of fire appeared on each of their heads.
Suddenly Jesus’ followers were filled with the Holy Spirit and their lives were utterly transformed by the grace of God. Empowered by the Spirit’s flame they were lifted high to be confident proclaimers of the gospel of hope, bold and courageous in stepping out into an unknown world. From Jerusalem to the farthest corners of the earth the message was received, and the church grew.
Now here’s a thing. In baptism we’ve all been touched by the Spirit’s flame, marked as “Christ’s own forever.” Shirley Erena Murray expresses it beautifully in her hymn, “Loving Spirit”:
“Loving Spirit, loving Spirit, you have chosen me to be—you have drawn me to your wonder, you have set your sign on me.” (Common Praise #657)
That sign is an invitation from God to allow the Spirit to carry us away in wind and flame and to invite others along for the ride. To be messengers of good news speaking peace, offering blessings, loving stranger and friend.
God knows the world needs bold courageous people right now who allow the fresh winds of the Spirit to fill their lives and carry them off to the people and places God has in mind that they could never have imagined when they first set off. These things happen all the time because they’ve happened to me. Let’s be a church so transformed and uplifted by the Holy Spirit that we soar on eagle’s wings. We can do it—yes, we can.
