Log in Subscribe
The week in focus

Connecting to the world right now

 

In touch

Check-in

Intercessions
In touch begins
immediately below		 Scroll down
or click for Check-in		 Subscribers only:
see intercessions 

 

In touch

Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues

 

Spirit and Sovereign

This year, Pentecost celebrates the Church’s birth (Acts 2.1-21) alongside celebrations for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

 Context

  • Queen Elizabeth II, seen by many as the most famous woman in the world, celebrates her Platinum Jubilee this week. Alongside parties on our streets and in our churches over this long bank holiday weekend, the BBC is broadcasting much in the way of nostalgic footage, as well as a pageant, a party at the palace and a service of thanksgiving from St Paul’s Cathedral.
  • The URC has produced some resources to help celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
  • ROOTS have also commissioned some special prayers and other resources for you to use in your celebrations to help mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
  • One of the other most famous female faces in history, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, came under attack at the Louvre in Paris on Sunday, when a man disguised as an elderly woman in a wheelchair threw a cake at the portrait.
  • Another female face to shake up the establishment recently, both in Hollywood and the Arab world, was that of Egyptian Palestinian, May Calamaway. May, who plays Layla El-Faouly in Disney’s most recent Marvel series ‘Moon Knight’, hopes that the positive impact of the portrayal of a female superhero from Egypt will not be underestimated.

 

Ideas for sermons or interactive talks

There is a lot to take in this weekend, with all the special events to celebrate both the Platinum Jubilee and Pentecost. Acts 2.1-21 takes us back to the first century celebrations of Pentecost which, in an historic moment for Christians, also celebrated the birth of the Church, as the Spirit breaks down boundaries of fear and difference for both the disciples and the gathered crowds. For us today this happens on the same weekend as many celebrate seventy years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Many of our churches will be juggling celebrations on both fronts!

On Friday morning we have the opportunity to tune in on the BBC to watch the ‘Platinum Jubilee Service of Thanksgiving’ at 9.15am live at St Paul’s Cathedral, which will hopefully be attended by Her Majesty and senior members of the Royal Family. The Very Reverend Dr David Ison, Dean of the cathedral, said in an interview with the Radio Times: ‘We are looking back at a life that has been inspirational… This service of thanksgiving is a reminder that our hope for the future is based not in ourselves, but in the strength God gives us to meet the issues we have at the time. The emphasis of the Christian faith is very much not on worrying about the future, but with a sense of hope for the future, and living in the present.’

Much as London will be heaving with people travelling from all over the world to join in The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, so was first century Jerusalem bursting with life and celebration at Pentecost time. Jews who had travelled to be included in this most special of festivals filled the city to bursting. The disciples too made the time and effort to all come together in one place on this important occasion. We might never witness a religious experience on the scale of that day of Pentecost when the Spirit came, but maybe the coinciding of events on this coming festival weekend will give us a flavour of the importance of that moment when ALL were filled with the Holy Spirit.

The Mona Lisa is probably without question the world's most famous face in historic artwork, created by Leonardo da Vinci from 1503. And yet the enigma that surrounds Mona (or should we call her Miss Lisa?) is that nobody really knows who she is. The other mystery that she provokes surrounds the question as to what she is feeling – is she smiling at us or not? Back in first century Jerusalem, at the end of the day of Pentecost, many of those who became believers that day would never have seen the face of Jesus themselves. And yet the feelings expressed at that first Christian Pentecost show that people in some way saw the face of God in that moment when the Spirit came. Even to see Peter’s face, as he gave his momentous Pentecost address, would have left people in no doubt that God was smiling down on them that day. Peter and his fellow disciples became the face of the church to so many early believers, as they laid down the foundations of the faith we celebrate again this year at Pentecost.

Egyptian Palestinian, May Calamaway, who plays Layla El-Faouly, aka the Scarlet Scarab, in Disney’s Marvel series Moon Knight, recently said, ‘‘I cannot represent every Arab woman or every Egyptian woman…I just hope that all Arab women can watch that and feel like a superhero, and that they have that space on that big scale.’ Pentecost, of course, celebrates that God’s Holy Spirit didn’t just come for Jesus’ disciples, or even the whole Jewish nation, but to empower the whole world. As we hear in that challenging list of place names and peoples in Acts 2.9-11 – from Asia to Egypt, from Cretans to Arabs – here is the fulfilment of many ancient prophesies (not least among these being Joel – 2.28-32) as ALL these different people gathered together in one place, in amazement and wonder, they ALL heard the disciples share the Good News of God and it spoke to each and every one of them! Geographical, political and religious boundaries are broken down in one historical moment!

This Platinum Jubilee weekend celebrates 70 glorious years of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. As she herself wrote in the introduction to the Bible Society’s book which served as a tribute to her 90th birthday, ‘The Servant Queen and the King she serves’: ‘I have been – and remain – very grateful to you for your prayers and to God for His steadfast love. I have indeed seen His faithfulness.’ In our churches this weekend, as we also celebrate Pentecost, may we give thanks for the faith and belief in Jesus that has sustained our Queen throughout her life of service: ‘May God bless you, your Majesty!’

 

Questions for discussion

  • None of us can quite imagine the life of service and dedication to her country that Queen Elizabeth has led. Without falling into nostalgia, list and discuss some of the changes and troubles she has seen during her lifetime as our Queen. What barriers and boundaries has she seen moved? How do you think her faith sustained her through those times?
  • Towards the end of the final episode of Marvel’s Moon Knight the lead female character, Layla (aka Scarlet Scarab), stands in the midst of the aftermath of cataclysmic events in Cairo and is asked by a young Egyptian girl, ‘Are you an Egyptian superhero?’ Towering over the child in her commanding white and gold winged suit, Layla El-Faouly answers: ‘I am.’ How important is it for ALL people to celebrate the face of their faith in their own image?

Tim Lowe is a minister of the United Reformed Church, serving in Leeds, who is looking forward to celebrating another jubilee this year with the URC’s 50th Anniversary.

 

Check-in

Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people

This week has been dominated by the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen. Marking 70th years as monarch, every community is awash with bunting and special events, and the media is full of coverage marking this historic occasion.

On Sunday 2nd June a pageant formed of 6,000 performers will progress along a two-mile route in central London to an estimated 100,000 spectators. Nicholas Coleridge the co-Chairman of the event has said it will be ten times the scale and polish of the Lord Mayor’s Show (of the City of London), with elements usually seen during Trooping the Colour, the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony, and the Notting Hill Carnival. What an event it will be, taking inspiration from, and surpassing many events which normally dominate the year in their own right!

Yet, this awesome scale and celebration is not a patch on the extraordinary scenes of the Holy Spirit descending at Pentecost. With “violent wind” and “tongues of fire” they could “speak in other tongues [languages]”. This defining event was also a fulfilment of the prophet Joel – that the people will have the Spirit poured out upon them and proceed to prophesy, see visions, and pass on this message to the world.

Just as Her Majesty was filled and bestowed with the duty of Monarchy, this week we celebrate 70 years of her fulfilling this great task. It is in this way that we should view Pentecost, that whilst recognising that this New Testament event far surpasses any earthly jubilee – the Holy Spirit fills the people, and they are to bring this gift to fulfilment by preaching and spreading the word with the skills and insights which they have been given.

So, when you celebrate and remember the greatness of this Platinum Jubilee – know that whatever pomp and ceremony and jubilation you see – the event of Pentecost far surpassed this in majesty, awesomeness, and defining nature.

Hypertext links to other websites are for the convenience of users only and do not constitute any endorsement or authorisation by ROOTS for Churches Ltd.

 

The week in focus is also available via Twitter and facebook.

ROOTS publishes weekly lectionary-based worship and learning resources online and in two magazines. FIND OUT MORE.