Guilsborough:  4 June 2006. Whit Sunday.
“And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled the house where they were sitting; and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire and it sat upon each of them….and they began to speak with tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance”   
Methinks I am a prophet new inspired…………
This is not an easy Sunday on which to get into a pulpit  and make sense of the gospel.  
Whit Sunday 10 days after Ascension, 50 days after Easter , a time for baptism (hence the White connotations) and in Gloucestershire at least St. Briavel’s Church near Chepstow for throwing bread and cheese in baskets. off the castle battlements after evensong 
In thinking about that I was going to say this evening I’ve decided that I don’t  actually have  much a “theological head”  
The idea of the Apostles in Jerusalem getting their thoughts across a multitude of languages to a whole lot of Jews who had assembled there for the Feast Of Pentecost is hard to understand
Having wrestled with French and Spanish irregular verbs , often  unwillingly, for hundred of hours it’s hard to swallow the fact that the Apostles suddenly became able to communicate with whole range of different people from around the Middle East.
In retrospect faced later with two years of Japanese study I could have done with a tongue of fire to give me a short cut to success in the exam. 
We can forget any suggestion  that the Apostles suddenly became familiar with the finer points of Phrygian or Arabic grammar etc.  
As I understand the story, they spoke what sounded like gibberish and this was somehow translated by the Holy Spirit into a range of other Languages so that the hearers understood that the Apostles were praising God.  
Or they realised that these people uttering these strange sounds were possessed of something different and spiritual, not brought on by a few bottles of wine. 
Never seen anyone speaking tongues: ecstasy .
More significant that on that day St. Peter preached the first Christian sermon proclaiming the divine nature of Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection  Afterward he baptised 1000 people. 
and to that extent one can argue that Whitsun  marks the birth of our religion. 
We commemorate that beginning and we commemorate the inspiration of the apostles of the Holy Spirit  
It’s gone around the world. 
But inspiration of the Holy Spirit is a difficult concept.
 I don’t know about you, but I cannot honestly say that I have ever felt inspired in that kind of way,  inspired to do something that is uncharacteristic of my life or background. 
What goes on in our breasts is entirely suppressed by the weight of the old school tie. 
I take some comfort from the fact that most people are in that sense uninspired.  The apogee of my career – to drop a name – was when I was called upon to introduce    Elizabeth Taylor to the man who became her sixth husband  And I can’t claim that was divine inspiration. 
Through the ages, however, it is clear that inspiration of the Holy Spirit, whether or not acknowledged, has  played an important part in the Christian life,  the work of the church and individuals.  Don’t worry if you haven’t founded the Salvation Army, composed The Messiah in two weeks, headed the Anti-Slavery movement, started Meals on Wheels or rescued street children in Vietnam like the remarkable Christina Noble   
But as a feast in the Jewish religion:  Pentecost has a link to the Ten Commandments that Moses received from God 
Helicopter and Charlton Heston and Buzz Aldrin.
The Ten Commandments :  50th Anniversary.  Huge Impact.  Cecil B De Mille
I doubt whether it would have such an impact to-day.
Whit 
Review our own performance against the Ten Commandments. 
Thou shalt have no other Gods before me:
44% of people say they believe in God, a diminishing number. 
The crime statistics ( murder & Theft)  the materialism that we know to be part of our own time ( worshipping idols)  the so called sexual freedom we enjoy in so many ways (adultery); keeping up with the Jones ( covetousness)  Honouring our fathers and Mothers instead of forcing them to sell their homes to pay for care; we have to say that the Ten Commandments are being ignored, and have been violated throughout the ages. 
Replaced by Man’s Laws  which are ever more complicated.
How many of us have broken the law to-day?  Is our front type tread below the legal limit; did we got through chapel Brampton at 35 mph, use the mobile phone while driving.   There are too many laws.  At the last count Parliament has created or re- enacted about 257 imprisonable offences since 1997.  No wonder there are 77,000 people in jail.  Thousands of Laws trying to enforce the Ten Commandments. 
Let’s remember the basic: God loves and has a plan for our lives.  We can honour him by doing our best within the context of our own lives to carry out his commandments and the teaching of Jesus Christ.  
Lord: 
Rekindle in us the gift of your Holy Spirit: increase our faith, strengthen our hope, deepen our love and revive our desire to serve others using  the power of the Holy Spirit. 
Take our hands and work through them. 
Take our lips and speak through them. 
Take our minds and think through them. 
Take our hearts and set them on fire with love for you 
Amen.
