Pentecost 2019 - Family Service
PENTECOST 2019 – Family Service – Year C – 2019
Who are our heroes – who inspires us – I only I could play like …. Picture of Johnny Sexton Joanna Conteh Shane Lowry (brother in law of Miss Honner) Irish women athletes in Rio Olympics Or maybe it’s someone different Brian Cox – he makes physics cool. All very different - why are they so good. They are obviously very talented.
There were people who saw their talent – someone who taught them, trained them. – someone who brought out the best in them. OK – what has this to do with the Holy Spirit, with Pentecost?
Revised catechism says: I want to latch on to that bit that talks about enabling Before I go any further I just want to tell you a story that I heard a while back:
It is the story of a young boy who is being put forward for a musical scholarship for the violin. The day comes when he must meet with the master musician who has come to assess him.
As he sits nervously in the music room, a kindly old man comes in, shakes hands, sits at the piano and says ‘Come, let us make a little music together.’
He plays an A on the piano and the boy tunes his violin, then looks anxiously at the master. The old man asks, ‘Joseph, what would you like to play?’
Nervously the young lad held out his exercise book. ‘No, I want you to play something from memory, and not an exercise, but something easy that you know by heart, perhaps a song you like.’ Poor Joseph was confused but he was so enchanted by the gentleness of the face and the eyes.’ The old man did not insist, but instead played the opening chords of a song that was well known from school and Joseph began to play the melody with pleasure. ‘Now let us do that again.’ As Joseph played the old man added an extra accompaniment. The tune was played again and again and the room was filled with the melody as the boy played with more confidence.
The old man said, ‘Is that enough?’ This time Joseph shook his head and started playing again. The room was once more filled with music as Joseph and the old man were lost in the music as their various parts complemented and supported each other. As the melody came to an end the old man asked the boy, ‘Did you like that, Joseph?’. The boy, still unable to speak beamed with pleasure.
God’s work with us is like that of the music master with young Joseph. Young Joseph had that music within him. The old man saw that and drew it out of him.
We are going to be having three baptisms in the next few weeks. At one point in the service I will pray for each child
May almighty God deliver you from the powers of darkness, restore in you the image of his glory, and lead you in the light and obedience of Christ
Restore in you the image of his glory – we are all made in God’s image – there is something wonderful about each one of us – God wants to draw that out of us,
We were talking about heroes – people who inspires us, people we would really like to be like. God wants each one of us to become more and more like Jesus Christ.