The Rt Revd Ken Good, Bishop of Derry & Raphoe, was the preacher in St Patrick’s Cathedral Armagh at the annual service of the General Synod on Thursday evening
SPIRITUAL EMPOWERMENT
Bishop Good linked the Ascension with the empowerment of the apostles. “That small group of disciples on Ascension Day had no master plan, no organisational backup, no infrastructure, few resources, few if any friends in high places. They were entrusted with a challenge to go out into the world and make disciples. Very soon they began to see the transformation of their city, their nation, their continent, and eventually the world. How did this transformation unfold? I have no doubt that they would say that it was the power of the Holy Spirit, the presence (though absent) of the risen and ascended Lord, and the life-changing the power of the gospel which he had taught them to proclaim that brought about the change – more than any human effort they may have contributed”, he said.
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
Specific spiritual gifs were required for witness in modern society. Bishop Good asked, “Which gifts do we particularly need in the Church at this time? Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers?”
And in response he answered, “We are generally quite strong on the pastoring gift, but maybe less so on apostleship and evangelism, or even prophecy. It can be profitable to keep an eye out for the gifts of the Spirit being revealed in and around us. To notice or pick up when someone’s contribution bears the hallmark of a spiritual gift, to expect to see the gifts at work.
“As people get to the podium at Synod, it is good to have an ear to what the Spirit might be saying through some with an apostolic insight, others with prophetic discernment, or with an evangelistic heart, or with pastoral compassion or a teaching word. His gifts are at work among us, and we must allow the Spirit to work through them if we are to see the progress we long for and the building of his kingdom. Relying on our own strength and wisdom alone, is not the Ascension-tide approach.”
CULTURAL
Bishop Good concluded, “With the pressures and strains which church life nationally and internationally is experiencing, we must remember that creating disunity can be, among other negative things, an undermining of the spiritual gifts with which God has provided us. The appropriate use of spiritual gifts produces unity and maturity, their inappropriate use can result in the very opposite.
“The Archbishop of Armagh, in the sermon he preached from this pulpit at his Service of Enthronement in December, referred to the culture he longs to see during his Primacy as one of courtesy. That is a good word to summarise this healthy relational approach. In his words he described this culture as ‘treating one another as deserving of respect, worthy of love, never bullying into submission, but listening with love and discernment to what others are saying.’ This is the Ascension-tide culture that enabled the disciples to see the church impact the world of their day. Clearly they didn’t succeed in maintaining it as much as they should have done, but they knew clearly what they were to aspire to – as do we…”