How many of you enjoy celebrating your birthday these days?
I think we can all appreciate what a privilege it is to continue to have birthdays to celebrate. We can complain about our lack of sleep (me!) or aches and pains, but we do realize how very lucky we are. Birthdays can be a great time for introspection, to look back at our life, remembering our own parents or special birthdays in our life, remembering who joined us to celebrate a special birthday at different points. I usually don’t like to make a big deal of my own birthday, but I am happy to celebrate with my family when it comes around again. Today we celebrate what we often consider the birthday of the church, Pentecost. It is now 50 days since Easter and we recall that in the aftermath of Jesus’ resurrection, he appeared several times to his friends, to offer encouragement, hope and a reminder that he would always be with them. They certainly didn’t understand what that might look like, just as we may feel as we think about those we have loved and lost. And yet, there are moments when we feel their love encompass us, moments when we treasure a past conversation or words of support and we do feel their spirit very much alive in our hearts. And so for the followers of Jesus, on that Jewish holiday as they gathered again in Jerusalalem? They had a profound experience which shaped the rest of their lives and likely our lives as well and how we have lived and worshipped and made sense of all the joys and struggles of life as we know it. O Holy One, we celebrate the beginning of the Christian tradition and the ways in which it has enriched our lives. May we always remember the true message of Jesus to love God and our neighbor. Amen.
As I was doing some reading on Pentecost, imagining new ways to talk about this annual celebration, I came upon some wonderful reflections by Rev. Michael Caine which I wanted to share with you. He wrote, “When we think of Pentecost, we tend to remember the first account we heard — from the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles: a rush of violent wind, sweeping through the room in which the frightened disciples are hoping to hide out in; …tongues “as of fire” descending upon their heads; And this Spirit driving men and women out of their hideaway
And into the crowded morning streets of Jerusalem, proclaiming the gospel of freedom in Christ and God’s peace …proclaiming it boldly, confidently, fluently —and in a perplexing array of languages???
This, the Bible says, was how the Christian church was born —
a public, compelling, miraculous display of overwhelming, divine power.
Acts 2 is the big traditional Cecil B. DeMille production of Pentecost.
Nonetheless, I find myself this year shying away from the big screen version — the large assembly, the public display and all its pryotechnics.
I am finding greater comfort in John’s small stage, quieter retelling of the giving of the Spirit in Chapter 20, our second reading. I like the image of Jesus appearing to us, especially where we’re all locked up and hiding away in our fears. Jesus coming to us where we’ve tried to sequester ourselves, And reassuring us with his presence and the peace he offers us. And, then intimately, using his recently renaimated breath,
And blowing the Spirit of God in each of our mouths, To fill our lungs and our lives with new life and the power we need To undertake a mission of forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoring wholeness.
Imagine, the Risen Jesus appearing to his disciples and,
like a parent blowing in the face of an infant to make her laugh,
blowing his spirit into their mouths one by one! The Greek word for “breath” is pneuma, also translated as “spirit”. Jesus in-spirits /
inspires his followers with his own breath /spirit / Spirit.
And with that sharing and gifting, Jesus prepares them for the mission of living lives as Christians. …Perhaps that is how we can understand what is about to happen to Siti — that Jesus will blow his breath in her mouth and set her off on a new life? Closer to us than our own breath and breathing, the Risen Christ fills us with his own Spirit —
quietly, intimately, completely. With his breath, God’s power,
we then go about the everyday, unspectacular, grubby work (and it is work) living lives of forgiveness, compassion, justice, peace and wholeness.
Breathe, forgive;
breathe, empathize;
breathe, do justice;
breathe, make peace; breathe, grow in wholeness within yourself and with everyone and everything else.
Although we often long for the dazzling or spectacular, we live in a time, a world, in need of people, like Siti, who breathe in, regularly, the quiet power and grace of Christ’s Spirit and people who, likewise,
breathe out, regularly, the power and grace of God’s peace.
Our world — so spectacularly broken and burning —needs people for whom reconciliation, justice and peace are as normal and natural as breathing. And here’s the good news: Pentecost didn’t just happened once, in a certain way or a long, long time ago.
There are, in Luke’s Acts of the Apostle’ alone, multiple Pentecosts; multiple times — …that is, when the Spirit is poured out,
amazing things happen, and people come to faith.
I wonder how many bible stories can you think of
that are a repetition and extension of the power of the Holy Spirit?
I think they starts, really, at creation, where Genesis says:
“a wind from God swept over the waters.” The spirit continues through the history of God’s people Israel, And on into the history of the church,
Right down to our day and in our lives. There are a variety of episodes in the Church’s history that we might also appropriately name another Pentecost:
(~ the flourishing of the monastic communities in the middle ages,
~ the Reformation,
~ the revivals of the first and second Great Awakenings in North America
(the second of which Old First and its year long guest preacher Charles Grandison Finney played a role in),
~ the birth of Pentacostalism on Azuza Street in LA and how its swept around the globe and changed the face of the church;
~ the role of the church in the North American civil rights movements and liberation movements in the rest of the Americas…)
But we know that it’s not just cataclysmic, world-changing, historical events. Pentecost happens in our local communities too.
Pentecost happens in our individual lives too. Can you identify the times and ways that only God’s power can explain things that have happened in your life, even things that you yourself seem to have accomplished?
Pentecost isn’t over! That’s why Jesus can make the astounding promise: Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these.”
Did you hear that? We who believe in Jesus will do even greater works than he!
Feeding,
preaching,
healing. Do we believe that?
Let us Look for Pentecost and Spirit movements in your life.
In the days ahead, try to pay attention to the places where you see God’s power and peace at work.
My friends, today is the feast of Pentecost, and a bright, beautiful and windy day. God’s spirit is pouring out on us. We may be here this morning with our doubts and fears, sorrows and joys
And yet, that same Spirit can wrap loving arms around us,
comfort us in our pain and brokenness and bring healing and hope to us and our world..
Come, Holy Spirit, come: Blow down all the walls that separate and keep us unequal, Make us one, inside and out and help us to share this vision with our world. We know what the Spirit can do when it blows through our world; we know What God’s people can do when we remember that we are called to act with justice and love tenderly. May the best of our tradition inspire us to help build your beloved community here on earth Until love has swept us all away. Amen.
- Largely drawn from Reflections by Rev. Michael Caine, Old First Church, March 2016 Acts 2: 1-21 and John 20: 19-23
Blessing of the Word, Wind, and Fire
May the wind blow softly on your shoulders
always bringing the scent of peace;
May the fire warm your heart
always leaving it full of tenderness;
May the word that leaves your lips,
and those that visit your ears,
always send and bring
the sound of a blessing!
Luiz Carlos Ramos