| May 31, 2009
You are welcome to reflect on this message
Pentecost is a religious festival probably no more memorable than Columbus Day. Before being co-opted by the church, it was a Jewish holiday that falls 50 days after Passover, to commemorate the giving of the Ten Commandments. It originally had to do with the letter of the law. But Luke elevates it to the realm of Spirit. And over the centuries it’s become a celebration of the church’s birthday. Like most key biblical events: creation, the flood, Christmas, Good Friday and Easter, there’s more than one story of Pentecost. In the Book of Acts, it’s a boisterous observance, like the World Series or Waterfire. But in the Gospel of John, you have to read between-the-lines just to spot it.
Like anything complex, we find similarities and differences. Both agree on where it happened. But that’s about it for concurrence. John says there were only eleven disciples present. But Luke swells his number to 120, who journeyed to Jerusalem to venerate the rules on Pentecost. Suddenly, a violent wind swept through the room! There was fire too, that shaped itself like tongues dancing around. And the people began to speak in other languages than their own and were understood. Those who saw it thought they’d been imbibing the spirits. But Peter said it was too early for that. The “Spirit” was God’s. After he finished preaching, 3000 were baptized! Can you imagine how long that took?
Luke’s birthday party story has its roots in the Exodus. Since Pentecost was a celebration of the giving of the law, he describes the coming of the Spirit in similar fashion. The children of Israel found themselves in an unfamiliar wilderness, fleeing from Pharaoh in fear. The situation looked bleak, so they told Moses: “Go up there and find out what God wants. Come back and tell us what it is.” So Moses ascended Mt. Sinai and met the Lord in the “earth, wind, and fire.” Luke’s account is a public event, drawing on the images of Exodus 20, a powerful, miraculous, wind-driven moment in Israel’s history.
John describes Pentecost differently. His story is private in nature. Folks probably thought they were more asleep than drunk! It takes place in a house in Jerusalem, where the door is locked. On both occasions the people were afraid. But it wasn’t of Pharaoh this time. Rome wanted God’s Son dead. And they saw to it that he was. But he didn’t stay dead. Now that he’s alive again, what’s going to happen to them? Bolting through the bolted door, Jesus appears in the room and his first word is muted in tone: “peace.” They’re dumbfounded because they aren’t sure who it is. So “he showed them his hands and his side,” where he’d been nailed and speared. The scars were the only way he could identify himself, that he was who he was.
They recognized him after that. “It is the Lord!” To make sure they get it, he blessed them again and then gave them an important task: “As the Father sent me, now I send you.” Next he does a strange thing. “Jesus breathes on them.” John has no violent wind. Just a puff of air and a kind word: “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Instead of making it Exodus 20 Part II, accompanied by lightning-bolts, John relies on Creation, and tells his version more like Genesis 2, where “God breathed into their nostrils and they became living souls.” First God made everything that is. Then he made a person out of earth-mud. But one thing was distinctive. Unlike with the animals and plants, moon and stars, God created the man and woman by breathing his soul into them. Without the life-giving Spirit of God, human beings would be like the animals and dandelions. And existence would be demoted to eating, drinking, eliminating, sleeping, copulating and dying.
I could think of worse things than being like the animals, because they put most people to shame. We can train animals. And show them off too. Wash them down, and dress them up and parade them around, to human applause. Dog shows. Beautiful animals cats and horses. Ya’ll ever see a Tennessee Walking horse trot? Now we have "American Idol," (emphasis on the word "idol") as if people were like the animals. Groom them, and put them on stage; they compete for prizes and all that goes with winning. It’s a contest to decide which one’s the prettiest. We get hung-up on external stuff like that. But we don’t need the breath of God inside of us to develop a pedigree. Like a thoroughbred, blue-blood with papers, we could claim to come from the best of the breed. Or something like this, “We have Abraham as our father”(Matt. 3:9). You see, even religious unblemished lines sets us apart.
So if God hadn’t animated us with his own breath, we still could prance and preen about our family ties and eat and drink and sleep and mate and die. And that’d be it. There’s a whole lot of people out there who apparently believe that’s all there is. But according to the scriptures, God molded a creature “out of the dust of the earth” and held it up like a newborn babe and breathed into it, his own scent ... and “the man became a living soul.” That’s what makes us kin to God, “created in his image.” And that’s why any person worth his salt, will never be content with just eating, drinking, partying, working and showing off, reproducing and dying. God put something of himself in us to ensure that we long for him. That’s why we search the heavens, scour the earth, write poetry, play music, create art, and think the things of God on Sunday morning. Animals don’t go to church or take ethics courses. They don’t know they exist. But we humans do. And we need to spend more time pondering it. If, after we die we may continue to exist ... since we have within us the soul of God.
This is so important in the Bible, that the most terrible thing that can happen to us is for the Spirit/breath of God to be taken away from us. Like when King David was on the throne. That boy was a character, full of strong animal instincts. Yet he was also deeply spiritual. Something about David that God just loved! A far better warrior than a husband and father, he battled his enemies and licked them all, even the giants. Then came back to brag about it. One day he spotted a beautiful woman and “took her,” even though she was married to his most loyal soldier. “I’m the King. I can do anything I want.” Before long his baby was born to another man’s wife. It gets complex. And in order to cover it up, he sent her husband to the Iraqi front lines to be wasted. Sure enough according to plan, Uriah lost his life. And David thought he got away with one. Except for that little “matter” about God’s breath. So Nathan the prophet paid David the King an unannounced visit; told him a pointed story and said: “You did it didn’t you?” And David felt like a pig! Because he’d been acting like one. Eating, drinking, fornicating, killing. Like an animal! He was created for better than that. Because David had inhaled the breath of God, he did something rare, he repented. You can read his prayer in Psalm 51. “O God, whatever you do, don’t take your Holy Spirit away from me.” Because then ... I’d be no different from a dog.
And so it is that John says the Son of Man called a small band of buddies, with nothing remarkable about a single one of them. Most were fishermen. One collected taxes. Another was a militant zealot. They were an odd squad. But Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” And that motley bunch became the church that’s still here to this day. Worshiping God, writing scripture, praying, trying to figure out God’s will, then doing it. The church – going forth to serve others in Jesus’ name -- hurting when they hurt, emptying their pockets when the need arose, spreading hope to the hopeless. Who are these people? Ah just those upon whom the Lord God has breathed. That’s all. We know that because of John’s Pentecost.
Ever wonder what would happen to the church if the Spirit were withdrawn? It could, you know, because it’s happened before. Back in those Old Testament days at Shiloh, God’s church-going habits got pretty sloppy, where “the glory of the Lord had departed.” There were days when God just quit going to church! “Ichabod” they called it. Without God’s Spirit, the church could probably stay open awhile, decades perhaps or even centuries. Add a few creative personalities, some entertaining talent and money, a project or two, even a declining church can delay the inevitable obituary. But the prayer of the church had better be the same as David’s: “O Lord, don’t take your Holy Spirit away.” Because that’s the only thing that makes this a church and not a museum.
Nobody can describe the Holy Spirit in any precise manner. Jesus said it was like the wind. “You can’t tell where it comes from or where it’s going.” It may come out of the south. Or the north. Or out west. Or even the irreligious east. Nobody can see it, but you know when it’s there. And when it’s not. I knew a man once. Successful, self-made. Had his own flooring business. But didn’t think much of the church, and lived like he didn’t need God or anybody else. And then one day something happened to him. His whole outlook changed. The Spirit got into him. God’s breath? Maybe. All I know for sure is, that man is now a dedicated youth leader in the First Baptist Church of Silver Spring, MD. John’s Pentecost.
On another occasion during my DC days, I went on a sailboat down the Chesapeake Bay in Annapolis. The sun was shining. And it was still. That’s when I learned about “the lulls.” The sails hung limp, the vessel floated nowhere. And man it was hot. But the next day a gale blew in and we flew down the bay at such a pace, the keel almost came out of the water! And I’m holding on for dear life! What did that? God’s powerful wind. The Book of Acts describes Pentecost like that. It presents an unusual, bombastic, unforgettable birthday of the church. People who still try to do church this way are called “Pentecostals.” Down south, folks tease them: “Do you think the Pentecostals will make it to heaven? Ah they’re gonna make it. They’re just liable to go on past it!” That is Luke’s Pentecost. But in the Fourth Gospel, Jesus breathed his Spirit upon his followers. Which gives us our prayer for the day: “Holy Spirit, Breathe on Me.” It’s also our hymn. Shall we sing it?
Providence Prayers: (5-31-09)
Remind us once again of the “power of God unto salvation” in this worship. It is your Spirit which gives us the courage to visualize commonality, the motivation to loves its different peoples, the determination to discern their needs and the dedication to serve in Jesus’ name. Breathe into us a new joy for life, a new feeling of purpose, a new sense of accomplishment. In a world where there are many expressions of religion and beliefs, save us from thinking that there is no ultimate truth; and from supposing that we have that truth whole and entire, or that others have glimpsed nothing of you. In Jesus Christ, you poured new wine into old wineskins. May that new wine touch the sick with healing, the grieving with consolation, the broken with wholeness and peace.
This week, we give Thee thanks for memories of our foremothers and fathers who even now “surround us as a great cloud of witnesses.” Because of their sacrifices, we can celebrate the liberty we enjoy. We pause to turn our eyes toward yesterday in gratitude, as we recall those who are no longer with us. For those who served their country sacrificially and those who served Thee well, we are grateful for the time we walked together, and that we were able to share in their lives as companions.
Today, we celebrate the birth of Thy church and our prayer is not just for the increase in church membership but an outpouring of Thy Spirit. May it rest upon us and within us and empower us with courage. May it provide truth that enables us to change what needs to be changed, love that allows us to serve and faith to endure what cannot be ignored. Grant us the wisdom to accept the life you have offered to us, to broaden our vision of it and deepen our faith in it. Through the Spirit of Christ we pray...Amen. Back |
