Sermon- Pentecost 2018

Pentecost- May 20, 2018

Acts 2:1-21

            Hearing about the “rush of violent wind” in the story of the 1^st Pentecost in Acts, reminds me of my personal brushes with “violent winds” in my life. I have been in very close proximity to 2 hurricanes & 2 tornadoes during my 68 ½ years. The 1^st one was my Jr. year in high school, as I was warming up in the gym one afternoon for my very first cross country practice. As we were stretching, suddenly it was raining on us—in the gym! We looked up saw a large hole that had been ripped in the ceiling as the tornado bounced down a nearby hill. We all rushed for cover in the shower room, which had concrete block walls. After it was all over, I learned that one of the gym walls was actually moved about a foot, buckling the floor.

            I was not only “amazed & astonished,” as Luke notes in Acts, but also “bewildered & “perplexed.” For many of us, this out of control, rushing, “violent” wind as an image for the Holy Spirit isn’t particularly comforting. 

            In the movie, “The Princess Bride,” there is an overly confidant schemer by the name of Vizzini who confidently proclaims various things to be “inconceivable;” yet those very things he dismisses always happen. Eventually one of his henchman turns to him & says, “I do not think that word means what you think it means.”

            Those of us who talk about wanting to feel God’s sweet, sweet spirit in this place, or about being “spiritual but not religious” may need to think about that. It may be that the word “spiritual” does not mean what we think it means, at least not in this context & not all the time.

            We read a line like Romans 8:26 about the Spirit helping us “in our weakness” & think “that’s nice.” But we fail to put the text in its context & forget that the prevailing image here is childbirth–“the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains.” Anyone who has witnessed a birth, & especially anyone who has actively given birth, knows that this is not a sweet, gentle, non-violent process. And I can imagine that there comes a point in every birthing process when the one giving birth yearns for help in her weakness.

            The bestowal of the Holy Spirit is not for the weak of heart. “Tongues as of fire,” may mean speaking in unknown languages; but it more likely means being pushed out of our comfort zones to speak about Jesus to others in a “language” not our own, uncomfortably & fearfully learning to talk to people with whom we normally would not associate. And it also might mean speaking truth to power, addressing issues & concerns that some people would rather the church not talk about. The Spirit might prompt you to say things that are so out there, so against the grain of what most people think & believe, that someone is likely to ask you what you’ve been smoking? Which is, of course, the 21^st Century equivalent of accusing you of being drunk at 9 am.

            This Holy Spirit business is a dangerous thing. Peter is quoting the prophet Joel when he talks about women & men prophesying, about the young seeing visions & the old dreaming dreams. We all know that visions & dreams & prophecies are dangerous things. They have a tendency to challenge people who are perfectly content with the status quo.  It’s better that we stay safely rocking on the porch, watching God’s mighty wind blow on somebody else.

            But, here’s the catch–it doesn’t work to try to stay on the porch. What’s the old expression, “You can run, but you can’t hide.” The Spirit will find you, just like it found the apostles, huddled together safely in one place. Yes, the Spirit will find you; & it will fill you; & it will give you a tongue as of fire; & it will push you out of your cozy chair & into a wild ride through the world. And really, all one can do is take a deep breath & hang on for dear life.

            But I can tell you from experience, the “dear life” that the Spirit wants to pull you into is a full life—the life that Jesus promises to all who believe in him & follow. It is the life that you & me & all of us humans were designed for. Because the “breath” (or ruach, in Hebrew) that God breathed into the first human in Genesis 2 is the same ruach “breath” that IS the Holy SPIRIT.

            You cannot be truly alive without the Spirit of God rushing through you & propelling you, however “amazingly & astonishingly,” out into God’s world. Amen.