Pentecost/Whitsunday (Ezekiel 37:1-14; Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:25-35, 37; John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15)7/1/2018 We celebrate today as the Day of Pentecost. Amongst Anglicans it is called ‘Whitsun’ or ‘Whit Sunday.’ ‘Whit’ here might have two meanings. It can be white, symbolizing the white vestment, the alb worn by baptismal candidates. Or white can mean wit or wisdom, the Wisdom of God descending on this day. Whichever meaning we choose to reflect on, the whole point of the Day of Pentecost lies on the Holy Spirit. With this in mind, it is quite reasonable to think about the Holy Spirit. Not what, but who really is the Holy Spirit? How does the Holy Spirit work in the world, in our society, in our lives?
The second lesson from the Book of Acts shows us some images and works of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes like the rush of a violent wind filling the entire gathering place of Jesus’ disciples, appearing as divided tongues, as of fire, resting on each one of the disciples. The Holy Spirit fills their hearts and enables them to speak in other languages. The Holy Spirit opens up the disciples’ mouths that speak different languages. At first, it looks like creating a chaotic situation that causes devout Jews to accuse them of being drunk. But they immediately hear what these disciples are speaking and actually understand what they are about. They are both amazed and perplexed. The fact that these devout Jews understand what the disciples are speaking about in their own languages is the evidence of God mending all the divisions in the world which were symbolized in the Babel Tower. There’s this uniting force of God taken place on the feast of Pentecost. How do these devout bystanders who are not directly affected by this make sense of this work of the Spirit? They conclude that these disciples are filled with new wine. Being filled with new wine, even though this is sarcastically said to mock and condescend the disciples and their behaviors, is quite true. Jesus is the new wine. Jesus pours out his own blood to sanctify the world of corruption, oppression, and sin. The disciples are drunk with the blood of Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit. They cannot but proclaim God’s deeds of power in the very person of Jesus, his message, his life, death on the cross, and resurrection. So there may be some pressure on us Christians on this feast of Pentecost that we should get drunk with this new wine of Jesus if we believe that the Holy Spirit is always at work. (If you're interested in literally getting buzzed, you are most welcome to become a chalice bearer. You get to drink it all!) No matter how we’re drunk with this new wine of Jesus, we might at least have some holy pressure to desire to know the Spirit and even to hope for the Spirit to fill our hearts. Bishop elect Carlye Hughes in one of her walkabouts mentioned that we Episcopalians shy away when someone asks them if they know the Bible. I would add to that in regards to the Holy Spirit. If someone asks Episcopalians about the Holy Spirit, we might as well shy away from the question. It is quite true that we don’t really talk about the Spirit. Well, I suggest that we do from now on, not in the way it doesn’t fit us well, but in the way that works for us in our Anglican tradition. The 8th century Syrian monk and priest, St. John of Damascus said, “The Son is the image of the Father, the Spirit the image of the Son.” There’s no mention of who represents the image of the Holy Spirit. I also heard someone describing the Holy Spirit as the “shy member of the Holy Trinity.” The Spirit never asserts Himself or His own will but always follows the Son whose will is the will of the Father. These two remarks about the Holy Spirit, one as not having His own image in another Person of the Trinity as well as one being as a shy member of the Trinity and the other depiction of the Holy Spirit as the rush of a violent wind in the Book of Acts tell us one crucial nature of the Spirit in common. That is, God’s self-giving, self-emptying compassion which is often hidden in our eyes. And this self-giving, self-emptying work of the Spirit always reveals Jesus of Nazareth, his death and resurrection, God’s love made flesh in Jesus. The Spirit always brings us back to the cross and the empty tomb, death and resurrection of Jesus in which we find ourselves deeply connected with ourselves, others, and God. The Spirit always opens up our hearts, connecting you and me, us and them, God’s very own self and us as well as inviting us into the inner life of God the Trinity. So when do we experience and sense the work of the Holy Spirit? Well, there’s no limit to how one experiences the presence of the Holy Spirit. It’s really about being attentive, taking a long loving look at people and things around you, which includes yourself and very well begins with being attentive to yourself. For example, we can even be much more aware of our own breath. Closing our eyes, we can very well sense the work of the Spirit, breathing in and out, reflecting the breath of God is breathed into my body, giving me life. If we remember we have never been taught how to breathe, since we simply do after we’re born in this world, it is the Spirit of life that sustains our whole being. St Paul says, “In Him, we live, and move, and have our being.” Another example of sensing the work of the Spirit is to notice something different and new in you. If you start having a stronger desire for prayer, that’s the Holy Spirit nudging your soul to be closer to his presence. Or you wake early in the morning without any intention to do so and feel quite awake and serene. That may be the Holy Spirit calling you. What about having a stronger desire to know more about the Bible, which indicates your desire to get to know God deeper. How about the moments when your heart is filled with thanksgiving for people around you and joy that comes out of being deeply loved? There are all sort of personal encounters with the Spirit that come to us subtly and gently. But there are some communal moments in our lives that we intensely feel the presence of the Spirit. This experience of intense connection, interconnectedness with the Spirit happens when there’s a shared experience with others in the moments of extremity. This past Friday, we experienced again the tragedy and evil of gun violence. 9 students and 1 teacher died. It is excruciatingly painful and hurtful to those who are directly affected by this gun violence as well those of us who are rather indirectly shocked by this tragedy. Yet, in this extreme moment, through our wounds the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts. I saw this one photograph of parents of Santa Fe high school students circling around, holding their hands together, and praying. Regardless of the school’s past dispute over the loudspeaker prayer, it is hard not to believe that the Holy Spirit is at work in this scene of people gathering together to pray for those who are involved in the tragedy. The Spirit connects one another, creating a sense of communion where no one feels lost and alone because the Spirit never loses anyone. What about the car accident on Rt 80 in which one student and one teacher died? With anger, shock, sorrow, and compassion for one another, the Spirit gathers people together. On the other extreme, we experience the work of the Holy Spirit in the election of a new bishop who is the first African American female bishop in our diocese. Michelle, Amy, and I were talking about when we could actually go home, basically our concern over how long the election process would take. Of course, we did talk about who might be elected as our new bishop. No one at St. Peter’s in Morristown imagined or predicted that the Rev. Carlye Hughes would be elected on the very first ballot. In this surprising joy for our diocese, we sense and experience the Spirit is alive, creating something new for us, the new creation for the new world. On this very feast day of Pentecost, in this very moment where we are gathered together to celebrate the Eucharist, the Holy Spirit is still working. At the Eucharist, we ask for the Holy Spirit to descend on the bread and wine to be the sacramental sign of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. But not only does the Holy Spirit transform them into the sacraments of the Body and Blood of Jesus but also comes down to us, making our baptized bodies the holy food for the world. All we’ve got to do is let the Spirit transform our entire being, allow the Spirit to transfigure our whole being. Do not be afraid to be the new creation that you are called to be. No fear, but only trust in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of the resurrection. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. |
Paul"...life up your love to that cloud [of unknowing]...let God draw your love up to that cloud...through the help of his grace, to forget every other thing." Archives
January 2025
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