Sunday will honor the Day of Pentecost, the Hebrew festival remembering Moses’ descent from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments which would order Jewish life. Followers of Jesus were grouped into one place, where the Wind of the Holy Spirit “filled the house”. This wind was mentioned in the Old Testament as RUACH, or the breath of God, which would resuscitate the dead and heal the living. It is hoped by the creators of the Christian Year to be a time of renewal and new birth for the Church: Easter is past, and now the disciples are blown into the far corners of the world with the holy message of God’s love through Christ Jesus.
The traditional reading for this day is that from the book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2. It seems good to me to be presented with a mysterious event–our age of digitalization often excludes the possibilities of heavenly inter-vention. The Wind of God is here the impetus for sending apostles out, reminding them that God’s presence is always blowing, despite the angst of those who are opposed to it. Part of the reading is a reprise of a segment of the prophecy of Joel: young folks in the pews are urged to dream big, and their elders are urged to cast a vision of what the Kingdom can really be like! What will happen when our sails catch the Spirit?
The Epistle involves Paul’s words to the Romans in the important 8th Chapter. V. 26 tells us that “the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” That “sigh” may well be the Wind of the Spirit rustling through the weeds which choke our path… Even when we’re tongue-tied, that Spirit speaks to the Creator on our behalf.
We’re still with Jesus’ High Priestly prayer at the Last Supper, as pictured by John (15:26-27 and 16:4b-15). The Lord assured his friends that his death will not leave them bereft of a Holy Presence, as he will send an Advocate to stand with them in times of trial. (The Greek, here, is “paraclete”–which is not a caged bird with blue or green feathers!) Yet the Advocate does ride on the wings of the Wind, sometimes arriving at a target before the witnesses actually get there…pastors, have you marveled at the smooth resolution of a tough situation that you’ve been dreading and maybe avoiding? This dynamic Spirit will guide each of us into the eternal truth, to a deeper understanding of the grace and beauty in which we are.
There’s so much happening here that the leader of worship and proclamation could spend many words in trying to capture it all. OR she could say very little, and let this Divine Breath pause where it would… Those observing this message should know that they will be changed, inflated perhaps with a dream, a vision and a shove to take these things into all the world.
In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King
Please join me every Tuesday as the Spirit attempts to fan my holy embers into a useful flame…at this spot on Facebook, or at horacebrownking.com
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