Inspiration/Perspiration

(a sermon for May 19, 2024, Pentecost Sunday, based on Acts 2:1-21 and Romans 8:14-17)

So what exactly is the Day of Pentecost?

Well, biblically and historically speaking it is the “Feast of Weeks,” or Shavuot, a Jewish festival of the summer grain harvest that was traditionally held 50 days after Passover.  On the Christian calendar, however, it is a commemoration of one such festival long ago, the time when on the streets of Jerusalem the world experienced the presence of God’s Holy Spirit in a new and powerful, strikingly vivid way; so for Christianity, the Day of Pentecost is a pivotal point of human history!

Simply put, for the disciples of Jesus, it was the “what next” they were wondering about as their master ascended into heaven; and for them, as well as for you and me as believers in the risen Christ, Pentecost represents the end of the beginning and the beginning of the end! 

Think about this with me: years of waiting for the Messiah had finally come to an end, for Jesus had come; and more than this, Jesus, who had been crucified at the hands of a sinful humanity, had risen from the dead, the “first fruits of those who have died,” (1 Cor. 15:20) opening up of the very gates of eternity!  But now, with Jesus having ascended and the disciples left to carry on, a new time of waiting was just beginning: waiting for the Messiah to return in glory, ushering in the kingdom of heaven. In the meantime, however, there was much work to be done; and on this Day of Pentecost, as we learn in our text for this morning, it takes God’s own Spirit coming in “the rush of a violent wind” – in Hebrew, ruach, meaning the “breath of God” – to get it all moving.

We cannot possibly overstate the utter importance of this event! This was the divine gift that gives the church of Jesus Christ its very mission; and moreover, it is what provides the church’s empowerment in the work of God’s kingdom until that kingdom comes in its fullness.  So, yes. in a very real sense, it is true that it’s the birthday of the church we celebrate here today, because here is where the church as we know it begins; but even more than this, it’s about our on-going vocation as ministers in Christ’s name, and the continuing movement of God’s Spirit in the midst of this and every generation.

And so, Pentecost is big and it’s glorious and, I’ll admit, almost indescribable for the utter scope of it; but, if I might coin a phrase from Thomas Edison, the one about genius being “one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration,” it seems to me that at the very heart of it this “Day of Pentecost” ends up being all about our movement as believers from inspiration… to perspiration!

We actually see this very clearly in our opening text for this morning. As we pick up the story, the disciples are huddled together in a secluded room, not at all sure how this so-called “great commission” is supposed to happen.  But then the Spirit’s wind “fill(s) up the entire house where they were sitting” and suddenly these same disciples are out on the crowded streets of Jerusalem, boldly telling their story and inviting others into the circle of their faith.   

It’s an amazing transition, friends! Biblical scholars like to point out that this is the point of the story where the disciples were converted into apostles; and whereas that is certainly true, you know this didn’t happen in a staid, well-considered, and dare I say, “church-like” fashion!  No; this was immediate and life-changing; and though the Book of Acts doesn’t exactly spell this out for us, what happened was far beyond anything those disciples-slash-apostles could ever have imagined!  Remember that there’s a festival going on in Jerusalem that day, with the streets literally filled to overflowing with people from all over, speaking a multitude of different languages! There’s no way that this tiny group of believers could possibly make an impact on such a massive crowd, and yet, here’s Peter and the others running through the streets fairly well shouting the good news; but not only that, but everybody’s hearing it and, even more amazingly, understanding it in their own language!  It was the kind of thing that just doesn’t happen every day; or at all! And that’s why there were those in the crowd very quick to dismiss the whole thing as drunken behavior; I mean, how else do you explain that kind of all-encompassing, totally enveloping and utterly overwhelming revelry?

But of course, they didn’t understand; but now, at long last, the disciples did understand.  Because at the very moment that Spirit came, as The Messsage translates it, “like a wildfire… spread[ing] through their ranks,” they were inspired! Enthused! Jazzed, stoked and fired up(!); moved in a way unlike anything they’d ever experienced or felt or believed before! So what else could they could do except to jump up and run out there amongst the people; to be telling them amazing good news of last days, of sons and daughters giving prophecies, of young men with visions and old men with dreams; of the Spirit poured out on many, and the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 

Yes: this Day of Pentecost reminds us of the difference between what the disciples were – hesitant, confused, uncertain, and even fearful – and what they would become: bold witnesses of the risen Christ, apostles ready to say and do all for the sake of the kingdom of God. And it was the Spirit that made it happen; moving them from fear to courage, from reluctance to commitment, from philosophy, as it were, to practice. 

AboutWhat we in the church celebrate today is God’s own “inspiring” Spirit: how it was manifest in those disciples, how it spread first in and through all the crowds of people on the streets of Jerusalem, and then across cities and nations and generations; and how still, to this very day, it continues to inspire people – people like you and me – to lives attuned to the unpredictable movement of the Spirit and to the all-encompassing and occasionally daunting, yet ever-fulfilling work of God’s Kingdom; how it is ever and always about moving us daily from inspiration to… perspiration!

And as odd as that might sound to a skeptical world, I know that there are many who know just what that means; many of us right here, in fact, who really do understand that though, indeed, it’s often in “mysterious ways,” God is working, as evidenced in moments when we’ve been calmed, strengthened and empowered in ways both unexpected and unimagined.  From the personal crises we’ve somehow endured, through the moral and ethical dilemmas that ultimately ended up defining the depths of our character, to those wonderfully nagging little “nudges” that hit us out of nowhere and lead us in directions we couldn’t possibly have considered before: to reach out your hand; to tell that person you love them; follow that dream, answer that call, go to seminary, even (!), … or whatever, because who knows what the Lord might have in mind!

There are moments, you see, when God, for the sake of his vision for us and his Kingdom, wants to stir things up, and that, friends, is what the Holy Spirit is for! Sometimes that Spirit comes as it did for those disciples, with “a sound like a strong wind, gale force,” (The Message, again), coming at us and enveloping us all at once. And yes, often it comes gently and as naturally as a wisp of cool air on a hot summer day, as life-giving as a deep breath taken into the lungs.  Either way, however, the Spirit comes to inspire us; that we might grow, become, and serve the Lord in a multitude of ways with a variety of gifts.

It comes to move us: from philosophical thinking to passionate living; from quiet belief to inspired witness; from reluctance to empowerment as Christ’s disciples in active anticipation of his return in glory. From the inspiration of the soul to the perspiration of lives wholly devoted to the service of love in Christ’s name: that’s what this Day of Pentecost is all about, and it’s our challenge, friends, both as persons and as God’s people!

Because here’s the thing: whatever the movement of that Spirit, the amazing things that can happen only happen when you and I are willing to let our guard down for a bit and follow the Spirit where it leads.

I’m remembering a moment when I was at Bangor Seminary – my first few days on the campus, in fact – a group of us living in the dorm were gathered in the social room for one of those wonderful and incredibly awkward “Getting to Know Each Other” sessions. Now I’m not sure I remember how or why this happened, but suddenly one of our group suggests we all get in a circle and do “Father Abraham.”  Now, you probably know this; we’ve done it here, in fact, as a children’s sermon: it’s a camp song, and kind of a “ring-around-the-rosy” thing, and there’s this song that goes with it: “Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had father Abraham, I am one of them and so are you, so let’s just praise the Lord!”   And you sing it over and over again, adding a different body motion with each verse: right arm, left arm, right foot and so on.

Now, I know you will find this hard to believe, but I really didn’t want to do this “Father Abraham” thing!  Truthfully, I was a lot more reserved in those days, and more than a little bit shy about my new surroundings and somewhat intimidated by all these new people I didn’t know; moreover, I already knew I was a lousy dancer with two left feet, so I wasn’t about to make a fool of myself doing this; and besides, this was seminary (!), and shouldn’t seminarians carry themselves with just at least a modicum of dignity and godliness? 

But peer pressure being what it is (!), I did it anyway… and do you know what? I enjoyed it! It didn’t matter that I lacked the proper coordination; come to find out, so did they!  It was just fun; but more than this, it turned out to be a watershed moment for our little group.  Our different ages (which ranged from 22 to70), our geographical, ethnic and social backgrounds, to say nothing of our denominational and theological particularities immediately began melting away; we were becoming a community, this odd little family of faith, gathered by the hand and with the joy of a loving God, each of us who in our own way were seeking to follow the inspiration of the Spirit to do God’s work in the world. Friends, it was this unexpected, foolish little game that got me to see that. And it was, in its own unique way, a high and holy moment, one that not only obviously served to unleash my “inner fool for Christ,” but also one I’ve been blessed to witness and share in congregations over the years and amongst a good many faithful people of my acquaintance.

So, how about you?  The Spirit is indeed moving, and God is doing amazing things; but the question is – the question always is – are you willing to accept and celebrate the high and holy moments that that Spirit is even now bringing into your lives? It’s a question of letting the divine inspiration of God become the perspiration of our lives; it’s being open to letting God’s purposes for our lives and living start to shape what it is we say, and what we do today, tomorrow, and for the whole of life.

And it makes a difference. After all, as Paul said to the Romans in our Epistle today, “When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.”  When we “are led by the Spirit of God;” that is, when we trust God’s movement in our lives and let it move us, just like those disciples of old we are telling a story of good news by our very lives, acknowledging with every word and deed that we are, truly, God’s children.

And so, in the words of the ancient prayer:

“Come, O Holy Spirit, come!  Come as holy fire and burn in us, come as holy wind and cleanse us, come as holy light and lead us, come as holy truth and teach us, come as holy forgiveness and free us, come as holy love and enfold us, come as holy power and enable us, come as holy life and dwell in us.

“Convict us, covert us, consecrate us, until we are wholly thine for thy using, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” ( adapted Charles Francis Whiston)

Thanks be to God!

Amen and AMEN!

© 2024  Rev. Michael W. Lowry.  All Rights Reserved.

 

Spirited

(a sermon for May 28, 2023, Pentecost Sunday, based on Acts 2:1-21 and John 20:19-23)

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly from heaven their came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house…”

For my money, friends, that is truly one of the great opening lines found in all of holy scripture!

You know what I’m talking about; as we’ve already heard it read to us this morning, these words the stage for a remarkable and miraculous story: that of the coming of God’s Holy Spirit, a divine gift that which not only spurred the disciples into becoming apostles but which also formally gave birth to the church, the Body of Christ, the community of faithful believers of which you and I are now a part!  And besides, what’s not to love about a story that involves potentially gale-force winds blowing through a crowd of people gathered together from throughout the known world, an event yielding such force and tumult that those people were suddenly able to hear “about God’s deeds of power” in their own native language, and which prompted a bunch of local skeptics to dismiss it all as drunken behavior!

Like I say, it’s a great, great story!

All that said, though, would it surprise you to learn that this is not the true beginning of the story of Pentecost; nor was it, in fact, the first “gifting” of the Holy Spirit?  Because in truth of fact, the story of Pentecost actually begins not on the streets of Jerusalem, nor even in that particular room where the disciples were gathered that day, but rather in another room some six weeks before – on the night of resurrection, in fact – in a place and time when those same disciples were gathered – hiding out, really (!) – in fear, great apprehension… and shame.

That’s right; weeks before all those people in Jerusalem had experienced the rush of that mighty wind and long before Peter stood to deliver as stirring a sermon as anyone had ever heard, Peter and the rest of the disciples were to be found all huddled up together behind locked doors, afraid.  Yes, it was the first night of Easter, but remember at this point, that glorious truth hadn’t yet really hit home for them yet.  Right now, they’re just afraid: afraid that those who killed Jesus would kill them as well; afraid of having to deal with the scorn of those who knew they had failed Jesus; and afraid of the horrible realization that they had let Jesus down by not protecting him, or at least by not standing up for him.  Craig Barnes says it very well when he writes that “in spite of all their earlier bravado, [these disciples] were afraid of the cross,” and therein lay the shame of it all.

And that we can understand, can’t we?  “Like the disciples,” Barnes goes on to say, “we try to hide when we’re ashamed. We keep our hearts locked up tightly because we know the truth about ourselves, and the truth is that we are not what we want to be, or even what we pretend to be… Nothing is more crippling to our souls than working at hiding shame.” If we’re being honest, we’re all too acquainted with locking ourselves away out of fear and shame; and that’s exactly what the disciples were doing on that dark night.

So isn’t it interesting – and incredibly wonderful (!) – that it’s in that dark and lonely moment that Jesus comes looking for them. According to our text for this morning from John’s gospel, he walks right through the locked door to find them. He shows them his wounds from the cross, which are the marks of his sacrifice and their forgiveness (and ours!), and he says to them, “Peace be with you.” In the Greek, eirene, but referring to the familiar Hebrew greeting of shalom:  peace… God’s peace, not merely peace in the sense of feeling good or calm, nor peace as simply the absence of war or strife; but peace in the sense harmony and wholeness; peace in the sense of peace of being enabled to come out of hiding; peace in the sense of the restoration of their troubled souls.  And it’s on the heels of this incredible blessing that Jesus breathes on them (in The Voice translation of scripture, it reads that Jesus “drew close enough to each of them that they could feel his breath,” which for me is an amazing image), and Jesus then says to them (and to us all) “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

So what we’ve got here, as opposed to the rush of the mighty wind out of heaven, is Jesus gifting them with the breath of the Holy Spirit, in a manner not unlike how God breathed life into clay at the time of creation!  And while it’s two different kinds of experiences, two different kinds of wind as it were (!), it was the same Spirit. In his book of Acts, Luke speaks of “divided tongues as of fire, appear[ing] among them,” and of cacophony of different languages telling the good news to all those gathered on the streets of Jerusalem, whereas John alludes to the very breath of God, gently and perhaps even imperceptivity imbuing the disciples with the power to forgive and to heal as they had been forgiven!  Either way, the result was the same: immediately, shame was gone, and hopelessness gave way to assurance and joy… the Holy Spirit had come!

Now, in full disclosure this morning, I do realize that these are two stories that offer up the kind of contradictory biblical conundrum that both skeptics and biblical scholars love to debate!  But I would suggest to you this morning that the point is not whether one version of the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit is of more accuracy or importance than the other; like I said before, for me it’s one story, and within that story the abiding truth that God’s Spirit does come, with creative and renewing power! 

It’s the story of how God’s Spirit was given to us in two different, yet entirely unified ways; but then, that’s how it’s always been with God, isn’t it?  It’s there in Holy Scripture all the way from Genesis through Revelation; it is the resounding theme of our Christian faith: how God comes to his people in a variety of ways and means – in a burning bush or a pillar of fire, in the person of a tiny baby born in a stable who grew to save all people from their sin, right on through to a truly Holy Spirit that comes to the people like a dove descending, or for that matter, like tongues of fire – and it’s the ongoing story of how all those “Spirited” people are moved and changed in their encounter with the living God.

And friends, it’s a story that continues here and now – today (!) in you, and in me.

I have to tell you that I love the inclusiveness and the utter contradiction of it all!  Yes, God comes to us like the rush of a mighty wind, making us part of God’s own powerful presence of love.  God storms us at times like fire, with rough and cleansing gusts:  the addict who bottoms out; the couple who suddenly recognize in sharp detail the tensions that are pulling their marriage and family apart; the cancer patient who somehow garners the fighting spirit he or she needs to live.  These are people who just might have experienced the gale force of God in their lives in a truth discerned in the midst of the fray, or a presence discovered while the wind is blowing strong around them.  Maybe it’s a mountaintop experience when in one, incredible moment, all of life just seems to come together at once; or perhaps, more likely, it comes in the times spent meandering in the valley, the moments we feel so low that only a great stirring could ever possibly lift you up.  Either way, friends, these are the doors, the windows, the cracks and the crevices through which God’s Spirit pushes through, carrying us to freedom; and making us aware that, thanks be to God, our lives are made rich and full and free and alive!

Yet, God also comes to us quietly, at times almost imperceptive, in ways as seemingly unnoticed yet as intimate as breathing itself:  the realization that finally, after a long siege of life’s challenges, the struggle is… over!  The beauty of a sunset setting the sky ablaze in orange, the magnificence of a star-filled sky in mid-summer, or a precious early morning moment of quiet before the day begins.  It’s the gentle breeze of our lives that blows across what seems to be a dead calm; the almost imperceptible momentum that moves the sailor from sea to shore and home; those moments when much to our surprise and wonder, we’re suddenly seeing things in perfect clarity, maybe for the first time!  Even in moments when it still doesn’tmake sense, but nonetheless you know it’s going to be okay, because you’re palpably aware that you have that peace that the world neither gives nor takes away.  These are the treasured moments in which for reasons we can’t begin to explain or describe or rationalize away, we know in deepest part of our restored souls that we are embraced, lifted, sheltered and loved; because we’ve felt the very breath of God breathing upon us and we know we’re part of God’s quiet Spirit; and making us aware that, thanks be to God, our lives are made rich and full and free and alive!

Two different kinds of experiences, but the same wind; the same Spirit from the same God moving us in one direction, but with a different kind of intensity that blows us along in a different way…

That’s the message we need to take home with us on this Pentecost Sunday, beloved.  The Holy Spirit is God’s divine gift, and we need to be open to receive it with gladness and in anticipation of what God wants to do in and through our lives.  Perhaps the storms that are raging in our midst amount to more than struggle and hardship in our lives; maybe the profound silence we’re experiencing at the present moment ends up being much more than it seems as well.  Perhaps it’s a time and place in which God is moving, stirring and blowing in and through our lives. 

By God’s grace and love, we are a “Spirited” people, you and I; so it would be good for us to truly open ourselves to the stirrings of the Holy Spirit: not only this morning as we sit in these pews worshiping together, but most especially later on as we head out into the challenge and uncertainty of another week.  Because who knows how God’s wind will blow through us this week, and how we might find ourselves with new opportunities for being the “spirited” people we’ve been gifted to be?

You know I have to say it… “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind, the answer is blowin’ in the wind!”

And so… Come, Holy Spirit… Come!

Thanks be to God!

AMEN and AMEN!

© 2023  Rev. Michael W. Lowry.  All Rights Reserved.