Garrett Vickrey 11.15.15 The Great 8 - Part 7 Pentecost 25 Spirit Shaped Acts 2:1-21 Woodland Baptist Church San Antonio, TX We have two more stories left in this adventure we are on through the Great 8 the stories you decided were the 8 most important for us to know in the bible. Today the arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Pentecost is usually celebrated in May. It s November, but it is an equally opportune time to consider the presence of the Holy Spirit among us and the shape God s work takes around us and within us. The Holy Spirit is the least celebrated member of the Trinity. When we try to figure out who or what the Holy Spirit is, we often end-up saying things like, It s a part of the 3-in-1 shampoo known as the Trinity. That s not quite right. Sometimes this poor Spirit is downgraded, almost as if, it's not really a full-fledged member of the Triune God at all. Perhaps, it's the word spirit that is to blame. Frederick Buechner once wrote, "The word spirit has come to mean something pale and shapeless, like an unmade bed." 1 When the idea of the Trinity emerged out of the early church, it was perhaps the exact opposite idea they had in mind. The Spirit is actually not some shapeless ambiguity, but the very shape of God's presence with us. Without the Spirit, God's work would go unnoticed, unheard and unseen. We need to give the Spirit more credit. There's a story about a pastor who was greeting folks at the door after worship one Sunday. A woman shook his hand and said, "Pastor, that was a very good sermon." The pastor said, "Well, I have to give the credit to the Holy Spirit." And she said, "It wasn't THAT good!" We expect the Spirit to act in moments like this one we read today the day of Pentecost. The spirit of God was poured out on the people gathered in Jerusalem... there were tongues of fire overhead. There were people speaking in all different languages. There was confusion. There was excitement. There were accusations of disciples drinking wine with breakfast. It was a wild moment. And so this becomes the moment by which we judge every spirit moment. But, that may not be entirely necessary. The spirit has 1
been poured out on all flesh, and the spirit is still being poured out on all flesh. Sons and daughters speak of God's glory, young and old have visions of God's dream for this world. The enslaved and oppressed are hearing a message of redemption. Sometimes God's Spirit moves in less ostentatious ways. And that is just as much a Pentecost moment as this one in Jerusalem. Pentecost was a moment of revelation where the disciples recognized the way this world is saturated with God s Spirit. And it was that vision that birthed the church and continues to give life to the church today. Every now and then we catch a glimpse of the spirit of God in action often it s in hindsight. Sometimes we have a suspicion that God s Spirit is at work making space for us to receive God s word. When I was in high school I worked at a teaching supply store. It was my best friend s mom s store. So after school I would go there and cut butcher paper, run the laminator, and work the cash register. I vividly remember walking to work one day after school; the walk from my house to the store was about a fifteen minute walk. I was having a bad day. A day where I felt bad for myself. Some of my friends were hanging out that afternoon, but I had to go to work. It was hot and I had to walk. I felt like the only 17 year old in the world without a car. I had homework to do that I didn t know how to start. I was feeling like I couldn t do anything right. I was throwing a huge pity party for myself. And I even remember I started praying letting God know that everything was terrible because it was hot and cloudy the worst combination, if it s going to be cloudy couldn t it at least be cool?! Right as I was telling God that everything stinks, I looked up. And when I looked up I saw the sun separate the cloudy sky with its golden glow as if light were ripping through cloudy fabric to create an opening. And the light glistened off the clouds and danced down to earth it was this incredible scene that looked for one minute like a painting. And as suddenly as it appeared, the sun retreated behind more clouds. But, in the moment the sun revealed itself I could see and hear something unexpected. I m not saying that God made the clouds part for me that day, but I do think God gave me eyes to see and ears to hear the Spirit taking shape in the world all around. What I gained 2
was perspective; what I felt was peace. There s an old story about a shark and a whale. Both were swimming in the sea when the shark swam up to the whale to engage in conversation. As they swam along, the shark said to the whale, You are so much older than I, and wiser too. Could you tell me where the ocean is? The whale responded, The ocean is what you are in now. The shark wouldn t believe it. Come on, tell me where the ocean is so I can find it! The whale repeated, The ocean is here, now; you re in it. Unbelieving, the shark swam away searching for the ocean. 2 God is here surrounding you in the now of your life, dwelling within you, within me, within this community. And that truth is nurtured in practices that help to make you aware of that worship, prayer, bible study, service, silence. Don t spend too much time looking for what you are already swimming in. The word for spirit in both Hebrew and in Greek literally means wind. In fact, the Hebrew word, Ruach, is biblical onomatopoeia; it s a word imitating what it describes. Ruach sounds like wind. And this is the word the Jews would have had in mind when they consider the Spirit that showed up at Pentecost. The Ruach from the east drove back the sea so that Moses could lead the Israelites out of Egypt. And they began to see this Ruach as a sign of life, essential to every living thing. They began to consider every breath as a gift of God s Spirit. The wind that gives them the breath in their lungs is the same wind that creates an opening for their salvation. Genesis 11 tells us that the whole earth had one language and the same words. And they came together to build this great city with a tower that stretched up into the heavens. They wanted to make a name for themselves they did this to feel important, to feel like their life had meaning. But, the Lord came down saw what they were doing; God knew why they were doing it. And God gave Babel the gift of diversity. God gave them different languages but, this gift was a curse to them. Suddenly, in this new reality, they couldn t understand each other and they left building the city and were scattered across the earth. 3
This diversity of languages was not originally seen as a gift. It would be some day. With the arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the gospel was proclaimed in many languages. Babel was being undone by accepting the gift of diversity and working through it, not against it. Before Babel: In the beginning the spirit of God hovered over it to bring order. And ever since that spirit has been doing the same thing. The spirit shows up in Babel to re-divert the efforts of those people away from the selfishness of wanting to make a name for themselves. This same spirit guided God s people out of Egypt and separated the waters to make a place for them in the Promised Land. This same spirit was upon Jesus at his baptism and throughout his ministry. And that spirit brought up Jesus out of the grave and brought order even to the chaos of death. THIS is THAT essential element that wind of spirit that comes to rest on us at Pentecost the spirit that showed up in tongues of fire to empower the church of the disciples of Jesus Christ. It s this essential that shows up on Pentecost. The breath of life the wind of the Spirit That day of Pentecost, the disciples received a vision of the vast impact of the Spirit s presence with them as if they saw up close and personal the bird s-eye view of what was happening. Theologian Elizabeth Johnson compares this experience of the Spirit with Astronauts who have looked back at Earth from space. Have you seen the picture one astronaut took of the Earth; the caption said, The only picture ever taken of every human. Astronauts who have seen this view with their own eyes have talked about how powerful it is; it changes their deepest feelings. On a mission with an international crew a Saudi Arabian astronaut said, The first day we all pointed to our own countries. The third day we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day, we were all aware of only one Earth. Rusty Schweigert, who walked on the moon, said, You realize that on this beautiful warm blue and white circle, is everything that means anything to you, all of nature and history birth and love. And then you are changed forever. 3 The miracle of Pentecost is not that people were able to speak in different languages, it was that people were able to be 4
understood. We have seen this week, the worst of humanity in the violence in Paris. Extremists behind attacks like this seek unity through submission and violence to build up their own tower of terror. There are those for whom the diversity of God s world is seen as impurity rather than its design. Desmond Tutu once said, We inhabit a universe that is characterized by diversity. There is not just one planet or one star; there are galaxies of all different sorts, a plethora of animal species, different kinds of plants and different races and ethnic groups. We are constantly being made aware of the glorious diversity that is written into the structure of the universe we inhabit, and we are helped to see that if it were otherwise, things would go awry. How could you have a soccer team if all were goalkeepers? How would it be an orchestra if all were French horns? 4 God s Spirit falls on all of us. Creating space to experience and be effected by God s essence. God s image is buried deep in all of humanity every human face bears its sacred likeness. Perhaps, this spirit thing isn t so shapeless; perhaps in the aftermath of Paris we can see it. God s Spirit might be something like a symphony hall a place for the the conductor of all creation to bring forth a symphony of life where every piccolo and viola is essential. It s the Spirit that makes a way through all the mess we make of this world. So that through all the cacophony of violence and fear the melody of God s kingdom comes through. And when it hits our ears, we know God is near. 5
1 Wishful Thinking: A Seeker s ABC, (HarperCollins, San Francisco, CA: 1993) 110. 2 3 Susan M. Fleenor, The Indwelling Spirit of Pentecost Elizabeth A. Johnson, Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God (Continuum, NY, NY: 2008) 181. 4 Desmond Tutu, "Our glorious diversity: Why we should celebrate difference," speech to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Geneva, 2001. 6