PENTECOST Sermon, Year A, 2014 St. Alban s Episcopal Church of Bexley, Ohio The Rev. Dr. Susan M. Smith Numbers 11:24-30 Psalm 104:25-35, 37 Acts 2:1-21 John 20:19-23 Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Numbers 11:24-30 Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again. Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, "My lord Moses, stop them!" But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!" And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp. Acts 2:1-21 When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs-- in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine." But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: `In the last days it will be, God declares, 1
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' " John 20:19-23 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." Help us receive your Holy Spirit, O God, that we might go wherever you send us. Last week I had occasion to experience the contrast of spirits. First, we had an email from Dr. Connie, one of our inner city teachers, with a horrible news account about two of her students: These young women were having a fight, yelling angrily at each other, saying things human beings should not say to one another. And then unspeakably one of the girls pulled out a knife, and stabbed the other one to death. So one is dead; the other is in jail. Two lives, ruined. In contrast, the next day, I attended the lower school chapel at the Columbus School for Girls. Grades 1 through 5 sat attentively, short legs swinging from the chairs where they were sitting, listening, not interrupting, then standing to sing. Each graduating fifth grader was called forth, and as she received a CSG prayer book, a teacher read what the girl had written about what her lower school experience had meant to her, and how she wanted to be remembered: I learned how to be organized. I learned to get my work done first, then to play. I have more confidence. I used to think girls should look pretty and be nice. Now I know girls can be strong. I loved the candle-light chapel. I learned so much in the Colonial chapel! I want to be remembered as someone who helps others....as someone who loves to play and create. 2
Then the fifth grade presented flowers to the seniors, and serenaded them. The last song moved me deeply. The refrain expressed a life s goal: To fill the world with love my whole life through. In the last verse, they sang, In the sunset of my life, may I look back, and God helping, that I may see that I was brave and strong and true, and filled the world with love my whole life through. How this contrasts with the terrible news story of anger and violence, of these other young girls! Naming and Discerning the spirits *What would you call the spirit in the room with that singing, the goals, the care for one another? *What name would you give to the spirit that seems to be pervading our Congress these days? *What name would you give to the spirit of support for the Buckeyes? Words I might use include Loyalty. Enthusiasm. Support. Solidarity. Commitment. *One of the horses competing in the Belmont Stakes yesterday was named for what the owner identified as the spirit of the survivors in last year s Boston Marathon: Wicked Strong. A kind of committed strength. NOT EVERY SPIRIT is HOLY. I was intimidated by the Holy Spirit until one of the priests at St. Mary s in Anchorage simply said that the Holy Spirit is the spirit of Truth. Yes, Truth and the spirit of honesty, the spirit of Faith, and of Hope, and of Love these are all aspects of the Holy Spirit. In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul speaks of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which also describes the presence of the Holy Spirit: 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control... Also, of restraint, of perseverance, of courage, of strength and fortitude, of endurance, of selfsacrifice, and especially, of forgiveness. The Holy Spirit is not magic, even though it is a Mystery. It is real, and it is a force. It cannot be seen; but the fruits of it, the results of its action, can indeed be seen, like watching a balloon move or tree branches bend, and knowing there s a wind causing it: invisible, powerful air. Thus AIR is a familiar metaphor for the Holy Spirit. So is FIRE: it moves and provides heat and light, but you can t hold onto it: tongues as of fire rested on the disciples Our pulpit parament is the flame of the Spirit. But what happened between these two young girls in the inner city school was NOT the Holy Spirit. Whatever the spirit was, it was not holy, not loving, not life-giving. We are unable to generate a spirit just on our own. That s why being at a ballgame is so exciting we get caught up in a spirit bigger than ourselves. We love the unity, the energy, of cheering together, caring together. It s also why mobs are so scary. We can get caught up in them as well, in spite of ourselves. This is why creating groups of intimacy, based upon our highest values of learning and listening and honoring one another, is so very important. We need to cultivate groups of Holy Spirit. 3
Jesus command to the disciples When Jesus came into the closed room right after the Resurrection, where the disciples were holed up in pain and panic, he did not say, Let me introduce you to something called the Holy Spirit. Why? Because they already knew about the Holy Spirit, which is part of God and was the very means by which the world was created. Rather, what the risen Christ says to the disciples in the room is RECEIVE the Holy Spirit. Because it s possible not to receiver the Spirit. The two young girls did not receive this Spirit. Receiving the Holy Spirit is related to what Jesus says before and after: As the Father has sent me, so I send you. In other words, GO AND SHARE IT. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. In other words, the Spirit is given, yes, so that we will not be left comfortless, so that we might have unity, so that we might be free. BUT THAT S NOT ALL. Equally important is for us to share the Holy Spirit so that others, as well, might have comfort, unity, freedom, and forgiveness. We need help receiving the Spirit: it s not something we can take on our own. It has to be offered, and we have to be open. And so, week by week, during the Eucharistic prayer, we pray that the Holy Spirit will make the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, but also that the Holy Spirit will make us into the Body and Blood of Christ. The Spirit enables the presence of the Risen Christ in our midst. As we are sanctified and renewed, we are led to go forth and forgive others, empowered to fulfill the Church s mission in the world. 1 FORGIVENESS. Because it s true: if any one of us withholds forgiveness from anyone, the other person can become stuck and the responsibility rests with us. The ministry of reconciliation that is Christ s is given to us and by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, if we are willing to receive it, will enable us to erase enmity and resentment, and bring a new non-resentful relationship, even to those we don t like. (How we wish these two young students could have heard the Good News of love and forgiveness, and received the gift of the Holy Spirit!) It s challenging, because we are so different from each other. We have different histories; our brains work differently. And we are certainly not called to like everyone. However, we are called to love everyone as a beloved child of God, and to honor Christ in that person. The Holy Spirit enables us to do this. At St. Alban s, the staff is using the Myers-Briggs survey to help us understand and appreciate each other s differing gifts for ministry, and differences in personality and how we work. It helps us care for and respect each other more deeply. And we have all been given the gifts of laughter, and celebration. We have been given friendship, and common purpose, and meaning. We have been given the beauty and wonder of creation, birdsong, flowing water, blooming trees. We have been given music, and movement, and poetry, ritual and liturgy. All these things and so many more can mediate to us the Holy Spirit. 1 E. Byron Anderson, A Body in the Spirit for the World: Eucharist, Epiclesis, and Ethics. Worship 85:2 (March, 2011), 98-116. 4
But receiving this Spirit is up to us God will not force us. And the Holy Spirit must be cultivated, in families, youth groups, scouts, churches, voluntary societies. Without the Holy Spirit, the differences among us, like the different languages, may seem like so much irritating chaos. But WITH the Holy Spirit, when we receive the Holy Spirit, we are given wonder, and appreciation, joy, and peace, an inquiring and discerning spirit, and the gift of both being forgiven, and offering forgiveness. And the fun of balloons. Jesus breathed on the disciples can you feel him breathing on us today? The Holy Spirit is always as close to each of us as our breath. Last week in his sermon, Jason said he felt the Lord was preparing us at St. Alban s for something. Our job is to wait and prepare. And today we are inspired with what to do while we re waiting: to cultivate the Holy Spirit, in ourselves, in each other, in all of groups of every size, throughout all our relationships and activities at St. Alban s. Friends, the Holy Spirit is the Risen Christ s first gift to his disciples. Let us practice RECEIVING the Holy Spirit, in joy, and peace, and forgiveness--together. Amen. 5