Spirit
A Sermon of
The Rev. Dr. David A. Killian, Rector
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
Day of Pentecost
Whitsunday
May 15, 2005
Text: John 20: 19-23
I
A lot is happening in our church today. A lot was happening too at the first Pentecost. The Spirit was active then and is active today! The children of our parish have a sense of the active Spirit of God; Stefani Schatz and the teachers in the Church School have been talking to them about how the Spirit of God shaped the early Church -- and the youth of our parish responded with lovely hand-crafted symbols of Pentecost which they carried in the entrance procession and which are now displayed around the altar. Notice the color of red, depicting the "divide tongues, as of fire" that we heard about in today's reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
Their hand-crafted symbols are somewhat abstract -- fittingly so, because the Spirit eludes our power of description and the Spirit disturbs and ruffles the calm. Acts of Apostles talks about "a sound like the rush of a violent wind." What is a sound like a rush of a violent wind? Well, it's a tornado or a hurricane. This is not your gentle spring breeze. This a wind that blows over buildings, knocks branches off trees and shatters mighty oaks.
The Spirit of Pentecost is not a pusillanimous whimper afraid and ineffective. No, this is God's powerful Word able to communicate with "Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phyrgia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs." This is a powerful Spirit that breaks down barriers of culture, race, and nationality -- and other barriers as well. Thank you to our readers today who read in 14 different languages! What a powerful symbol of God's spirit to overcome differences and to create unity! Isn't this what we yearn for -- that the peoples of this earth live together in peace and work for the betterment of the human race? The Spirit of Pentecost forges harmony while preserving our diversity.
Another symbol of Pentecost is the gentle dove that Malia Crawford carried in at the beginning of our worship. Note she carried a dove, not a hawk, which says to me that God's approach is often an invitation, not a command; a whisper, not a shout, or, as today's passage from John's Gospel suggests, a breath.
What a contrast in today's readings: a sound like the rush of a violent wind in Acts and Jesus gently breathing on the disciples in John. In both cases, however, the Spirit is liberating us from our fears. In both cases the disciples had locked themselves behind closed doors because of their fears.
What are the ways we lock ourselves behind closed doors? Sometimes we get very fearful when things are not going well for us. If you are unemployed, it's very natural to feel fearful. You may lose your self-esteem and begin to doubt your worth. You may feel locked in, hopeless, and wonder if you'll ever find a decent job.
If you're dealing with illness or caring for someone with an illness you may feel trapped and locked in. If you're going through a difficult time in a relationship, you may feel discouraged and lonely. Sometimes, even when everything seems to be going well for you -- you've got a fine job, a spouse who loves you, a good family -- you focus on some small thing that is going wrong and it ruins your whole perspective and you get down on yourself and think that you're a victim.
The Holy Spirit didn't just come to the disciples who were locked behind closed doors 2,000 years ago. The Holy Spirit wants to liberate us today. Jesus didn't just breathe on the fearful disciples long ago. He speaks "Peace be with you" to us today and fills us with the Spirit to forgive sins and to live without fear.
II
Pentecost is one of the three most significant festivals of the Jewish year. It is Shavuot, a festival in thanksgiving for the spring harvest. How fitting that today we give thanks for the stewardship of enduring things campaign called Surround the Spirit. Seeds planted three years ago now are bearing fruit. Today is harvest time! We give thanks for the donors to Surround the Spirit and we pray that these funds effectively promote the Spirit's work in our parish and the larger community.
Shortly, we will celebrate the sacrament of baptism and welcome Olivia, the newest member of our Christian community. She is baptized not simply with water, but with the Holy Spirit. Water is the external sign, what we can see, but the most important part is the Holy Spirit, God's invisible action blessing Olivia and revealing her true identity as a child loved by God, God's chosen, Christ's own forever. In baptism she shares in the Spirit given to the disciples at Pentecost.
III
Yesterday, many of you were here when we presented the All Saints Spirituality and Justice Award to Bishop Gene Robinson. He gave a powerful sermon on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This space was full of a joyous electricity as we celebrated the Spirit's presence in our midst and God's power to bring about change in our lives. Bishop Robinson inspired us to continue to work for justice and to be open to how God wants to change us and society, especially the unjust structures which "corrupt and destroy the creatures of God."
Bishop Robinson ended the service with a four-fold blessing which I would like to give to you now:
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. Amen.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace. Amen.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. Amen.
May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen.