HOT AIR

Pentecost Sunday – May 11, 2008

“Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force –

no one could tell where it came from.  It filled the whole building.

Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks,

and they started speaking in a number of different languages

as the Spirit prompted them.”

                                                                                        Acts 2:2-4 The Message

BEGIN WITH THE BALLOON EXPERIMENT

This isn’t rocket science right?  We all know what happens when we blow up a balloon until we can’t blow it up anymore and then let it go.  It goes flying all over the room completely beyond our control. Today is Pentecost – a day we often call the birthday of the Church.  A day when God breathes new life into our hearts and where we will end up is beyond our control.

First, Pentecost was a Jewish holiday.  Fifty days after Passover, the Hebrew people celebrated the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost.  The feast happened seven weeks after the opening of the spring harvest and was one of the three mandatory festivals, when, whoever was able, traveled to Jerusalem so they could worship in the Temple.  In early Christian tradition, borrowing from Hebrew practices, the celebration of Pentecost marked the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai and it became a time when believers gathered for a covenant renewal ceremony.  Together they would remember the covenant that God made with God’s people, first through Moses and then through Jesus.

On the day of Pentecost described by Luke in the 2^nd Chapter of Acts, the mood in Jerusalem would have been festive like there was a big party going on.  But for the disciples, there was nothing to celebrate. No reason to party.  Even though for us, Easter is a distant memory… the chocolate is all gone and the wilted Easter lily has found its home next to the compost bin… fifty days after Easter those first followers of Jesus still felt hopeless and alone.  Their memories of his death and then his resurrection appearances still weighed heavily on their hearts.  Jesus was gone and they were left all alone putting their lives back together again. 

But they gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost as was their custom and following Jesus’ instructions, they simply waited and prayed.  And then it happened… the holy uproar!  There was the sound of a gale force wind that filled the whole building and like a wildfire the Holy Spirit spread through them and, according to Luke’s story, “they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.”  People talked and people heard and everyone understood one another. 

As I just said, we often call Pentecost the birthday of the church because as the Spirit blew through the gathered crowd, Peter stood and found his voice and began sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all who would listen.  And from that day forward, new converts to the faith began spreading the Good News.  The Church was born. 

But speaking of Pentecost only as a birthday marks its place in history and we have a tendency to see it as a simple memory.  Pentecost must be more than an annual celebration… more than a day to remember.   On Pentecost, God’s Spirit was unleashed as never before.  God’s powerful spirit filled a tired and bewildered group of disciples and called them forth into life-renewing, life-changing ministry.   The same can be true for us today.  God’s Spirit can be unleashed in us calling us to life-renewing, life-changing ministry.

A few minutes ago I tried an experiment with a balloon and we were reminded that when the air is released, where the balloon goes is completely beyond our control.  Try as I might, I cannot direct the path of that balloon.  It seems to me that this is a lot like the Spirit of God.  God breathes on us… God breathes in us… and where that holy breath takes us is completely beyond our control.  We are transported and transformed as we find new life in God’s Spirit and we will end up in a brand new place.

We experience balloons in another way as well… balloons that, when filled with something magical, rise above us and elicit a sense of wonder and joy in our lives, calling us to new heights. The same is also true of God’s Spirit. The Pentecost Spirit is truly magical.  It breathes new life into us today giving us the power to rise above and calls us to new heights as we live faithfully as followers of Jesus Christ.

On that Pentecost day so many years ago, Luke tells us that everyone began speaking all at once and each was speaking the language of their own heart but in the midst of the holy uproar, they heard one another and they understood one another.  They were given power to rise above their differences and to listen with love. 

Today, on this Pentecost day, may we receive the power of God’s Spirit anew in our lives that we might be able to rise above our differences and listen with love.  May we hear God calling us to a new creation… the holy dream of God… that the church of our day will rise above, breathing the power of God’s Spirit on a world in need of transformation and hope.

Last week, as the General Conference of The United Methodist Church met in Fort Worth and renewed our commitment to create a future with hope making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of God’s world, a new litany was adopted, giving voice to the holy dreams of God for the people called United Methodist.  Now, more than ever before, our world needs to experience the holy uproar that comes as people of faith are filled with God’s Spirit and listen and respond with love.  Now, more than ever before, our world needs the gospel of grace and compassion that Jesus still proclaims today.  As we affirm these words of faith, may the Spirit of God breathe new life into us and may we be challenged to rise above and reach for new heights and end up in a brand new place as we live as faithful followers of Jesus Christ. 

When I invite you to respond, your simple response is “AND SO SHALL WE.”

God in the Spirit revealed in Jesus Christ,

calls us by grace to be renewed in the image of our Creator,

that we may be one in divine love for the world.

Today is the day God cares for the integrity of Creation,

wills the healing and wholeness of all life,

weeps at the plunder of earth’s goodness. 

AND SO SHALL WE.

Today is the day God embraces all hues of humanity,

delights in diversity and difference,

favors solidarity transforming strangers into friends.

AND SO SHALL WE.

Today is the day God cries with the masses of starving people,

despises growing disparity between rich and poor, demands justice for workers in the marketplace.

AND SO SHALL WE.

Today is the day God deplores violence in our homes and streets,

rebukes the world’s warring madness,

humbles the powerful and lifts up the lowly.

AND SO SHALL WE.

Today is the day God calls for nations and peoples to live in peace,

celebrates where justice and mercy embrace,

exults when the wolf grazes with the lamb.

AND SO SHALL WE.

Today is the day God brings good news to the poor,

proclaims release to the captives,

gives sight to the blind, and sets the oppressed free. 

AND SO SHALL WE.  AND SO SHALL WE.