On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was known in the sound of a rushing wind. God was identified in the wind as the Spirit who moved across the deep before creation (Genesis 1), driving back the waters of the flood in the days of Noah (Genesis 8), parting the waters of the Red Sea as the Israelites passed from slavery to freedom, and as a still small voice to Elijah (1 Kings 19). Winds of biblical proportions that bring down tree branches and rip off house siding have the same origin as a whisper through the willows. Winds in a tornado can get up to 22/0 miles an hour and devastate a community. A light evening breeze can make late spring evening on the porch pleasant, encouraging the humidity to disperse and the bugs to take up residence elsewhere.
The Holy Spirit was made known in the wind. We use wind chimes and windsocks, flags and pinwheels to show the movement of the wind. Their presence highlights the movement of the wind without predicting where the wind will blow or control the flow of the wind. In the same way, the Holy Spirit is wild. Who knows where the Holy Spirit might blow? As a follower of Jesus amid the gales, there is movement for the church, and each of us, to new and unexpected places, and with that unexpected grace. It may only be in retrospect, and with inspired interpretation, that we can look back and recognize the Holy Spirit’s driving wind rather than merely a frighteningly chaotic storm.
To say that the Holy Spirit is with us, and we are the church together during a pandemic while we shelter in place means something miraculous about the power of the Holy Spirit. I want to make sure you do not miss it. The Holy Spirit communicates to bring people together, overcoming barriers that divide us. This is harder in a quarantine, than other times. Our Pentecost does not focus primarily on speaking in foreign languages, instead of communication that connect people through multiple mediums, healing loneliness, mending brokenness, addressing woundedness, and spreading compassion. Look for what God is doing.
The Holy Spirit is wild, but not unfocused. The Holy Spirit is depicted as a dove in the Baptism of Jesus. Back in January, we studied ornithology as we celebrated Baptism of our Lord Sunday and discovered that the dove is indistinguishable from the honing pigeon. As a honing pigeon focuses on the intended target and location and delivers the package diligently; so, does the Holy Spirit come upon the children of God. Like the sound of rushing wind, like tongues of fire, as dreams and visions for the old and the young, the men and the women.
The Greek makes it even more evident. This is not a casual encounter – If you would like to receive the Holy Spirit, please extend your hands, and you will receive the Spirit. If not, please step aside to make room for the next person. The original koine Greek helps us understand: The Holy Spirit is here. Take it! Come. Step up. You have been filled. This is a command. And now that you know that, we need to take about what you do as a child of God.
You who are young and who are old. You, who are male and who are female. You, who are black and who are white, Asian, and Latino. The dreams and visions of the Holy Spirit, prophesy, and movement of the Holy Spirit come through you and your brother and sister in Christ. The possibilities for the future might be bold and beautiful. Different from what you have always been used to, facing forward into God’s preferred future.
The Holy Spirit is given to comfort and to encourage, to gift and empower, to inspire and create, prophesy and dream, and to convict and forgive and retain sins. Jesus told the disciples that they had the power to forgive sins and to retain sins; however, the discernment to do so is through the work of the Holy Spirit.
We are reeling as a nation after days of protests and internal torment over the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbrey, Breanna Taylor. The incident between Christian Cooper and Amy Cooper. However, this pandemic of institutional racism has been going on longer than the last week, month, or even year. As we talk about the breath of the Holy Spirit, there are those among us who have been telling us that they have not been able to breathe. Have we been listening?
Susan Henry Crow, General Secretary of the Church and Society, spoke on behalf of our United Methodist church this week when she said, “The United Methodist Social Principles name racism as sin and state that racism ‘is antithetical to the gospel itself.’ (¶162A) My white brothers and sisters need to recognize our complicity in the culture of systemic racism and condemn white supremacy as sin. Churches must continue to address racism within their own communities. The words ‘thy kingdom come; thy will be done’ will only be realized when we address the root causes of racism that pervade all aspects of our society(1) .”
The wind of the Holy Spirit has been blowing. We are called to reflect on the sins we have committed and omitted with racism and white privilege. Sin harms others.
Erin Hawkins, our General Secretary on Religion and Race, spoke on behalf of our church: “Jesus continues to issue the call to discipleship. Leave behind the comforts of power and privilege that lure us away from following him to uncomfortable places and, instead, to move with intentionality toward the pain points in our local congregations, communities, denomination, and world. Only then will we effectively interrupt narratives that defend and accommodate racist behavior. Only then will we finally dismantle the systems that perpetuate, protect, and normalize the racism made evident through recent events like the one in Minneapolis.
But here is where things get tricky. United Methodists have developed the propensity to focus our attention on addressing dramatic instances of racism “out there” in the world. Meanwhile, we quietly accept, defend and participate in less dramatic but equally destructive policies, words, and actions that amount to placing a knee on the necks of people of color and other marginalized groups within the church.
Because, in the final analysis, there is no “out there.” The same power analysis and scrutiny of unjust systems that the horrendous death of George Floyd has provoked must be applied to The United Methodist Church. Explicit and implicit racism assaults the mental, spiritual and physical health of people of color in the church as well as those we are called to serve.
[As] Christian churches across the globe will celebrate Pentecost and the miracle that happens when the wind of the Holy Spirit blows new life upon a gathering of believers. What shall we — the community of faith — make of this opportunity to be transformed anew by the breath of God, even as we are simultaneously confronted by the image of one of God’s children pinned to the ground, begging for life and exclaiming “I can’t breathe”? ”
Wind transforms everything in its path. The Holy Spirit focuses on intently on each one as to gift them uniquely. How will you use the power you have? Let the power of the Holy Spirit transform you. A commitment to confession and promises about the future must go beyond open-ended and broad generalities. There are some excellent resources to begin or continue the work you might be doing of antiracism that we will list below. Pray through the list and choose a prayer partner or small group with whom to work. (3) If this is new to you, consider starting with the article by Peggy MacIntosh: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. For others, multiple people read the book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin DiAngeloand would love to discuss it . (4) My commitment to antiracism includes increasing intentionally the number of authors who are people of color who I read and listen to through books, articles, podcasts.
The Holy Spirit is wild. We might have tried to domesticate our expectations of God into a small box, but God does not remain. This is good news. We partner with God in the liberation of the world. Like the disciples who waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit, we, too, have been waiting for the coming for the Holy Spirit. God is with us and working for the transformation of our hearts, our church, our communities, our systems, and our world. We are a Pentecost church has been changed by grace and continues to be transformed by love, visibly serving and changing the world around it. Come, Holy Spirit, Come.
This is the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, thanks be to God, Amen.
(1) https://www.facebook.com/pg/umcjustice/posts/
(2) https://www.gcorr.org/moving-toward-the-pain/?fbclid=IwAR0oGIKFuRk6Pdeim9dsdc93Gh3Ga8umDPZaCKQf_GC1r8iN3hibUoV2wD0
(4) DiAngelo, Robin. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism. Beacon Press, 2018.
New Testament Lesson: Acts 2:1-21
When the day of Pentecost had come, they 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, 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.’
Meditations For Your Week
Sunday, May 31 ~ Saturday, June 6, 2020
Sunday: “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place,” Acts 2:1. It may be our heart to gather in one place. We know that our hearts are gathered, even when physically, it is not our safest or healthiest choice. Pray for the heart of all God’s people to be gathered together in the Spirit.
Monday: “‘In the last days it will be, God declares, 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.” Acts 2:17. God speaks through men and women, young and old, with visions and dreams. Listen for the word of God. God is good!
Tuesday: “All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” Acts 2: 12. Even within the scriptures, we have curiosities and questions recorded. God is big enough for all of your questions. Please feel free to ask them!
Wednesday: “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.” Acts 2:2. Praise God! God is present with us, whether we are gathered in the same place or in our own locations. Look for the rush of the wind and the presence of God.
Thursday: “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” Acts 2:4. The Holy Spirit gifts and empowers. The disciples gathered on Pentecost spoke in the vernacular of those gathered. Pray for the language of those around you, including the language of compassion and justice.
Friday: “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?” Acts 2: 7-8. When you see the miraculous power of God up close, you can not help but be amazed and astonished. Give thanks to God for where you have seen God’s mighty power!
Saturday: “Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Acts 2: 21. May the Holy Spirit fill you with courage and power for this day!