There is nothing better than a cool breeze on a summer night. But the wind in the Acts story sounds more like a tornado than a soft breeze off the lake. And we all know how unpredictable and unexplainable tornadoes can be – ripping up everything in its path from houses, barns and big trees while leaving a swing set in the neighbor’s yard intact.
The wind that came on Pentecost was indeed unpredictable – it brought tongues of fire.
Fire. Fire can be wonderful source of heat and light – like a campfire you might gather round to roast marshmallows or sing Bible camp songs. But fire can also be dangerous – and out of control, like the fires in Australia, California and elsewhere that burned and burned and burned, destroying homes and forests and turning the air black. Fire burns – and as it burns it destroys.
But in the book of Acts, no one rushes for the fire extinguisher or even a bucket of water because the divided tongues of fire didn’t burn, hurt or destroy. Instead, they brought people together.
The Spirit that came in on the rushing wind gave people from different cultures and places the ability to understand – in their native tongue – the message of Jesus. And notice – the spirit did not just land on one person, identifying a leader. It rested on everyone. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Peter - a fisherman - began to preach quoting scripture and proclaiming the good news of Jesus’ love, forgiveness and salvation for each one. And the people believed.
This was a remarkable moment in time, and sounds like it would make a good ending to the story. But it is not the end of the story. It is a new chapter in God’s story that extends to you today. For God’s promise is 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 those who are slaves, men and women…” This is a statement not about what has been done already but a prophesy for the future, what God will do.
But here’s the challenge: The Holy Spirit is impossible to measure or quantify or to contain. Jesus compares it to the wind, saying, “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
So how do we know what the Spirit is up to? The simple answer is that Holy Spirit does the work of God. But that is like saying God does God’s work. Turning to Martin Luther, who was wise in these things, said in the small catechism that the Holy Spirit “calls, gathers, enlightens and makes holy.” And, “abundantly forgives all sins – mine and all believers.”
This means that God, through the Holy Spirit, is actively engaged in your life, calling you through the Gospel – that is the Good News story of Jesus Christ and gathering us together – however we can gather – to worship God and be in community with one another. The Holy Spirit is also enlightening you with God’s gifts - every flower, the birds that chirp in the morning – even the crows, the spectacular sunrise and sunset each day, the wonder of all of creation and all of God’s created creatures… including people. The Holy Spirit gives it all to us including the gifts of intellect, creativity, beauty and wholeness so that we catch a glimpse of the wonder of God. It means that the Holy Spirit is working on making you holy.
But…maybe you don’t feel holy. That’s ok. That probably means that you acknowledge that you’ve got room to grow. That’s why the Holy Spirit also ABUNDANTLY forgives our sins – those things that we do, say, think and imagine that are not in line with the way that God would have us be. Believe me, we all fall short.
During this pandemic time, one Christian leader encouraged me and other pastors, to stop, hit the pause button and take some time to reflect on what lessons we could learn from this time of disruption -- and from the Holy Spirit. I’ve begun to do this and think it’s helpful and so I invite you to press the pause button too: What are the things that you do just because you always do them? Are there any of these things that you or the Holy Spirit might want you to change? What are the things that you used to do that you really want to return to? Are there things that you took for granted that you want to celebrate? Have you learned anything?
These are questions that can challenge us to grow in the way that we live and order our lives. And the Holy Spirit is there to help!
The pandemic is affecting our community and our world but not everyone is being affected in the same way. Some are inconvenienced; others are facing hardship or challenge or grieving from the loss of a loved one, a job or a dream or an opportunity. The question, for us as Christians, is how do we care for those who are grieving, hurting or in pain?
And the pandemic is not the only problem that we face as a community and as a culture. When we read the story of Pentecost, it is clear that the prophecy and promise are for all people regardless of what gender or culture or age or economic status or race or what country or club or tribe they are in or were from. But this week, many of us saw the video of the police officers kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, even while he begged them for his life, telling them that he could not breathe. George died because they would not – until an ambulance came to take him away after he was no longer responsive. This kind of police brutality cannot be tolerated. Racism in all its forms goes against the will of God.
As people of God, we must speak up against this act of violence. This is not the way that God calls us to act and calls us to repent and calls us to pray. May the fire of God burn the sin of racism from our hearts and our minds and our actions. May the Holy Spirit blow into us a new and renewing spirit – and not only to us – but to all God’s people.
Brothers and sisters, friends in Christ. We’ve got work to do so that all God’s people may be safe and not bullied because of the color of their skin or the origin of their parents or anything else. We’ve got some work to do. And we have a teacher. Jesus calls us to love our black neighbors as he loves us. The Holy Spirit calls us to stand with our black brothers and sisters in this time of pain and hurt and loss.
Rob Bell, in his book, “What we talk about when we talk about God,” asks whether God has “a better, more inspiring vision for our future than we could ever imagine or is God behind, back there, in the past, endlessly trying to get us to return to how it used to be?” Frankly, our past has not been great when it comes to loving our neighbor. But the Holy Spirit is leading us and calling us into greater love, joy, justice, equality and peace.
We’ve got work to do. But we’ve got a great partner because the Holy Spirit is also called “The Advocate.”
The Holy Spirit is our advocate and the advocate for all who are hurting, all who are abused and mistreated. So even when bad things happen and fires rage and winds blow and illness threatens, and even we don’t know the best course of action, know this: We are not alone but God, through the Holy Spirit is with us, for us and ahead of us, renewing the face of the earth and beckoning us ALL to new life in Jesus’ name. Amen.