Breathe in the Holy Spirit
Lord Jesus, we are thirsty. Help us to breathe in the Holy Spirit and breath out your love and grace like rivers of living water. Amen.
Breath. It is probably the gift of God that we take the most for granted. After our first breath, which often comes with a cry, breathing becomes automatic. We don’t even need to think about it… until it becomes hard to breathe.
Tom and Susan – not their real names - were planning to get married. I met with them a few times and Susan was quite anxious about all the details. She was also quite shy and not looking forward to standing before everyone. I told her to just remember to breathe and everything would be fine. On the day of the wedding, Susan was even more anxious. But she made it down the aisle and was standing before her family and next to the groom. Still clearly very nervous, she looked at me, and took a breath. I smiled, thinking that she had listened to me and was taking it in stride. But then she looked at me again, and took another little breath and then another and then another and all of a sudden, I realized that she wasn’t exhaling – at all. It was as if she was becoming like a big balloon, taking in more and more air and not letting any out. I was afraid that she might either explode or faint, so I said to her, “Susan, Breathe - but remember to exhale too”. Breathe in the Holy Spirit. Breathe out God’s love and grace.
Like the nervous bride, when we are anxious and afraid, it can be hard for us to even breathe. For the last few years, we wore masks and kept our distance from one another for fear of becoming infected or accidentally infecting someone else with Covid 19. We were not even able to sing or have our choir. And instead of people coming together, we have experienced isolation and division in our world, in our politics, in our neighborhoods. It has been a challenging time… an anxious time and I know that we are not done yet with this virus or others that may come. But now… it is time. Instead of thinking about what divides us one from another – it is time for us, as Christians, to breathe in the Holy Spirit and breathe out God’s love and grace.
In John’s Gospel, the disciples were anxious too. They had been in hiding after Jesus was crucified. The doors were locked. They were afraid. Maybe they had a hard time breathing too. But then, in came the resurrected Jesus bringing them a message of peace and breathing the Holy Spirit into them and inviting them to receive the Holy Spirit.
As Lutherans, we don’t often focus on the Holy Spirit. Lutherans tend to spend much more time talking about and praying to God the Father and creator of our world and Jesus, God’s son, our Savior. Maybe it is because we are less comfortable with the Holy Spirit that we read about in the book of Acts who comes in a rush of wind disrupting the Festival with flames of fire that do not burn and suddenly making it so everyone can hear the Good News of Jesus in their native tongue. The Holy Spirit is unpredictable, uncontrollable and completely wholly God. Not an easy gift to wrap your head around.
And yet…this is the gift that Jesus promises – a gift of an advocate, life giving water and holy breath, the Holy Spirit—and this is the gift Jesus gives as Jesus breathes into the disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This is the gift you receive at your baptism when you are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever. There is nothing that the disciples did or you can do to earn or deserve the gift of the presence of the Holy Spirit. This is God’s gift. And while you may choose to ignore the Holy Spirit… the Holy Spirit is always there… at the ready.
You may be familiar with Eugene Peterson who translated the Message Bible. His son Leif wrote, “every night his dad would steal into his room and whisper softly the same message over and over: “God loves you. He's on your side. He's coming after you. He's relentless.” “Relentless.” The Holy Spirit is coming after you. Why? Because God is on your side. And God loves you. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Over the past year, I have learned that breathing deeply can also help us when we pray. So, I’d like to invite you to take a deep breath in – deeper, deeper, deeper… Breathe in the Holy Spirit. And now exhale…exhale… exhale. Breathe out God’s love and grace like living waters. This is the gift of the Holy Spirit given for You and the gift that the Holy Spirit empowers you to give to one another. Thanks be to God. Amen.
May 21, 2023 Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Pastor Pamela Stalheim Lane