A Mighty Wind

 Pentecost sermon, Toledo, Ohio

On a hot summer day, when you first get home after a long day, What is the first thing you do? In my household, we open the windows! Get a breeze going to blow out the stagnation, to freshen the air!

Can you imagine the air on the day of Pentecost? The followers of Christ had been cowering behind closed doors and living in fear since the crucifixion, 50 days earlier. Scripture tells us that there were 120 followers gathered in a room, trying to make sense of things, trying to find a way to move forward.

They had lost so much. All of their dreams.  From the account of Luke we can get an idea of the scope of these dreams.

Luke records Jesus’ ministry beginning with him speaking these words in the synagogue:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
Because he has anointed me
To bring Good News to the poor,

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
To let the oppressed go free
To proclaim the year of the lord’s favor.

The disciples and followers had been captured by a vision of life in the Kingdom of God, not the Kingdom of Roman occupation.. Jesus teachings turned cultural expectations upside down, and called for a new era where the poor, the lepers, the castoffs, and the prisoners were valued, and the rich, powerful, and privileged were called to give all that they had, and were brought down to the point of equality. It was a Kingdom of liberation, of welcoming, of compassion. Luke uses the imagery in the Prodigal Son, the lost sheep, the coin of great worth to illustrate Christ’s dream. This dream seemed to have died with Jesus.

The discouraged disciples and followers gathered in that room did not have a common language. They lived very different lives from each other. They didn’t understand each other, or how they could move on. They had no reasonable hope in Christ’s dream. Yet, they decided to live this Kingdom dream anyway. God’s spirit moved among them like a mighty wind, blowing away the stagnation, the despair, the fears, the barriers of language and diversity!

The Spirit moves like a mighty wind.

We can’t see the wind, but we can see leaves and trees and lawn spinners moving, and know that the wind is passing through. Air without movement is stagnant. Air that moves is refreshing, life-giving, transforming.

We can’t see the spirit, but we can see it’s movement in the hearts of the people and the passion of the congregations it touches, and know that the Spirit is present. The Spirit must be allowed to move or we become stagnant congregations. The Spirit’s movement will refresh us, give us life, and transformation. It brings a community-building, life-giving energy to our endeavors. Let the Spirit Breathe.

When the Spirit moved among the followers of Christ on Pentecost, the people began to speak. They found the words to say. They found the courage to speak their hearts. They no longer whispered only among themselves. People heard the good news in their own language. It continues to be a miracle when people actually hear and understand the love of God in a language they can understand. There are people in our communities who think differently, and live differently, and speak differently who are waiting to hear the gospel in ways that speak to them.

Pentecost tells us that people who differ from each other by beliefs, gender, language, economics, and politics can communicate meaningfully and coherently through the Spirit. ? The bickering, bitterly polarized world in which we live cries out for Pentecost, for hope. The purpose is not to make everybody like everybody else, or to have everybody speak the same language. The miracles is one of the ear, not the tongue. The dream is for everyone to hear God’s message of love in a way they can understand.

Pentecost is about breaking down the walls despair and fear. Pentecost is the emergence of the holy spirit into our lives to rearrange our world in unexpected ways. Languages and beliefs will not be erased, but beliefs that are foreign no longer intimidate us into prejudices. Pentecost is like getting a new pair of spiritual glasses. We can suddenly see that we are more connected than we believed.

Why is the Spirit here in this sanctuary today? Why are the winds of God blowing around your life, and our life together here? Can you see it moving in the hearts and passion and challenges of this congregation? Is it growing time for our Pentecost? Are we ready to have our stagnation and fears and differences blown away by a refreshing breeze of the Spirit? That first group of followers were timid, afraid, confused, divided, and distracted. When they decided to move with faith and make God’s dream, God’s kingdom real the Spirit helped them bring order out of chaos, understanding out of confusion, unity out of diversity!

Something profound happened in that little house 2000 years ago, and that something profound is still happening. The Spirit is calling us, leading us. Where we have been cold of heart, slow to move, timid and afraid may we find the warmth of passion, the irresistible impulse to action, courage and confidence. May we strive to erase the artificial boundaries that divide us by race, gender, ideology, beliefs and geography. Pentecost teaches us that we are one with each other, and  one with God.