Pentecost Sunday
May 28, 2023
Acts 2:1-21; 1 Cor 12:3b-13; John 20:19-23
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| Pentecost, by Grace Rehbaum (7) |
INTRODUCTION
Today, on Pentecost, we celebrate the Holy Spirit. I love all three persons of the Trinity, of course, but the Holy Spirit I find particularly intriguing, because there are so many facets and expressions of the Spirit, so there is always some aspect of the Spirit, or pneumatology, that can speak to us just exactly where we are.
Our readings today reflect that variety. Our first reading from Acts is that dramatic first Pentecost, as Luke tells it. Jews from around the known world are staying in Jerusalem and celebrating the Jewish Festival of Weeks: a harvest festival where Jews also remember the giving of the law, the 10 commandments. And the Holy Spirit makes a raucous entrance, complete with wind, noise and fire. Very exciting! The Psalm shows us the creative nature of the Spirit, recalling how at creation, before God said anything, the Spirit hovered over the chaotic waters. 1 C
orinthians shifts gears and talks about the unifying nature of the Spirit – though there are varieties of gifts, Paul writes, we are all one in the Spirit, “for in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” And finally in the Gospel reading, we will hear a story we always hear the week after Easter, about Jesus appearing to the fearful disciples who are locked in the upper room. Jesus breathes his Spirit onto them and tells them not once, but twice, “Peace be with you.”
So… which expression of the Spirit do you need today? The disruptive and driving one of that first Pentecost, or the creative one of the Psalm? The unifying Spirit of 1 Corinthians, or the Spirit of peace breathed into a place of fear? As you listen, hear the promise that whatever you need this day, the Spirit is with you. Let’s listen.
[READ]
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| Pentecost, by Isaac Rehbaum (6) |
If you’ve been around me a while, as a person and a preacher, you have figured out that I talk a lot about peace. It is how I sign off on my emails, it’s my go-to prayer for people when they are going through a tough time, and it comes up with regularity in my sermons. Peace is something I am constantly seeking for myself, as I try to balance the various demands of ministry, parenting, marriage, and being a daughter and a friend; it’s something that often feels elusive to me, and yet when I find it, I know that joy and life follow close behind. Yes, it would be fair to say that finding peace is a frequent goal of mine!
All this to say… I was very drawn this week to our reading from John. Normally on Pentecost, it is a no-brainer that I will preach on Acts, the Pentecost story. Such a great story, with its drama, wind, and fire, mass conversion, many languages, dynamic preaching. And I do love that story… but this year, I found I did not need any more drama and chaos in my life just now! What I crave, where I find solace, is in John, in Jesus’ distribution of a double portion of peace.
This story takes us back to Easter evening once again, after the disciples have learned that Jesus has risen from the dead. But their response is not to celebrate and party, but to hide away in fear. In the wake of this great and exciting news, their response is to be afraid. Things have not turned out how they expected (people don’t generally come back alive!), and they are anxious and worried about what this will mean for them.
And into these circumstances, Jesus enters in, offers two greetings of peace, and breathes upon them his Holy Spirit. Into their fear, their anxiety, their uncertainty and worry – all those things that can disrupt our sense of peace – into this, he breathes the peace that passes understanding.
This moment is usually referred to as John’s Pentecost story. And it could hardly be more different from Luke’s version in Acts! Where Acts is rushing, noisy, violent, and dramatic, John’s version is tender, loving, and calm. It is, frankly, the Pentecost story that I need in my life just now, as I crave finding that sort of peace!
I learned something interesting this week about that word, “breathe.” This is in fact the only time that Greek word appears in the New Testament. It really is something special! But it gets even better. There is a document called the Septuagint, which is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament. And this word for “breathe” does appear there. Guess where? It is used to describe what God does to give life to the lump of clay called Adam. It says, “God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
So, that breath that gave life to the first human is the same breath that Jesus breathes upon his fearful, anxious disciples, as he gives them his peace.
It would seem, then, that life… and peace… have an awful lot to do with each other! Like, Christ’s peace is indeed what gives us life. Jesus dispels the disciples’ fear, that thing that works so hard to rob of us life and peace, by breathing the Holy Spirit upon them. And see what it says next? “Then the disciples rejoiced.” Their fear is replaced by joy. With their fear gone, they can rejoice in the new life given to them by Jesus.
Just think what is possible when we can live in that peace, rather than letting our fear, worry, and anxiety rob us of life! Jesus gives us an idea: “As the Father sent me,” he says, “so I send you.” Sometimes finding peace means being still, and simply relishing in God’s good gifts for us. But it is both gift, and commission: at some point, to be full of God’s peace, God’s Spirit, is to be sent out.
What could that mean? Sent out for what? Well, what did that Spirit do for Adam when he first breathed into his nostrils? It brought life. And what did it do for the disciples? It healed their broken hearts, dispelling their fears. And so this, I believe, is what we do as well, when we are full of the Spirit: we bring life and healing to a broken, divided, and fearful world. In a word, we Spirit-filled people bring peace.
So… where might the Spirit be sending you in this time and place, to bring healing and peace to a broken world?
Perhaps the Spirit is sending you to learn about a marginalized community. Over the next months, the ELCA will be providing opportunities to learn the true history and current realities of Indigenous people as a part of the Truth and Healing Movement. In addition to learning, there will be actions that can be taken by individuals, small groups, or congregations, all in an effort to bring healing for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Could the Spirit be sending you toward bringing about peace in that way?
Another idea: next month is “Pride Month.” Why not take the opportunity to learn about the particular issues facing those in the LGBTQ+ community? Go to a Pride event, read a memoir by someone who is transgender, try to understand an experience that may be quite different from your own. The rights of trans people in particular have been under fire lately – learn about it, and see if there is a way you might bring healing and peace to that reality.
How else might the Spirit be sending you to bring peace? Our Synod Assembly is this next weekend, and each year ELCA World Hunger does a big collection. This year we are collecting money for beehives and community gardens, both of which help both particular communities, and creation as a whole, to be more sustainable. Maybe the Spirit is sending you to give toward this cause – sustainability brings peace!
Or maybe the Spirit is sending you to bring peace and healing closer to home, working on reconciliation in your family or between you and a friend, or engaging in those difficult conversations about our differences so that instead of letting the difference divide us, we can find a way that it will make us stronger. Take your inspiration from our reading from 1st Corinthians, in which Paul makes a compelling argument about how our many and various gifts (and yes, our differences!) allow for a stronger community overall.
I can’t pretend to predict where the Spirit is sending me, let alone any of you! But I do believe that once we let the Spirit send us to these places, where we will inevitably encounter people who are different from us, who may even make us feel uncomfortable, that we will also be moved beyond our personal concerns, and become better equipped to see the world as a whole, to understand how to work for peace for the greater good, and not just for our individual needs. We will see ourselves as a part of the global community, with neighbors to love and serve all over the world. By the power of the Holy Spirit, this is our mission. This will bring life and peace.
Let us pray… Holy Spirit, you sometimes come as a whirlwind, but sometimes you come as gently as a breath. However you come among us, guide us by your presence into the way of peace. Make us bold to seek out ways toward life, healing, and reconciliation, so that all our neighbors may know your peace. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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