andrena

moving is not a good thing for a lazy person…i hate this!

An Unconventional Wind
Acts 2:1–21; Psalm 104:24–34, 35b; Romans 8:14–17
John 14:8–[25–27]
(Pastor A. Ingram)

(sound of howling wind in sanctuary)

My goodness: Did you hear that wind? Can you imagine what it must’ve been like, sitting together in that room, hearing that wind and seeing divided tongues of fire on each of the disciples? Can you imagine what it must’ve been like to witness the disciples filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking with other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them the ability to speak? Can you imagine being one of the pious Jews, of every nation witnessing and hearing the same message in their own dialect? These were pious Jews from the farthest east, the Parthians, some from Judea, some from western countries, from Cappadocia to Pamphylia and then the southern nations from Egypt to Cyrene, and also those from Crete and Arabia! They all spoke she same language, but in a different dialect, and they all heard it coming from the Galileans at the same time. Is this possible?

It is if we believe what we read in the bible. I mean, we read in the book of Genesis, first Chapter verses 1 – 3: “When God began to create heaven and earth, the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water…

Wind in Hebrew is “ruah”, and in greek the word “wind” is translated as “pneuma”. Both words mean: wind, spirit, breath. “And the spirit (wind – breath) from God sweeping over the water” “the rush of a mighty wind (spirit – breath) filled the house.

Today we celebrate Pentecost, the 50th day after Easter Sunday. This is the day that the Holy Spirit is poured out on the followers of Jesus. This is to fulfill the promise which Jesus made to the disciples in our gospel lesson this morning. Jesus tells the disciples that God is going to send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ place, once Jesus has ascended back to the Creator. The Advocate or the Holy Spirit will teach and remind the disciples everything that Jesus has said. This Sunday, this Pentecost event, which we read about in Acts, is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which empowers the disciples to stand up and proclaim the Lord.

Furthermore, in the chapter preceding our lesson from Acts, in verse 4, Jesus instructs the followers not to leave Jerusalem “but to wait there for the promise of the Creator”. That promise is the Holy Spirit. He reminds them that John the Baptist baptized with water, but they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now”. With this in mind, it leads us to suppose that Jesus’ followers were waiting for the Holy Spirit to come. They were all together in one place; – they were ready and they were waiting. The Greek interlinear bible says that “they were all with one accord, in the same place” quite unlike the last time we read that the disciples had gathered together. Right after the resurrection of Jesus, we found the disciples behind locked doors in fear of the Jews. However, we find that with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that fear has been replaced with courage. Locked doors are opened, and those who were afraid now speak up boldly.

Does this sound familiar to you in any way? If it doesn’t, it should because it sounds very much like us, beloved. In fact, this sermon grew out of our Towne Meeting last Sunday. So, it didn’t happen on Pentecost Sunday. As it was so beautifully and wonderfully expressed last week: we are an unconventional people of God, in an unconventional space – filled with the grace, and mercy, forgiveness and love, of Jesus Christ. We are unconventional – and because we are rather unconventional, we had our Pentecost moment last Sunday. Ours was an unconventional wind, that came a week earlier, but no less mighty than what we read about today.

Ours was an unconventional wind: No longer hiding behind locked doors, you stood up and spoke with power about how you feel about St. Michael’s, and you spoke as the Holy Spirit gave you the ability. You spoke in different tongues – of different ideas. You spoke in different tongues – some agreeable, some disagreeable. It was actually the first time I had ever witnessed a group of people “agree to disagree” without the basic rules of the meeting ever being articulated. We were all in the same place, and all with one accord – St. Michael’s. We were all in the same place, and all with one accord: spreading the good news about Jesus Christ.

We speak in different tongues because we are different people: from different backgrounds, different social standings, different cultures, different professions, and different stations in life. We speak in different tongues – different dialects, but we are unified in Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit that was poured out upon the church by the rush of a mighty wind:

A mighty wind (spirit, breath) filled St. Thomas Hall – with Cathy Scarpa wanting to know what all the “others who were sitting quietly had to say”. A mighty wind (spirit, breath) that filled St. Thomas Hall, when Virtner came forward and said: “I don’t usually say much, but when I do, I do have something to say…remember, you asked for it”. A mighty wind (spirit, breath) filled St. Thomas Hall, giving us a much needed second wind, that will propel us forward as we become who God intends us to be.

St. Michael’s may have been sitting quietly wondering what’s going to happen next. But I believe that mighty wind propelled us forward this past Friday, as several of you came out, to stand on the corners of the church for an hour, along with all the other 218 Christian churches of Philadelphia, to pray for peace. Different tongues: singing down the block, praying on the corners, shouting “peace be with you”, horns honking, peace signs given, even having a meaningful conversation on the corner behind the church, Different tongues, one accord.

Ours is an unconventional mighty wind …the Holy Spirit: propelling us out into the community, to become more visible: Mt. Airy Day, we had a table and a display; this past Friday we stood on corners praying for peace; this coming Thursday, we are having folks from another faith community join us in our Thursday night prayer/discussion group; this summer, our confirmation youth are going to have a bar-b-que; in August we will have Vacation Bible School. Oh! And thanks to Barbara Ochester’s efforts, we will be securing a banner to go across Germantown Avenue. Small steps, but miracles all the same. These steps we are taking, and others ideas we are going to come up with, may not be as dramatic as that of the disciples in our reading, but our actions bespeaks the language of our diverse community. It is in our actions that we, as faith communities respond to Phillip’s plea to Jesus: “show us the Father and we will be satisfied”. The Father/Creator is in Jesus and if Jesus is in us, so then is the Creator. Just as Jesus was able to perform miracles and great works, so shall we. And so shall we, with the help of the Advocate, whom the Creator has sent to help us.

God our creator, has blessed us with many different languages and tongues, but the gospel announces God’s love to all the nations in one heavenly speech, and it is the speech of unity, of being together, no matter where we come from, or where we are located. God’s language speaks of unity. When I visited South Africa, we worshipped in a Lutheran church (which by the way spoke German). Their bible was in German, and their hymnal was in German. We didn’t understand the words, but we understood some of the tunes of the songs, we understood praying, we understood praising, we understood the offering, we understood the water in the font, and we understood the bread and the wine:

The body of Christ given for you

der Körper von Christ gegeben worden für Sie

Different languages, different cultures, different people, different countries: same body, same blood; same baptism; same Holy Spirit; Same unconventional wind, speaking an unconventional message, to an unconventional people. An unconventional message of love in spite of persecution; an unconventional message of forgiveness in spite of our sinfulness; an unconventional message of grace for an undeserving people.

Like the disciples who gathered all in one accord, and all in one place…some of us are still waiting: still waiting in Iraq, still waiting in the third world countries, still waiting in the prisons, still waiting in the drug infested neighborhoods, still waiting wherever there is discord and poverty. The world is still waiting for the One who will put an end to all suffering and all pain. But we need not wait alone. The Holy Spirit, the Advocate is here to help us….and we need not be afraid. The Holy Spirit is here, in this place, The Holy Sprit is in you, beloved children of God. Can you feel it?