Trinity Episcopal Church
Towson, MD
RCL Year C - Pentecost - May 19, 2013
Acts 2:1-21
Genesis 11:1-9
Psalm 104:25-35, 37
Romans 8:14-17
John 14:8-17, (25-27)
Come Holy Spirit, our souls inspire, enlighten us with your celestial fire! The Holy Spirit
– the 3rd person of the God Head, the Paraclete or comforter, the
Ruach Elohim, or the mighty breath of God. The mighty Wind that moved over the waters of
the deep in the beginning of creation, that moved over the masses in the city
of Jerusalem, and still moves today among God’s gathered people…
The disciples where all gathered there in one place and at once the
Holy Spirit came upon them, divided tongues as of fire appeared on each of them
and they begin to speak in different languages... Different Languages to the gathered assembly, and
the whole crowd heard the word of God in their own native language.
On the Feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down and ignited the
apostolic flame and it spreads like a wildfire – out of control… so out of control that the people were able to
understand the words that the apostles were speaking about the power of
God… And they understood the message, each
in their own language.
What an incredible and confusing site that must have been.
So confusing that some even accused them of having too much to drink. Peter perks up (not one of his most brightest moments)
and comes to their defense, telling them that it is only 9 o’clock in the
morning and that the prophecy of Joel has come true… That the Spirit of the
Living God had been poured out on all flesh and was alive right there in that
place and was witnessed by all of Jerusalem.
The church is gathered now, 2000 years later and the Spirit of God
continues to pour out upon all flesh… bestowing
upon us the gifts of wisdom and reason, judgment and strength, knowledge and
reverence and a wonder filled with awe.
And what I ask is, do we recognize it?
And when we do think we recognize it, what are we doing with it?? God is alive right here, present with us and
the spirit is being poured out… and how do we respond?
At the 9am service, with the kids, I decided to teach them about the
Holy Spirit with a pin-wheel. A pin-wheel
was one of my favorite toys as a kid. I used
to make them and I could sit there and blow on it for hours. In fact, since these came into the office, I
haven’t stopped playing with them. So
now you’re saying, “ok Ken – how did you use a pinwheel to teach about the Holy
Spirit.” - Hold on, I’m getting there…
I call this message the Parable of the Pinwheel:
Well, the scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit is the Ruach Elohim –
the mighty breath of God… the rushing wind…
that same wind moved over the deep in the beginning of creation, and that
same wind was the one that the disciples experienced in today’s reading from
acts… The thing is – you can’t see wind…
it’s invisible.
You can only see reactions to the wind.
Stuff blowing around, or this pinwheel…
that when then wind blows it and the pinwheel is in the right position, ready
to receive and respond to the wind, it spins… and spins and spins, and spins…
However, then it is against the wind, it doesn’t spin so good…
That’s what I taught about the spirit.
When we are ready, and positioned open, ready for the spirit, then the
spirit can use us to produce good things… The spirit can drive our energy and empower us
to reach out and help others and so we can do what we are meant to do… and then
we can spin and spin and spin… but if we are not open, and we have our backs
toward God, then the Holy Spirit can’t do its work though us, it can’t give us
the energy that we need in order to function properly.
When we are turned away, we don’t spin so good…
It’s all about orientation and direction… and about us being open and ready to receive the
Holy Spirit so that the Spirit of God can work in our life, to empower us with
courage, wonder, wisdom and reverence.
The disciples were still in Jerusalem, and they were starting to come
out of hiding. After all, it had been 50 days since Jesus’
first appearance of being alive after a horrible death… and it was 7 days after the disciples saw
Jesus raised into the heavens. They
remembered Jesus’ promise… His promise
that they would not be alone, that He would send them a comforter and protector.
And when the disciples were there that day, they experienced it – and it gave
them the wisdom and power to communicate the power of God to everyone there in
Jerusalem.
I want to throw in a fun fact to know and tell: you know that funny looking hat that the
bishop wears, called a miter? It is made
that way on purpose – made to look like a tongue. A great tongue of fire sitting on his/her head,
like the tongues of fire that landed on the heads of the first apostles on
Pentecost. It is a symbol of that
apostolic flame that continues to burn throughout the church.
See, every bishop in the Episcopal Church is ordained in what they call apostolic succession where you can trace the lineage of ordination (even the bishop that ordained me) back to the original apostles. This is done by 3 apostolic bishops (or more) laying hands at ordination on the newly ordained bishop… thus conveying orders all the way back to the original followers of Jesus… kind of like a 2000 year old game of tag…
At a bishop’s ordination, the bishop accepts a responsibility to bear
the apostolic witness to the faith and guard the unity of the church… that
unity and oneness that I spoke about last week. (if you missed it, you can get it on-line). See, all of this stuff all ties together…
At Pentecost, the Spirit of God comes down upon the disciples, resting
on each of them and thereby bringing them, and us, all together once
again. The disciples got a crash course that
day in the language of God.
As the Spirit used the speech of the disciples on Pentecost to reshape and redirect the lives of those who listened to their words, so that same Spirit on this Day reshapes, remolds, and move us… But ONLY if we are willing turn, and listen, and be open. After all, God speaks to us all the time in the one true word that ends our fears and brings us everlasting peace — the Word-Made-Flesh, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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