We Need an Apparent Holy Spirit

Day of Pentecost  A May 31, 2020

Gen. 11:1-9Ps. 104: 25-32

Acts 2:1-11      John 14:8-17, 25-17  
Lectionary Link

At 13:16 mark of video. 

Come Holy Spirit.  Veni Sancte Spiritus. Ven Espiritu Santo,Viens Esprit Saint, Komm Heiliger Geist, Ruh al'qdos Biya, 

Pentecost is the event of finding harmony in difference.  It is the day of affirming that people who speak different languages and have drastically different world experience and conditions can come to harmony and peace together.

And so we say in every language today, "Come Holy Spirit," even though we know that the Spirit came in creation and has never left the world.  The Spirit creates the divine environment and so we can know ourselves to live and move and have our being in God.  If the Spirit has always been, why to do pray, Come Holy Spirit? We do so, because it isn't always enough to know that there is a wind; we need to see the leaves move in the tree.  We need to see the Holy Spirit as apparent in human community.

And how we need the peaceful Holy Spirit to become apparent in our human communities today.   On Pentecost, we have been literally "pent" up, sheltering in our homes for longer than the Easter season.  We have been "pent" up in anxiety about the pandemic and its many drastic effects upon human life on every level.  And now the injustice inflicted upon the life of a black man in Minneapolis seems to put us over the top of what we can actually bear without the acting out of frustration about long denied justice and the practice of uneven justice in our society.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come.  Be made apparent even as a peace dove calming our hearts.  Today, we need more than our belief in the Holy Spirit; we need the Apparent Effects of the Holy Spirit to be realized in significant ways.

The Holy Spirit can become apparent, if the Spirit has the leader who can unite.  And Jesus Christ was the one who could unite hearts with voices which spoke different languages.

The Holy Spirit is looking today for worthy leaders who can unite in the midst of differences. The Holy Spirit of Peace is looking for us to be the leading channels or instruments of peace as goes the prayer attributed to St. Francis.

There are other spirits besides the Holy Spirit and the spirits of peace that the Holy Spirit inspires.

"Spirits" are the constellation of the energies of group identities which motivate group actions, some are destructive and evil, some are entertaining, benign and beneficial, and some become the vehicle for God's Holy Spirit to be peaceful, loving unifying justice in our world, not just in ideal, but in actual practice.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come.

Think about all of the group identities which are the "esprit de corps" rallying what people do when they come together.  Think about all of the footage of horrifying dictators who have flamed unities of hatred and bias.  The mob spirit found in our history books and in our world today are truly anti-Christ, because they don't end in inspiring peace, truth and unity.

There are other manifestation of group spirit which are benign and even beneficial.  Colleges, sports teams, school spirit, city pride, hometown spirit are manifestations of esprit de corps in very benign ways.  An esprit de corps which raises money to fight cancer and every sort of illness or malaise can true be a beneficial "mob" spirit.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come.  And help us discern what you truly inspire.  And how is Holy Spirit distinguished from the other manifestations of "esprit de corps" in our world?

First, Holy Spirit is permanent.  It is the ground of the omnipresence of God within whom we live and move and have our being.

Second, it is Personal.  We acknowledge on Pentecost the rising in human understanding of the Holy Spirit as a Person of the Godhead.  The reason that we can project Personality upon the omnipresent Spirit is because we as humans are personal, meaning we are connected and related to all that is.  Personality is our highest attribute and if we confess someone greater than we are, that Someone also is at the very least a very exalted Person.

Come, Personal Holy Spirit.  We need you.

The Holy Spirit has had a general permanency since forever, but the Holy Spirit also has "coming out" parties and events.  Pentecost was the chief coming out party of the Holy Spirit.  There needs to be particular manifestation so that we can be renewed in knowing the Great Friend of the universe.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come.  Wind, I need to see the leaves move on the tree to reassure me that you are still here.

So we need both the general and the particular apparent experiences of the Holy Spirit to reinforce the belief in the unseen in the middle of all that we do see, touch, feel, and hurt and cry about.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come.

The Holy Spirit is not just enlightened esprit de corps; the enlightened identity attained by people who want to let the Christ nature become evident in them.  The Holy Spirit is also individual and personal.  The Holy Spirit can be known within each of us as the Clean Heart which the Psalmist prayed for.  We need the Holy Spirit as our Clean Heart because we need the highest authority for our consciences and motives.

We need the Holy Spirit as the experience of deep calm and peace within us, because we know that things on layers above the Holy Spirit can be turbulent and unsettled and even frightening.  We need an internal place of retreat and refuge, not to escape our world but to have an anchor within the tossing waves of the world.

And we need the Holy Spirit as proof of our longevity in Hope.  Hope has made me want more than can ever be delivered in my lifetime.  Is my Hope a taunting God who wants good things that will never fully be my experience?  Or is that Hope the very presence of the eternal Spirit who is saying that I will ride the eternal Spirit, eternally?

Come, Holy Spirit Come, and come in apparent and particular ways for us today.  Inspire and activate manifold creativity to bring an end to this world pandemic.  Inspire and convert leaders who will promote social harmony.  Bring police and minority communities together for the common good of actual justice.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come, even to us the people of St. Mary's-in-the-Valley in specific ways.  Let us discern your manifestations today.  Amen.

Aphorism of the Day, May 2020

Aphorism of the Day, May 31, 2020

Can we be a part of "esprit de corps" today which also has the peaceful, just and loving imprimatur of the Holy Spirit today?

Aphorism of the Day, May 30, 2020

Revelation is an unveiling, of what always was.  The "unveiling" of God as Holy Spirit on Pentecost does not mean that such a metaphor for omnipresence did not exist before.  It is just that the Spirit came into understanding of people as being a Personality of God.

Aphorism of the Day, May 29, 2020

One cannot avoid the miscarriage of and the uneven practice of justice when the standards of meted arrest and punishment are radically different for people of different race and social status.  White collar crimes account for the massive theft of public and personal resources and such criminal are often shielded and protected by a bevy of attorneys who know how to keep their clients image from suffering any loss of dignity.  Meanwhile in a local store, an event involving but pennies in comparison results in an "arrest, punishment and accidental "execution" of a citizen who was respected in his community.  Jesus of Nazareth was aware that the way law was practiced did not benefit many in the class of people whom he called to his movement.  If law does not approximate the practice of justice then the practitioners can become fearful tyrants.  Jesus "fought the law" and the law won by putting him on the cross.  What does the afterlife of a dead person evoke in a community?  What is the aftermath of a dead person wrongly killed by law officers in a country which says justice is its main principle?

Aphorism of the Day, May 28, 2020

"spirit" can refer to both enduring character of group identity but also exigent manifestation and temporary "out burst" of "spirit" group behaviors.  The recent unjust death of a black man by over-zealous policing angered people to the point of unifying a "mob spirit" resulting in a wide ranges of behaviors, some peaceful protest and others revengeful acts as expressions of helplessness against such unchecked racism.  One can "blame" the spirit of the mob for good and bad results but such a "spiritual" phenomenon highlights the energy which impels counter-action and the more enduring "spirit" of justice which can have very imperfect and fragile practitioners in humanity.  Holy Spirit of Pentecost fame involves the understanding of an invisible, personal, omni-present God who can get activated in community events of people arriving at group identities for godly purposes and such events of effervescence can be misunderstood as "drunken" behaviors, being ecstatically joyful or inspired by the co-experience of the mystery of God.


Aphorism of the Day, May 27, 2020

Language becomes "tautological" when a community for inter-communication accept meanings for words, much as in an equation which implies for the purposes of this equation x=2.  In theology, communities attain prior commitment to meanings so for the purposes of our theology and community and biblical interpretation, God mean this, Son means this and Holy Spirit means this and sacrament means this. et al.  Whether definition is set by council and creed or other means, there is sufficient agreement on terms to keep the community in practical group identity.  Communities are organized around their commitments to agreed upon meanings of terms, which is in effect a paradigm.

Aphorism of the Day, May 26, 2020

When does a signifier lose its exact identity with what it signifies?  When is a metaphor no longer regarded as the "thing in itself," but rather a pointing sign?  Take the word "spirit;"  comes from words meaning wind or breath, or invisible things which we really believe in because we see their effects without seeing them.  So, wind or breath or spirit seem to be adequate metaphors for the Spirit, even though one cannot equate what we mean by wind or breath with the Signified Spirit.  Signifiers are metaphors/similes which with long usage and community habit become totally identified with what is Signified.  We can make a museum display of Spirit in this way; we place a closed bottle on display with the title of "air."  Even though the unseen air is trapped inside of the bottle; people become to think that the bottle is the air, even when it is a bottle of air.  The bottle and the air go together and without the air it is just a bottle.  We might say that the world in a like manner is a world of Spirit even as Spirit is a word in the world which designates some mystery that it is not.

Aphorism of the Day, May 25, 2020

What does Pentecost mean?  It refers to a privileged group Apparent Effervescence.  Personal and individual effervescent occurs which are events of inner insight and enlightenment.   Public events of apparent effervescence can be analyzed and classified on a continuum of goodness.  On one end is the "apparent effervescence" which occurs in an angry, hateful, bigoted mob of people, but what kind of "spirit" or effervescence is this which "unifies" people in hatred?  There are more benign occasion of public effervescence like patriotic rallies or sporting events where "public" spirit is palpable.  Pentecost is regarded to be on the Holy side of Apparent Effervescence since it unites around the experience of one's "Christ nature" which results in love and justice and Gospel "good news" behaviors.

  Aphorism of the Day, May 24, 2020

Does God the Father answer the prayers of Jesus?  Apparently not when it involves the free will of men and women.  If Jesus prayed that his disciples might be "one," then such has not really generally happened in churches throughout the ages.  But the prayer may be answer as individuals have come into their oneness with God as their heavenly parent.

 Aphorism of the Day, May 23, 2020

If Word is God from the beginning then worded human beings best bear the image of God in the quality of their word life.  And what is the best use of our word life?  Prayer, but not just ritualized, formulaic prayer; rather prayer as the total response of being intentionally committed to God when one's body language has become continuous oblationary prayer in one's offered deeds of love and justice.

Aphorism of the Day, May 22, 2020

In the long prayer of Jesus in John, Jesus curiously says, "I am no longer in the world..."  Is the writer channeling the oracle of the Ascended and absent Jesus?  Jesus also said in his prayer, "I gave them the words that you gave me."  Word is with God and is God from the beginning.  The words that Jesus spoke are spirit and life. Jesus is praying "words" to his Father, and so word is the currency of life itself.  The question is how do we use word in speaking and in body language acts.  One could say that for John's Gospel, Word is the currency of life itself and it is creative, but because it is subject to time and freedom it can also be abuse=used wrongly.

Aphorism of the Day, May 21, 2020

"Glorify me with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed."  What was the glory of Christ before the world existed according to the Gospel of John?  Christ was Word, the entire discursive universe which attained a definitive particularity in Jesus of Nazareth but Jesus in his Ascension was to be removed from the particular and be subsumed back into the entire generality of the discourse of Word from which all things that can be known are "created" or have knowable "being."   This is similar to the poetics of St. Paul who calls the Risen/Ascended Christ as All and in All.   Word and Word's reflexivity , i.e. about Itself in all discursive manifestation is the most accessible metaphysics.  John's Gospel provides the basis for a post-modern Word mysticism.

Aphorism of the Day, May 20, 2020

The prayer of Jesus in John 17 seems to be an oracle of the Risen Christ since Jesus refers to himself in the third person and his work in the past tense.  He is acting "ascended" even when the Johannine chronology does not indicate that such has happened.  Such writing seems to be mystagogy of the early church trying to train mystics.

Aphorism of the Day, May 19, 2020

The Ascension solves a mystery of the absence of Jesus of Nazareth and the post-resurrection appearing of the Risen Christ.  Why doesn't Jesus or the Risen Christ come in such "apparent" ways to those who would like him to?  He's ascended; he has evaporated from eyesight to another realm.

Aphorism of the Day, May 18, 2020

The mysticism of John's Gospel is expressed in the oracle prayer of Jesus who prays to the heavenly Parent, "that they may be one as we are one."  This has often been used to indicate a concern for "church unity," but in Johannine mysticism it more likely refers to coming into the "power/authority" to be a child of God and so bear in the most complete way the "familial" image of God on one's life.  John's Gospel is so concerned about God as Father because the mystical path leads to the recovery of what it means to be made in the divine image and know that the spiritual genetics of the heavenly Parent is manifest in oneself.


Aphorism of the Day, May 17, 2020

If we live and move and have our being in God, as Paul confirmed in his Mars Hill discourse, then we and all are contained by the ultimate Container.  There can be nothing outside the Container, except that Container as it grows and accrues further occasions of Becoming the Ultimate Container.  Nothing affects the Container from outside, but everything from inside does because everything inside shares degrees of the freedom of becoming.  The Container is the parent of all and human beings share the highest qualities of the Parent Container and so they have the authority to be children of God, following the One who Uniquely bore divine Childhood status, Jesus.  And within the great Container we have the freedom to experience love as the connecting force and to know that we have an inner Advocate to make the case for our purposeful being.

Aphorism of the Day, May 16, 2020

The Gospel of John is about the experience of a family relationship with the divine as being a child of God.  The Advocate, the Holy Spirit is to give one the authoritative sense of being in God's family and to realize this, one can be freed from the sense of being psychologically determine by one's nurture or one's nature and experience another kind of primary determination which derives from having this mystical birth experience.

Aphorism of the Day, May 15, 2020

The account of St. Paul in Athens, agreeing with the poets who said, "we are divine offsprings," indicates that Paul saw a rapproachment between he Gospel and the "pagan" pre-Christian poets.  The Gospel is about people realizing that they are children of God.  The Gospel is about Jesus showing us how we are really made to be the better "angels" and how to realize/activate/be empowered/come into the authority of the image of God upon our lives.

Aphorism of the Day, May 14, 2020

If we live and move and have our being in God, then God is the great Container and God does not have environment because God is the Environment.  Someone who does not have "environment" cannot be relative except to a Future Self.

Aphorism of the Day, May 13, 2020

In the internal symbolic order of the writer of John, persons are given power to become children of God, not born of the will of the flesh but of God.  As a follow up, the oracles words of Jesus in the Johannine church reiterate that the disciples would not be left orphans.  If John's Gospel is about living in the parallel kingdom of God; it is also about living in the parallel family of God and this Gospel goes at great length to establish the heavenly parent who was revealed by Jesus who was the Holy Sibling who gave everyone coat tails to be received into God's family.

Aphorism of the Day, May 12, 2020 

t is interesting that Jesus promised to send an "advocate" to be with his disciple-friends.  An advocate is like a lawyer working on one's behalf affirming one's standing.   Satan means "accuser" so the Advocate Holy Spirit is the discovery of one's own "Defense Attorney" against the "accuser."

Aphorism of the Day, May 11,2020

One might say that the "fatherization" of God is most pronounced in John's Gospel.  If the forced weaning from earthly parents was a common experience for many followers of Jesus, the teaching of Jesus was an experience of another kind of parentage.  Jesus said, "I won't leave you as orphans," as parentless people without heritage.  The image of the heavenly parent was on Jesus and he promised identity with the image of the heavenly parent on all who wanted to know this heavenly identity.

Aphorism of the Day, May 10, 2020

In the oracle words of Jesus, he is the way, the truth and the life.  We have in our Greek philosophical ways reduced "truth" to propositional syllogistic consistent, coherent and comprehensive adequacy.  Truth perhaps should be seen more as "honest" coherence with the life purpose of love and justice=God's will, rather than philosophical arguments about how to best defend the reality of Jesus of Nazareth.

Aphorism of the Day, May 9, 2020

How many New Testament "lives" are there?  At least three: bios, pseuche, and zoe.  They are parallel lives in the Gospels.  Physical life, soul life and "abundant life."  Jesus promised "abundant" life, or a kind of Life in life that pertained the experience of eternality within oneself, which in St. Paul was the evidence or the downpayment on ones afterlife.

Aphorism of the Day, May 8, 2020

"Show us the Father and we will be satisfied." And Jesus said, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father."  We cannot see our "eyeball" because our eyeball is being seen through.   The familial image of God on humanity is like eyeball, not seen but being seen through.  Jesus was the one who totally was given over to being seen through by God and so his familial likeness with God was complete. He invited everyone to realize one's divine likeness by being seen through.  Surrender to being seen through.

Aphorism of the Day, May 7, 2020

As Stephen was being stoned and watched by Saul, Stephen asked that "their sin not be held against them."  Saul, breaking that important commandment about not killing, must of had his conscience buried in tons of rationalization, only to resurface in such a personality snap when he became confronted on the road to Damascus.  "How did I ever justify murder as being my religious duty?"  He spent the rest of his life trying to make amends, and amend he did.

Aphorism of the Day, May 6, 2020

Jesus said, "If you have seen me, you've seen the Father."  This means that Jesus uniquely realized the image of God upon him in such a profound away and he could not see himself separated in any way.  Bring to surface and consciousness the God-image upon ones life is our lifetime vocation.  And Jesus did it best as an example for us.

Aphorism of the Day, May 5, 2020

One of the features of "apocalyptic" Christianity is more concern about the afterlife than this life.  Jesus told his disciples via the oracle of John's Gospel, "I go to prepare a place for you because my Father's house has many dwelling places."  It's like he was saying, "Hey, guys don't worry about the afterlife, we've got it covered."  One way to mirror the dwelling place in the afterlife is to work to make sure everyone has a dwelling place in this life.

Aphorism of the Day, May 4, 2020

In John's Gospel, Jesus is either a real estate agent or in charge of housing assignment: "In my Father's house, there are many dwelling places."  KJV used "many mansions," which sounds a bit more Downton Abbey upscale.

Aphorism of the Day, May 3, 2020

The discourse on the Good Shepherd in John's Gospel, is a teaching oracle of the early church on the characteristics of leadership and how Jesus modeled the sacrificial qualities needed to respond with empathy for persons in need.  One can note that many leaders today prefer to be "served" rather than "serve."

Aphorism of the Day, May 2, 2020

The metaphor of Jesus as the "Good Shepherd" is essentially the incarnation of the "Lord is my Shepherd" of Psalm 23.  If God were a visible Shepherd of people, what would God look like in human form?  Jesus.  Is Jesus so much an emptying of God into human form or is he the truthful embrace of accepting anthropomorphism as a valid way to speak about the non-human divine?

Aphorism of the Day, May 1, 2020

A good shepherd is one who uses power, knowledge and wealth to help "sheep," or those who are vulnerably in need.  The opposite of a good shepherd is the exploiter who uses power, wealth and knowledge to take advantage of the weak, the poor and ignorant.

Quiz of the Day, May 2020

Quiz of the Day, May 31, 2020

What is the Jewish Feast of Pentecost?

a. Yom Kippur
b. Purim
c. Shavuot
d. Sukkot

Quiz of the Day, May 30, 2020

Which prophet heard God say, "I will put my spirit within you?"

a. Amos
b. Obadiah
c. Ezekiel
d. Isaiah

Quiz of the Day, May 29, 2020

Pentecost means

a. fifty
b. Holy Spirit
c. speaking in unknown tongues
d. a type of church worship

Quiz of the Day, May 28, 2020

Which of the following would you not associate with Zerubbabel?

a. Second Temple
b. Cyrus
c. Achaemenid Empire
d. Jeremiah
e. Zechariah
f.  Nehemiah

Quiz of the Day, May 27, 2020

On the Day of Pentecost, who heard the news about spoke in their own languages?

a.Hebrew speakers in the Diaspora
b.Jews in the Diaspora in Jerusalem for a visit
c. all foreign language speakers who resided in Jerusalem
d. Asia Minor Jews

Quiz of the Day, May 26, 2020

To whom did God say, "mortals look at outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart?"

a. Paul
b. David
c. Moses
d. Samuel

 Quiz of the Day, May 25, 2020

Who succeeded Moses as leader of the people of Israel?

a. Aaron
b. Joshua
c.  Samuel
d.  David

Quiz of the Day, May 24, 2020

Which two biblical mountains are considered the same?

a. Tabor and Gerizim
b. Tabor and Hermon
c. Sinai and Tabor
d. Sinai and Horeb
e. Horeb and Hermon

Quiz of the Day, May 23, 2020

Who complained to Moses when Eldad and Medad began to prophesy?

a. Aaron
b. Miriam
c. Joshua
d. Caleb

Quiz of the Day, May 22, 2020

St. Helena was responsible for finding preserving the holy places in Jerusalem.  Who was her famous son?

a. Augustine
b. Constantine
c. Jerome
d. Justin Martyr

Quiz of the Day, May 21, 2020

Which Gospel has the account of the Ascension of Jesus?

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John

Quiz of the Day, May 20, 2020

Alcuin was not

a. an educator
b. a deacon
c. an abbot
d. a priest


Quiz of the Day, May 19, 2020

Why did Jesus speak in parables?

a. so only insiders could know the secrets
b. the Psalmist wrote that this is how the Messiah would speak
c. Jesus copied the wisdom method of the book of Proverbs
d. to reach the people of the Johannine community

Quiz of the Day, May 18, 2020

Which of the following does not pertain to Rogation Day?

a. beating the bounds
b. blessing the gardens and fields
c. giving ministerial account to one's bishop
d. blessing shops

Quiz of the Day, May 17, 2020

What is a Jubilee?

a. a special 50 year observance

b. a year of no reaping

c. a year of no sowing

d. a year of liberty for all inhabitants of the land

e. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, May 16, 2020

Which is not true about the Hebrew "Feast of Booths?"

a. call Sukkot
b. last seven days
c. commemorates temporary dwellings of the wilderness sojourn
d. place where Jacob had the Jacob's Ladder dream
e. named after a place on the wilderness sojourn

Quiz of the Day, May 15, 2020

Which of the following is true?

a. an ephah is an ancient Hebrew unit of dry measurement
b. a hin is an ancient Hebrew unit of liquid measurement
c. an ephah is an ancient Hebrew unit of liquid measurement
d. a win is an ancient Hebrew unit of dry measurement
e. a and b
f. c and d

Quiz of the Day, May 14, 2020

Which of the following is prohibited under Levitical Laws?

a. eating all red meat
b. tattoos
c. colored wool garments
d. eating grasshoppers

Quiz of the Day, May 13, 2020

Where would have Jesus found the phrase, "love your neighbor as yourself?"

a. Genesis
b. Psalm
c. Proverbs
d. Leviticus

Quiz of the Day, May 12, 2020

Which portion of the "our Father" is not in some manuscripts?

a. deliver us from evil

b. forgive us our debts

c. thine is kingdom....

d. lead us not into temptation

Quiz of the Day, May 11, 2020

Which of the following derived from Azazel?

a. the sacrifice of goats
b. the notion of "scapegoating"
c. the Aaronic investiture
d. sacrifices in the tabernacle

Quiz of the Day, May 10, 2020

Who of the following is a mom who did not experience a marvelous or miraculous birth?

a. Hannah
b. Sarah
c. Ruth
d. Mary
e. Elizabeth

Quiz of the Day, May 9, 2020

What was the porto-type for the Temple in Jerusalem?

a. shrine at Shiloh
b. Phoenician temples
c. the Tabernacle
d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, May 8, 2020

Whom of the following used the metaphor of mother for Jesus?

a. Aquinas
b. Julian of Norwich
c. Thomas Traherne
d. John of the Cross

Quiz of the Day, May 7, 2020

Jealous, in the Hebrew Scripture is

a. a name for God
b. is listed as what to avoid in one of the commandments
c. is a characteristic describing God's people
d. is an attitude that one is supposed to avoid according to Jeremiah

Quiz of the Day, May 6, 2020

What "part" of God was Moses allowed to see?

a. his presence in the pillar of fire
b. his presence in the pillar of cloud
c. his face
d. his back

Quiz of the Day, May 5, 2020

When Moses in anger cast the tablets of the commandments to the ground and "broke" them, what "broken" ironies occurred?

a. thou shall not have idols
b. thou shall not kill 3000
c. honor your parents
d. a and b

Quiz of the Day, May 4, 2020

What is the origin of the "golden calf?"

a. an idol constructed while Moses was on Mt. Sinai
b. an idol made at the direction of Aaron
c. an idol that led to the smashing of the first set of commandments
d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, May 3, 2020

Which of the following is not true?

a. all Levites are priests
b. some Levites, descendants of Aaron are priests
c. kohan was a Hebrew word also used for non-Hebrew priests
d. Aaron was the first High Priest

Quiz of the Day, May 2, 2020

What was most holy in the tabernacle?

a. tablets of the commandments
b. two golden cherubim
c. the Ark of the Covenant
d. Aaron's budding staff

Quiz of the Day, May 1, 2020

Who is most known in Hebrew Scriptures for suffering?

a. Joseph
b. Job
c. Jeremiah
d. David

Pentecost and "esprit de corps"

Day of Pentecost  A May 31, 2020

Gen. 11:1-9Ps. 104: 25-32

Acts 2:1-11      John 14:8-17, 25-17  
Lectionary Link

Today is the Feast of Pentecost and we might begin by recounting the meaning and the symbols of this Feast Day.  

Pentecost means fiftieth and on the Christian calendar is the 50th day after Easter.  It parallel as Jewish feast of Shavuot, or feast of weeks which is the day after the 7 weeks after Passover.  So, Judaism and Christianity have Pentecosts but they have diverge with completely different meanings.

In salvation history, Pentecost is seen as the "coming" out day of the Holy Spirit.  If Christ is the Word who is God from the beginning, then the Holy Spirit is the Eternal Word translated and spoken in every language; meaning that Christian faith was a strategic plan to make God, through Christ universally accessible to the world, and it meant that an understanding of God could no longer be exclusive to the synagogue for only the ritually adherent members of the Jewish faith.  Although, we see an uneven chronology about the Holy Spirit because according to the Gospel of John, the 11 disciples did not have to wait until Pentecost to receive the Spirit; Jesus breathed the Spirit on them in the Doubting Thomas encounter.    And those pre-filled disciples were speaking in different tongues on Pentecost.

Pentecost is the healing of the event of the Babel tower, when God confused the languages of humanity because a "united" humanity planned a prideful overthrow of God by building a great city with a great tower unto the heavens.  A polyglot world of people was seen as God's punishment; but in Pentecost the revealing  of the Holy Spirit meant that Christ could be known in all languages and hence it was a celebration of a unity of harmony in differences.  Humanity can indeed be united in the right way and the right way is for everyone to come to know the nature of Christ, the eternal Word within them.

What does the use of metaphors tell us?  It tells us that metaphors reach their limitation when one tries to convert poetry into literalism.  So, what is the limitation of Spirit or Holy Spirit?  What does it mean to say Holy Special Wind or Breath?  Or Holy Dove?  Or Holy purifying Fire?  Or Holy Anointing oil?  When we try to speak of Spirit we just keep adding metaphors and similes; but are we getting to substantial insight about the meaning of Spirit?

As you know, I like to go off the reservation of textbook and cliche theology and doctrine because I'm too curious about how and what Spirit can mean and evoke meaning for me in this post-modern age that has brought us to skepticism of skepticism.

A pragmatic and graspable insight about Spirit, is to understand it as the mystery of receiving the identities of our lives.  Our group identities are mysteries.  What do we call group mystical identity?  esprits de corps.  Spirit of the body.  We experience esprit de corps in families, in nationality, in school and colleges, hometown cities and town, with our sporting teams and in our faith communities.   We experience esprit de corps in any significant identity we come to have in our lives.  We admit that it is something of a mystery about our group identity.  E pluribus unum.  Out of the many, one.  How does this oneness of group identity happen?

To understand spirit, we might look at an entire continuum of kinds of identities.  We know that there can be evil "esprit d'corps, known as mob behaviors.  One can see when dictators and prejudiced leaders can create mob behaviors and people will shout and do hateful things as a group which they would not necessarily do as an individual.  A bad "spirit" can possess a mob.  Other public group identities are more benign or even beneficial.  A sporting event or even a partisan political rally can be benign.  A rally of people supporting a cancer fundraiser or patriotic causes can result in a beneficial group "esprit d'corps."  In the Christian context, the diversity of believers in Jesus gathering and uniting in that belief through prayer, teaching, singing and liturgy represent what we understand to be the Holy Spirit of Pentecost.  The Holy Spirit can be evident in the effervescence of a gathering.  It is the numerical strength in numbers which shows itself in a qualitative palpable feeling of identity among people.  It is expressed as the mystery of experience another person, as in "whenever two or three are gathered in Christ's name," Christ is present and can be known as giving wisdom and insight within the group experience.

The Bible also includes "spirit" and individual personal self-knowledge.  The Psalmist cried out, "Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me."  It is a goal in life to be "pure in heart."  And we know how hard it is for us to know ourselves as being "pure in motives" in all things.  We also know that in the purity code certain people of wildly erratic public behavior deemed as anti-social were said to have "unclean spirits."  Part of the ministry of Jesus was to whisper people to a place of peaceful "cleanliness of spirit."

But further, the Gospels indicate that Jesus not only invited us to know ourselves as children of God in knowing our heavenly Parent, he also promised that his absence would not leave us disconnected from Him or His Father.  He would send, he would breath, he unveiled that knowing of an inner Advocate, a Spirit of Truth who would help us in the task of replicating the life practices of Jesus with us.

The Feast of Pentecost sums up the very best of knowing within ourselves the Clean Heart of knowing the Holy Spirit within us.  The Feast of Pentecost is a celebration of the spark and effervescence which happens when people knowing the Holy Spirit gather together to reinforce their identity with Christ.  Sparks happen.  It is as though everyone's spirit surfaces and then there is an experience of the further identity of knowing Christ in our midst.  This is why we gather.  This is why we miss gathering now.  We want each person's experience of the Holy Spirit to be evident in a physical gathering so as to realize the group identity of being the body of Christ.   As we celebrate being quite different members in gifts and calling, yet finding enlightened and peaceful reciprocity in pooling our spiritual gifts to make Christ known in our world.

Today, we long for gathered effervescence of the Holy Spirit, even while we make the most of our virtual gatherings.  Don't diminish them and their importance.  The entire holy Scriptures are virtual.  We weren't there when Scriptures were written to their specific communities but by the technology of writing, the Scriptures are virtually available to us and they have been important in the transmission of the presence of God and Christ across history.  And who can we give credit to for this transmission of the Good News of God in Christ across history?  The Holy Spirit, of course.

Let us be thankful for the unveiling of the Holy Spirit for us, as the Clean Heart which we can experience within us.  But also let us renew the effervescent group identity of knowing ourselves socially as the Body of Christ.

We say today again, "Come Holy Spirit, our hearts inspire and enlighten with celestial fire."  Let us know the most significant inner Advocate and affirming presence in our lives today.  Amen.

Sunday School, May 31, 2020 The Day of Pentecost A

Sunday School, May 31, 2020    The Day of Pentecost  A

Theme:

Pentecost is the Holy Spirit’s Day

Pentecost is also called the Birth Day of the Church

What is the Bible Story about the Spirit?

In the Creation Story of the Book of Genesis, the Hebrew word for Spirit (ruach) means Wind or Breath.  We know that breathing is a sign of life.  

Wind can erode and shape rocks and mountains and cause waves.

In the Creation Story, the Spirit created by moving over unorganized  stuff and began to bring light, darkness, land, sea, plants, animals, human into being.

Something of Spirit life is found in all of creation

In the Bible story, the Spirit is kind of forgotten for many years even though the Spirit was seen as responsible for anointing leaders, kings, judges, prophets and wisdom teachers for teaching about God.

On the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit begins a new era.  We know that we cannot see God and yet God is everywhere.  We may not see the wind but we can see the effects of the wind.  This is what the Holy Spirit is like.  We can’t see the Holy Spirit but we can know the effects of the Holy Spirit.

What are the effects of the Holy Spirit that we can know?  Love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, self-control, faith and justice.

If we know the effects of the Holy Spirit we should spend our entire lives in learning how to gain more of the effects of the Holy Spirit, by knowing love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, self-control, faith and justice.

If we allow the fruits of the Holy Spirit to be expressed in the deeds and words of our lives we will be letting the life and the personality of God the Holy Spirit be known in our lives.

This is what we celebrate on the Day of Pentecost

Sermon (using a harmonica)

Do you know what kind of instrument I have in my hand?    It’s called a harmonica?  And do you know how this instrument is played?    It’s played by putting it up to my mouth and blowing.

  How is this instrument different than a whistle?    A whistle usually makes just one sound, but this harmonica can make many different sounds.

  It is a reed instrument.  If we open up the harmonica, we can find many differ little pieces of thin metal and they are different sizes.  Some are short and some are long.

  When I blow air across the short ones a high sound is made.  When I blow air across the long ones, a lower sound is made.

  So if we blow in the correct way, we can play many different notes and different kinds of music.  A harmonica is not like a whistle because a harmonica can make many different sounds.  And we can play many different songs with the harmonica.  We can even bend the notes and make it cry….or we can make it sound like a train.

  What is it that makes the harmonica play?  It is blown air or wind that comes from the lungs.

  Did you know that one of the ways that we talk about God is to call God, the Holy Spirit.  The Special Spirit.  The Special Wind or Breath.  Can you see Wind or Breath?  Well we can see clouds or we can see our breath when it’s cold.

  But we don’t actually see the Wind or Breath.  We know Wind and Breath are here because we can feel and see the movement that is caused by Wind and Breath.  When you blow on a Wind mill, you can see the wind mill turn.

  So today in when we celebrate the Invisible presence of God who is everywhere, just like wind and breath.  

  And we celebrate the fact that God’s wind or breath is within us blowing us…or playing us, just like I blow air into this harmonica to play the different sounds to make music or noise.

  We cannot see God Spirit…But God’s spirit is blowing through us and playing us as music.

  So we need to see ourselves as God’s musical instruments.  All different sizes and shapes, ages, with different appearances, different abilities and gifts.  God enjoys that we are all so different.  Because we’re different God can play lots of different songs through us.

  And what kind of music does God’s breath or Spirit play through us?  We call that music love, joy, peace, faith, self-control, gentleness, patience and all of the other good things that God wants to do through us.  How many of you want to be God’s instrument today?  Do you want the Wind or Breath of God to be blown through you today?

  Today, we remind ourselves that the Breath or Wind of God, the Holy Spirit is filling us today to help our lives be like a beautiful song for God today.  So today we let God the Spirit play a beautiful song through us.  Amen.

Intergeneration Family Service with Holy Eucharist

May 31, 2020 The Day of Pentecost 

Gathering Songs: Every Time I Feel the Spirit;  We Are One in the Spirit, Lord, Be Glorified

 Liturgist: Alleluia, Christ is Risen.

People: The Lord is Risen Indeed.  Alleluia.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: Every Time I Feel the Spirit, (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 48)

Refrain: Every time I feel the spirit moving in my heart, I will pray.  O every time I feel the spirit moving in my heart I will pray.

1-On Pentecost day, the Spirit came.  The people praised with joyous tongues.  The Spirit came to everyone.  Jews and Gentiles, all the same. Refrain

2-God’s Spirit lives, within the church.  He gives us gifts to build us up.  God’s Spirit fills us with his love.  O blessed Spirit, heavenly dove.  Refrain

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 104

You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; * and so you renew the face of the earth. 

May the glory of the LORD endure for ever; * may the LORD rejoice in all his works.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, `Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.'" Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil 

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and 

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is 

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. 

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Song: They’ll Know We Are Christians,  Worship and Rejoice, # 595

1-We are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord.  We are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord.  And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.  Refrain: And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love.  Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

2-We will walk with each other; we will walk hand in hand.  We will walk with each other; we will walk hand in hand. And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land.  Refrain

3-We will work with each other; we will work side by side.  We will work with each other; we will work side by side.  And we’ll guard each one’s dignity and save each other’s pride. Refrain

4-All praise to the Father, from whom all things come.  And praise to Christ Jesus, his only Son.  And all praise to the Spirit who makes us one.  Refrain

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of God.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of our birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ. 

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory. 

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat 

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as   

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing, 

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia.  Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song:    Jesus Shall Reign,   arr. Linda Lamb

                                        Divine Joy Handbell Choir

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: Lord, Be Glorified (Renew!  # 172)

1- In our lives, Lord, be glorified, be glorified, in our lives, Lord, be glorified today.

2- In our homes, Lord, be glorified, be glorified, in our homes, Lord, be glorified today.

3- In our church, Lord, be glorified, be glorified, in our church, Lord, be glorified today.

4- In your world, Lord, be glorified, be glorified, in your world, Lord, be glorified today 

Dismissal:    

Liturgist: Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 

People: Thanks be to God!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!