Phil (w)Rite: Pentecost A

Showing posts with label Pentecost A. Show all posts

Saturday, May 27, 2023

Invisible Omnipresence Given a Name

Day of Pentecost A May 28, 2023
Gen. 11:1-9Ps. 104: 25-32

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

Lectionary Link

To see if one is still alive, one can place a mirror under the nostrils of the one near death. If there is breath in that person, the mirror may cloud and that cloud is an effect of the breath and life of the person.

When we see tree branches and leaves rustling, but we don't see a visible material pushing against them, we name the invisible wind as the cause of such movements.

And we understand how the ancients arrived at breath, wind, ruach, pneumatos, Spiritus, as metaphorical words to speak about great Life itself.

How do we come to name what is invisible? Why do we name the invisible when the invisible cannot be made visible by the sheer act of naming?

First of all, we name everything that is visible and invisible by what is invisible. Words are invisible. They have sensorial products of speech sounds and writing, but words themselves are invisible phenomenon. Words also have the products of body language deeds.

Is that which is visible or sensorial the only criteria for something to be meaningful? Using words and naming things is also psychological, in that it occurs from the constitution of our inner invisible being.

The biblical story purports to be writings about events when the effect of the invisible Spirit became known in meaningful ways to the people who experienced these events of the Spirit.

The naming of the Spirit was found in the creation story. In this story, the words of God spoke things into existence and the Spirit moved over the un-worded chaos and brought the incredible diverse world into being. Diverse things which came to have names.

The world is experienced as both an ordered cosmos but also as internally competitive cosmos experienced as chaos in the clash of systems which the reality of genuine freedom requires.

It is very difficult to detach Spirit events from Word Events. The Bible itself is a conglomeration of textual word events spanning the hundreds of years of its compilation. The Bible includes words about word events, events of the effects of God's Spirit being made evident to people.

The crowning Word and Spirit event of the Hebrew Scriptures was the arising of the Law and the attending writings and stories of the people who were inspired to create such milestone remembrances.

The Law was words about how to live best case scenario lives given the limited experience of the contexts of the biblical writers.

Word and Spirit have never been finished in the visible world. Words always have subsequent interpretations into the new contexts in which they are read. As such, the Torah, and the Hebrew Scriptures were still growing and becoming during the time of Jesus. Jesus was living Word and Living Spirit in human form; Jesus was a Spirit event both for Mary and for humanity. He intertwined the meaning of his life with the great words of the Hebrew Scriptures. As the Word made flesh, he instantiated the Spirit in human flesh. He as the Word made flesh, said that his words were Spirit and life, and so united word and spirit.

If Jesus is the fullest visible effect of God's presence, what does most of humanity have to experience who were not privileged to experience such a full visible effect of God's presence in the life of Jesus of Nazareth? Are we indeed divine orphans because God only blessed a few people with the visible presence of the Spirit made flesh in Jesus of Nazareth?

The feast of Pentecost is a feast of word, language, and Spirit. The Feast of Pentecost is the celebration of what the followers of Jesus discovered after he could no longer be seen, namely, the discovery of his continued presence by the Great Force of Life Itself, the Holy Spirit. And just as Jesus was the Holy Spirit life in the flesh, the followers of Jesus understood themselves as Holy Spirit life in the flesh which would effect their lives in word and deed such that the effects could be known and transmitted to other people.

The Day of Pentecost is when in our story, God's Omnipresence is given the name of Holy Spirit. Naming is what people do because we have language ability. Our very lives are organized by language, and so we too are word and language made flesh. The Day of Pentecost is a day to celebrate that God can be translated into the lives of people of all languages. God can be known as relevant to everyone. And the Holy Spirit is the great translator of the life of God into anyone's language.

The Day of Pentecost is a day to celebrate that Word and Spirit in human experience means specific direction toward the life of love and justice that has been exemplified in Jesus Christ. It is not enough to know words and life force; Christ as the Eternal Word of God and Holy Spirit as the life force of God give superlative direction to the words and the energies of our lives which are ever in need of having God's love translated into the words and deeds of our lives.

Let us observe this day in our corporate story when God's Omnipresence has been named as the Holy Spirit. And let us accept the Holy Spirit as the direction of our lives toward the love and justice of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Sunday School, May 28, 2023 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 28, 2023 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!

Sunday, May 31, 2020

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.

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.

Friday, May 29, 2020

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