Sermon: Day of Pentecost

Qualities of the Spirit
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Day of Pentecost, Year B (RCL)
Acts 2:1-21; Romans 8:22-27; John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Today is the day of Pentecost; the day when we remember and memorialize the coming of the Holy Spirit. Throughout scripture, we find stunning, sensational metaphors of the Holy Spirit that burn brightly in our mind’s eye. In our reading this morning from Acts, the Holy Spirit comes with a “sound like the rush of a violent wind.” Growing up in the Midwest, images of tornados come to mind and the sounds that accompany them; sounds which resemble that of a speeding train echoing across eerie skies. Also in Acts, as the violent wind comes to settle among them, the Holy Spirit manifests itself in the form of “divided tongues, as of fire” and rests upon each of them. With summer soon to be here, images of campfires come to mind, the new fire of Easter which consumes the dried palms of our hosannas, the forger’s fire which not only destroys but also refines. Images of chemical reaction, of transformation, of new life. And later this morning, at the 9:30 service with its two baptisms, the Holy Spirit will come through the image and the medium of water. As the water is poured from the pitcher and into the font, the glimmer of light, the sound of flowing, the occasional cold splash on the skin, all of these sensations will hold the gaze of our mind’s eye and the promise of our heart’s desire.

Wind, fire, water, these metaphors, these symbols of the Holy Spirit are so essential, so elemental to our lives that many ancient philosophers called them “elements” and used them to describe the primary patterns of nature. In addition to these three; wind, fire, and water, there was a fourth, and that was earth, the dust of the earth, the dust formed into being through Adam and the same dust that we wear as a reminder of our humanity on Ash Wednesday. We are that fourth element. Wind, fire, water, earth, all physical manifestations of the Spirit in some way; all life-sized portraits of what God looks like, sounds like, feels like, smells like, tastes like as the Spirit is made manifest in creation.

And though it is tempting to stay there, to sit with those most powerful images and metaphors and to imagine how God the Holy Spirit is made present in the elements of wind and fire and water, if we do just that, if we stay there with the pictures of the Spirit and not with its practices, we miss the rest of the story. If we spend our time and energy focusing solely on how the Holy Spirit appears, we may very well end up losing sight of how the Holy Spirit acts. However, this is what is essential to the story of Pentecost; how the Holy Spirit acts, what the Holy Spirit does as a violent wind, a tongue of fire, the waters of baptism. Yes, the means of the coming of the Spirit are quite spectacular in and of themselves, but the end to those means, the end is even more fantastic, especially when it is applied to and realized in our own lives.

So today, instead of concentrating solely on the means by which we receive the Holy Spirit, let’s trek down a parallel path and focus on the end to those means; let’s focus not so much on who the Holy Spirit is, but rather on what the Holy Spirit does and how the Holy Spirit does it. As I was reading over today’s lessons this last week, three phrases concerning what the Holy Spirit does jumped off the page at me. All three seem to be related in that they center on relationship; they focus on how we are to be in relationship with each other. All three remind us that in order for the elements of the Holy Spirit to take hold in our lives, they must contain that fourth and essential element of which we are composed; the element of earth or dirt, the element of our being. All three provide us with ultimate examples of how to be in relationship with both God and our neighbors through the witness set forth by God’s Holy Spirit.

The first comes from today’s lesson from Acts. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, we hear that the gathered crowd was bewildered because “each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.” If we stop a minute to think about the complexity of this statement, it becomes clear that it wasn’t simply that each one spoke a different language, even a language that they supposedly didn’t know. Remarkably, instead of this, today’s lesson from Acts tells us that the differences in language were to be found not in the speaking, but rather, in the hearing. It would be as if I were to preach this sermon in Latin and each of you, supposing we were a much more diverse crowd, were able to hear my words not in Latin, but in your own native language, whether that be English or French or Spanish or Farsi or Dinka. Strangely, it seems as if the words of the Holy Spirit, as moving through the disciples, became all words for all people, so that the “devout Jews from every nation under heaven” would be able to comprehend and believe. Thus, as the Holy Spirit comes into our world, it comes to meet people where they are; it comes to speak the language of the people so that they might come to believe. God’s Holy Spirit provides us then with the ultimate example of how to communicate with each other; not by speaking our own language, but by speaking in such a way that others might hear, understand and grow.

The second phrase comes from today’s Gospel lesson from John. As Jesus prepares his disciples for the coming of the Advocate, the coming of the Holy Spirit, he tells them, “When the Spirit of truth comes…he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears.” As I read this phrase again for the first time, I was reminded of the gift of the Spirit, of the gift of patience, understanding and grace which comes through reflective listening. I was reminded of my undergraduate work in psychology and in particular my study of Carl Rogers’ “client-centered” therapy. For Rogers, reflective listening was a way of restating and clarifying what the other has said, instead of asking questions or telling the other how they feel, what they believe or what they need or want. It is very much a form of not speaking on our own, but instead, speaking whatever the other has shared and said to us. The advantages of doing this are that: the one listening can better understand the other, it can help the other clarify their thoughts, and it can reassure the other that someone cares. So, when the Holy Spirit doesn’t speak on its own but speak whatever it hears, through this reflective listening, we are better understood, our thoughts can find some clarity, and we are more reassured that the Spirit cares. Again, God’s Holy Spirit provides us with the ultimate example of how to communicate with each other, not by speaking on our own, by ourselves and for ourselves, but though our speaking in our listening and care and concern for others.

And finally, the last phrase comes from today’s letter from Paul to the Romans. In that letter, in our lesson, Paul reminds the Romans and us that “the Spirit helps us in our weakness” and that “that very Spirit intercedes [for us] with sighs too deep for words.” Here, I’m reminded that sometimes, even Herculean efforts to communicate well through written and spoken language fall short. We may try to meet people where they are but be unable to. We may do our best to listen with open minds and hearts and to reflect to others our care and compassion for them but even still ultimately fail. Yet, as St Paul reminds us, there is always still available to us the sigh which is too deep for words. It can be a sigh, a stillness, a slowing of the breath, a sitting with, a presence. When we are cut off from God and each other and all words seem empty, or sometimes don’t even come at all, there is always still the Holy Spirit’s silent sigh. In death or discord, when the spoke word has ceased and anger or great sadness have taken its place, the Holy Spirit still comes to sit with us and others. When all other communication seemingly fails, God’s Holy Spirit provides us with the ultimate example of how to continue to communicate with each other, not through prose but through presence.

While scripture inspires us with three very powerful images and metaphors for the Holy Spirit in the substances of wind, fire and water, it also teaches us the true power to be found in God’s Spirit as it guides and holds us in relationship, both with God and with one another. To wind, fire and water we can add the Spirit’s ability to meet people where they are, to truly hear and care about what people are saying, and if nothing else, to sigh and sit with people in their greatest need. This is the Spirit’s ability and with the coming of Pentecost, it is our gift and our calling as well. This Pentecost, will we seek to meet others where they are and not where we want them to be? Will we seek to speak their language and not our own? This Pentecost, will we seek to actively and reflectively listen to others in their deepest cares and concerns? Will we speak what we hear or will our ears be plugged by our own agendas? This Pentecost, will we seek to, when all else fails, sigh and sit and be present even still in fellowship and in worship with those we feel alienated and apart from? Will we allow the Spirit in in times of weakness? Amen.