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Sunday, May 27, 2007
Scripture: Acts 2: 1-21
Title: “I will pour out my spirit”

The Holy Spirit. The Advocate. That third part of the Trinitarian Formula. The Holy Spirit. This is the part that we, Disciples, are not too comfortable with and talking about. It’s not logical. It is not reasonable. So we try to formulate a reason and teachings about the Holy Spirit. In Pastor’s Class this past March, we touched on The Holy Spirit through the reading of Scripture and the asking of questions. It was our logical attempt to explain the unconventional. One of the best analogies that I have heard in trying to explain the essence of the Holy Spirit is to think about water and it’s three stages of being. We have ice, which is just basically frozen water. We have steam, which is water that has been heated and turned into a gas. We have water, which is water in the liquid form.

Three forms of water, all with the same molecules, all with the same make up: H20. All from the same essence: water.

So we can turn to the Trinitarian formula and think about the three parts of the whole essence of God. We have God, The Father. We have Jesus, who is God made manifest on earth. We have the Holy Spirit, which is God’s Spirit given to God’s people to continue nourishing them on their journeys of faith.

All part of the same entity. All part of the same essence. It is our logical attempt to wrap our minds around something unconventional and mystifying.
And no matter how hard we try to be logical about the Holy Spirit, there is still a feeling of uneasiness when dealing with the Spirit. There is still a feeling of mystification when dealing with the Spirit. There is always that question going around in our minds: Do we really know what we are asking when we ask God to pour out God’s spirit upon us and in our lives? Do we know what is going to happen? Do we know what the Holy Spirit will do in our lives when we pray that God will pour out God’s Spirit upon God’s creation?

We are left with too many unknowns. We are left with too many illogical solutions. We are left with too many unanswered questions.

Very much like the disciples were on that first Pentecost morning.

The disciples had gathered in Jerusalem after all that had happened after that long ago Easter morn. The disciples had seen their beloved Lord betrayed, and crucified. The disciples had seen their beloved Lord risen from the empty tomb. And the disciples had experiences with the Risen Lord. Jesus came to them beside the sea shore and offered them breakfast and offered Peter a second chance as his disciple. Jesus came to them in the upper room, where they had huddled together in fear and offered them peace. Jesus came to Thomas just a few weeks later after the gift of peace was offered to the disciples and Thomas was given the chance to move from unbelief from belief. Jesus came to them on the road to Emmaus and became known to them in the breaking of the bread.

And they had watched their beloved Lord ascend to heaven, with only the promises that God would send another Advocate to them to be with them forever. They are left only with the instructions to go to Jerusalem and wait.

And so the disciples are in Jerusalem, waiting and praying. It is fifty days after that Easter morn and many people have gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, a Jewish observance that marked the end of the wheat harvest and in some traditions marked the celebration of the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai.

The disciples are in a room, waiting and praying and suddenly, there is a sound like the rush of a violent wind and it filled the house. And suddenly, there are divided tongues like fire appeared among them. And all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak in other languages through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

A new wind of Creation. A new fire burning in each. A new period of promise and passion.

There is confusion. There are attempts at explaining away this illogical, amazing experience. There are too many unknowns and unanswered questions.

There is a new wind of Creation. This wind to some is like a storm of wrath and confusion. There is a new wind of Creation. This wind to some is like a breath of fresh air.

There is a new wind of Creation, very much like on that first day when God created the world. There was darkness. There was Chaos. There was a formless void. And then there was a new wind of Creation that swept over the darkness, bring light and life. There was a new wind of Creation, The Breath of God, which swept through the dust to form humankind.

And just like the first Creation, there is a new wind, the breath of God that has swept across the dust to form a new community of the people of God.

At Pentecost, the power of God that is made manifest at the resurrection and the ascension is now bestowed upon the People of God. God has fulfilled God’s Easter promise of new life for all through and by the Spirit.

This is a time of covenantal renewal with God and God’s people. This is a time to recognize that God called God’s creation Good and now is the time to share that goodness with all of God’s people.

This story of Pentecost is a guide for our life. This story shows us what the community of God is like. This story shows us how the disciples found the courage to be the people of God!
It is a new day. And God has poured out God’s spirit upon us!

And on that first Pentecost morning, the first gift of the Spirit was the gift to proclaim! The first gift of the Spirit was the gift to talk about the goodness of God. The first gift of the Spirit was the gift to tell the Good news!

People were talking in different languages but could understand each other. People could share their excitement about this new creation and they could understand each other. People could tell the Good News and people could understand each other.

The people outside did not understand. They were not a part of this miraculous new creation. They tried to explain it away. They tried to deny this new creation. The wind to them was a storm of confusion and Chaos.

Only when Peter, a man who was broken and alone, a man who was ashamed, a man who was as dry as dust in his faith, came forward and shared the Good news did this new creation move beyond the disciples. Peter, who witnessed the miracles of Jesus, but in the end, denies him. Peter, a hollow man with no life left in him, has the courage to experience this new creation and the power to step forward to witness. Peter, a man made of dust, opens his heart to the Breath of new life and drives the church into the world.

Peter is the first to proclaim, no longer denying. No longer betraying. Peter is proclaiming. Peter knows that God has poured out God’s spirit upon the world and amazing things are going to start happening. Sons and daughters shall prophesy. Young men shall see visions. Old Men shall dream dreams. God’s spirit is promised for all.

Peter knows that God has poured out God’s spirit upon the world and now God’s new creation is given the call to build and create a community of faith and justice!

The Spirit has come in an unconventional way and has begun to rock the boat!
God has always wanted our relationship with God to be more than a set of rituals and rules. God has always wanted to restore us to God’s dreams of who we can be.

God wants us to move our faith from our heads to our hearts. God wants our faith to go from duty to passion. God wants the Spirit to take up residence in our hearts, so that we will be restored, that we will proclaim, that we will shout out the Good news.

With the sending of the Holy Spirit, God does not bring us peace. God brings us new life. God brings us passion. God gives us a chance to break free from the machinery of our Christian faith.

With sending of the Holy Spirit, God is breaking into our lives and say, My children, it does not work that way! Faith is not passive. Faith is active. Faith is passion for God’s people and all of God’s creation. Faith is a new wind of creation. Faith is a new fire burning in all of us!

We have Spirit. Yes we do! This is not the cheerleader type of spirit with pompoms and cheers.
We have Spirit that is deeply felt. We have Spirit that is deeply moving. We have Spirit that is a spark that ignites a passion for new life, that sparks a passion for all of God’s creation, that sparks a passion for justice for all of God’s people.

When we say we have the Spirit, it is not something is only brought out and dusted off for Pentecost. When we say we have the Spirit, we are saying that we are people of God who are proclaiming the Good news. That we are dreaming new dreams, that we are visioning, that we have witnessed the pouring out of God’s spirit upon God’s creation and nothing will silence our voices!

When we say that we have the Spirit, we are opening ourselves to the wind of the new creation. That we are asking God to sweep over us, to turn our dry as dust lives and faith into a new being, into a new passion, into a new mission for the Kingdom of God.

When we say that we have the Spirit, we realize that despite all of our plans, that despite all of our committees, that despite all of our spell checked bulletins, that only God can give the church and us as people of faith what it needs and what it wants and what it seeks.

And that is a new life through resurrection of Jesus. A new life through the gift of the Holy Spirit. A new life and relationship with God that is filled with passion and promise.

I will pour out my Spirit upon the world and upon all people so that they may build and create a community of faith and justice!

I will pour out my Spirit upon the world and upon all the people so that they may enter into a new relationship with me and feel the passion of faith.

I will pour out my Spirit upon the world and upon all the people so that they may dream new dreams, so that they may see visions, so that they may actively seek the Kingdom of God.

We have experienced the in-breaking of God through the Holy Spirit. We have had our faith moved from head to heart. We have experienced the passion and promise of God. And Now we are given the call to proclaim the Good News to all of God’s creation!

May we open ourselves up to the new wind of God’s creation. Amen.

Rev. Heather McColl
Midway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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