I wonder if your house is ready for the rush of a violent wind?
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Acts 2:1-4
As you are reading this newsletter, we are only days from the celebration of Pentecost. The day the Holy Spirit is gifted to the world.
I was struck by the first two verses from the book of Acts: When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.”
One of the few things most scientists can agree on is that the coronavirus transmits from one person to another in far lower levels when there is a great deal of ventilation. Holy God, send the violent wind. I do not wish to make light of the suffering and the dying in the midst of this pandemic, but Lord knows I would love the winds of the Holy Spirit to blow through our lives in great ways to refresh our weary world.
There is a song in our hymnal, “Light Dawns on a Weary World.” The verses of the song share these words:
Light dawns on a weary world when eyes begin to see all people’s dignity.
Light dawns on a weary world: the promised day of justice comes.
Love grows in a weary world when hungry hearts find bread and children’s dreams are fed.
Love grows in a weary world: the promised feast of plenty comes.
Hope blooms in a weary world when creatures, once forlorn, find wilderness reborn.
Hope blooms in a weary world: the promised green of Eden comes.
I am ready for all of this dawning, growing, blooming. Quite honestly, I have grown tired of this pandemic. I am tired of safer-at-home. I am tired of video worship. I am tired of waving at friends through car windows and shouting at neighbors across the street. I am tired of feeling tired – for no good reason. I am tired of homeschooling and working from home and home cooking and home repair. I AM READY FOR LIFE!
Life the way I have known it. Life the way I want to live it. Life that gathers family and friends alike. Life that offers celebrations and laughter and joy and adventure and sitting in restaurants. Life that lets me be me and you be you. How long, O Lord? And then, just when I was bemoaning this life I am currently living, God offers up the mighty wind. The story of Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit. A tangible reminder that God comes to us as “one who walks alongside of us.” And in walking alongside of us, God the Holy Spirit also shapes us into the new creation we hunger to be in this weary world. And this new creation looks like nothing we have seen before. To be swept up by the Holy Spirit means that the image we see reflected in the mirror looks like nothing like our old selves. What a rush that would be, if only we dared to look into the mirror to see the new creation of God looking back at us.
I am convinced that being a new creation means looking less like who I used to be and more like God intends me to be. A person concerned with another’s well-being over myself. A person who longs for all to be made whole in a world where all are considered equal and worth the dignity of care and respect as fellow children of God. And if that is my new creation, then my life, as I have lived it, needs to die for this new life in Christ to thrive on the coattails of the winds of the Holy Spirit. At Easter, we celebrated resurrection – not just for one of us but for all of us. At Pentecost, the winds of the Holy Spirit do not simply blow through one of our homes – the winds of the Holy Spirit blow through every home. Whether or not we open the doors and windows to our homes is a different story altogether.
The Church Council at Ascension continues to listen and evaluate and question and reflect and finally, pray for the days ahead. About opening the church; gathering for worship; scheduling ministries – all events I hunger for deeply. I also am keenly aware that the Church Council carries a courageous burden of opening doors and providing the needed protections to tend this community of believers. It would be wonderful in these pandemic days to tell you the date we will open doors to gather for worship. I would love to share with you the do’s and don’ts of gathering for worship once again. I will weep when I am finally allowed to stand before you at the altar and share God’s invitation to come to the table for bread and wine – the body and blood of our Savior – that you might share in the joy of holy communion with brothers and sisters. Yet, we are not there yet. And, no, I have no idea when we will get “there.”
And that my friends may be the joy of this Pentecost moment that far outshines the shadows of this pandemic moment. On the great day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes, people’s lives are changed, hearts are filled with hope, nerves are steadied with peace, lives are comforted with love, and all will be well. All of that is promised to us. The one thing that is not promised to us is the movement and direction of the Holy Spirit. So to each of you who might ask when we will get “there” I can only share with you the words God shared with Joshua at the end of forty years of wandering in the wilderness. After Moses died, God shared these words: After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid.
For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Words to live by as the Holy Spirit keeps moving in our lives. And that is as close to “there” as I can promise you this day. Peace be with you.
Until I see you in church.
Pastor Chris
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