Pentecost Sunday
Well on this beautiful feast
of Pentecost we surround ourselves with these beautiful symbols of this coming
of the Holy Spirit. Now if you like fire
you’ve got that beautiful imagery of fire.
Because fire, the tongues of fire as the scriptures say came upon the
apostles. You know many times we think
of fire as being destructive but really fire can be purifying. Many times in a forest or an area they will
do a burn to clear out the foliage and then when that is burned off then new
life can come forth. Of course we use
fire and heat to cook so that we can eat.
So fire really is a symbol of life, of giving life, not destruction.
Of course one of the other
beautiful symbols too is the symbol of wind.
The power that wind will have. We
even have windmills to harness that power and to use it for good things, for
energy.
Our word, “spirit, spiritus”
as a translation of the word in the Greek, “panuma” which means spirit-powered
wind, breath. So that every breath that
you and I take really is life-giving.
You know if we stop breathing we ain’t going to last very long are
we? So we need to breathe. And all these images again are just trying to
say that’s how God wants to get into your and my lives. And the beautiful thing about it, you know,
as one of the scripture readings said, first reading talked about all these
people from all different parts of the world.
And they said, “How come we can now hear this message in our own
language?”
We’re from
It’s the language, the
message of love. And that crosses all
the barriers of any ways that separate us or that may divide us.
You go back perhaps into the
original story of creation, and that’s what sin did. Sin separated and divided people. They blamed one another. They shamed each other. They separated themselves from one another
because they had separated themselves from God’s love. And God kept trying to get through down
through the ages to say, “I’m trying to bring you closer to Me, not let you go
further away. I’ll even give you My Son,
Jesus. And Jesus will come and empower
you that you can grow together again with My love.” That’s the whole point of redemption. Jesus coming to us as a human being, taking
divinity and humanity and bringing it together and saying, “Look, you’re united
once again.”
We often think of Jesus’
ascension as Jesus going up to heaven and that’s it. He’s gone.
Now we are all by ourselves again.
Oh no. Think of it really as you
and I have been lifted up to heaven. In
a sense we’ve already got one foot in heaven.
We’ve been redeemed by Jesus Christ.
Now we need to open our hearts to let this Spirit of Jesus’ love and
hope and joy come in, that we can get the other foot in heaven as well. That’s our journey on earth. We are moving towards that fullness that God
wants you and me to receive.
How does the Spirit work in
our lives? Have you even felt the Spirit
working in your life? You probably have
and you may not be aware of it. I had a
couple instances just this past Friday.
I had a funeral in the morning.
Cemetery was out at
About half-an-hour later the
phone rang. It was a nurse calling from
St. Therese over in New Hope. I know
this nurse. I know her from the 70’s
when I was here. I know her family, her
mother, her siblings. And she said, “I
visited a family who’s mother is dying and they want you to come.” Well she didn’t leave the name. A few minutes later she called back and said,
“I forgot to give you the name of the family.”
But she said the one son asked specifically for you. He said if you don’t remember the mom, remember
“Indie.” Well I knew right away who she
was talking about, because again a family that knew from back in the 70’s. She gave me his cell phone number. I called him up and I said, “Joe Indie, it’s
me, Father Pat.” He said, “Mom has got
Alzheimer’s. The doctors don’t expect
her to live maybe a couple more hours.”
I said, “I’ll get there as soon as I can without getting a speeding
ticket.”
Well I got there
shortly. The family was all there in the
room. We gathered together. They put their hands on their mother. We anointed her and prayed over her. I prayed with the family and then gave them
all the things. Do you have a funeral
home? Told them all the things that they
would need to do. I said when you get to
the funeral home after your mother dies they will call us. Led them through all the steps. About half-an-hour later then I left. Seven o’clock that evening there was another
phone call on my answering machine. It
was the nurse again calling. And she
said, “I went back in to visit this family before I was leaving. She said the difference was night and day
from earlier when I had visited them.
“You brought the peace of the Lord by your presence there, at peace with
letting go of their mother. You gave
them so much hope.” Phone call came in
9:00 Saturday morning. Maxine died about
3:30 early Saturday morning. Her funeral
will be here Tuesday morning at 11:00.
How come I didn’t go on a
bike ride? Something said, “Just be here
Pat.” I have to believe, I believe with
all my heart that it was the Spirit making sure I was there when the phone call
would come in.
Don’t you ever get those
nudges at times? And you say what made
me go here, or do this, or say that, be there?
And you need to trust that somehow it is the Spirit working on your and
my lives. And God’s spirit does it in so
many wonderful, beautiful ways. That’s
the beauty of it perhaps when you and I don’t even realize it. But when you look back on it and say, “Oh
wow, somebody else was at work here.”
You know out in Washington
State there is a beautiful huge mountain called Mt. Rainier, about 14,000 feet
high. And one time nine physically
handicapped people climbed that mountain together. One had an artificial leg, I believe five
were blind, two were deaf, and one was an epileptic. And in spite of all these physical handicaps
they climbed that mountain together and came back down without any
mishaps. And someone asked them, “How did
you do that?” One of them said, a blind
man, “We got a lot of help from each other.
We got a lot of help from each other.”
That’s how the Spirit works in yours and mine lives.
Look around you this morning
in this beautiful church. The Spirit of
God is present here. You may not know
all the people that are here sitting aside from you, across from you, wherever
it might be. But you’re here because
really by the grace of God, He wants you to be here.
You and I are going to go
forth from this Eucharist, wherever our journeys may take us this day, and I
have to believe that somehow God wants to make a difference in this world today
by putting you here. Now we may not read
about it or hear about it on the 10:00 news tonight but something that one of
you did, and act of kindness, visiting a sick person, giving some joy, some mercy,
some understanding, cooking a meal, whatever it might be.
But think of it this way,
think of something that you are good at.
Maybe you have a great sense of humor, you can tell jokes. Maybe you are a great cook. You make great desserts. Maybe it’s your particular apple pie that is
just so delicious. Maybe it’s your roast
beef. Maybe it’s just the tone of your
voice. Maybe it’s the way you write a
letter to someone or the way you call up somebody and say, “Hey, I’m thinking
of you.”
It might be just the way you
smile at somebody that they say, “Wow, that person’s looking at me, cares about
me.” What is something that you are good
at, that you know God has given you, one of your gifts, one of your talents,
one of the special ways that make you to be who you are? Think of what that is. Ask God to increase that gift in you,
whatever that gift may be. Ask God,
“Lord just fill me up with more of this joy, this hope, this sense of humor,
this ability to cook”, whatever it might be.
“Give me more of this goodness within me Lord, that I in turn can share
it and give it away.” Not that you can
keep it or glory in it and say, “Whoa, look at me.” “Increase the gift in me Lord that I can
share it and give it away.” In that way
God’s Spirit is going to grow and move and flow throughout this whole community
and touch so many other people wherever you and will go this day.
Spirit of God, come up all
of us this morning. Fill us up with Your
deep joy, Your love and Your compassion.
Spirit of God give us the great hope.
Spirit of God empower each of us today to see our goodness. Spirit of God help us to be aware of Your
presence in our lives. Spirit of God may
we go forth from this Eucharist to bring love and kindness and thoughtfulness
to others. Spirit of God, renew our
hearts, enliven us, and renew us for the good of others, in gratitude for Your
Spirit in our lives today.
Celebrate your birthday by
sharing your gifts.