A Kinder Gentler Holy Spirit
Penetecost, 27 May 2007
Joel 2:28-32
Acts 2:1-11
John 20:19-23
A Kinder Gentler Holy Spirit
To hear most Christians talk, we if not crave, then look forward to those times when the Holy Spirit comes upon us in a mighty way, changing our perceptions and causing us to look at our lives and the world around us in an entirely different way. Such moments give us an almost tangible sense of the presence of God and they are very powerful.
But the Holy Spirit we say we want and the Holy Spirit we really do want are often two different things entirely. The reality is, is that many of us are perfectly happy being able to go about our days with a feeling of God’s loving presence, getting some well-placed insights about our lives and having a general sense of well-being. We like the kinder and gentler Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit that knocks us off our bicycle (metamorphically speaking of course), causing us to land face down on the ground, eating dirt, and gasping for air, we’re not so fond of.
But if there is one thing about the Holy Spirit, that is that it never asks our permission prior to acting, so we don’t get to choose which characteristics of the Spirit that are going to be known to us.
But there is something else that we would do well to remember. Because of, and through the Holy Spirit, whatever we experience in the present is not the whole of the story. There is of course, the unknown future that lies before us. But there are also things happening in the here and now that we don’t know about or fully appreciate their significance. People often say, “God works in mysterious ways,” and that is a true statement but they are mysterious only to us.
The fact is, is that there are forces at work beyond what we normally comprehend. And rather than be surprised when we, from time to time, become cognizant of that, it makes sense to expect that in this life at least, that there will be times when we will be mystified, confused, upset, immensely gratified and know we are loved beyond measure, under the strangest of circumstances.
Those of you who have attended the Spiritual Covenant classes have heard this story before, but on my first morning of seminary in New York in August of 1998, I woke up in my single room laying on a single bed with no pillow because my things had not yet arrived from San Diego (where I had lived in a two bedroom condo with a garage and a car) staring up at what looked like an interrogation light hanging from the ceiling.
Even though it was early morning, the temperature was already easily in the mid to high 80’s, it was really humid, and I had no air conditioning. I opened the window to get some air into my room, and people down on the street were screaming at each other using words that generally are not used in church. And I couldn’t help but think, “This is not what I had envisioned.”
Was it necessary that I go through this—looking back on it now, yes, I think it probably was. Was it pleasant—no, not at that moment. But in order for me to get to a place where I truly did have to learn to rely on God in ways I never had before, ways that now not only sustain me but bring tremendous blessings into my life, it was necessary that I be taken outside of my comfort zone and learn to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to truly support and guide me.
Growth, spiritual and otherwise, quite often doesn’t happen when things are too easy. And why should it—we are perfectly happy with the way things are. However, when our routine or usual ways of doing things gets rattled, it is often only then when we are more inclined to look for new ways to find our grounding.
Jesus’ disciples could have gone on as they were indefinitely when Jesus was still there physically in their lives. They always had him to talk to, to learn from, and to rely on when they were scared or confused. He could arbitrate their disputes (probably one of the least favorite things of his time on earth, although it must have been somewhat amusing at times) and he could say things to people that they had always wanted to but had never had the nerve. Plus, in the meantime, they could go out performing miracles and healings. It must have been pretty heady stuff for what was in many ways, a somewhat ragtag group of people. It wasn’t bad being a part of Jesus’ posse.
But all that changed for the disciples on the final journey to Jerusalem, culminating in Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. And if that were not enough, then there were all those unannounced appearances to them after he died, and now the very real possibility that the same people responsible for bringing Jesus to death wished to do the same thing to them. So much had changed in so short a time and even though Jesus had told them that he would send a helper, an Advocate, what they probably wanted as they were huddled together in that room, was an armed guard and someone to assure them that they would be alright.
But what they got was something very different, something they could have never imagined in even their wildest dreams.
We are told in the book of Acts, that the Holy Spirit that descended upon them “like a rush of violent wind that filled the house where they were sitting” Tongues of fire, like sparks, appeared among them and all of sudden they began to speak different languages, languages they had probably never even heard of before in their lives.
This was hardly the kinder and gentler Holy Spirit that they thought they wanted but rather one that jolted them profoundly and in the process, so empowered them that afterwards they went out and changed the world.
This morning we are going to be baptizing three new members into the community of faith and in the process, they will receive the Holy Spirit themselves in a whole new way. That same Holy Spirit that will at times serve as their as their greatest comforter and at others will blow through their lives like the mighty wind that transformed not only the disciples but many of us here today.
And because of that, we see in them our future, for they will be not only our teachers, but our prophets, and our dreamers of dreams as well. Therefore it is our responsibility to help them recognize the Holy Spirit in their midst, to understand that there is so much to the world then can be perceived by our senses, and learn to expect and perhaps even hope for, the unexpected.
I now look back on that steamy hot morning in New York with a smile because it has become wrapped up in my whole experience at seminary, which was one of the most grace-filled times of my life: an experience that taught me many things, not the least of which is to trust that while God’s providence is indeed beyond our understanding, it is grounded in God’s great love for us.
Things happen to us and some of them bring a great sense of peace and/or joy, while others are painful and hard to understand. But we never face any of them alone and in each there is the opportunity to find that spark of the Holy Spirit to illumine our way.
The Rev. Canon Allisyn Thomas
27 May 2007