Drama sells.
One cannot find a more dramatic scene than the one we just heard in our scripture reading this morning. What we heard is a description of that first day of Pentecost. Cloistered away the room in which the disciples were sitting is filled with the sound of rushing wind . . . tongues of fire appear upon each of them . . . and the noise was immense as they heard other tongues being spoken. The commotion attracted the attention of others who crowded around the house to see what was happening. They were baffled by what they were witnessing . . . they were in awe.
They could not believe what they were seeing. But on the other hand, there were those there who were quick to give an opinion and declared that they were drunk. Then Peter stood up and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel . . .” Then he went on to explain that this was just as the prophet had said, just as Jesus had promised. The Holy Spirit was delivered.
Thus, it is that we celebrate the Day of Pentecost within our churches . . . the Holy Spirit has been delivered. As the story goes the delivery of the Holy Spirit is built up until it reaches a crescendo on that fateful day in Jerusalem. And you must admit, it is a more gripping story as we have it than if it had just happened without all the dramatic effects. It grabs our attention with excitement and awe as we witness the grand entrance of the Holy Spirit upon the faithful. This stuff sells tickets.
But . . . really? Is this how it works?
I have often told the story about my baptism. Having heard my friend Paul describe his baptism in quite biblical terms . . . the heavens opening up, heavenly choirs, the doves descending . . . I was quite excited and anxious to get baptized. Then it happened. The minister immersed me in the depths of the baptismal waters . . . he dunked me. Up out of the baptismal waters I sprang expecting the heavens to split wide open, choirs singing, and seeing doves descend . . . and nothing! Nothing at all. All I was . . . was soaking wet! No heavenly vision. No choir. No doves, not even a pigeon. Just my brother, David, crying.
David was crying because he thought the minister had killed me. He really thought the minister had killed me. The minister had proclaimed “the old dies and the new is born” just before he dunked me under the water. David was certain that the minister was drowning me.
And . . . that was it. There was no drama. Pretty plain and simple. From that moment on I was one of the faithful . . . signed, sealed, and delivered. No heavenly scene, choir, or doves. Nor was there the sound of rushing wind or tongues of fire.
Needless to say . . . I was disappointed.
In the first congregation I served out of seminary, there was a couple who were faithful members of the congregation . . . but they had an evangelical flair that our church couldn’t quite meet. So, they would attend worship with us on Sunday morning and then head over to one of the evangelical churches to get their fix. It worked well for them and for us.
At least it did for a while. One day the wife came to talk to me. She was concerned about her husband. She explained that they had been attending the evangelical church for quite some time and her husband hadn’t gotten the gift of speaking in tongues like she had. In her mind and heart that was a sign of being saved. She wasn’t sure how she was going to stay with him since he obviously wasn’t saved. She prayed about it . . . a lot. Prayed for him to receive the gift of tongues. Prayed because she did not think it was Christian to divorce her husband. What was she going to do?
The poor guy couldn’t catch a break. He prayed for the gift of tongues . . . and nothing changed. He tried faking it . . . which just made his wife mad. Through it all the wife insisted that she wasn’t sure that they could stay together, but divorce was out of the question. Then, quite innocently, she asked, “Would it be wrong if I prayed for something to happen to my husband so God would take him away from me?”
Such as what? I asked. She then informed me that maybe he would get sick or maybe a car accident. To which I responded to her that it wouldn’t be a good idea.
Like me this woman had a certain picture in her mind and heart of what the Holy Spirit’s presence would look like in a person’s life. Like me she was looking for something more dramatic. And, like me, what we were experiencing was far from the dramatic that we were being sold. I imagine that we are not the only ones to experience and feel this . . . no, I suspect that it is probably more honest to say that most people fall into this category of the faithful. Which raises the question of where is the Holy Spirit?
Years of faithful journey as a follower of Jesus and as a minister, I have come to know the Holy Spirit in a different way . . . a more intimate way . . . that is far from the drama we heard in our reading this morning or witnessed at a baptism or is marked by the gift of tongues. Though for some the Spirit can be dramatic and abrupt, I think for most of us the Spirit is subtle, gentle, and more like a refreshing breeze than rushing wind. And I believe that because God speaks to us all in different ways . . . intimate ways that fit our relationship with the Holy.
The Spirit is not gone! The Spirit is with us . . . always with us!
There is nothing wrong with any of us if we experience the Holy Spirit in ways that are different from the descriptions we read in the scriptures or are told by others. God is a mystery that is experienced in all sorts of ways that speaks to us . . . that reveals to us . . . the presence of God in the world around us. It is not all drama. More often than not it is in the common everyday movement of our lives that God’s spirit is encountered and experienced.
Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to those who believed. As the prophet Joel says: “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” The Spirit dwells within us and we must acknowledge the Spirit’s presence. For some it may come in the form of a sudden epiphany like the Apostle Paul’s experience. For others it may come as a gentle moment sitting by a mountain stream in which the Holy is exposed in the beauty of the landscape. The Spirit moves in ways that are a mystery to us, but to the Spirit they are ways that open us to its presence.
The Holy Spirit is not gone . . . no, it is there with us . . . always with us. Think about those moments in your own life when you have been moved by the Spirit. When have you experienced the movement of the Spirit? Was it in some dramatic moment with rushing wind, dancing flames of fire, and speaking in languages foreign to you? Or was it something more subtle . . . more gentle . . . more intimate?
There are moments within our worship service when we are singing particular hymns in which I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. Those moments when the natural harmony comes into play dancing with the sound of our voices singing praise to God. I can feel the Spirit . . . it sends chills up my spine. That is the Spirit and it is here.
As we celebrate this day of Pentecost, let us not get hung up in expecting the Spirit’s presence to show up in one particular way and one way only. Instead let us celebrate the broad love and grace of God’s presence that comes to us as individuals to form that connection . . . that intimate relationship . . . between us and God. It is in that that the promise of Jesus is fulfilled. It is in that we know within our hearts that we are God’s children. Let us open our hearts and acknowledge the Spirit’s presence. The Spirit has never left us! We just need to acknowledge it for it is always with us. Always! Amen!
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