Pentecost - Year C - Rev. Sonia Sullivan-Clifton

 As a kid, did you ever terrorize a sibling by scuffing your feet on the floor and walking towards your “prey” with an index finger pointing at them? And if you caught them and touched them, it meant a small but smarting little zap. A small shock — but big fun, if you were on the giving end of it! (not that I would have ever done such a thing) In small town south Georgia, Swainsboro to be exact, where I lived for 10 years, we had two grocery stores. A Harvey’s and a home grown one. A new store was coming to town, BiLo, and so the Harvey’s grocery store bit the bullet and did some major renovations. Among the improvements was all new flooring, a snazzy laminate that looked like real hardwood. The store also bought new shopping carts with sleek wheels. They also installed an upgraded misting system in the produce section which required new de-humidifying equipment for the rest of the store. All these various upgrades resulted in a “perfect storm” for this grocery store. The contact between the new floor and the new shopping cart’s wheels coupled with the dry, de-humidified air resulted in perfect conditions to create tremendous static electricity. Suddenly every shopper with a grocery cart was getting electrified by the lemons, zapped by the chocolate chips, and zinged by a loaf of bread. It was no longer just the check-out counter that was painful. That little bit of electricity – that tiny spark of fire – was not something easily ignored. As minuscule as it was, it was powerful, especially when unexpected. That kind of spark is the root of so much. Think about our ancestors who first experienced fire after the strike of a lightning bolt. Fire that offered both light and warmth to the cold darkness of night. Figuring out how to create fire without lightning was significant to the beginning of human civilization. Taming “fire” was a great human achievement. The kind of fire we are talking about today is the opposite. It is not fire that is tamed or contained, because it is Pentecost fire. But what is Pentecost? Christmas is clear: Jesus is born. Easter is clear: Jesus rises from the dead. Hallmark and other retailers make sure we know all the meanings of these two holy days. But Pentecost is different – no Pentecost cards, no Pentecost pageants, no Pentecost wreathes, no Pentecost corsages, or Pentecost lilies, or Pentecost hunts. Why? Maybe it is because the very essence of Pentecost is that it is not something that can be contained in a greeting card or nailed to a cross on a hill. Pentecost is the little spark that wakes us up. Pentecost the powerful wind that can’t be contained. Pentecost is tongues of fire dancing wildly. Pentecost is the Holy Spirit unleashed so the magnificence of God can be present everywhere, all the time. Before Pentecost became a Christian holy day, it was a yearly Jewish harvest festival celebrated fifty days after Passover. Jews from all over the world would gather in Jerusalem to thank God for another year’s harvest. It just so happened in that particular year that Jesus’ resurrection and Passover occurred at the same time. Acts names people of 15 different languages gathered together and describes the miracle of them all understanding in their own language the speech of someone foreign to them all. The message is about Jesus. This says something really important about God. God is not exclusive. Think of the raging wind of Pentecost. Liken it to that of a hurricane. Wind that can uproot, destroy, or at the very least, whistles like a train that wakes us up at night. Then imagine having that powerful wind in your lungs. But in your lungs, instead of being destructive, it is inspiring. To be inspired means to be full of the Spirit, Think of the most inspired you’ve ever been. Was it when you succeeded at something, had an idea that you knew would solve a problem, read or listened to something that ignited a spark within, was it when you fell in love with a person or a cause, when you made it your first 24 hours sober, or maybe it was when you experienced the power of God’s forgiveness--- God’s love? To be inspired, to be full of the Spirit, to be full of God’s breath is something that can happen to every single one of us. It’s not just for the brilliant, or the creative, or the talented, or the holy people. It is for every one of us. When we talk about being “full of the Spirit”, many of us aren’t so sure that’s what we want. We’ve seen tv shows of people falling on the ground, speaking in tongues, or dancing uncontrollably and that just doesn’t seem like us. Being inspired, being full of the Spirit, being full of God’s breath is so much more than the physical manifestation that our minds often jump to. Being full of God’s breath is to put the other first, to show God’s love to another, to step out in ministry (whether at St. Thomas’ or in the community or on the other side of the world), Being full of God’s breath is to step into a closer relationship with God through prayer, study, & action. Being full of God’s breath is what gives life, true life. Another small town story. We ministers would take turns conducting funerals of those who had no church home. The funeral director would always invite us to ride with them. I almost always took the offer as some of the cemeteries were tiny and tucked away behind the 3rd pine tree after the dirt road after the oval pond. And, of course, conversations with the funeral directors were always interesting. On one particular ride, the director pointed out trees that were standing alone, like you see in Dr. Suess books. He said “you know, those trees are shaped by God’s wind.” I was intrigued. He told me that over time, a tree that stands out in the open becomes shaped by the direction the wind is blowing. Then, as if needing to prove his point, he began to show me tree after tree that had all been shaped in this way, trees that I confess I had passed by many times, but had never really seen until then. Once I was made aware of this, I began to see them everywhere. Trees shaped by the winds of God! So, what do being shaped by wind and shocked by sparks of fire have to do with Pentecost and with us? Everything! My friends, it only takes a spark (like the old camp song says) to jolt us to attention…It only takes a breath of wind to bring us to awareness… A spark can lead to fire, and fire is what enables life. Controlled it refines gold and shapes glass, Rooted in our hearts and spirits, it fuels passion and compels us to share God’s love. Wind shapes coastlines and bends trees. Wind brings refreshment. Wind fills our lungs with the VERY breath of God. The very breath of God is what gives us life and enables us to speak the hope of God to others. So, as we celebrate Pentecost my prayer for each of us is that we will allow the spark of God’s love to ignite a fire in our souls and that the shape of our lives will be witnesses to the breath of God’s movement in our hearts