Early in the morning, there was the rush of a mighty wind. Straight line, hurricane force winds were so strong the large white pine tree in our front yard was knocked down and one very large branch abruptly crashed through our roof, landing on our living room floor. Trees were toppled throughout the city, hundreds of buildings and vehicles were damaged and power was down throughout most of Muskegon county. It was Sunday morning, May 31, 1998. I will always remember worship on that day. Without electricity, we sang hymns by candlelight. And, most memorably, accompanied by piano and not organ, the choir sang one of the great choral pieces from The Creation, by Franz Joseph Haydn. That Sunday, May 31, 1998, will be forever etched in my memory because it was also Pentecost Sunday, a celebration of the outpouring of God’s Spirit in the world. And, the Spirit of God was very present as we gathered for worship on that extraordinary morning.
Today, on this Sunday, May 31, 2020, we again celebrate Pentecost, and I am reminded of that morning twenty-two years ago. I am reminded of the great, destructive, mighty winds, that blew through our community. Powerful wind, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunami waves – they all fascinate us. But, nothing really prepares us for the degree of power displayed in these forces of nature as they tear apart our lives. Destructive power of this magnitude leaves behind unrecognizable landscapes and devastated communities. And, when we experience such power, life changes. In an instant the world is turned upside down by a tremendous release of energy through wind, water, air, fire, or earth.
Another power, a creative, life-giving power of a very different dimension and magnitude informs our faith. It is also a power that changes lives, but in a very different way. This is the power the disciples experienced on the day of Pentecost. This is the power that was received by a small, insignificant group of men and women gathered in Jerusalem as they waited for a promise to be fulfilled. During that time of waiting, nothing could have prepared them for the strength and power that was about to hit them. Nothing could have prepared them for the magnitude of their enlightenment as they responded to the world-shattering, transforming, creative Spirit of God. You see, to stand in its path was to catch fire with divine love. In an instant, the disciples’ world was turned inside out by a tremendous rush of creative power released into their hearts and minds, souls and bodies – a power the writer of Luke/Acts describes as manifesting itself in tongues of fire upon their heads.
The creative energy that rushed in and was poured out among them was more powerful than any of the natural powers and forces that tear apart. When this happened, the eyes of their hearts were opened to a world that was previously unknown, an experience that did not fit any of their previous experiences or categories. They saw a new world through new eyes. The many differences of culture and language that separated one from another crumbled under the force of this unifying power. Suddenly, in an instant, each could speak and hear with the same understanding..
While the power of nature opens us to the enormity of its ability to destroy, the power of the Spirit opens our hearts and creates. This is a power that creates new relationships among people and a new intimacy with God. Bridges that are made by human hands crumble by the force of natural disaster. But, the Spirit builds bridges beyond time and space, bridges that bind the slave and the free, men and women, Jew and Gentile. This is the power of the Spirit of God, the power that changes lives, the power that sustains creation, the power that reunites what has been torn apart, the power that reconciles the alienated. This Spirit of Pentecost is the power that rushes into the world as out of nowhere and even breathes life into the place of death.
Friends, we are presently seeing two pandemics, the pandemic of systemic racism that plagues our culture and the COVID-19 pandemic. We are experiencing not only the divisive, destructive nature of both, but also the resulting grief and pain of both. We grieve George Floyd’s horrific death and we grieve the death of hundreds of thousands to COVID-19. Racism and this virus are like destructive winds blowing throughout the country as they annihilate lives. Last Sunday evening, I watched the United Council of Churches online Memorial Service for all who have died. In the depth of pain and death, the creative, life-giving, Spirit was so very present during that service as clergy leaders from multiple denominations participated sharing words of remembrance, grief, faith, and hope. Some read scripture and prayed in their native languages – Korean, Spanish, French, and the native language of the Navajo tribe. In the depth of diversity, the oneness of God’s Spirit was remarkably present, the oneness that only God’s Spirit creates. It was healing and life-giving. Bishop Michael Curry gave the sermon and he observed that as Jesus was dying on the cross, he said, “Into your hands, I commend my spirit.” Bishop Curry noted that, at that very moment when Jesus commended his spirit to God’s care as he died, that was also the very moment that marked the beginning of resurrection! Friends, we, too, commend the spirits and lives of all who have died to God’s care. And, we commend our very lives to God’s ever-present care, God’s unfathomable love, and God’s ever living, ever creating Spirit.
As I look at the church today during these challenging times, I do believe God is doing something new among us. God is transforming the church in ways we do not presently understand, and it is happening before our very eyes. You see, God’s Spirit is not restricted by human will, desire, thinking or even chaotic circumstances. We cannot drive its wind or stop its force, any more than we can control hurricane force winds or the devastation of this COVID-19 virus. We cannot seem to catch it, contain it, control it, or confine it. As we celebrate this day and remember Pentecost, we celebrate the certain and sure promise that wherever the fire burns, wherever the wind blows, wherever chaos and life intersect, the Spirit of God is there, blowing where it will and driving God’s people into the heart of mission, God’s mission in this world.
This is the power of Pentecost, the outpouring of God’s Spirit upon the disciples, not only two thousand years ago, but also right here and right now. And, both then and now, the Spirit rushes in and transforms our experience. Both then and now, the Spirit breaks open the old to reveal the magnitude of God’s connecting power and there is no returning to the old frame of reference. Both then and now, lives are changed forever. Both then and now, hearts are broken open to a dimension of relationship newly reconciled through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Both then and now, there is no end to the horizon of God’s loving embrace.
Yes, as I think back and remember that Pentecost morning when a large tree branch broke through the ceiling onto our living room floor, I am always reminded that the creative energy of God overwhelms even the most destructive powers of human beings and nature. The creative Spirit of God that transformed Jesus’ death on a cross into the greatest act of love the world has ever seen, the creative Spirit of God that raised Christ from the dead, is the same creative Spirit that rushes in and through our own world and is reconciling and reuniting all of creation through us, within us and for us – for the life of the world.