Blowing in the Wind

June 12, 2011
Pentecost
St. Aidan's Episcopal Church

(The kids were a big help with this sermon, as you can see.  They helped "blow" the breath of God, build the Tower of Babel, and acted as disciples.  Anyone familiar with Godly Play will see a lot of crossover.  Thanks, Jerome Berryman!)

In the beginning, the very first chapter of the Bible tells us, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep.  But the Holy Spirit was there. A wind from God swept over the face of the waters and God began to create.

The Holy Spirit was there for the creation of humankind, too. The second chapter of Genesis shows God forming the first human from the dust and breathing into its nostrils the breath of life and what was once dust becomes a living being.

All things, including humankind, were declared “good” and we lived in relationship with our Creator. But it wasn’t long before we begin making our way toward division and death. There’s the forbidden fruit, Cain and Abel, the flood….

And then one day, the people decided to build a great tower.  Everyone working on the tower spoke the same language and worked together. At first, they were trying to come close to God.

But as the tower grew taller and taller, they began to talk in different ways. They forgot why they were building it. They grew so proud of themselves that they began to think that they were greater builders than God. Each group thought it was better than any of the others. A huge noise replaced their talking. It made no sense. Everyone was babbling , and no one could understand anyone else. Soon the tower fell down, so it was called the Tower of Babel. The language and the people of the earth were shattered and broke apart.

Thousands of years passed. Then Jesus died on the cross, but somehow he was still with the people around him. They kept seeing him – in the garden by the empty tomb, on the road to Emmaus, by the sea as they fished, and in the breaking of bread as he ate with them….

And then one day something amazing happened. The disciples were in
Jerusalem all gathered in one room.


 

Suddenly there was a sound like a mighty wind rushing to be with them. It was the Holy Spirit. They became so full of power that they seemed to be on fire. They were so excited that people wondered what was going on. In Jerusalem there were people from many different countries who spoke many different languages. And yet they could all understand the disciples speaking. Everyone could see that the disciples had come close to God – and God had come close to them – in a new way. It no longer mattered that they spoke different languages.

The disciples went out into all the world to tell their stories about Jesus. And ever since, Pentecost has been celebrated to remember that day.

We call it the birthday of the church because it is when the stories started to spread and the followers of Jesus started to grow. But maybe it’s even more of a graduation kind of celebration. The disciples received their authentic voices and stepped out into the world. They probably felt a mix of fear and excitement as they started spreading the story. And the circle continued to ripple out and the Holy Spirit continued to move and empower and embolden.

And now, whatever happened to those first disciples has been handed off to us. We are part of this wild and magnificent story of power and reversal, too. The Holy Spirit is still bringing life out of death, hope out of despair, community out of brokenness, understanding out of discord. And it’s our turn to be filled with it -- to find our voices and move into the world to love and serve God and our neighbor in bold and creative and life-giving ways. To keep adding to the story!

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.