Doves and Wind and Tongues of Fire

Mexican Pentecost Icon

Come Holy Spirit, and fill the hearts of your faithful,
and kindle in us the fire of Your Divine Love.
Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created,
and You shall renew the face of the earth.
Oh God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit instructed the hearts of the faithful,
Grant, that by the same Spirit we may be truly wise
and ever rejoice in His consolation.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

But Not In My Backyard

We pray for a Spirit to empower us;
But if such a Spirit truly did
What was done that first Pentecost
Would we run the other way?
Would we argue that this
Is not the way we have always done it?

Would we cling to our pews as
The Wind, the Holy Pneuma
The Sacred Ruach
Tried to fly us away to new heights
Of life with God?

Yes, I probably would while
Holding on for dear life.

So Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief
My fears
My control
And let me be carried away
In true living.

You CAN Do It

Jesus was calling his disciples to live and love in ways that seemed impossible. They couldn't do it, not without the Spirit. Yet with the Spirit- there’s very little they can’t do. A little bit before he promises the Spirit Jesus says promises something daring and bold- and crazy sounding. "Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these because I am going to the Father."

Huh? This is not the same way Jesus is portrayed in the other Gospels. In fact John is such a different telling of the story that it stands out- on its own. Why?

Well one of my hunches is that since John was the last of the Gospels written and circulated it is as much a reflection on what the early Christians themselves experienced. I can hear John, a very old man, sharing his thoughts to his students many years after the event. They sit there trying to capture them. Time is running out. The times have changed. The memories of Jesus are all oral or written tradition.

They may have been discussing something that had just happened in their city. They may be responding to an event they have heard of from some other early Christian community. It might be of some miracle or some new conversion or something that seems beyond possibility.

John stops the discussion with a wave of his hand and a deep and soul-affirming smile. You know, he says, that is a great example of what the Master told us on that Passover night. He told us that we would do greater things than even he was able to do. See, he says as the power of the Spirit fills him- See. It’s true. It IS true.

Look around. Not just here, but wherever two or three or hundreds gather today. Miracles- hope and life- are happening. Promises are coming true. It’s all in the Spirit- and it’s all in the love that he started with. And is now ours to share. Greater than what he did? Sure. 2000 years ago he couldn’t have touched the people we can touch today. More people will have heard the Good News in the last couple hours right here in Minnesota than in all of Jesus lifetime. And that doesn’t count the TV and radio shows or the private conversations or readers on their computers.

It’s all in the love. His love for us- and our call to love others. It’s all in the Spirit- His Holy Spirit that is right here keeping us in touch. Forever.

Pentecost 2007
It wasn't planned this way (by me) but I find it perfect timing to be at Pentecost just as I have reached the point in my series on the church that I will talk about the church I would hope to minister with. This coming Thursday I will start putting it all together.

Today is the day of the church. It is the third of the Big Three Days of Christian faith. Christmas gets us started, Easter shows us the power that makes it all possible and Pentecost reminds us that the power is here, for us, today and every day. It is not a dream or wishful thinking that can never come true. It is here- just as on that first Pentecost day.

But it is striking how different the church of today is from the one envisioned in Acts. It prompted Wordsworth to write the following which says all I want to say about it today.

The church I see in Acts
is so different from the church I see today.

Following Jesus was an all-consuming fire
and some
(many)
surely did perish in its flames.

Today,
Jesus is that little
extra
that makes our lives nice.

Have we made a mockery of the
sacrifice?

When we thank Him for saving us,
are we really thinking
He’s made us safe?

by Wordsworth as found at
Poems for the Journey

May we pray that today, in our world, the ancient fire will be found again, alive, in our midst.