The Day of Pentecost

I don’t have to tell you what those words mean. We feel, as well as know, the meaning of "BOOM!"

All of these mimetic words have significant meaning to us because they are not only symbolic of something, in the way in which all words are symbols of something, but are signs pointing directly to a very specific thing. The very sounds, not just the dictionary meaning given to them, contain the action or thing to which they point.

That is the way that the Hebrew word for "spirit" works. Ruach. In Hebrew, it is the sound of breath or wind as well as the description of breath or wind or spirit. Translation into Greek and Latin and English tames the word so that we do not hear the power spoken therein.

Ruach, or Spirit, is a powerful, creating, moving force that carves out the universe and gives life – gives itself, gives its very own breath – to the creation. Breath is given to the wind as well as the world. Life is given to the atmosphere and the Adam.

We are made alive through the Spirit of God. We are made alive through the breath of God. We are animated by God’s breath coming into our bodies and souls just as a balloon might be animated by being blown up and then released. The image is a true one.

We have all seen a balloon blown up as big as it can get. There are a couple of things that can happen after the balloon is filled with our breath. It can be tied so that the breath is contained and controlled inside the shell of the balloon. Or it can be released so that the breath we have worked so hard to get into this space is evacuated, while the shell flies around the room spreading our breath all over the place.

Our lives are blown up with the breath of God that we might open ourselves and let go of that breath for the sake of the world around us and thus spread God’s breath in our animation, in our flying around the world, as a balloon that has been released by a child.

Make no mistake; the breath in the balloon is expended. It may, however, be filled again and again and again. And released again and again and again. The balloon that is tied and contains the breath is not expended, but neither does it fly all around the room spreading good cheer and surprise. The filled and tied balloon simply lies there or floats to the ground to be kicked about, stepped on - and eventually to pop or shrivel, releasing its pent-up breath in one exciting act or slowly seeping away into a tied shell that can neither receive or give breath away.

God’s Spirit is powerful. God’s Spirit is animating. God’s Spirit brings us the gifts and energy needed to carry out His work in this world. But we cannot do it if we are afraid to let go of the very gift we have been given. Wisdom is one of the gifts mentioned by Paul in the First Letter to the Corinthians. If we have the gift of wisdom, the gift to see the broader picture in any given set of events, but choose not to share that gift with those who are mired in the details because we are afraid that we might be mistaken or that people will not care what we have to say – then we are like the balloon that is all blown up but tied tightly so as not to allow any of the breath that made it to escape. Wisdom is a gift from God, but unused it becomes stale breath that no longer has a word to say to the current life of the world.

It takes risk to use God’s gifts, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We might be wrong in our assessment of things, that is, we might use the gift unwisely and come up with the wrong answer or the answer to a question no one is asking. Remember, Fr. Casey reminds us that this is the work of theologians, to answer questions no one is asking. At least they are trying to use the gifts God has given them, however confusing they may be at the time!

When we take the risk and let go of the balloon we may fly about with abandon and run into all sorts of things, spreading God’s love, God’s wisdom and God’s power to everything we come into contact with. We may also be spreading nonsense if we do not remain centered on God’s word. It’s easy to get focused on our own desires and allow the main thing to blow into the wind of obscurity while we deal with really important matters of great cultural significance.

Remember the power of God’s Spirit. When we are blown off course by the winds of our culture or even the strong winds of traditionalism, the gift God gives us will call us back if we listen and stay attentive. We have a true vision of where God wants us to be and how God wants us to use gifts however far off course we have blown. Fr. Casey told us that there is a correlation between truth and remembering. So you might say that we have a remembered vision of how God wants us to use His gifts.

Jesus the Christ. He is our remembered vision; he is our Truth of how to use God’s gifts. But his is not a very tame way to use gifts; take up your cross and follow me, lay down your life for the sake of another, give up your coat as well when asked for your shirt, turn the other cheek, sell all that you have and follow me. I could go on and on. But you probably remember that this Jesus seemed to have a dangerous attitude about giving up rather than hoarding.

That is the only way, the only true way to use God’s gifts; to give them up in abandonment, to allow God to be in charge of the results while we simply spread the Good News, to make God’s way known in the world even when we know that the world will laugh and call us naïve.

God’s way of spreading grace and love is messy, like a balloon blown up and let go to fly around the room. It is not always dignified and it almost always demands some risk of self to be a part of the power and energy that will be released when the Breath of God is allowed to take over our lives and send us spiraling into the unknown world of reconciling the creation with its creator. But it is only unknown to us. No risk is unknown to God. You see, He has already taken all the risks of creation and paid the price for reconciliation with His creation.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit He has promised to be with us as we seek to use the gifts given to us, so that we may be walking into the unknown but not alone. We are filled with the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit, and we get to choose what to do next. Tie up the gifts and hope no one comes to ask for them, or let them go and allow God to use us to do His work in this world.

To paraphrase Teresa of Avila; we can be His hands to feed people and touch and heal people, we can be His eyes to look on people with love, we can be His arms to embrace His children, but we have to trust Him to direct the gifts we have been given to build up the community, not just make us look good and full of gifts. We have to love, to risk, to be willing to empty ourselves of the very gifts we have been given.

Jeffery Rowthorn wrote a beautiful hymn about all of this that we sang at the Offertory on Pentecost. I’ll share with you the words, that you might experience their truth. My friend, teacher and mentor, Russell Schulz, composed the moving and powerful tune we used when we sang this hymn on Sunday. I want to thank Bonnie and the choir for sharing this gift with all of us.

God has done His part. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. Now it is up to us to hold onto our gifts or give them up – letting them go at the risk of being empty for the Glory of God.+