Acts 2:
1-21; John 15:26–27; 16:4b–15
Today
the Church celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit to all people. Jesus had
promised it to the disciples the night before he was arrested. He told the
disciples that he would send the Advocate to them, a sort of divine defense
attorney. The Advocate will present our case before God and make us right with
God, and in the process God will be glorified.
In
John’s Gospel, on the day of his resurrection, Jesus visits the disciples in
the locked guest room. He quietly speaks with them, and breathes on them,
giving them the Holy Spirit. In the other Gospels, Jesus meets with the
disciples and tells them to wait for the Power from on High, which will descend
upon them.
For
40 days after his death and resurrection, Jesus appears at random moments to
the believers. Then he ascends to heaven, to join the Father once more. Ten
days later, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to the disciples, just as he had
promised.
The
timing is 50 days after Passover, the Festival of First Fruits, a harvest
festival. The city is filled to overflowing with Jewish people from all over
the region, Asia Minor, Egypt, Libya, and Arabia, islands in the Mediterranean.
They are Diaspora Jews, Jewish people who for various reasons have moved from
Israel to other areas. They have been there long enough to speak the local
languages, Greek, Farsi, Arabic, for example, instead of Aramaic.
This
was not a subtle event, with the Spirit suddenly showing up in the room, and
visiting just the disciples. This time, it’s a holy wind, blowing hard and hot
into the room and beyond, into the people gathered in the street outside the
disciples’ hiding place.
The
disciples go into the street and engage with the people. The disciples speak
Aramaic, but the people hear in whatever language they speak. The message is
about Jesus, who taught, preached, healed, raised from the dead, and has now
been resurrected and is present through this holy Wind and Fire.
Peter
explains what is happening by relating it to a prophecy from Joel, which says
the Spirit would appear and wonderful things would happen. Those wonderful
things are just what they see happening right now, in their very midst.
As
a result of this experience and Peter’s sermon explaining the event, many
people became believers and were baptized.
…
There is a tendency to believe that this coming of the Holy Spirit was a
one-time event, and that it will never happen again. But I have been in places
when I knew the Spirit was present and active.
I
have said a simple prayer with a homebound person and looked up to see tears
streaming down their faces. I have seen the Spirit move people and groups to
make decisions they knew they could not do alone. I have heard the Spirit
remind me that many, many others were praying for me, and I could get through
the challenge I was facing with the Spirit’s help. I have been in Gatherings of
thousands of women, and tens of thousands of youth, and known the Spirit was
present because I could feel the Spirit’s energy in the room.
This
past week, a Spirit-driven doctor died. Dr. Tawfiq Nasser was the CEO of
Augusta Victoria hospital, located on the Mount of Olives, and a Lutheran ministry.
Dr Nasser has led the hospital to be a center for oncology and kidney and liver
disease. He wanted Augusta Victoria Hospital to be a community of healing for
all Palestinians. Diane and Mike and I felt the Spirit there, as we learned
that it is a hospital, a medical training center, and a job training center. Dr
Nasser will be missed, but I am certain the Spirit will lead someone else to
take the Hospital to the next level of healing in the community.
As
a Lutheran Pastor, I probably talk more about the Spirit than many other
Lutheran pastors do. I talk about the Spirit so much because the Spirit is the
conduit, the phone line, the wi-fi connection between God and us, and between
you and me. It’s the Spirit’s energy we feel when a song or a reading or a
sermon moves us, speaks to us, and challenges us to change our lives in some
way. The Spirit is always present, and is always inviting, pushing, pulling,
and dragging us into new things, new experiences, new ways of seeing God’s
world and God’s children.
Today,
the special focus of the Spirit is on these four youth sitting in the second
row together. Miranda will be baptized, and then she will be joined by Emilio,
Dominic, and Kelly as they confirm their faith together.
Two
years ago, I rejoiced as other youth were gathered here in the same way, for
their own confirmation Day. At the same time, I grieved, because there were no
more youth to teach, to get to know and love. I had taught my last confirmation
class.
Then,
over the summer, two families with youth came to Hope. Suddenly, I was teaching
Confirmation class again. Last fall, Miranda came, at the insistence of Aida. “If
you are going to date my son, you are going to go to church and to confirmation
class!” Aida says the Spirit told her to say that.
I
firmly believe the Holy Spirit felt my grief and answered my prayer. The Holy
Spirit also spoke to the three families represented in these youth and sent
them here.
I’d
like to say a few things about these four young men and women.
Emilio
impresses us with his voice, and the way he can read with such emotion that we
really understand what he is saying. The way he analyzes things will make him
good at psychoanalyzing people, as he trains to be a psychologist.
It’s
a class joke that I call Dominic “Emilio” even as I look at him and know his
name. Dominic loves skateboarding especially the longboard. He is fascinated by
sea otters and longs to go to study them in person in the northwestern states
where they live.
Kelly
is artistic, concerned about people and the earth. Kelly, as we also know,
loves to play with hair – hair color, hair style – as we see every week. She
hopes to use her gifts in service to others, for example by giving free
haircuts to homeless persons.
Miranda
is brave. A very shy and private person, she has blossomed here. Sent into a
class with three other youth, she has found her way and her voice. We have
recently heard her public voice, as she takes her turn as the assisting
minister for the day, leading us in prayer. She will continue to grow with the
Spirit’s guidance.
The
Spirit is never finished with any of us, always calling us into new adventures,
as individuals and as communities of faith. We help each other along, seeking
God’s will.
As
a congregation, welcome these four youth who are now full members in the
congregation, able to vote, serve on council and committees, and use their
gifts in service to Jesus just as all of you do. Invite them, nurture them, be
patient with them, and love them.
Please
pray with me. Holy Spirit, descend on us today, fill us with your passion and
fire and send us out into the world to call others to know you, too. Amen
