Immediate Word

Every year Pentecost rolls around and church-school teachers rack their brains to figure out how to demonstrate the reality of the Holy Spirit. Rainbow colored streamers fly from fans; helium balloons soar; trumpets blast. Pastors seek out worship leadership participants from among those of diverse races, nationalities, and languages. All in an effort to make visible this invisible phenomenon we call God's Holy Spirit.

The events of Acts 2, Pentecost, are fairly well known by churchgoers, almost as well known as Luke 2. Nevertheless, even adults on Pentecost will want more concrete evidence of the involvement of the Holy Spirit in our world today. Such stories won't be found on the front pages of our news, because such stories don't sell newspapers. This past week people have been more interested in the deceptive spirit of "the runaway bride" from Duluth, Georgia, than in the Spirit, which may have encouraged her to finally tell the truth to her family. What Spirit or spirit enabled tsunami victim Ranga Krishnarajan to pursue and rebuild his home and restaurant in Sri Lanka, four months after losing everything, almost his life, on that unsuspecting day after Christmas last year? (Washington Post, April 30, Section A, p. 1). On April 26, what Spirit or spirit drove Matty McNair and four other teammates, along with sixteen Alaskan huskies, to race 420 miles to the North Pole and succeed in breaking Robert E. Peary's record 37-day trek? On March 28, what Spirit or spirit impelled leaders of the Episcopal church USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian church (USA), United Church of Christ, and United Methodist church, to unite and take on President Bush's Federal Budget for 2006 in a public statement declaring the federal budget a moral document which ought to reflect our nation's obligation to care for the homeless, unemployed, uninsured, underfed, and undereducated? (http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_61586_ENG_HTM.htm) Where is the Holy Spirit operating in our world today? How will we distinguish it from ordinary human-spirit-filled works?

Our Pentecost lectionary passage from Acts 2:1-21 assists us in developing scriptural based criteria for discerning the work of the Spirit in our world today. Unlike ordinary human spirit, which has a tendency to drive us inward to meet selfish needs, the extraordinary Holy Spirit drives us outward, toward life in community with others. Unlike ordinary human spirit, which loves the spotlight focused on the self in all our fantasies of exclusivity, the extraordinary Holy Spirit inclusively pulls others into the spotlight. Unlike ordinary human spirit, which competes to climb one rung higher on the ladder of success than our neighbor, the extraordinary Holy Spirit moves human beings to sacrifice for the common good of all. In this week's Immediate Word we will examine how our lectionary scriptures help us judge where and when this extraordinary Holy Spirit is alive and at work in this world.

A Quick Look at the Significance of Pentecost

In Jewish history, Pentecost was a spring harvest feast observed fifty days after Passover (see Exodus 23:16; 34:22; Leviticus 23:15-16; Deuteronomy 16:1-17), It was a time for giving thanks to God for bountiful harvest, much like we do at Thanksgiving, or in celebration of Earth Day. Pentecost also became a time for giving thanks to God for the gift of the law through Moses. The wind and fire of the Holy Spirit in Acts are most reminiscent of the holy happenings on Mount Sinai. With that in mind, Luke's imagery in Acts 2 keys right into the hearts and minds of Jewish readers.

The Need to Discern Spirit from spirit

The work of the Holy Spirit is a mystery indeed, but it is not so much a mystery that we should accept anything anyone claims to be "of the Spirit." The terrorists who flew airplanes into the World Trade Center claimed to be doing the will of God-Allah. The Christian faith knows of no such thing. The Spirit of Jesus Christ does not lead people to murder and terrorize others. Jihad is not in the nature of the God whom we serve through Jesus Christ. There is a need today to reiterate the characteristics of this Holy Spirit given to humanity in such a way that will help us discern when and where the Spirit is working, as opposed to when and where people are simply using religious language to clothe the spirit of human desires to dominate others.

Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit is something we identify by its work, its effect on people. John tells us the Holy Spirit is like the wind (John 3:8) and the work of the Spirit is mostly described in verb forms. Its action primarily concerns that of creating faith within us, guiding, inspiring, illuminating, empowering, initiating, uniting, scattering, and diversifying gifts in all of God's creatures. Some people find that it is helpful to apply categories to the sometimes irrational work of the Spirit. Writers may make a distinction between the objective work of faith in the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the subjective, appropriating work of faith in the Holy Spirit.

Discernment of the work of the Holy Spirit is needed, because so often the Spirit makes things possible that ordinarily would seem impossible. It is a mystery how families under intense pressure can weather the roughest crises when the Spirit binds them together. It is a mystery how unemployed persons will not lose their sense of self-worth when the Spirit holds them close. It is a mystery how the Spirit can help once very dependent spouses survive the death of a wife or husband and later find the strength to put their lives back together. It is a mystery to me how some children grow up in the most unloving and abusive environments and become not just survivors but conquerors in life.

Discernment is also needed because we experience the presence of the Holy Spirit in contradictory ways. When God's energized, zesty, intrusive, coaxing Holy Spirit is really present, there is a sense, on the one hand, that things are totally out of our control. On the other hand, ironically, there is the sense that things finally are coming together for us in a meaningful way. When the Spirit is present to us, on the one hand, there is unpredictable energy and outward movement, away from our narcissistic selves. On the other hand, there is the sense of a peaceful, non-anxious presence hovering within.

The present cohabitation of religion and politics in Washington also makes it important for us to look and listen with discerning eyes and ears when our politicians claim they are following the Spirit's leading. This week David Brooks in an editorial in the New York Times held up Abraham Lincoln as a model politician who was "mesmerized by religion, but could never shake his skepticism" (New York Times, Op-Ed Section, May 5, 2005). Lincoln relied upon the guidance of God, writes Brooks. He even "made a solemn vow to the Almighty that if God gave him victory at Antietam, Lincoln would issue the decree (Emancipation Proclamation)," which makes him sound like a present-day evangelical. In reality, Lincoln tried to "slow down the evangelicals" and encouraged humility and caution. We would do well to imitate Lincoln's discerning mind and spirit when it comes to endorsing the agenda of either the left or the right wing of issues about faith and politics.

How do our lectionary passages for this Pentecost (specifically Acts 2:1-21; Numbers 11:24-30; and 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13) help us define criteria that distinguish the work of the Holy Spirit? In the paragraphs below I will highlight seven traits or activities of the Holy Spirit that are either explicitly or implicitly communicated through these readings. Hopefully when we gain a clearer understanding of the work of the Spirit, we will see that it is quite different from the usually self-serving work of the ordinary human spirit.

Spirit as Gift from God

Luke's account of the ascension of Jesus makes it clear that what happens at Pentecost had to be the work of God and not the work of the disciples. After Jesus ascended, the disciples gathered and remained in constant prayer (1:14), waiting and depending on God to make his will known to them. So when the power from on high did come upon them in Jerusalem, it was clear to them that they had nothing whatsoever to do with it. The Holy Spirit was a gift from God to them. The Spirit is not something human beings can manufacture. It is also a rather odd gift. Devout Jews who witnessed the disciples "under the influence" were bewildered and amazed (Acts 2:6). The gift of the Spirit comes to us like a Christmas present that we unwrap and don't quite know what it is or what to do with it. Like a radioactive element, it resists being held for very long. We stare at it. We wonder which end is up. We turn it around and view it from all angles. We are not sure we want others to know we have this Spirit with a capital S. It is the kind of gift that becomes meaningful to us only as we participate in the unfolding of its power within us.

In Luke's account of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit blew the cover of the disciples as they were hiding out in the Upper Room. Jesus told them at his ascension to wait for the time to come when they would receive "power from on high" (Acts 2:8). With a mighty sound, like an approaching tornado, the Spirit rushed into their presence, setting tongues of flame above the heads of each. They began to talk in languages they had never spoken before but, curiously, those who witnessed the event understood them. It was the reversal of the curse of confusion at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:7).

Spirit as Orderly Disorderliness

In the first few verses of Acts 2, Luke tells us that the coming of the Spirit was utter chaos and confusion! Wind rushing, the house shaking, and tongues of fire lighting on people's heads while they babbled in foreign tongues -- the sight and sound of Pentecost. The disciples began to speak languages they had never even taken a crash course in. And yet what people heard was something very orderly and understandable -- the gospel proclaimed in their very own language. That was Pentecost -- the phenomenological gift of the Holy Spirit -- God's special mechanism for turning chaos into order, for rendering meaning to our lives when nothing else seems to make sense at all

Will Willimon writes that the church today is guilty of trying to "shackle the Spirit, demystify the mystical, and explain the unexplainable. We are guilty of taking the emotional heat of the Spirit and putting it in a cage, or tying it to a stake out back, so that we won't be distracted from what preoccupies us" (Pulpit Resource, 2001).

Willimon asserts that this Holy Spirit "tends to be pushy, assertive, antagonistic, and imperialistic." He says, "It is the nature of the Holy Spirit to want to take over, wherever he, or she intrudes." I'm convinced that the Holy Spirit comes into our life very much like an enthusiastic toddler who comes running into a room helter-skelter. Just when you're all stretched out on the sofa ready to nod off to sleep, they target you and dive right into your lap, knocking the wind out of you. The Holy Spirit has a life of its own, focused but unpredictable.

Luke cites the prophet Joel with this good and crazy work of the Spirit (2:17). Joel prophesied that unpredictable things would happen when God poured God's Spirit out upon the entire world. Old people would dream dreams and be open to change. They would sing new hymns and love new liturgy! Young children, on the other hand, would see visions and prophesy with the wisdom of Solomon and philosophize with the insight of Kierkegaard. What an astonishing reversal of what anyone would expect!

Spirit That is Inclusive, not Exclusive

After giving birth to my first son, an African-American female nurse entered my hospital room ready to chat. She asked me what work I did. When I told her I was a minister, she exclaimed, "Well, now isn't that just what the Bible says, 'I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh -- male and female alike.' " It had never occurred to me until that moment to use that prophecy as justification for the ordination of women, and for the Spirit's sustaining work among former slaves (2:18). "There you have it," I thought, "the inclusive, gathering in work of the Spirit, for everyone to see."

It is simply not in the nature of the Spirit to be exclusive. The Bible does not say that people have to be professing Christians to know the work of the Spirit in their lives. The Spirit will have its way with us and with the world whether we acknowledge its divinely originating, mysterious workings or not. It surprises Christians to learn that the Spirit that comes to the disciples at Pentecost is also not an exclusively New Testament entity. It is the same Spirit that brooded over the waters in Genesis, the same Spirit that overcame prophets like Saul and David, and led them into ecstatic, whirling dervish type dances -- that was the same Spirit of Pentecost. God's Spirit that permeates the Godhead from beginning of creation to the end is always with God and continues to draw all people to God until God will "be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28).

Spirit as Shaper of New Community

Jerusalem was a multicultural city as illustrated by the long list of foreigners who witnessed the Spirit's effect on the disciples (Acts 2:9-11). The miraculous gift of the Spirit enabled each foreigner to hear the proclamation of the gospel in his or her own language. The work of the Spirit removes barriers and brings people together. Language was not meant to divide God's people. Pentecost reversed the Tower of Babel's disempowering, dividing curse of God upon humanity (Genesis 11:1-9). Instead of being culturally divided, the miracle of Pentecost united all of these foreigners into one community where everyone was "on the same page." In order for this new sense of community to take place, the disciples had to be driven out from their cozy, closed fellowship. The God who would raise them to new life in Christ would also raise them from the death of living isolated lives, fearful of foreigners.


The lection from Numbers 11:24-30 indicates that the Spirit of God crosses even the boundaries of sacred ritual. Neither Eldad nor Medad were in the camp when the LORD ceremonially distributed (ordained?) some of the Spirit upon the seventy gathered together. The Spirit was not to be limited by the boundaries of ritual. The Spirit sought out Eldad and Medad. They prophesied much to the delight of Moses. What kind of transformation might happen within our own sacred communities if we, like Moses, delighted in the Spirit's refusal to be locked into the church's rules of order and discipline?

Spirit for the Common Good

The gifts that the Holy Spirit gave to the early church soon began to manifest themselves as the church discerned the development of their fellowship in Christ. It was clear that not everyone had the same gifts, but whatever gifts they had been given were to be used for the strengthening of the "common good" (1 Corinthians 12:7). In a sense, one could say that private (not personal) Christian faith was outlawed on Pentecost. Gifts were to be used for the growth of all. It is this one distinguishing characteristic of the Holy Spirit that rubs most Americans. Pentecost happened in a group of people. It wasn't just one person's individual experience. Life in the Spirit cannot be fully experienced watching the television alone in the living room on a Sunday morning.

The Spirit of Unity and Diversity

Last week in Washington, 3,500 demonstrators piled 8,000 individual pairs of shoes in front of the White House to remind the president and the Congress that 8,000 people around the world die of AIDS-related illnesses every day (Washington Post, May 6). People protested because they were united by the cause, and they were incredibly diverse in background. Petula Dvorak wrote, "... we've got African American churchwomen from the South walking with someone straight out of prison, (or) walking with an Asian Harvard graduate." "We know AIDS affects people from Yale and people from jail. ... People of faith are concerned about this epidemic, but there is silence. Our goal is to break the silence in the church." The demonstration was a beautiful illustration of the uniting work of the Spirit through diverse persons.

It is a mystery how any organization ever pulls off both unity and diversity. Sometimes it seems that the church is more divided than unified. As someone once observed, 11 o'clock on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the week in our nation. But every now and then a pastor can observe how amazing it is that a congregation can hang together as one, despite the amazing differences in personalities, educational levels, and political persuasions. At Pentecost the Spirit marked God's people as one, but it did not melt away their differences in opinion or perspective, which made the early church rich in substance and character.

The Spirit That Gathers Also Scatters

The Spirit drove the disciples out of their hiding place into the streets, so that this now unifying Word could be proclaimed to all. The disciples were not allowed to stay huddled up together. Spirit scatters us not to disempower us but to empower us to serve. The lesson to be learned is that there is no such thing as salvation by isolation.

Toward the end of his lifetime, John D. Rockefeller, Sr. got a swift kick from the Holy Spirit. He accumulated massive amounts of wealth in his lifetime, primarily by squashing competition and driving good men out of business with his monopolizing Standard Oil Company. One day his Baptist preacher laid it on him. Owen Gates was his name (no relation to Bill). Gates warned him that his accumulation of wealth could kill him. So John Sr. began to amend his ways and scatter his wealth. It was his son, John Jr. who became the real scatterer of his father's wealth. What one gathered, the other scattered.


A Summarizing Perspective

Rockefeller Center in New York City used to be the idolized center of power and achievement, like the Twin Towers once was. I am told that on the facade surrounding the Center on Fifth Avenue, John Jr's credo is inscribed. My favorite part of it reads, "I believe that the rendering of useful service is the common duty of mankind, and that only in the purifying fire of sacrifice is the dross of selfishness consumed and the greatness of the human soul set free." I wonder if God didn't have something like that in mind when the Holy Spirit was unleashed at Pentecost. Was it God's hope that the rectifying, purifying fires of the Spirit might cleanse us from the perennial, siren cries of selfishness, by first uniting us and then scattering us into the world to render useful service to our God and Creator?

This week as preachers tango with the Spirit of Pentecost, may the wind of God's Spirit, blow upon the spark of God's living Word. May that Word in all of us be fanned into a fiery flame of love for all God's children. And may the dreams and visions of all those children be our hope and God's will for this world.


Team Comments

Chris Ewing responds: Thank you, Mary Boyd, for a rich and insightful reflection that provides us with some helpful benchmarks for evaluating what we see happening around us, and our own responses. As Christians we are heirs to a historical faith: we believe that God has acted in and through the events of history. From the formation of a witnessing people descended from Abraham, through the archetypal experiences of enslavement and escape, exile and return, to the historically conditioned ministry of Jesus and the early church's wrangling about the implications of faith for race relations and dietary practices, ours is very much a faith in dialogue with the present moment. Yet if this is a distinctive feature of the Judeo-Christian heritage, most of us will confess that few things are more confusing than trying to track the actions of God's Spirit in the events and issues of contemporary life.

The Bible itself attributes a bewildering range of activity and events to the Spirit of God, both within and beyond the community of the faithful. At the broadest and most basic level, God's Spirit breathes life into created beings and animates the annual seasonal cycles (Psalm 104:30; compare Genesis 1 and 2, and also the role of Wisdom in Proverbs 8). The conviction that creation draws its vital essence from God is reflected in Job's assertion (33:4) that "the Spirit of God has made me." It is a short yet breathtaking step from this basic understanding that the very breath of life is from God, to seeing the special indwelling of the Spirit, even prenatally, in prophets such as Jeremiah (1:5) and John the Baptist (Luke 1:15), or the special agency of God's Spirit in the conception of Jesus (Matthew 1:18).

If the Spirit of God permeates and enlivens all of Creation and at times manifests an extraordinary presence and activity in certain individuals, then we may well ask what we should watch for, and in whom or where. Although I profoundly agree with the characteristics Mary Boyd has highlighted in her lead article, I have to say that the witness of the scriptures is not quite that neat, raising issues of authority and interpretation that we will certainly need to have grappled with before we can confidently point to the Spirit's action in the world.

The Hebrew Scriptures, to the consternation of modern readers, are notorious for attributing almost every event or stirring of heart, good or bad, to the sovereignty of God. If we can welcome the thought that God's Spirit could animate not only great kings like David (1 Samuel 16:14), or wise planners like Joseph (Genesis 41:38), but also community leaders like Moses' seventy elders (Numbers 11:25), skilled craftspeople like Bezalel (Exodus 31:2) and even pagan movers and shakers like Balaam (Numbers 24:2) and Cyrus (Ezra 1:1), we are often less comfortable with the thought that the Spirit of God helped Samson slaughter thirty men for their clothes (Judges 14:19), and downright distressed by the assertion that God, having withdrawn the Holy Spirit, sent an evil spirit to torment Saul (1 Samuel 16:14).

Particularly knotty is the affirmation permeating so much of the Old Testament (particularly the books of Joshua and Judges) that God not only gave Canaan to the Israelites but with the Spirit also empowered their defeat and often the genocide of the peoples already living there. This perspective not only troubles many as they read the Bible but it also raises enormous questions for Jews and Christians today, as the descendants of Canaanites and Israelites wrestle with the ongoing question of who has a right to the land. Does God really take sides in land disputes? On what basis? Are we to perceive the Spirit of God at work where people are taking powerful action to realize biblical promises? Or do we instead see God's Spirit at work where old divisions are transcended and a just peace forged?

If the latter, how do we deal with the massive biblical assertion that God's will and God's Spirit powerfully backed the Israelite incursion? (There are, at least, a few small cracks in this view: the bewildering vision Joshua had on the threshold of conquest -- Joshua 5:13ff. -- of an angelic warrior who sided with neither Israel nor her enemies; and Jesus' anti-xenophobic interpretation of the Elijah/Elisha cycle -- Luke 4:25ff.) If on the other hand, like a significant minority of Christians, we choose to see the Spirit at work in Israel's efforts toward exclusive sovereignty, how do we deal with the pervasive scriptural witness that God calls people to justice and mercy, and was most fully revealed in one who did not claim anything as his own but laid even his life on the line to redeem us all? (Philippians 2:5ff. -- Yet even this one invoked ethnic slurs on at least one occasion, Matthew 15:26!) The biblical witness unquestionably pulls in contradictory directions. Both those who insist on the literal and continuing validity of all texts and also those who point to a developing understanding have some challenging material to deal with. And both need to think hard about the connection between their reading of the Bible and their reading of current events.

Every day we can see news stories that testify to the ongoing liveliness of the apparently contradictory spirits animating the biblical record. Suicide bombings and the erection of the wall stand apposite to peace talks and mixed Palestinian/Israeli groups building bridges of understanding. Into which of these activities is God breathing vital breath? How do you know?

Today's lections nicely avoid plunging us into the middle of these questions (unless you consider that the optional Numbers account of the seventy elders occurs on the way to the promised land!); but news accounts and national politics leave us no such breathing room. If we are going to ask about "spirit or Spirit?" in the events unfolding around us, it's only a matter of time until we fetch up here, and we will find people who call themselves Christians on both sides of the issue. It is because of just such problems that we need to probe how we understand the Spirit of God to be at work in our world. It is an immensely practical question.

Often, perhaps in hopes of avoiding such messy topics, we content ourselves with talking about the Spirit's work in the church: empowering proclamation (Acts 2) and resourcing the body for its work and witness (1 Corinthians 12). Even within the church, however, discerning the Spirit is not easy: one has only to think about current debates over matters related to sexual orientation (a debate foreshadowed by the earliest church's struggle over the basis of inclusion for Gentiles -- Acts 15 records a climactic moment).

The overall movement of unfolding revelation in scripture, as Mary Boyd has pointed out, is toward inclusivity, community, unity in diversity, transcending of barriers so that all may find fullness of life in Christ, and justice in society. The powerful witness to God's saving will (Acts 2), the giving of gifts for the common good (1 Corinthians 12), the identification of the Spirit as the power to forgive (John 20), and, perhaps most winsomely, the characterization of the Spirit as the life-giving element in a believer's gut response to life (John 7) all point in this direction. Romans 5:5 and 8:15, Galatians 5:22, and 2 Timothy 1:7, to name just a few, offer various hopeful ways of describing the Spirit's influence. Yet we never really get away from the other edge of Spirit/spirit in scripture. Even in the final verses of Revelation (admittedly a product of a very polarized and anxious situation), the beautiful inclusive invitation of 22:17, "Let everyone who is thirsty come," is followed by the harsh warnings of verses 18 and 19 proscribing anyone who would truncate the complex message of the book.

If there is good news in this, it may just be that God in Spirit is willing to get down in the muck with us and, not worrying excessively about keeping up appearances, continues to wrestle with us, at once within and beyond our perspectives and choices, for a future worth having.

George Murphy responds: "Spiritualities" are a dime a dozen these days, and for some people everything that's labeled "spiritual" is pretty much on the same level. Nowadays we might replace the dubious old saying, "It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you're sincere" with "It doesn't matter how you're spiritual as long as you're sincere." The New Testament, however, is quite aware that there are spirits and spirits -- and a Spirit. First John 4:1 warns Christians not to "believe every spirit, but [to] test the spirits to see whether they are from God." And then in the next two verses a criterion is given for testing: "Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God."

This seems to present a doctrinal criterion: Does a person have the proper belief about the Incarnation? (Confessing Christ need not, however, be limited to a statement of correct theological propositions. "Confessor" is the term for any person who suffers persecution for the sake of Christ but who is not actually martyred.) That is appropriate in some situations but it isn't obvious how such a criterion is to be applied in other cases. In order to use such a criterion to test the spirit of some political or economic proposal, for example, we need to go deeper. Each of the Gospel Readings suggested for this Pentecost Sunday, John 7:37-39 and John 20:19-23, provides some help for such discernment.

In the text from John 7, Jesus at the Feast of Booths uses the imagery of water (a prominent theme at that festival), to speak of "the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive." But at the time the Spirit wasn't yet given, "because Jesus was not yet glorified." When we remember that in the Fourth Gospel Jesus' "hour" of glory is that of the cross and resurrection, we realize that the gift of the Spirit will carry the sign of those events. The same idea is expressed in John 19:30, where Jesus "bowed his head and gave up his spirit."

We may expect, then, that words and actions inspired by this Spirit may have a discernible cruciform shape to the eyes of faith. This does not mean that they will always involve literal death or life, but they may in some real sense have the character of the resurrection of the crucified, of life out of death. In addition, the "glorification" of Christ involved suffering and death for a purpose. It was an "emptying," a giving of self for the sake of the other. That being the case, speeches or proposed courses of action that are fundamentally selfish, that are designed only to allow one person or group to hold on to power or resources, should raise Christian suspicions about "whether they are from God."

In the other Gospel option, which is sometimes called the Johannine Pentecost, Jesus appears to his frightened disciples on the evening of the first Easter and breathes on them to bestow the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is given for a purpose -- to empower them to forgive and retain sins. The Holy Spirit is certainly involved in other things. (A basic error to which Christians -- and especially western Christians -- have often been tempted is the idea that the work of the Spirit is restricted to the church. Psalm 104:30, part of the assigned psalm for this Sunday, with its reference to the activity of the Spirit in creation, is a helpful corrective to that notion.) But certainly the forgiveness of sins is one important thing in which the Spirit is involved, and that ought to be one criterion for determining whether or not a spirit is from God or not.

Christians should first of all take seriously both the need for sins to be forgiven and the authority of the church to announce that forgiveness. A church is in big trouble if people can't honestly discern the movement of the Spirit in it in this way. Who within the church should announce that a person's sins are forgiven is something that Christians of different communions may debate, but that this declaration can be made is quite clear from the text. And this does not mean the announcement of a semi-absolution -- in effect, "I hope God forgives you." Rather, in one form or another, "For Christ's sake God forgives you."

But the importance of forgiveness extends beyond the bounds of the church, and is not limited to formal acts of absolution by a pastor. A lack of forgiveness, and the consequent holding of grudges and acts of revenge, is one of the major threats to civil order and world peace. Northern Irish Protestants and Catholics, Israelis and Palestinians, Sunnis and Shiites, Republicans and Democrats -- the list of adversaries who remember old injuries (real and imagined) and who intend to get even goes on and on. Their mutual hatreds display a spirit that is not from God, and it will not be done away with unless there is some willingness to accept the work of the Spirit sent from the One who forgave those who killed him.

But this forgiveness is not simply a blank check given to people whether they care about it or not: "If you retain the sins of any, they are retained." Jesus told people during his ministry that their sins were forgiven, and we're never told of him turning away anyone who was penitent. But when some Pharisees insist on their own moral vision, their own righteousness, Jesus tells them, "Your sin remains" (John 9:41). Sometimes the test of whether or not a spirit is from God may be a willingness to confront evil, label it evil, and call evildoers to account. And this may be necessary at a systemic and a personal level.

Carlos Wilton responds: Last year at this time, audiences were thronging movie theaters to see The Passion of the Christ. Now, a new film has opened, titled Kingdom of Heaven. Has Hollywood finally recognized the deep religiosity of the American people?

Well, yes and no. Mel Gibson had to fund his religious epic himself -- he couldn't find a major studio to bankroll it. And Kingdom of Heaven, despite the biblically inspired title, isn't really a religious film -- or is it?

It's more properly classified as "historical epic," although the era of history with which it deals is one in which religion surely did cast an imposing shadow. Kingdom of Heaven is a swashbuckler, complete with dashing hero (a blacksmith-turned knight, played by teen heartthrob Orlando Bloom) and computer-enhanced cast-of-thousands battle scenes, of the sort that Braveheart and the Lord of the Rings trilogy first introduced to the silver screen. It does deal with religion, inasmuch as the warring armies wear religious emblems on their armor: the cross of the Christians and the crescent moon of Islam.

It's probably no accident that director Ridley Scott decided to bring a Crusades-inspired epic to America's theaters -- for, as predominantly Judeo-Christian American soldiers stake out their territory in predominantly Muslim Iraq, and as Israelis and Palestinians continue to stare each other down over the Holy Land, the old French proverb sounds prophetic: "the more things change, the more they stay the same."

A stereotypical image of a crusader is that of a pious knight, a cross emblazoned on his breastplate, keeping prayer vigil the night before a battle. He is on his knees, leaning on his sword -- which, with its point pressed into the ground before the knight's knees, looks uncannily like a cross. That crusader is certain God is on his side.

Not so of Balian of Ibelin, the character played by Orlando Bloom in Kingdom of Heaven. As the people of Jerusalem are dealing with the threat of Saladin's invading Muslim army, Balian cries out, "Which is more holy? The Wall, the Mosque, the Sepulchre? Who has claim? No one has claim. All have claim!" It's a singularly modern sentiment.

On Pentecost, we reflect on the impact of the Holy Spirit on our lives. How are we to discern the Spirit's message? How are we to be certain what God is saying to us -- and what is merely the desire of our own hearts?

It's a question that bears repeating. In East Waynesville, North Carolina, a Baptist pastor made headlines after expelling nine members from his church because they refused to support President Bush. The Reverend Chan Chandler evidently believes he knows for certain what the Holy Spirit is saying about politics. Most of us would not be so bold as to claim we have such a direct pipeline to the Almighty.

A sermon on the importance -- and the difficulty -- of discerning the Holy Spirit is always timely.


Related Illustrations

From Carlos Wilton:

When I was on sabbatical last summer, I spent a week on silent retreat at the Benedictine Monastery of Christ in the Desert, near Abiquiu, New Mexico. Ever since, I've enjoyed reading the periodic e-mail newsletter put out by Abbot Philip, who has charge of that monastic community. Here is some advice he gives in his March 16, 2005, newsletter about prayerful discernment of what the Holy Spirit is saying to us:

"One of the attitudes that I check on in the monks' community is whether a brother really is trying to make his decisions based on prayer and on pursuing a spiritual life. It is much easier to live without any attention to this spiritual dimension. In the long run, of course, it is not easier. But in any situation, it is difficult to insist that a brother stop, be still, reflect, pray, and then make a decision. This is almost impossible if it is a situation of conflict. On the other hand, if a brother begins to practice this way of living when there are no large conflicts, it is able to help when a conflict does arise.

"The first element is to stop! So often all of feel that we must move right into some kind of a decision about what is happening to us. Contemplative life, whether in a monastery or outside, tries to teach us that most decisions can be delayed while we take time to listen to the Lord. Lots of the time other people even push us to make quick decisions. How difficult it is to respond: let me think about this! Or we can even respond: I want to pray about this. It is a real struggle to develop such a habit!

"Being still is yet another struggle! There are lots of ways of being still. For some of us, it is almost second nature to be still when there is conflict or when there is some huge crisis or difficulty. I have often shared with others that because of the alcoholism in my family which played such a large role in my own childhood, my whole being gets still when there are conflicts or anger or also in a situation of crisis. That is not always a healthy stillness! But as I have grown older, I have been able to use a lot of the survival techniques of childhood and to transform them into positive means to help make good decisions. But whatever our background, we must learn to be still so that we can listen. Just try speaking calmly to someone who is really angry! It is clear that an angry person is unable to listen clearly to another person. Whether the passion that is pushing us is anger or hatred or upset or whatever, we must learn to be still and listen.

"Listening implies a capacity to see the whole of life and to situate whatever is happening now into the whole of our lives and into how we relate to God and what God might care to relate to us! We could use the word 'seeing' just as well. We need to see everything in the light of eternity. That listening and that seeing can be instantaneous for some who are always living in prayer. For most of us, it takes the first step (stop!) before we can begin to move to inner stillness and quiet from which we might listen and see.

"Reflection could also be called 'meditation.' We need to look at the various aspects of a situation before making a decision. We need to look for hidden aspects. We need to look at the human and the divine values involved. We need to consider what each response might mean and how it could affect us and others.

"And we must pray! Praying over any decision is so simple! And yet so often we simply don't pray unless a decision is really major and might be made against what we want to happen. Then we pray. But we need to start praying for all of our decisions so that we really are living in God and making our decision from the basis of our life in faith."
-- Abbot Philip, OSB

***

Said a traveler to one of the disciples, "I have traveled a great distance to listen to the Master, but I find his words quite ordinary."

"Don't listen to his words. Listen to his message."

"How does one do that?"

"Take hold of a sentence that he says. Shake it well till all the words drop off. What is left will set your heart on fire."
-- Anthony De Mello

***

In a tiny Scottish village, the Church of Scotland's building stood right across the street from the tiny building of a Free Kirk -- a denomination that had seceded from the larger kirk many years before. One day the Free Kirk's building burned down, and the pastor was forced to go to the Church of Scotland, cap in hand, and ask if they could use a room in that building for their worship services while they rebuilt.

The Clerk of Session replied that they would have to have a special meeting of the Session to decide the question.

On the day of the meeting, the Free Kirk pastor paced the halls while the Session debated behind closed doors. At last the Clerk came out to announce the affirmative decision: "It isnae right, and it isnae proper, but it does appear tae be the will o' God."

***

Glenn Hinson, a notable author, once said that the Christian life is like a table. The legs that uphold the Christian life are prayer, study, worship and service. If you remove one leg, then the Christian life becomes unstable and cannot support much weight. Study, prayer, worship and service are means through which God can work. Study of Scripture adds depth and perspective to the Christian life. Prayer transforms our character and trains the soul to listen to God. It is a means through which God empowers us to live as Christians. Worship refreshes, challenges and re-minds us that we are not God. Service puts faith into action and deepens our experience of God's ability to work wonders.
-- Rosalind Banbury-Hamm, "Mary and Martha," in The Presbyterian Outlook, February 7, 2005, p. 15

***

To those in the church today who regard the Spirit as an exotic phenomenon of mainly interior and purely personal significance, the story of the Spirit's descent at Pentecost offers a rebuke. Luke goes to great pains to insist that this outpouring of the Spirit is anything but interior. Everything is by wind and fire, loud talk, buzzing confusion, and public debate. The Spirit is the power which enables the church to "go public" with its good news, to attract a crowd and, as we shall see ... to have something to say worth hearing. A new wind is set loose upon the earth, provoking a storm of wrath and confusion for some, a fresh breath of hope and empowerment for others.
-- William H. Willimon, Acts, in the Interpretation series (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1988), p. 33

***

Of the saying, "I'm spiritual but not religious," Phyllis Tickle says it amounts to the same thing as saying, "I'm human, but not flesh and bones."
-- Greed (Oxford, 2004), p. 45

***

A parable for Pentecost:

Once upon a time there was a piece of iron, which was very strong and very hard. Many attempts had been made to break it, but all had failed.

"I'll master it," said the axe ... and his blows fell heavily upon the piece of iron, but every blow only made the axe's edge more blunt, until it finally ceased to strike and gave up in frustration.

"Leave it to me," said the saw ... and it worked back and forth on the iron's surface until its jagged teeth were all worn and broken. Then in despair, the saw quit trying and fell to the side.

"Ah!" said the hammer, "I knew you two wouldn't succeed. I'll show you how to do this!" But at the first fierce blow, off flew its head and the piece of iron remained just as before, proud and hard and unchanged.

"Shall I try?" asked the small soft flame. "Forget it," everyone else said. "What can you do? You're too small and you have no strength." But the small soft flame curled around the piece of iron, embraced it ... and never left it until it melted under its warm irresistible influence.
-- James W. Moore

From Mary Boyd Click:

Pentecost marks the annual spring cleaning for the church. Tom Long writes that Pentecost is "God's way of shaking the moss off the church, and allowing the wind of electricity and excitement to blow through it, passing the cobwebs out of the sanctuary." Pentecost marks the time when God disturbs all who have "settled too comfortably in the pews." The sound and fury of the Spirit bids us to wake up and come alive!

***

Biblical sightings of the Spirit: It's enlightening to trace the movement of that Spirit of God from start to finish. The Bible first mentions the Spirit as the breath of God, mysteriously brooding over the waters of creation. When God later on gives the Spirit to Moses, God takes it and divides it up and sprinkles it over the other elders of the tribes, inaugurating them for leadership. The same Spirit was the identifying mark of judges and prophets. It sent them into ecstatic dances and trances, stirring them to faithfulness and marking them as God's own. The Spirit celebrated in Jesus' baptism, then drove him into the wilderness. And in Acts we see the Spirit taking hold of the disciples, empowering them to do miracles and preach the Word in astonishing ways.

***

Mary Haley, a Presbyterian Camp director, recognized that the children traumatized by the Jonesboro Middle School shootings were going to need some nurturing if they were ever going to feel safe to dream and hope again. So she invited kids from Jonesboro School to come to the camp for a few days, and relax and have fun, and talk with each other, without the glare of media lights. Kids welcomed the chance to process the life lessons from this event. The children healed along with others as they shared their experiences. The success of the initial week at camp, led to five other weeks of sessions with other kids. The Spirit makes an effort to use every child, but it seems that there are children for whom dreaming and visioning and hoping is easy, and there are children for whom dreaming and hoping is hard and requires assistance of people like Mary Haley.
-- PC(USA) Peacekeeping Offering brochure, 2003

***

One fourth of July when Barbara Brown Taylor was watching fireworks over the river in New, she saw explosions of light in the shape of hearts and green flowers blossoming into blue spitting out spores of white. It was so bright that everyone in front of her looked like a dark silhouette -- you've seen it if you've been to the fireworks on the mall. About ten feet away from Taylor, however, was a man with a child seated on his shoulders. "Every time there was a new explosion in the sky, she reached her right hand toward it, trying to curl her fingers around the light. She did this over and over again" so often that of all the various fireworks, Taylor only remembers that same small dark hand reaching out to grab for each one in the sky. Taylor writes, that as far as she knows, the little girl never caught a single spark but neither did she ever stop trying.

***

Elizabeth Kuebler-Ross is famous for her work with dying patients. In one hospital where she attended patients on a hospice unit, she noticed that certain patients had exhibited radical changes in their attitudes. When she looked for the common factor, they all had had the same house-cleaning woman come to their room. She confronted the lady and asked "What are you doing with my patients?" The house cleaner said, "I talk to them. I tell them how two of my own babies have died on my lap. I know Jesus Christ. And I'm not afraid of death. So I tell them that you don't have to be afraid either." Through the gift of a word to speak and an ear ready to hear, the peace of the Spirit came to those patients.


Worship Resources
By Julie Strope

Theme: Inspiration and enthusiasm come to us from many sources. As persons of faith seeking to know and feel Divine Presence, we must become aware of the source and impetus for our thoughts, attitudes, and actions: we must discern what is from Holy Spirit.

Note: Pentecost is the day some congregations decorate the sanctuary with the colors of fire -- red/orange/yellow clothing, ribbons from chandeliers, ribbons at the ends of pews, feathers and doves hanging from pillars and door jambs, exuberant floral arrangements; it's a good day to enrich worship with liturgical dance and a scripture verse recited in multiple languages. Mobiles and banners help make the environment festive.

CALL TO WORSHIP (based on Numbers 11:24-30 and Psalm 104:24-34)

Leader: For today, put away your solemnity, your soberness and your somber thoughts! It's Pentecost -- celebrate the Holy Spirit's presence with us!

People: In so many places, we recognize Holy Imagination! The moon and the sun hang in the sky! The ocean and the land, creatures of all shapes!

Leader: May God be happy with what is created!

People: As long as we live, we will sing our praises to the living God! May God's glory last forever.

Leader: We have stories to tell about how God creates and how God inspires us.

People: We will shout and whisper and sing our thanksgiving to God who lives in and among us. Hallelujah! Praise the eternal God!

PRAYER OF ADORATION (responsive; based on Numbers 11:24-30 and Psalm 104)

Leader: Creating God, you made the rivers and the mountains, the grasses and the grains.
People: We appreciate all you continue to do.
Leader: Your Spirit lives in us and gives us reason to be.
People: We appreciate the breath of life.
Leader: Thank you for refreshing us day by day.
People: We appreciate the gifts of the Spirit among us.
Leader: Thank you for various ways you live through us.
People: We appreciate being enthused by your love and grace. Come among us, now, as lively fire and as doves of affirmation. We love you and eagerly listen for your voice this hour. Amen.

HYMN SUGGESIONS

"Like The Murmur Of The Dove's Song." BRIDEGROOM
"Breathe On Me, Breath Of God." TRENTHAM
"Spirit" (J. K. Manley, 1975), available in The Presbyterian Hymnal, 1990, 319
"The Lone, Wild Bird." PROSPECT
"Spirit Of The Living God." LIVING GOD
"Spirit Of God, Descend Upon My Heart." MORECAMBE

The following 20th century songs are available in Sing the Faith, Geneva Press, 2003:

"Mothering God, You Gave Me Birth." MARYTON
"Spirit Of God." DOVE SONG
"Where The Spirit Of The Lord Is." ADAMS
"She Comes Sailing On The Wind." SHE FLIES ON
"Come, Holy Spirit, Come." FOREMAN
"On Pentecost They Gathered." MUNICH

CALL TO CONFESSION

Gathered as brothers and sisters in God's family, we take this moment to be aware of attitudes and actions which set us at odds with the teachings of Jesus and put a wall between us and others.

COMMUNITY CONFESSION (unison)

Loving God,
We know that wherever Jesus went, he urged people to be merciful and to seek justice.
We know that whenever Jesus was with people, he talked of relationship with the Holy.
We know that whatever Jesus taught, his words were inclusive and urged a new way of being with one another.

Erase our sense of being superior to others; excise our sense of privilege;
Interpret for us the meaning of justice and compassion
And help us to be active in our homes and in our country to cause fairness and respect.

We want to be your adults and children, embodying your love for this hurting world. Free us from "baggage" so you can live through us in expansive ways. Amen.

WORD OF GRACE

We know God through Jesus of Nazareth. As the Christ, he is among us as peace and hope. In him, we have life everlasting. Thanks be to God!

CONGREGATIONAL CHORAL RESPONSE

"Living God," available in The Presbyterian Hymnal, 1990, hymn 322

Spirit of the living God, Fall a-fresh on me;
Spirit of the living God, Fall a-fresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, Fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God, Fall a-fresh on me.

OFFERTORY STATEMENT (based on Psalm 104)

The psalmist wanted God to be happy with creation. We, too, want God to be happy and to move through this world with healing and new possibilities for collaboration among all creatures and tribes. Let us participate with God by using our money and talents to provide resources for ministry here and elsewhere on this planet.

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

Source of life, thank you for these offerings and tithes. Multiply them to bless us and others. Amen.

The Doxology: OLD HUNDREDTH

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY AFFIRMATION (responsive)

Leader: Do you know God's Spirit?
People: We believe in God whose Holy Spirit lives among us and in us.
Leader: Do you know Jesus the Christ?
People: We believe in Jesus who gave the gift of Spirit and
peace to his disciples.
Leader: Do you know Holy Spirit?
People: We experience Holy Spirit inspiring us to be healers and peacemakers wherever we are.
Leader: Do you invite Holy Spirit to refresh you and to guide you to do acts of kindness and generosity?
People: Yes! We experience the Holy Spirit working through us, caring for others and satisfying our hearts!
Leader: Hallelujah!

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

Generous God,
Our global village is bent over with the agony of war. Work among all people till peace becomes a reality.
Our global village is sacrificing our children to profiteers who promote violence. Work through us to halt the peddling of war games.
Our global village is wounded in so many places and needs health care and peace and wholesome environments.
Wrestle with us till goodness is available for every person.

Awesome God,
Fill us with Spirit so that we are whole, healed in body, mind and soul. Overflow our beings with enthusiasm and compassion. Expand our vision of what is possible as Spirit moves through!

Spirit God,
Thank you for Jesus in whom we see you most clearly. Thank you for your abundance, which gives us so many gifts to enrich living. Thank you for fiery faith and inspiring sounds and passionate colors. Thank you for ideas that move us toward serving you in an unpredictable culture. Amen.

BENEDICTION / CHARGE (based on John 20:19-23 and Acts 2)

It's Sunday, first day of a new week -- and you have been offered peace and Spirit!

Receive these gifts and be joyful.
Wherever you go, share them with others.
Experience the One Spirit enthusing all people.
Be fire and light; be gentle and imaginative.
God bless you and give you strength. Amen.


A Children's Sermon

The wind of the Spirit

Object: a handheld battery-operated fan

Based on John 20:19-23

Good morning, boys and girls! Today is Pentecost. On Pentecost we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. God sent the Holy Spirit to the world so that we would always have a part of God living among us. Jesus couldn't stay forever, so God sent his Spirit to stay with us.

The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as being kind of like the wind or the breath of God. (show them your fan) It's not exactly the same, but I can use this fan to make wind. You all know what wind feels like. (turn on the fan and point it at your face; let the children take turns feeling the wind, too) The wind of the Holy Spirit is the same wind that first blew on Adam in the Garden of Eden. When God blew on Adam, life came into him.

In our lesson this morning we hear about what happened when Jesus told his disciples about the gift of the Spirit. He was standing in a room with them after he had been resurrected. He told them that just as God had sent him into the world, Jesus was now sending them. He needed them to help spread the message of love to others. He then gave them a gift that would help them do that. He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." They eventually discovered that the Holy Spirit was with them to guide them, strengthen them and help them spread the word.

I wonder what it felt like for Jesus to breathe on them. I wonder if it was like the fan on my face. I wonder what the disciples felt after Jesus breathed on them. I wonder if they felt different. I wonder about a lot of things, but I know that the gift was a wonderful thing. I also know that that gift is still with us today. The Holy Spirit is with us too, guiding us, strengthening us and helping us every day. That's what we celebrate on Pentecost: the gift of God's Holy Spirit to the world.

Prayer: God, thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Immediate Word, May 15, 2005, issue.

Copyright 2004 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.

All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.