Podcast of "Storm Warning" (MP3)
Acts 2:1-21
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Romans 8:22-27
John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15
Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts
be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
A couple of weeks ago, on the day
before Administrative Professional’s Day, I went to the florist to order an
arrangement for Georgia .
(Nothing like waiting until the next-to-last minute, is there?) Walking into
the florist, I remembered last year when on the day before Administrative
Professional’s Day, I went to the florist to order an arrangement for Georgia . (Do
you see a trend developing?) What I remembered was the weather. Last year that
was the day that a tornado touched down just south of I-20.
I remember sitting in the closet
with Marie. We had our chairs and our blankets and our NOAA Weather Radio listening
to the broadcast out of Shreveport .
I tried to listen to the station at Gilmer thinking notices from the west would
be better than notices from the east, but that didn’t happen. Then there was
that moment. Marie heard a sound, a rumbling sound like a great motor blowing.
From our closet the sound was muffled and ominous. She asked if I heard it and
I said yes, I did.
It was the air conditioner. She
heard the compressor, the motor, and the blower. She was relieved and at the
same time mildly embarrassed.[i] I
told her it was alright. I had the same thoughts but I figured out what it was
about ten seconds before she asked.
As we drop into John’s gospel, once
again we drop in on John’s version of The Last Supper. By this time, Jesus had
prophesied his death and his betrayal. He also prophesied Peter’s denial. They
had seen many wonderful and glorious things. They had heard wisdom the likes of
which they never imagined. Now Jesus shared devastation they could neither
imagine nor stop.
Jesus had given them hope. Hope for
new life. Hope for life eternal. They had seen and heard much. They had learned
much and there was still much more to learn. For that, they need the Spirit of truth.
What Jesus was giving them here was hope, hope that they could not imagine with
his absence. Jesus offers them unforeseen hope, the hope which was yet to come.
In John’s gospel, the apostles were
promised someone who would be alongside them when the world prosecuted them and
persecuted them. They were promised the Paraclete, one who would serve as their
counselor. Outside of scripture, the word Paraclete often referred to a lawyer
or attorney. The Paraclete is one who advocates on our behalf not before God
but in God’s good creation. At this moment, they needed an advocate.
They needed an advocate because
they needed the comfort and reassurance that only the Lord’s Counselor can
provide. The disciples had received great promises. They had high hope. But the
counselor, the comforter, the Paraclete was still just a promise, not a
reality, not yet. They may have had all of the hope in the world, but the
reality of living in Palestine
at that very moment is that they would have been foolish if they had not felt
fear.
It was at this very moment, on the
day of Pentecost, that they were assembled together in one place. It was at
this very moment that from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent
wind, filling the entire house where they were sitting.
This must have been even more frightening.
They knew to be leery of the princes of this world. They knew the Governor and
the Prelate and the Sanhedrin had them in their sights, but now the violent
winds rushed down on them.
In our time, we have a tendency to
romanticize many of scripture’s narratives. We know the stories. We know what
is coming next, so we tend to gloss over parts of the story that don’t seem so
impressive anymore. This is to our disadvantage.
We heard from the Acts of the
Apostles that “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from
heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.” The problem that
comes from familiarity with these stories is that when we read them we imagine
sitting in the closet where we hear the AC kick on and think it’s the Holy
Spirit. We have to remember that what happened that day was that a violent wind
came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
We may be talking about this
scripture and praising God for the glory of the coming of the Holy Spirit, but
on that day, they were in the midst of a violent wind filling the house where
they were sitting. We talk about joy, they experienced holy terror.
So how do we hold these scriptures
together for our lives today?
Here’s the first thing we need to
remember. We need to remember that Jesus, on the night before he was betrayed,
broke bread and blessed it and gave it to them and their eyes were opened. We
take grain and grape from the gifts we have been given and celebrate with joy
the redemption won for us in Jesus Christ.
By His Spirit we are united with
the living Christ and with all who have been and will be baptized in his name.
This happened so that we may be with him and with them in one ministry in every
time and place. We declare that by the fire of the Holy Spirit we are forged
into one Body, many and different people together in Christ’s embrace.
By the grace and peace of our Lord,
the promises Jesus makes in our reading today from John are realized in our
reading from Acts. If that isn’t the first lesson to take it is a lesson worth
knowing, Jesus keeps the promises he makes. Death cannot separate Jesus from
fulfilling his work on Earth. Death cannot separate us from Christ’s love.
So today, let us all regain that
elemental presence of worship. Let us live into God’s storm warning.
We come to the font of many
blessings overflowing with living water and remember our baptism. We come to
the table with the cup and the plate to partake in the food that feeds our
bodies and our souls. We hear the Word proclaimed and even more so, we come to
know the Word Incarnate, the Son of God, the one who the Lord has set aside
since before the creation, Jesus the Christ.
And today, especially today, we need to allow
ourselves to be consumed by the fire of the Holy Spirit so that as steel is
forged in the furnace, we may be made strong in the Lord for the Lord’s
service. And we do this so that in the words of our Lord, “Then everyone who
calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” This is the lesson of the
Pentecost. This is how the dry bones live. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks
be to God. Amen.
[i] Yes,
Marie gave me permission to tell that story.
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