Also, Chapter 40 of We Make the Road By Walking by Brian McLaren
“This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.” John 3:19-21
It reminds me of a long distance relationship. When you are in love and living apart, your relationship is not about the time spent together. It's not about holding hands or kissing one another or gazing into each other's eyes. Because, it can't be. You are apart from the one you love. And yet, it is sometimes those long distance relationships that are able to grow and develop into strong and lasting loves. Not because of the time spent together, but because of the love shared across the miles. You share things in a different way when you aren't side by side, day after day. Your loved one walks with you through life, living in your heart and soul, even though you aren't physically together.
This is what is described in the Pentecost story. Jesus is now with the disciples in spirit. And that Spirit enters into their lives in the rush of a violent wind, like a fiery tongue of flame burning over their heads. But the Spirit didn't arrive just now, in this moment. The Spirit has always been. From the beginning.
The Spirit is described in many ways throughout the Bible, even before we get to these images of wind and fire. In the creation story the Spirit is breath. In the Exodus, a cloud. In the Baptism of Jesus by John, a dove. And now fire and wind. We are always one with the Spirit, but this story of the Pentecost reminds us we have to recognize it. And experience it as a faith community.
Brian McLaren tells us in Chapter 40 of We Make the Road by Walking that becoming a people who are willing to be alive in the Spirt means that we are willing to share in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
In this three part process, we are first able to let go. We are able to allow our old selves to die with Christ. We let go of what has been. Both individually and as a community we make that decision when we decide to be a people filled with the Spirit of Christ.
Second, we are able to let be. This is a hard one because it requires so much faith and so little 'activity' in the physical sense. We like to be busy, but letting be means we must surrender to silence, stillness, powerlessness, emptiness, and rest.
In this quiet stillness of this space, the spirit enters, leading to our sharing of the resurrection of Christ. Step 3. Let come. Who knows what the Spirit will want us to do, but if we say allowed, "Let it be. Spirit come to us" we might just be amazed by what happens next. I admit I am a control freak and this is soooo hard for me. But we must get to that space together as a faith community, the space of letting come.
My favorite part of the Pentecost story is the inclusiveness of the Spirit. The Spirit's arrival in the room behind closed doors that day isn't a Spirit that has sights on a particular race, class, or gender. This Spirit isn't elite. This Spirit comes to all. All at once. Everyone gathered there shares the Spirit, and yet understands it in their own way. Pentecost, then, is unity and diversity in harmony.
Somewhere in the struggle to let go, let be, let come... we realize that this is all about letting God guide our lives. It isn't our struggle to bear alone. It is a journey that God shares with us.
It all sounds so easy when you say it in a blogpost or pronounce it in a sermon, but of course we all know the day-to-day practice of letting Christ live in our hearts is much more difficult. The daily practice of letting go, letting be, letting come... Often, that's too much loss of personal control. So we decide to keep forging on the way we always have. With an awareness of the Spirit, but being sure she stays an arm's reach away from us. Not too close.
Someone said they wondered if I was getting more conservative in my religious thinking. That's not the right word, conservative. Because I do think that there are many wide and varied ways to seek the Divine in your life, which make my theology quite liberal, I think. But perhaps traditional, maybe I'm becoming more traditional in my religious practice. Yes, I would say that's right. I am finding it more helpful to look at those religious traditions that have carried us through thousands of years to get us to this point and seeing how they still point us forward into tomorrow. Images of Fire. And Wind. And a Dove. Temples where people gather to praise God. Books that people open together and sing and read the word of God. How do they connect us to the ancient people who first shared in that Pentecost and then spread the word throughout the world? What power and strength do they still hold today to make a difference in people's lives?
What does the Spirit of Pentecost mean for us today in 2015 in this place? How can we choose to be Alive in the Spirit (Capital A, Capital S). What do we do to let go, let be, let come and LIVE?
Thoughts? Email me or comment below. peverhart@niwotumc.org
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