Holy Spirit Blow Through This Place
“Holy Spirit, Blow Through this Place”
REFLECTION for Pentecost May 19, 2024
Churchill and Gilford United Churches
Krista M. Moore
Acts 2:1-21 The Coming of the Holy Spirit
Scripture Summary:
The Disciples, about 120, gathered in Jerusalem during the Jewish festival of weeks, also known as the day of Pentecost (fifty days after Easter for us, or the Festival of unleavened bread for Jews).
The Holy Spirit descended on them all, and they spoke in many tongues. Jews gathered from all nations and heard and saw what had happened. Some doubted and thought they are drunk. Peter stands up and tells them no, it is the Holy Spirit promised to them, in the time of Joel.
That God will pour out his Spirit on all flesh, your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men dream dreams and your young men see visions. That everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Joel 2:28).
Introduction to the Scriptures
The streets of Jerusalem are crowded
Jewish pilgrims from all nations, over 120,000 crowd the streets Of Jerusalem It is Pentecost, the Festival of Weeks, or the Feast of Harvest
Fifty days after the offering of the barley sheaf at the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:15-21).
For Christians it was 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus.
The Christian church did not exist yet, but this day, Pentecost, would become its birthday.
None were expecting what was to happen.
SERMON
SPIRIT in the BIBLE
The disciples and many followers of Jesus, now numbering around 120, gathered in a large house in Jerusalem. They were waiting, just as Jesus told them to do; just as the two angels commanded of them after Jesus ascended into heaven.
There they waited for what Jesus promised them:
“the power from on high” (Luke 24:49) to come.
John the Baptist promised those he baptized with water,
that the coming Messiah: “will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16).
Nicodemus, a Pharisee who came to Jesus in the cover of night, heard Jesus talk of spiritual things, but didn’t understand him. Jesus said the Spirit is like “The wind (Greek: pneuma—wind or Spirit) (it) blows where it wants to” (John 3:8).
The disciples received their first taste of the Spirit in the locked room when Jesus appeared after his death and resurrection. He stood by them and breathed on them, and said: “receive the Holy Spirit.”
Now, Fifty days after he rose from the dead, it is their turn to receive a miracle. The Spirit falls on hundreds, and then thousands –
The foretaste becomes a flood of spiritual blessing
All receive it, no matter where they come from
Jews travelling from many nations
At first startled by the thundering sound
the sight of fiery tongues
the strange realization
they could hear their own languages
Are they drunk? Some said.
No, Peter says, it is only 9 ‘ o’clock*
*(not the proverbial 5 in the afternoon, for some)
The New Wine they are receiving
is not the wine at the Wedding at Cana,
(Jesus’s first miracle) though it was very good (John 2:9)
Yet it is by the same Spirit that all miracles are done.
The Holy Spirit is the invisible essence of God,
God’s fiery presence first appearing to Moses in the
burning bush of Exodus (Ex 3:1)
The force that birthed the Universe
and flung stars into the heavens (Isaiah 57:15).
SPIRIT in our WORLD
What is the Spirit in our lives today?
Does God still act in miraculous ways?
Does the Spirit still come to bless, baptize and speak?
STORY: HEALINGS IN BRIGHTON & TUSCANY
I. When I was doing a spiritual healing circle in Brighton,
I felt the Spirit come down upon me like a dove,
And my hands began to move in waving motions,
And my words were slow and meditative
Words that were not my own.
Others began to see visions
And others felt the wave of Spirit in their own hands
One woman whose eyes were closed like mine
Began to mirror my motions and sing like an angel
Others were astonished.
Some may have wondered, are they drunk?
One participant who had been watching
Said it was the most miraculous thing,
She saw the woman’s hands move in time with mine,
Though her eyes were closed.
The same invisible force moved us both
The same essence came through us singing
The same love moved people to tears.
After the healing was over, they left the room to go eat
But I stayed there kneeling
The sun streaming
reflecting nature’s colours of green, blue and gold
And suddenly I felt this fire in my body
I could not understand
I was not able to get up or leave
Or walk but stayed there meditating for a long time
Until I was able to join them again.
II. It happened again in Tuscany.
Participants gathered in a little chapel
The floors dank and cool after the afternoon heat
The air sweet
Rose petals of soft pink and red hue
Soft sounds of bells and voices murmuring, feet shuffling
A gentle breeze and
light flowing in past the old wooden door.
The Same Spirit came into me,
And the presence of Mother Mary
I rose and slowly lay my hands on each one
One woman rested her head on my chest and sobbed
At the end I knelt and put my head on the cool floor
I couldn’t walk by myself, the Spirit was so deep,
I had to hold someone’s hand and be escorted to my room.
Another day, in the heat of the garden
I stood near a woman in a chair,
offering her healing
The angels sang through me,
As the light danced on the rolling hills and olive trees
When it was done, she arose and stared at me,
“You are an angel” she declared.
I laughed and said, “no, it’s not me.”
Then what is it?
It is the Spirit.
The Angels.
The Promise of Jesus,
the Holy Spirit of Joel,
poured out on all people:
mothers and fathers,
grandmothers and grandfathers,
sons and daughters,
the young and the old (Joel 2:28).
THE SPIRIT TODAY
YOU MAY WONDER HAS THE SPIRIT EVER COME TO ME?
Perhaps some of these images or words might stir a memory
of how the Spirit flows through us and all creation.
Feel free to relax or close your eyes….
A MEDITATION ON THE SPIRIT
The Spirit comes as the wind bending sheaves of wheat,
The sun sparkling through the leaves of an apple tree,
Water flowing over rocks of a riverbed,
The shock of pink, red and blue at sunrise or sunset
The glowing embers of a campfire
Sparks rising and licking the air
The smell of wood burning,
smoke rising like a prayer
Fresh maple syrup heated and stirred
The sound of horse hooves clopping, hitting the ground
Squeals of laughter pealing as
children leap and play in
the wild days of summer
The splash of the highest jumper,
The shock of cold water.
A nose lost in roses;
– Soak in its sweetness and power –
Let go and go with the flow
Look around and be dazzled:
A butterfly’s dance
The peculiar mystery of ants
Moving as one
on the head of a peony.
– Pay attention –
Breathe in this contemplation;
Surrender to its fiery temptation,
Its fearless devotion
the evidence of God’s creation
God’s love everywhere.
THE SPIRIT is prophetic,
unapologetic:
like the roar of a lion,
The most towering purple-headed mountain
A thunderbolt cracking
A violent wind slapping
Rain pouring down.
It is also…
the softest sand between your toes
A mother’s caress, stroking the hair around your face
A father’s warm, all-encompassing embrace
A lover’s kiss you’ll never forget
Shimmering stars in the midnight sky
A baby’s tiny fingers curled around your thumb,
A kitten’s first MEOW
A dog’s softest ears and snout
The call of the robin, cardinal and finch
Our childlike elation, clapping our hands in song
A dream of those we once loved
The flood of memories that come at 3 AM.
THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS IN ALL OF US
THE SPIRIT is the Great MOVER AND SHAKER,
The paintbrush and creative kiss of GOD,
The internal teacher,
An inspired preacher,
A child that speaks as if
she were 100 years old.
It is a mother at birth
A grandfather’s mirth,
Best friends laughing and crying at lunch.
THE SPIRIT IS THERE
IF YOU DARE
BE AWARE
OF THE POWER
THAT IS ALL AROUND YOU
GOD’S SPIRIT EVERYWHERE.
Gently come back.
How did that feel for you? Did you remember anything important?
How did the power of Spirit come to you?
What is the Spirit is saying to us today?
Let us open our minds
and not be alarmed by the Spirit’s power;
Not be afraid to go with it,
Flow with it, and grow with it.
Let us encourage the young to speak visions
and the old men to dream dreams,
the wise women to deliver speeches
and the crickets and cicadas to sing.
THE SPIRIT is all around us,
moving us in new directions.
Reminding us that God is with us,
Sending us out into the wilderness,
The forests, cities, and villages,
Schools, hospitals and retirement homes.
Wherever the Spirit moves us.
Inspiring and healing us,
Moving and keeping us,
From our first breath to our last,
May we bask in its glow.
Amen.
SONG: “Like a Healing Stream” MV144