Service for June 8 Pentecost

Sermon for  June 8, 2025                                                                                    Pentecost

In the Gospel reading today, we’re in the upper room with Jesus again as he is about to go to his suffering and death. In this moment he tells those who love him, disciples of all times and places, to show our love for him by keeping his commandments. And the only commandment Jesus gave in John’s gospel is to love; love God and love all people and all creation, a task that we know all too well, is nearly impossible.

We’re committed to loving. We long to love as we have been loved by God. And yet, we are so frail, so weak. We try to love, and we fail… out of fear, out of lack of support; maybe we have poor role models. We fail for so many reasons: misplaced effort or good intentions going wrong. And, of course, Jesus knew us. He knew how difficult loving would be for us and so he promised that we would not be alone in that struggle. We would have “another advocate,” the Holy Spirit, who would lead us into all truth, guide us in the paths we should follow, comfort us when we fail and inspire us to love again.

Jesus, knew our need and our condition and promised to never leave us orphaned and so the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the people on that first Pentecost day and we long for that Spirit still to be stirred within us, among us to give us that comfort that despite what we see around us, the rising hopelessness and despair, the odds so great against the flourishing of our children and grandchildren, so much hate and uncertainty; despite all that we long for the Spirit to come again and again, here among us.

Today we celebrate Pentecost, that pouring out of the Holy Spirit onto ALL people as described in the Acts reading. Like so much of theology, in trying to make God and God’s ways understandable to all people, that mystery of God as Trinity, has been simplified into neat sound bytes like “the birthday of the Church.”  The mystery of God sharing God’s self with humanity, giving access to God’s self in the Holy Spirit is a mystery and a gift so immense that we dare not simplify it like that.

In Acts Peter quoted the prophet Joel saying that God would pour out God’s Spirit on ALL people. On the day of Pentecost ALL people and even ALL FLESH has been touched by God’s Spirit. Not all people choose to embrace that Spirit of love so beautifully emobied in Jesus’ life. But all people have that Spirit within them, available to them. The early church was not an attempt to separate the Spirit -filled from the Spirit -less. It was and IS a gathering of people who recognize the gift they’ve been given of God’s Spirit and commit to living together, animated by that Spirit, letting that Spirit of love that Jesus commanded be our way of life, guide us, as the gospel writer John says, “Into all Truth.”

Pastor Clint Schneckloth writes, “…what does this Spirit do? It groans. That is the verb given us by Paul in Romans, groanings too deep for words. Not to be confused with sighs. Not merely yearning. But a kind of wordless convulsion in the heart of the world. The Spirit does not fill us so that we might feel full. The Spirit empties us …so that the voice of the Other might speak. So that the voices of those long silenced might erupt, tongues of fire dancing on their heads.”

The most often used image of the Spirit is of fire tells which tells us that this God who has come to dwell in and among us comes not passively and sweetly but this Spirit comes to disrupt, to move us out of our complacency and comfort. The Holy Spirit always moves us out into places of pain and suffering to bring that hope, that peace, that love of God to the people and places where they are most needed – to the desperate so that they too may know God’s love is for them!

The Spirit of God is active in our world, even and maybe most clearly in the most desperate situations. We see the Spirit of God moving among the people who risk their lives, to go into war zones like Gaza and Ukraine, bringing food and medicine. We see the Spirit of God stirring people to speak out against the powerful abusing the trust of the people as they amass obscene fortunes while others starve, while children die of preventable diseases. We see the Spirit of God in far away places and we see God moving us as we see the face of Jesus in the mother who flees an abusive relationship doing her best to provide for children while a car is their only home. We see her with the love of Jesus and we respond by working with others to provide a place to safely park that car. The Spirit allows us to see and to act; to feel that sense of injustice and to respond with love not judgement.

We see the Holy Spirit enlivening this congregation as people choose to live together, striving every day to empty themselves of pride and self concern, choosing instead to come together to encourage one another in a life of humility and service.

That is the gift of the Spirit poured out upon “all flesh” as the prophet Joel said and the apostle Peter preached. In THESE last days, the days that were initiated in Christ’s life and death and resurrection and continue until God perfects God’s creation, Jesus promises we are not orphans, we are not alone. We are not comforted by the Spirit holding our hands as we ignorantly live our comfortable lives. We are comforted by that Spirit that life is so much more than certainty and the illusions of wealth and power. We have received and continue to receive the Holy Spirit, our advocate, our comforter who wipes away our tears and guides us, moves us, even SHOVES us out the door and into a better tomorrow. We pray that the Spirit is stirred up among us again and again, empowering us to love far beyond our ability to do so and so we pray:

Come, Holy Spirit.

“Come, Holy Spirit, witness to us [also] in our many languages.

Speak in the language of our need. Let us hear how our deepest hungers, desires, and aspirations can be fulfilled by your goodness.

Speak in the language of our fear. Let us hear how our worries about the future, about each other, and about ourselves, can find rest in your care.

Speak in the language of our gratitude. Let us hear how our honest thanks relates us, not only to those with whom we live, but also to you, the Lord and Giver of life, and, indeed, to the whole world. Speak to us in the language of hope. Let us hear how our deepest yearning and our expectations are not just wishful thinking, but responses to your promise.”1 Amen.                                    1 Prof. Tyler Mayfield