Come to the Waters |
St. Mary's Episcopal Church Green Cove Springs, Florida Whitsunday (Feast of Pentecost), Year B May 31, 2009 Go to St. Mary's Home Page |
 |
Come to the Waters |
St. Mary's Episcopal Church Green Cove Springs, Florida Whitsunday (Feast of Pentecost), Year B May 31, 2009 Go to St. Mary's Home Page |
|
Acts 2:1-21
Psalm 104:25-35, 37
Romans 8:22-27
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
The Collect of the Day
Jesus said to his disciples, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But, now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, `Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”(John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15)
Fire in the Belly
The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop, Rector
Rev. May 29, 2009
On the weekend preceding Easter, we visited Green Cove Springs and went to supper at a restaurant on the river. Afterward, our hosts took us for a walk along a dock. It was dark, warm and humid – the perfect kind of evening to see fireflies. As we walked along, out of the corners of our eyes, we would occasionally see the unmistakable flashing of those tiny luminescent creatures among the trees lining the shore. We reminisced about how there used to be huge clouds of these tiny lights. Indeed, 15-20 years ago, I can remember seeing squadrons of fireflies in my back yards in Houston and in Little Rock.
When my daughter was small, she would arm herself with a net and capture a jar full of these night time luminaries which she would put next to her bed. She found it comforting to be mesmerized by the silent, rhythmic, flashing of these tiny creatures as she fell asleep. And in the morning, they would be returned to the out of doors to repeat the process the next night.
Have you noticed how many fewer fireflies there are today? Some entomologists (people who study insects) think that firefly numbers have dwindled by as much as 70% in recent years. Last summer, a group of entomologists gathered in Thailand for an international conference on the “Diversity and Conservation of Fireflies” (nice work if you can find it!). In Thailand and around the world, scientists (and people like you and me) have noticed that in order to see large gatherings of fireflies, one has to go far away from the artificial lights so commonplace in cities and towns. Many believe that light pollution has interfered with the mating rituals of fireflies; consequently they are not reproducing at the same level they did previously.
I remember the first time my daughter saw her first flight of fireflies. She was fascinated by their flashing, and was initially afraid that because they were bright, they would also be hot. I explained that they were not hot, but she needed proof. So I caught one in my hand, and as it flashed, I transferred it to her hand. When it flashed and did not burn, she was delighted. She made her hand into a fist-like cage so that she could hold it up to her eye and get a closer look at the mysterious flashing. She then asked what made the bug light up like that. I was about to explain to her about the enzyme luciferase, when I remembered that she was about four, and would have no idea what I was talking about. So I begged off with some other age-appropriate answer, and she went about catching some more in her hands. A few minutes later she came up to me with a partially squished one on the palm of her hand, and she quite authoritatively told me that “It’s the stuff in their belly that makes them glow.” And how right she was. It is the stuff in their belly that makes them glow.
Today is the Day of Pentecost; the day many people consider the birthday of this thing called “church.” It is the glorious last resplendent day in the liturgical calendar before the beginning of the “long green season” that will carry us to next Advent. And it is the day when we gather to celebrate the fact that the Apostles and the other leaders of the early church found the stuff in their bellies to speak openly about the life and ministry of Jesus; his death and resurrection, and how his work on this earth continues in each and every one of us empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The stories about Pentecost are full of strange imagery. We hear the sound of wind in today’s reading from Acts to describe the physical presence of the Holy Spirit. “And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.” The Spirit appeared to the disciples as “divided tongues, as of fire, with a tongue resting on each of them” (Acts 2:3). The word “wind” here is synonymous in both Hebrew and Greek for the “Spirit of God.” In the Gospel of John, Jesus promises his disciples that “when the Spirit of truth comes, [the Spirit] will guide you into all the truth; for [the Spirit] will not speak on its own, but will speak whatever [the Spirit] hears, and [the Spirit] will declare to you the things that are to come.”
The Gospel of John and the Book of Acts were written two to four generations after Jesus’ death, and reflect the early church attempting to interpret and understand its own history. As the writers of these books looked back on their past, they were awestruck by the power present to them through their faith, the grace of God, and the memory of Jesus, and they struggled to find words and images to explain the miraculous spread of nascent Christianity throughout the known world. The feast of Pentecost came to represent when the Holy Spirit imparted meaning to Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension. The 19 th century English artist, revivalist, and author Samuel Chadwick wrote of Pentecost that it was a time when the church “experienced illumination of mind, assurance of heart, intensity of love, fullness of power, exuberance of joy. No one needed to ask if they had received the Holy Ghost. Fire is self-evident. So is power!”[1]
Some of you may remember the 2004 film Big Fish. I first saw this film on an airplane as I flew to spend time with my father in the last year of his life. The movie is about Edward Bloom and his son Will who tries to understand who his father really is. Will hasn’t spoken to his father for years because he believes him to be a liar that never really cared for his family. Edward, you see, was a spinner of really tall tales. As his son Will recreates his father’s elusive life from the few facts he knows, we learn about Edward ourselves. We see him as a bouncing baby on the day he was born; we learn about his involvement in Vietnam and the conjoined-twin lounge singers he brought back to the States. We learn about his later vocations as a traveling salesman and bank robber. We seem him romantically fill an entire street and courtyard with potted daffodils in order to capture the eye of the love of his life. His mythic exploits dart from the delightful to the bizarre as his life unfolds in unbelievable tales involving giants, blizzards, and a witch.
We also learn that Edward once caught the biggest fish ever using the only kind of lure one can use to catch a fish that special. One has to use something that represented great love to lure a giant fish like this, and we watch as Edward ties his own wedding band onto the line.
In the end, we are never sure how much of Edward’s life is myth and how much is true, but it really doesn’t really matter for Will or for us. What matters is the profound effect his father had on everyone due to his zest for life, the relationships he built, and his many accomplishments.
Will finally comes to understand that Edward’s life cannot be adequately chronicled by faded newspaper clippings and cracked photographs. His father’s life was far more than that. It was mystical, fantastic, charming, and most importantly, it was transforming.
And so it was for the early church. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was one of those events that identifies who and what we are as Christian people perhaps more by the myth than by the reality. It is something that has the power to transform and change with the gentleness of a light breeze, or with the speed of a tornado. Following Jesus’ ascension, something gave the disciples courage to step forward as witnesses, and sufficient wisdom to be heard and understood. It was the “something” that led them to baptize people in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit as a way of demonstrating both the desire of the individual to transform their own lives, and the desire of the community of believers to support them in their new Christian vocation. As the 19 th Century Baptist Preacher A.J. Gordon, put it “Before Pentecost, the disciples found it hard to do the easy things; after Pentecost they found it easy to do the hard things.”
As Edward lay dying in the hospital, he made a last request of his son. He wanted to be taken to the river – to the spot where he caught the big fish as a young man. With a flourish of theatrics reminiscent of his own father’s bravado and daring do, Will spirited Edward out of the hospital and across town. When they get to the park at the river, all of the mythic people from Edward’s past are there to send him off with a final farewell. It is not clear if what we see is real or not, but in the end it does not matter.
Exactly what happened that gave rise to the legend of Pentecost we will never know. We are in the same position as Will who was never really able to separate the myth from the facts in the legend that was his father.
But what matters is continuing the work of the Spirit begun 2000 years ago. Pentecost teaches us that we need to be receptive to the spark of the spirit whenever and wherever it comes to us. We need to be available to others, open to new things shown to us by the Spirit, and willing to seek new ways of understanding.
Firefly numbers have been dwindling. Some – particularly those in main stream denominations – might say that Christians have been dwindling in numbers too. But that doesn’t concern me, because another lesson of Pentecost is that from a very small number of devoted followers, the message spread. The love of God was made known to more and more people by one Christian after another, glowing with the power of the Spirit.
At St. Mary’s we are poised in a great position to spread the light of the gospel to the surrounding community. Each and every one of you is a veritable beacon of God’s love, and you show that in so many visible and subtle ways, from your volunteer work in the community, your service work here at church, and by caring for your neighbor. May God continue to bless us and may the Spirit continue to empower us to do the work we are called to do.
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When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs-- in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: `In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”
Psalm 104:25-35, 37 Benedic, anima mea
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Jesus said to his disciples, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But, now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, `Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
[1] Martin M. Manser (Ed.). The Westminster Collection of Christian Quotations. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. p. 275.
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28 May 2009
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