Homily
Pentecost May 15, 2005
There evidently is a new thing for thrill seekers. People are paying $100 per hour to don baggy
jumpsuits, helmets, goggles and knee pads and jump off into a 10-story high
column of up-rushing wind. It’s called
skydiving without the airplane trip.
Huge vertical wind tunnels are among the new attractions at theme parks
around the world. They are powered by
huge fans that create hurricane-force winds of over 140 miles per hour that can
hold the flying jumpers aloft while they, like leaves in the path of blowers,
twist, roll and somersault on the currents.
We celebrate this feast of Pentecost –we are encouraged to
trust in the presence of that Spirit that formed the followers of Jesus – that
made it possible for them to jump into the whole experience of being church. It
was that Spirit, sent into their lives, that convinced them that they not only
should heal as Jesus did, nourish as Jesus did, love inclusively as Jesus did,
speak the truth as Jesus did – not only should they do all these things – they
could. The presence of the Spirit of God is a fact. As we sit here as believers
if we don’t believe in that presence we should get up and go home. The issue is
whether or not we throw ourselves into the spirit of God and let that spirit
move us and form us and make us what we are supposed to be.
The truth is that just as scary as jumping into the wind
tunnel is – I really can’t ever imagine doing that! – it is also scary and
risky and somewhat overwhelming to jump into the path of the Spirit of God.
That is why we might wish to contain the Spirit. Let’s reserve the rushing in of the Spirit to
today – to this one feast day or to the celebration of confirmation or some
other high times – then we know what to expect and how to react and act. Or we see the spirit in scripted services for
TV evangelists or ecstatic worship services by all sorts of people. But the
fact is that the spirit comes through locked doors and down busy streets and
into shopping malls and our homes and our working places. The Spirit of God is
all pervasive. We can’t script it. We can’t contain it. Unfortunately we can only choose to avoid it
and play safe – to ignore it and live quietly – not disturbing anything or
anyone. The folks who jump into the Spirit of God usually get into a bit of
trouble and trouble others.
My experience of the
It is akin to jumping into the wind tunnel. It is the trust
in the Spirit of God that keeps us aloft – and present and moving and free.
The essential fact that forms us – you and I – is this trust.
The essential message is that God is here in our midst – regardless of what we
do – of who we are – of how we act – of how we react.
Joan Chittister in her book Called to Question remembers a
kind of spirituality that she grew up with – and that might be familiar to some
of us. It was a tangle of double messages, she says: “Sin separates us from God,” we were told on
one day. “God is everywhere,” we were
told the next. We were to strive to become holy as if the enterprise had
something to do with doing holy things – things that we were told were
holy. And, the message was clear,
holiness depended entirely on us. If we
were faithful, if we kept the rules, God would reward us with heaven. If not,
nothing could save us. At the same time, they also told us that “Faith was a
gift,” and no one could merit it. This
spiritual life was fraught with anxiety.
But the message that is missed in this kind of thought is
that what Jesus told us to do was keep the awareness of God ever before our
eyes. We are to concentrate on God, not
on sin. We are about awe, about awareness,
not terror. The God we believe in does
stay distant from us to toy with us. God
is not close when we are perfect and far away when we are not. God is ours for the asking. God is with us. Here.
Now. That is it. No questions
asked.
We don’t earn God. We can’t possible deserve God. We simply have God. God is of the essence of our lives. We only
have to be conscious of God and grow into the life force that already lives in
us. We need to jump in and be immersed.
Chittister says “God is not in the whirlwind. God is not in a plethora of anything – words,
places, rituals, ecclesiastical games, or people. God is simply right where we
are. Which, of course, is why God is so
hard to find. We are always looking
elsewhere. “There,” says the church. “There says the society. But God is here – right here – all the while.
And that realization of God’s presence here in our gathering
continues – Of course we always need to heighten our awareness. We need to
trust more. We need to jump more often and more freely and let the Spirit of
God sustain us.
And no there is no time that that jump is more needed for you
and me then now. . I take the jump
because I have to. And you will jump
into the Spirit because you have to. We will all be fine – because we have
trusted in God’s spirit. I have loved my 21 years here because you have trusted
me and I have trusted you. We are Church and we can never forget that. We
continue as Church – We witness these young people growing into Church. We see
signs all around us of Church happening. And it continues tomorrow and the next
day because we have for all these years known that God is in the mix of it all.
Again Joan Chittister tells a story from her life – a tale
about change –I hesitate to tell it because I don’t want you to draw direct parallels
– you’ll see what I mean.
Joan says that when
she was a young sister she received a phone call that Sister Theophane, one of
the strongest, most intelligent, most formative people in her life, the woman
who had helped her recover from polio and sustain so much more had collapsed and
was dying –she was quite elderly. Joan
got to her side as quickly as possible. Sister Theophane said “I’m going now,
Joan”. I knew she knew what she was saying.
“Sister”, I pleaded like any young disciple in the throes of
fear at the loss of a mentor, “Hang on.
Please hang on. Don’t go.”
Her eyes were closed – she was still. “No, it’s all right,” she said.
I was desperate. “But,
Sister,” I could hear myself getting more insistent, “You can’t go.” I was fairly shouting now. “What about me!”
Her eyelids flickered for a second, she gave a long, tired
breath, and she said very quietly, “History records, dear, that you will do
quite well.”
History records that you and I will do quite well. I know that I am in your prayers – You are
always in mine. Fr. Gene looks forward to being here – He is so excited about
it. He is bursting! The Bishop has made him an administrator – that is what
they do now – but it is a permanent position – eventually to be named pastor.
I know you’ll welcome him well.
You and I in different ways will jump in and be sustained by
the Spirit of God. And I know that Fr. Gene will jump in too.
Peace.