Holy Breath

Acts 2:1-21, John 20:19-23

What am I doing?

[blowing bubbles]

Watch, and think about all of the things I am doing.

To blow bubbles, you breathe – you take a breath in, and let it out.

you fill the soap and water with that breath, and off it goes:
blowing in any direction – some headed up and out, some floating gently. And either way, impossible to pin down.

That’s a lot like the Holy Spirit. 

Think about our Bible stories today:

There are two stories about the disciples sitting together in a room in Jerusalem.

In one of those stories, the coming of the Spirit is sudden, and dramatic:

There’s a rushing sound, a powerful wind, and fire – or something an awful lot like fire – surrounding everyone’s head.

No wonder they go rushing right out onto the street. Would you stay in a room that full of wind and fire!

And when they get out onto the street they start spilling God’s story in every direction, to the ends of the earth.

And then there’s the story where Jesus appears in the room, greets the disciples, and breathes into them.

Breathes into them.  It’s the same word that’s used in the creation story when God breathes life into the very first human being.

[bubbles]

Receive the Holy Spirit, Jesus says.

The breath of God, filling your own lungs and body.

And it’s powerful.  Jesus tells us that filled with that breath, we can set people free.

Just breathe for a minute.

Can you feel the power of the Spirit filling your body?

God breathes that Spirit into all of us.  You and me – and today, baby Richard – at our baptisms.  God breathes that Spirit into us when we are gathered together in faith.

Breathes into us, and sets us free.

And filled with that Spirit, we may be blown anywhere the wind takes us.

It took some of those first disciples to the ends of the earth. 

It’s taken some of us to people and places we never expected.

Or, filled with that Spirit, we may float gently, reflect the light, and be beautiful. 

We remember saints of the church who were like that, and I know beautiful people who reflect God’s light right here today.  I know you do, too.

God’s Spirit is unpredictable. 
God breathes it into us, and sets us free. 

[bubbles]

These bubbles are hard to catch.  And you can never pin them down. 

God just breathes the Spirit into us and doesn’t try to get it back.  God sets the Spirit loose in the world to see what happens.

And, like the bubbles, often when we see the Spirit, we don’t see it for long.

The fire around the heads of those disciples in Jerusalem eventually faded or vanished.  But the Spirit that they carried, like the breath in the bubbles, is still out there in the world.

Like Pentecost, the bubbles make our holy breath visible, just for a little while.

Today, we remember our baptism, and we’re reminded how God breathes the Spirit into us, giving all sorts of gifts that show God’s creativity and power, and sending us out to reflect the light, showing God’s love to the world,

wherever the wind takes us.

Do you want to see that Spirit today?

Then:

any of you who talk about Jesus, stand up.

Any of you who serve Christ in other people, stand up.

Any of you who stand up for what is right, stand up now.

Any of you who set people free - by healing physical hurt, working for justice, loving the unlovable, forgiving the painful - stand up.

Any of you who show Christ to the world by coming together to break bread, and to pray, and to share God’s peace, stand up.

God has breathed the Holy Spirit into you to make it visible to the world.

Now open that little red bottle,

fill your lungs with breath, and with God’s life-giving Spirit,

and make it visible. 

Fill the air with a bright soapy cloud of God’s Spirit.

Look around.

Look at God’s breath, God’s Spirit, made visible by you and me.

That’s Pentecost.

God’s Spirit, breathed into us, with gifts that show God’s creativity and power, sending us out to reflect the light, showing God’s love to the world.

Like these bubbles, this community is an icon of the Holy Spirit. God’s breath, lively, unpredictable, and bright, made visible today.

This Pentecost, blow bubbles in thanksgiving for the gift of the Spirit.  Blow bubbles as prayer that the Spirit may spread and spread throughout the world.  Blow bubbles to celebrate your breath, your lungs filled with life to show God’s love to the world.

Today, right now,

Breathe.

Blow.

Amen.

"Mass in the Grass" at Madison Meadow Park

Feet

Acts 1:3-11

There’s a picture in my head that I once saw – an artist’s representation of the Ascension.

There’s a group of people standing still and craning their necks as they look upward.  When you follow their gaze, you glimpse a pair of feet – ankles to toes – just disappearing into a cloud.

It’s a picture that has always made me laugh.  Feet sticking out of a cloud just seem funny to me.

But it’s a very, very important picture for the church.

Those dusty feet, dangling oddly out of a cloud on their way up, are all about what God has done for us. 

When Jesus ascends, his living, breathing, resurrected and very human body goes straight to God – to live and breathe and reign with God, as part of God, always and forever.  

From that moment on, our humanity belongs in heaven.  Our flesh and blood, our toes and hair – and all the bits in between – belong to heaven.  Our messy, imperfect humanity is holy, now and forever.

Disappearing into a cloud, those feet are the memorable sign that it really happens – that Jesus was here, and that our human nature is welcome and at home in the presence of God.

And it still makes me laugh.  I don’t think God minds when we laugh at joyful news.

There are other feet in that picture, too.  The feet of the disciples, firmly planted on the earth while their eyes follow the clouds of heaven.

It’s the original “left behind” moment, and this “left behind” is a mission and a blessing.  Jesus told his disciples that his going away was part of God’s promise to send the Holy Spirit.

If Jesus doesn’t go, we don’t become the church.  We’re just people following Jesus around.  Jesus leaves so that we become the Christ in the world, receiving the power of the Holy Spirit, witnesses to the ends of the earth.

If Jesus doesn’t ascend, we don’t have the unity of God’s Spirit binding us together across oceans and races and different worship styles.  If Jesus doesn’t ascend, we don’t have the diversity of the ends of the earth.

For me, the Ascension is about feet. Our feet carry good news and miracles from here to everywhere.  And Jesus’ feet: flesh and bone, maybe still a little dusty, carry humanity into heaven, today and forever.

So today, look up at the clouds.

And look at your feet.

It’s okay if you laugh.  God knows it’s a day for joy.

Preached at the ecumenical Ascension celebration led by the Lombard/Villa Park Religious Leaders group: Sunday June 5, 2011