In every one of the scripture stories we hear today the Holy Spirit is brought or sent by God into a situation of stress or uncertainty.
Moses has finally got the people of Israel organized enough in the wilderness that they can start to make progress toward the land of promise and abundance God’s prepared for them. And immediately the whole thing dissolves again into complaints about the food and murmurs about returning to Egypt. Moses is too alone with all the responsibilities and leadership he didn’t volunteer for, and he storms off to hand in his resignation to God.
“Why is this my problem?!” he demands. “I quit. Kill me now.”
Maybe you’ve felt something like that in the past month or two?
The arrangement of seventy elders to get a share of the Spirit is God’s response to Moses’ angry exhaustion and overwork, and the stress of the people on the hard wilderness road.
The disciples praying together in Jerusalem, on the other hand, may be calmer than Moses – they’re all praying together, supporting one another – waiting as Jesus told them for the Spirit which will make them witnesses to the world of all God’s work.
Calm or not, though, they are feeling all the uncertainty of waiting for something that will determine the course of their lives; something entirely out of their control. They’re separated from the other devout Jews in Jerusalem, they don’t know exactly what to expect; only that God will do something, some time, which will change their world and life. Again.
Maybe that uncertainty sounds familiar to some of us, too.
And John tells a story of disciples awash in uncertainty, fear, and distress. They’ve locked themselves in because the Temple leaders are probably out to get them, to sweep up and silence any friends of that rabble rouser Jesus the Romans just killed.
Plus, nobody knows what has happened to Jesus, either. He’s been killed and buried, but his body is now gone from the grave and maybe he’s alive, but that’s impossible, but….who even knows?
Even if there’s good to come, right now nothing is right with the world, everything we used to trust is broken, and just stepping outside the door could risk our lives.
The times and situation are quite different, of course, but some of us have felt those things recently, I know.
The times and situation are quite different, of course, but some of us have felt those things recently, I know.
And into every one of those situations today comes the Spirit of God. The Spirit comes to unblock our human limits, yank us unstuck, and remove all the obstacles that keep us from sharing the abundance of life which God has planned for the whole world.
I don’t think stress and uncertainty are actually necessary conditions for experiencing the gift of God’s spirit. Inspiration – being filled with the spirit of God that gives life and purpose and connection – can happen at any time.
The Spirit of God may light us up with joy to share when we’re enjoying the company of friends or family; or when we’re praying in trust and hope.
God may empower us to lead, help, or care for others when we are perfectly content, or enjoying our work.
Jesus might breathe us full of trust and confidence in God and tell us to share it when we’re feeling pretty settled and comfortable with the world as we know it.
All of that happens, thanks be to God.
And whether God’s Spirit pours onto God’s people in the midst of uncertainty, stress and fear, or amid hope and contentment, every time the Holy Spirt kindles or pours into or breathes into us, it’s to unblock our limits, release our isolation, and move forward God’s work in the world and in our lives.
Limits are pretty familiar right now. We’re overstrained, many of us, just trying to be our own support systems: to be the schools and barbers and routine physical care usually provided by others. We’re trying to be our own communities, distant from the friends or neighbors who keep us connected and sane.
Those may not seem like limits on proclaiming the gospel or limits on our faith and trust in God, like early disciples in today’s stories. But the limits you and I face – all our human limits – are equally targets for the Holy Spirt however and whenever they disconnect us from the work of God in our own lives or the world. The Holy Spirit comes to break free any limit that keeps us from trusting or sharing God’s love, whether that’s “Zoom fatigue” or isolation; fear or physical fragility; exhaustion or misunderstanding – or things we just don’t know how to do.
The Holy Spirit can and does come to release anything that keeps you or me from belonging to God with a joyful heart and soul; any thing that keeps us from experiencing and participating in God’s overwhelming drive to heal the world. The Spirit comes to free us from the grip of evil, hatred, indifference, or despair, and connect us all in the love and trust and generous care that is the peace of God as Jesus brings it.
Sometimes, we see or feel those limits clearly. As the news fills with division and injustice and racism and economic peril, we may feel how big the problems are, and how small we are when we want to help move the world toward humanity, compassion, freedom and justice. We may feel the pain of not knowing how to help as people around us die and grieve; grow hungrier or sicker or more lonely. Sometimes we may feel the despair of being not-enough at home or work: not being able to meet the responsibilities we didn’t volunteer for but the world needs anyway; not being able to love those close to us as generously as God loves.
So sometimes the Holy Spirit comes to sweep us into the tide of God’s miracles and love that heal and save others and change the world, like those disciples lit on fire and speaking words they didn’t know in the streets of Jerusalem. The Spirit may come suddenly and clearly, like wind and fire; or slowly and subtly, with small shifts in our days and years.
Other times we don’t know why or how we feel alone or exhausted, anxious or fearful. And God coaxes or orders us, like Moses, to let the Holy Spirit flow through us, touching other people with insight and power, so that God’s tide of love can carry us into the promised healing and abundance and trust that God has made ready for you and me.
Sometimes the Spirit uses us to heal the world and comes to heal ourselves all at once, like Jesus passing through the locked doors of the house in Jerusalem, bringing peace and life and trust to heal his friends’ broken, fearful hearts and breathe into them the strength and Spirit to teach and heal others, empowering them to release limits for others.
In every case – every time – when the Spirit comes to release our limits, the Spirit also comes to assure us in heart and body and soul that we are not alone.
Not alone with the burden of leadership or citizenship or discipleship; not alone with the hunger in our souls or the losses we carry. Not alone with our joy and love for God’s world, not alone with the hope kindled deep in our souls.
The Spirit comes to release our limits so that we know, beyond doubt, that God is with us, seen or unseen: always closer and greater than we can imagine; always connecting us with all God’s people, however far away; always breaking us free to heal and love and rejoice.
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