First of all, I have a confession to make.
I tampered with the wording of the Collect for today,
and without your knowing I made you collaborators with me
by having everyone pray the collect out loud together.
But I did not change the original meaning expressed
by the collect for Pentecost – too much,
rather I think I made it more clear and applicable to the Church today.
This is a very ancient prayer from medieval times
that was incorporated into our prayer book.
“O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people
by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit…”
Holy Spirit as Light, light for making right judgment, or discernment,
in all aspects of our lives.
The Holy Spirit gives the light of discerning awareness.
“Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right discernment in all things,
and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort…”
That was the original word: comfort.
Yes, loving Jesus, wrap your arms around me,
and let me be comforted and comfortable.
But I would propose that we look at the Latin root of this word
and see what it means: literally, it means with strength,
com – with, fort - strength.
May we rejoice, not in being comforted, but in being strengthened.
Holy strength – it’s written all over the Pentecost event
that was just read from Acts, chapter 2.
Pentecost was not a quiet, comforting scene in that upper room
where 120 souls were gathered in prayer
waiting for the promised visitation,
not a quiet, comfortable scene when the 120 spontaneously combust
and they are blown out of that room and out onto the street
where they burst forth in a torrential flow of languages
speaking about God’s deeds of power.
I was reading in the newspaper
about local rivers and white water rafting this spring.
This year the flow of rivers swollen by an extra abundant snow melt
makes the river rafting far more exciting,
and far more dangerous.
Rivers that can swell larger than what would make for
an exciting white water adventure,
rivers that overflow their banks, break through levies,
and carry away all in their path.
So we have respect for the swollen rivers in the spring,
and especially this year.
The flow of this water is strong and irresistible.
Even more so is the Pentecostal outpouring of Holy Spirit,
unpredictable, surprising, powerful and overpowering.
The Spirit is poured out on all, the Resurrection Presence of Jesus.
The magnitude of Pentecost is huger than we can imagine –
more powerful than raging rivers.
We in the Church, inheritors of the Apostolic teachings and traditions,
are sitting on the greatest source of power ever known,
and we are ignoring it.
We are ignorant of just how powerful this resource is, a power and a strength
that can transform us internally
and revolutionize how we live.
There is more power in this ultimate resurrection appearance of Jesus
as Holy Spirit poured out on his faithful
than in all the raging rivers put together.
For this Pentecost power changed the lives of these people
and opened a flood of spiritual awakening
in those who encountered them.
3,000 were baptized that day,
Acts, chapter 2 continuing the account, tells us.
And that was just Day One.
So what’s with us here?
The Church in its institutional structure and liturgical rites
has attempted to convey the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a world of hurt.
We have good words and sacraments
and a framework for living together as a faith community.
But what the Church presents is incapable of holding and containing
the Resurrection Spirit of Jesus,
let alone even the Name of the transcending Presence of God.
There is no way here that we can meaningfully “celebrate” Pentecost,
or even come close to what it is all about.
This is beyond our words, our imagining, and most of all, beyond our control.
From the Gospel reading for today:
Jesus is standing in the temple in Jerusalem on a great feast day, proclaiming:
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,
and let the one who believes in me drink.
As the scripture has said,
‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”
Now he said this about the Spirit,
which believers in him were to receive…
So for us here today
looking either perplexed or dumbfounded by the Pentecost story
trying to relate it to our own reality,
how about starting with just basic thirst?
Do we have something we are thirsty for?
How about love?
However we understand love or whatever we think about it,
is there not this primal desire for love?
In the greatest kind of love of all Jesus offers himself to those who are thirsting,
to those whose hearts are dry as deserts.
He offers Holy Spirit not only to fill, but to overflow and become rivers,
the loving Presence of Jesus that cannot be contained.
So, let us come thirsting for this love.
The love that is given so freely
is not emotional, sentimental, soft hearted kindness.
We may prefer the taste of such love,
like preferring a sweet nectar to a glass full of medicine.
The medicine is better for us even if it tastes bitter.
We tend to prefer that niceness, comfort and good feelings
be our experience of God,
rather than encounter a love
that communicates truth about our own spiritual condition
and God's transcendent limitlessness.
But that kind of love overwhelms and touches us
in a far deeper way that messes with our previously comfortable lives, but messes with that in a hugely beneficial way.
In the Gospel reading Jesus cries out, “All who are thirsty come and drink,
and out of your inner most being will flow rivers of living water.”
This Living Water is the abundant pouring out of the Spirit, Holy Spirit,
as the Resurrection Presence of Jesus.
This living water is love in action
flowing without thought of self or self-interest,
flowing generously and abundantly,
flowing outward like water.
Notice that water flows spontaneously and without self-interest.
Water always flows towards the lowest place,
fills that,
then continues to overflow to all the other low places.
Wherever in our lives there are low places,
places of grief, hurt, need, suffering, isolation, misery,
the Living Water of God’s Love as Holy Spirit flows in,
and when that low place is filled
it then floods out.
We may come out of thirst to God,
being open just a little
or strongly crying out to God because we feel so keenly the inner pain.
We are invited to drink,
but beware!
When we drink of this water
our spiritual thirst will be filled – yes!
But then we had better not try to stop the flow just at that point of satisfaction.
Someone said drinking the living water of the Spirit
is like trying to drink from a fire hose.
But no, rather drinking the living water of the Spirit,
whether we gulp or sip gingerly, we then become the fire hose.
Then the overflow starts,
and then we become useful to God,
then we begin to fulfill our purpose for being created.
We are capable of far more than we can imagine.
We do not realize half the potential within us.
We have been coming here week after week, year after year,
being feed at the table,
and then going our way immediately forgetful
that we have a river ready to burst its banks and flood the world
with this same love with which we have been fed and saved.
Okay, here’s a more gentle, comforting illustration
one to help us respond to the tsunami of the Holy Spirit of Pentecost,
something possibly within our scope of response.
One of God’s saints said to consider a flower:
“When a flower is only a bud,
its colorful petals cannot be seen
nor its fragrance inhaled.
But when it opens, all the petals show and it spreads a lovely perfume.
We have the same capacity within us – infinite capacity –
but are still in a closed state. [still a bud]
We need to open like the flower…”
Ask Jesus to reveal himself to you as Holy Spirit within you,
so that you may grow and open to your full strength and potential
empowered by his Love.
And may we rejoice, not in being comforted, but in being strengthened.
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