May 11, 2008

Today is Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all biological and surrogate mothers out there! In my family growing up, Mother's Day was the day that breakfast was ceremoniously served to mom in bed. We found the tray, we made the tea and breakfast, we folded the napkin in a special way and scrounged up a flower from somewhere in our yard or the neighbor's yard, and all four of us paraded into my mother's room as if she were a queen. We sat on her bed as she ate her breakfast and we showered her with cards and little gifts that we made in school. If dad was really on his game, he would have his own extravagant gift to add to the pile. As we got older, Mother's Day evolved as we moved away from home, started to send cards and flowers and call mom on the phone. Today my own mother is inFlorida on an annual trip with a group of friends, so we have been invited to a friend's house for a group of folks who all have mothers at a distance.

Some holidays are set in stone. They never change. Others change and adapt as families shift and grow and people tire of doing the same thing the same way. Some get completely transformed by new additions to the family or new understandings of their meaning. Like many traditions that we observe in our personal and corporate lives, Pentecost is a tradition that has evolved. Pentecost was a religious observance that has its roots in Hebrew scripture; it was a harvest festival that fell seven weeks after you put "the sickle to the standing grain," says Leviticus 23:15. It was a day for honoring the first fruits of the harvest and no one was allowed to work as various sacrifices of animals and bread were made as they gave thanks to God for the harvest (Harper's Bible Dictionary, p. 769). Slowly, over a period of a few hundred years the observance of Pentecost began to lose its association with its agricultural roots and become affiliated with the religious history of the Hebrew people. Eventually it was transformed into an observance of the giving of the Torah, or the Law, to the Hebrew people on Mt. Sinai; the fifty days was the length of time between the Passover festival and the arrival at Sinai to receive the 10 Commandments.

In first century Christianity it was transformed by the early Christian community to have a new significance. Paul, who is the earliest New Testament writer, alludes to it in I Corinthians 16. It is mentioned elsewhere, but the most famous description of Pentecost in the New Testament is the first Pentecost which is described in our reading of Acts chapter 2 today. It is an observance of the giving of the Holy Spirit to the early church, fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus. When we read of the account in Acts, we hear of the disruptive and mighty power of God's Holy Spirit that descended on the Christian community on their first reinterpreted Pentecost. Oh, how things have changed since that early agricultural festival!

In our little corner of Christendom, we have a pretty low-key celebration of Pentecost. However, I would maintain that the imagery of the first Pentecost is full of power and truth that is pretty provocative if we really listen to its message. First, there is the image of Holy disruption. It's as if you took your life as you knew it and just threw all your important papers out into the streets. Everything gets turned upside down - violent wind, tongues of fire and people filled with the ability to speak unknown languages - dominate the room where the disciples are gathered. The arrival of God's Spirit is chaotic and dynamic. There is no time to batten down the hatches! There is a heightened sense of movement that begins outside of them and then moves into their very beings as they begin to speak spontaneously. It attracts a crowd and the action moves from the place that they are gathered to the crowd outside where other people begin to gather. The setting is the city of Jerusalem but there are people from all over the surrounding region - people from Mesopotamia and Asia, from Libya and Rome, from Crete and Egypt. This is a reminder that Jerusalem is a place where all cultures converge and gather. This is a reminder that God's Spirit does not just come to one tribe or culture but to all people.

The folks gathered speak many different languages, and yet suddenly people begin to hear their native languages. One of the most important barriers of understanding is suddenly stripped away. Finally, the story shifts again as the naysayers begin to sneer and accuse the people of being under the influence of alcohol; it forces Peter to stand up and offer his first public speech proclaiming the power of God. In the midst of all this chaos and change Peter is moved to find his voice. He doesn't worry about what others will think or what he will say. He simply lets the Spirit guide his words as he gives an impassioned sermon about God.

Holy Disruption, Holy Speech and Finding One's Voice are all part of the giving of the Holy Spirit. For those of us who invite God's Spirit to be the guiding principle in our lives, these aspects of Pentecost are a gift to us. First, we can no longer live under our own power and control. The Holy Disruption is a reminder for us to leave the door ajar - a symbolic act of letting God be a part of our life. Those of us who are self-sufficient and independent, who are good at organizing our lives and accomplishing things, this is challenging. We know what we need. We know what we want. Holy Disruption means that we take a backseat to God's plan for our lives and our world. What does this look like? This looks like us doing less and listening more. This is not about more action but more discernment. Whether it is deciding about a presidential candidate, deciding about a medical decision, or deciding about a personal decision, it is about taking time to be in the chaos. Whatever you do to make an important step in your life, remember to add this piece. Carve out a few days or a week, do your research, and then sit with it. It is very challenging because most of us loathe chaos and indecision. It stirs up our anxiety as we sit in the "land of indecision". Pentecost invites us to see this space as Holy Disruption. Try it next time you are trying to make a decision.

Holy Speech. Pentecost brings together many different languages and gives us an image of understanding and recognition. We literally speak different languages that build barriers between us. Eric Law, Episcopal Priest and writer of the book, The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb, says that the Church has always emphasized the miracle of the tongue in this passage. Yet, once he attended a Bible Study led by Walter and June Keener Wink and they asked the question, is this a miracle of the tongue or of the ear? When we think of Christian proclamation we think of teaching people something. What if we thought of Christian proclamation as hearing differently? What if we took the time to listen differently? Maybe the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is marked by our ability to really listen instead of to speak or form judgments. When you visit a monastery it is marked by such profound quiet that it throws you off when you realize that there is little speech that takes place. The corridors of the monastery are quiet as people tiptoe gently down the halls; the meals oftentimes are silent. If you hang in there with the silence though, you realize that the silence invites listening. One cannot hear when one is always talking. As the silence invades us, we are invited to listen. Listening well informs our speech.

Finally, finding one's voice as a lesson of Pentecost. Everyone knows the reputation of Peter. Peter was the one who didn't get it. Peter was the one who was afraid to claim his affiliation with Jesus during the trial. Peter was the one in John's Gospel who was told feed my sheep. Peter doesn't have a great track record when it comes to taking risks publicly and being profound in his speech. And yet here, on Pentecost, Peter is lifted up as a powerful preacher in response to the naysayers. Peter, for the first time, finds his voice in eloquent speech, and people listen.

If we are to be followers of Jesus and people of God, we must be guided by the Spirit of God. That means allowing our lives to be disrupted by God instead of only driven by us; that means listening to Holy Speech instead of always being the ones to speak over others; it also means finding our true voice and offering it without fear or hesitation. Imagine the people we could be; imagine the force we could be in the world if we were to be continually grounded in these Pentecostal teachings!!! May you have the grace and courage to try things differently on this day which celebrates God's Spirit in our lives. Amen.