Pentecost Sunday: The Holy Spirit

May 24, 2021 Andrea Schmid

by Fr. Bill Garrison

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Jesus said to his disciples, ”When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Good morning. Today is Pentecost. We celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Christian church. As we consider the Holy Spirit we commonly about how we communicate with her. In that vein I have a couple quick stories about communication you might enjoy to get us started.

A woman went to the doctor looking fantastic: hair and makeup done by a professional, Gucci heels, Versace dress and Prada purse.

"I've been stung by a nasty insect of some kind," she told the doctor, “but I'm ashamed to tell you where."

"It's okay," said the doctor. "Our communication is privileged; I won't tell anyone."

"Okay," said the woman. "It was at Walmart."

Ok another quickly.

A man was locked out of his apartment. He started talking calmly but firmly to the lock...

Because at the end of the day, communication is the key.

Today I would like to think in some depth about the Holy Spirit. I wonder how much time we normally devote to her, understanding her. We talk about God and Jesus all the time but not nearly as much about the Holy Spirit.

Now as we begin, please notice I call the Spirit She. I do that because it makes sense to me. In the Hebrew Scriptures the Spirit of Wisdom is a she. And she balances things in terms of the Trinity. And frankly for me the feminine gender just makes more sense. Now, if you are uncomfortable with that it’s ok. Think about the Spirit as you will. I would hate for my idea about the Spirit’s gender to get in the way of your most comfortable understanding.

Ok let’s start. Let’s listen to what is said about the Spirit in the Apostle’s Creed.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

Yep, that’s all that is said about the spirit. I don’t know if the creators of the creed took her for granted or they just didn’t know what to say. It was the start of the second century at the time.

Now let’s listen to what is said in the Nicene Creed, written a couple hundred years later in 325 CE.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,

the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.

He has spoken through the Prophets.

You can tell they were attempting to understand and explain her a little bit more as time passed, but frankly neither creed is terribly helpful it seems to me. The Nicene Creed says she is the giver of life (God breathes life into us) and has given the words to be spoken to the prophets. That’s about it.

So, let’s think about the images used to describe the Spirit. Fire, wind, and language is used. Fire represents the Spirit’s ability to form each of us internally. The wind is used to describe the Spirit’s impact in our lives with each other. Language is used to explain how we may communicate more effectively with each other.

Ok, now let’s turn to specific scriptures for additional understanding. I think with the images we just talked about and the scriptures we are about to visit much can be learned. I understand this may bore some of you to death and I apologize if it does. I will wake you up when it’s over. It won’t take long. And for those interested there are copies of what I am sharing in the Narthex to be picked up later as you leave if you wish.

Creation

Genesis 1.1-2: In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

Baptism

1 Corinthians 12.13: For in the one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Guidance

John 14.26: But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.

Romans 8.26: Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.

Wisdom

Isaiah 11.2: The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,

the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the spirit of counsel and might,

the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Gift Giver

1 Corinthians 12.7-11: To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

The Spirit within Us

1 Corinthians 3.16-17: Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

1 Corinthians 6.19: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?

The Spirit’s Love for Us

Romans 15.30: I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in earnest prayer to God on my behalf.

The Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5.22-23: By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Ok. I am sure I may have overwhelmed you at this point. I hope however, I have made evident the importance of the Holy Spirit to each of us as individuals and to all of us as a group.

For me it works like this. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of God and is manifest in the world and in our lives. Everything one might conceive to be true of God is evident in the Holy Spirit. We are unable to understand God as we might like to. We study Jesus Christ but he lived two thousand years ago in a different culture altogether. But the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the living God, is within us and surrounding us. Everything we will ever know about God in this life is encapsulated in the reality of the Holy Spirit. She deserves attention and credit, more than we give her.

So here is our invitation. Give the Spirit of God some serious consideration. Understand that she hears our prayers. She comforts us, advises us, advocates for us, loves us, and is the source of God’s grace. God and Jesus may get most of the attention, but the Spirit is currently doing most of the work.

Pentecost: Making Space for the Holy Spirit

May 31, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by the Rev. Carole Horton-Howe

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

—John 20:19-23

It’s Pentecost! Today we continue talking about the Holy Spirit and hear about the Spirit’s call to Jesus’ followers, startling them and then energizing them to do the work of being the church in the world.

The good news of Easter that we leave behind today was not just about assurance that God had conquered death. It was always also a about mission. Jesus’ resurrection implicated the disciples and us in building the King of God on earth. It draws us into the realm of God’s love for the world and empowers us by the Spirit to love each other as God loves the world.

Bishop Mary Glasspool once told me something important about the Holy Spirit in the context of ministry. Remember, she said, that the Holy Spirit is always at work – always moving, stirring us up, always revealing opportunities for us to participate in God’s dream of creating. The job of ministry, she said, is to go into a place and figure out what the Holy Spirit is already doing there. So your job is to discern what the Holy Spirit is doing. And then figure out what you can do to help the Holy Spirit along.

Her advice isn’t just for clergy and not just for tasks we think of as “ministry,” it’s for all of us all the time.

It’s about living our lives expecting and looking for how the Holy Spirit is moving in the world.

This is where this particular gospel is so important: we are reminded that we do not stand alone in our attempts to follow Jesus. We, too, are given the Holy Spirit that transformed the disciples from a motley collection of followers into an energized and committed troop of missionaries that transformed the world.

Jesus links the coming of the Holy Spirit to forgiveness of sins. Of all the things Jesus could have talked about in this most powerful moment, why forgiveness?

Remember who he’s talking to—his closest friends who have witnessed the trauma of his death. So in telling them to forgive, he wants them to make space in the hearts for the spirit to work in them and through them. Jesus knows the hard emotional work that is ahead of them. How can they do this hard work of building up the kingdom of God on earth with hearts full of pain, blocked with thoughts of anger, anxiety and revenge?

Jesus on the cross asked God to forgive those responsible for his murder. Now Jesus wants his disciples to let go, to make space in their hearts to receive the Holy Spirit and let her guide them. Be strong, be fearless. Be unencumbered to build God’s Kingdom in the World. Allow God to be the forgiver of sins – both our sins and those of others. Our responsibility is not to judge but to let them go into the realm of God. So that we can focus on the work that we have to do.

What did they experience? John’s description of the coming of the Holy Spirit is limited. It’s actually Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians that describes what the experience for us.

Remember that Paul was a contemporary of the disciples, that he spent time with them after his conversion. It’s easy to imagine that he heard from those who were in the room when Jesus appeared and heard them describe the experience of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Paul says:

“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.”

Paul goes on to talk about gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, performing miracles, prophecy.

The experience of the disciples and their sharing that experience is important for us. Theologians can talk endlessly about God, postulate various ideas about God’s role in the universe. There is just as much conversation about interpreting Jesus’ his words and actions trying to understand as best we can what they meant. These heartfelt attempts are all fine.

But I believe the Holy Spirit is different – the Holy Spirit is personal and intimate for each of us. We are given gifts as Paul said “individually just as the Spirit chooses.”

I think we know if we’re doing that, I think we can discern the presence of the Holy Spirit if we see the Fruits of the Holy Spirit that Paul talks about later. He describes the qualities we experience as the Holy Spirit is working in and through us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Holy Spirit works in us in big, spectacular ways that bring on those Ah-Ha! moments. And also in quiet ways, that rescue us, comfort us, nudging us along.

Whenever I’m a little short on Joy, as happens sometimes these days, I remember the day this photo was taken. It was my ordination day. I’m surrounded by so many of you on the steps of St. John’s cathedral. During the ordination service, I clearly heard the Holy Spirit speaking to me that day as I lay prostrate on the floor. “You have done everything that was asked of you,” she said. “Your fears, your anxieties about the future – leave them on the floor. I’ll sweep them away. Make space in your heart for me. Get up.” And I have this photo to remind me of the joy generated by the Spirit that day. I keep in it my office at home and look at it everyday.

Saint Matthias Group Photo at Rev. Carole’s Ordination - Photo by Bob Howe

Rev. Carole’s Ordination Service - Photo by Bob Howe

If we take this call to follow Jesus seriously it quickly becomes clear that we as mere humans are not capable of doing so on our own. The powers of sin arrayed against us are too great. We need the Holy Spirit and we need each other.

The events going on around our country that have unfold in the last few days that led to the death of one man and the response of thousands to it are disturbing. The reasons for it are complex and deeply rooted in generations of behavior that clearly never had even a passing acquaintance with God’s dream for the world, with the teachings of Jesus or the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

As followers of Jesus Christ, our call today is to figure out what the Holy Spirit is stirring up in our lives, and to live out that call in lives saturated with those qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control so that they may pass through us to others. Make space for the Holy Spirit. And get up. This is our Holy work. Amen.

The Seventh Sunday in Easter: Looking forward to the Coming of the Holy Spirit

May 28, 2020 Andrea Schmid

by Fr. Bill Garrison

Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.

One of the things I do each week, early in the week, is send a little something about the scriptures for the coming Sunday to the Sunday school teachers to help them in their lesson planning. I looked at the scriptures for today and honestly none of them appealed to me as the subject for today’s sermon or the subject of Sunday school. And then I began to think about next Sunday, Pentecost, and the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit. And I thought, what if we thought about the nature of the Holy Spirit?

We are familiar with the theological concept of God we call the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We think a lot about God and Jesus Christ, but not so much about the Holy Spirit. I think many of us do not have terribly well-developed notions about the Spirit. So, I want to share some of my personal thoughts with you today on the subject.

But first here is a funny, one I don’t believe I have told in this forum for a few years. It’s about being an “advocate,” one of the names Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit. And this little story is about a terrific advocate.

During a game of little league baseball, Coach Rogers called aside little Jimmy and asked him this question. “Tell me Jimmy, do you understand the words co-operation and teamwork?” Jimmy nodded in the affirmative.

The coach asked again. “Do you agree that what matters is whether we win or lose together as a team?” Jimmy nodded in agreement.

Coach Rogers continued, “Then I am sure you would agree that when a batter is called out on strikes, we shouldn't shout at or argue with the umpire, or call him names. Do you agree to that?” Little Jimmy nodded in the affirmative again.

Coach Rogers went on, “And when I take you out of the game so another player gets a chance to play too, it's not good sportsmanship to call your coach a moron or lunatic is it?” Jimmy shook his head “No.”

“Good”, said coach Rogers, “Now could you go over there and explain all that to your grandmother?”

Now one thing we don’t need to worry about is whose side the grandmother is on do we? I imagine Jimmy knew full well how much his grandmother loved and supported him.

As we begin our study of the Holy Spirit, it would be wise to recognize a couple of things. The Holy Spirit is just that, spirit. We cannot see the Holy Spirit. Just like the wind we can only see the impact of her actions. The wind moves the branches in the tree and blows away your hat invisibly. The Holy Spirit involves herself in our lives the same way.

And let me also explain to you my own most basic way of understanding the Holy Spirit. I see the Spirit as feminine. I am not alone in this viewpoint, but I respect your own viewpoint if you cannot see the Holy Spirit in this way. I do this because Wisdom in the Old Testament is presented as feminine and I see Wisdom and the Spirit as the same. I also see her in this way because it balances the books of the Trinity. Father, Son, and Spirit. But please, if this raises your hackles, I respect that. Think of her as you will. When I say she, referring to the Spirit, during the rest of our time on the subject today insert your own preferred word if you like.

So, let’s use some metaphors to describe and understand her. Jesus said “advocate.” We might think of attorney, but I think even more than that. The Holy Spirit is in our corner. Perhaps not like the young man we discussed a bit ago, but she is on our side. In fact, think about Jesus and how he had compassion for people and prayed to God on the behalf of people. He said the Holy Spirit was coming. He wasn’t going to leave the people as orphans. To me this means the Holy Spirit represents us to God, converses with God about us, just like Jesus did. The Holy Spirit cares about us and advocates on our behalf.

Photo by Daria Obymaha from Pexels — Photo by **Daria Obymaha** from **Pexels**

I think of the Holy Spirit as “Comforter,” a term Jesus also used. When things are hard, when we find ourselves in physical or psychic pain, the Holy Spirit is right there with us. That feeling of warmth that suddenly comes on us out of nowhere is her seeking to comfort us. Think back over your lifetime and I am sure you will find times when during the worst of times suddenly you unexpectedly felt better, comforted.

I also think of the Holy Spirit as friend, a companion if you will. We are never alone. This is one of the things I tell folks before a baptism. We receive the Holy Spirit and no matter what happens in our lives, no matter how alone we might feel, we are never by ourselves. Being aware of our companion, the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference, every day, but especially when we need a friend.

Another way I experience the Holy Spirit is as a playmate. When times are great the Holy Spirit celebrates with us. When we are happy the Holy Spirit shares in our happiness. When we are experiencing joy in our lives the Holy Spirit is joyful with and for us. It’s like being out having a great time with your best friend, which in essence you are.

And this is going to sound a little weird, but I experience the Holy Spirit as the first search engine. Think Google. There is nothing in all the cosmos that God does not know. The creator knows everything. I mean literally everything. So, when we have decisions to make, or are trying to understand an issue, the Holy Spirit, if allowed, will lead us to the truth. It may not be the truth we expected, but we almost immediately get a glimmering of the reality of a situation the moment we ask for help for help from her.

I am sure we could come up with many more metaphors for the Holy Spirit if we sat down and began to list them. A couple of times I have led groups who were attempting to describe the attributes of Jesus. We came up with over one hundred key terms on each occasion. I have no doubt the Holy Spirit would lead us down the same path if we went there and we would list just as many. She is after all the third part of the Trinity, that impossibly difficult concept of God. Martin Luther said that attempting to understand the Trinity could make a person insane. So, I think it is enough just to say that She is God, is one third of the Godhead, and leave it at that.

So here is our invitation today as we get ready for Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. Think about her. What does she mean to you? Do you know her as your advocate, your companion, and your friend? Do you feel that your relationship with her could be enlarged? Would that be a good thing? Would you like to know her better? Some things to ponder – relax and enjoy the possibilities.