By The Rev. Bernard W. Poppe, Rector"Come down O Love divine, and seek thou this soul of mine and visit it with thine own ardor glowing; O Comforter draw near, within my heart appear, and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing." In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
The Spirit of God is celebrated this day in this great feast of Pentecost. From the red streamers that marked the procession to the different clothes of red worn specifically for this day by people in the pews we echo and recall the first reading, that marvelous account in the Book of Acts about the manifestation of the Holy Spirit on the disciples in what appeared to be tongues of fire.
Not only did the surprised congregation see this wonder, they heard preaching, the good news of God's saving love, in their own languages. What for them was an amazing spectacle, a miracle, has become for us an icon of God's power and story of such richness that we can hear in our own ways, in our own languages if you will, what God calls out to us.
This particular story stands in perfect contrast to another story in the Bible, that of the Tower of Babel. The word is pronounced Bay-bell not Babble, as is often understandably used because of all the babbling that ensued, but I assure you the word is Bay-bell. Genesis chapter 11 describes a point in the early time of creation when everyone spoke one language. A group decided to build a tower as a memorial to themselves for future generations. So successful was this tower that God realized ther was nothing people would stop at and that nothing would be impossible for them. Rather than seeing this as a good thing, God put a stop to it by confusing their languages and scattering them abroad over the face of the earth. The implication of the story is that we can get lost in our own success and abilities to the point where we forget that God is still God, and that we are not. The Tower of Babel stands as a memorial, not to human ingenuity but humanity's reckless ambition.
The story of Pentecost takes this and turns it around bringing all the languages together in one voice praising God and living not in competition with God, but in harmony and purpose. The unity of this voice was not to celebrate the greatness of humanity, but the greatness of God's love in saving humanity from ourselves.
Some of you know that last week I took some time and went for a vacation to Germany. It was a wonderful trip where I visited friends who live in Munich, and enjoyed seeing the sights of that great city as well as renting a car and driving around the region from Munich to Salzburg, Austria, to the high Bavarian Alps seeking the Castle of Neuschwanstein, built by King Ludwig II and used by Walt Disney as the model for his signature Magic Kingdom. Talk about a Tower of Babel! The castle was the pet project of King Ludwig as a monument ot his own ingenuity, but the building of it bankrupted him and caused the leadership around him to have him declared insane and removed from power. Two days later his body and that of his doctor were mysteriously found drowned in the lake near the castle. The castle itself was lived in for three months and remains two thirds unfinished in the interior. That which is finished is breath taking in beauty and opulence and set in an alpine beauty of unsurpassed and indeed magical grandeur. But like its Biblical predecessor becomes a monument to vanity and dangerous foolishness.
Pentecost brings God into the world of our understanding through a fire and passion of love that we cannot keep within ourselves but have to proclaim or it will burn inside us. We have to let it out and in doing so let it flow through with healing power and loving gratitude.
This feast day is a cap to the array of Easter stories. The connecting symbol liturgically is the Paschal Candle located in the center of the church. This candle, first lit at the Easter vigil represents the resurrected Christ and burns each Sunday within the body of the church as a symbol of Christ's presence and resurrection.
The movement of stories goes from the Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday through the seeming defeat and brutality of Good Friday, the death and Resurrection of Jesus, the post resurrection ministry for forty days, the Ascension and promise of the Holy Spirit and the fulfillment of that promise that first Pentecost after the Ascension. As stories they are surpassing rich in symbol and spiritual truths. One of the most fantastic things about Biblical stories is that they describe in story themes that occur over and over again in our lives. Themes of great and often misunderstood potential, crushing defeat, rising again from pain, a new understanding and rebirth of hope to the fire of new commitment and outward journey.
We hear these themes over and over again because we need to as our lives take these paths over and over again in different and ever changing ways. Our lives are full of challenges and struggles that can beat us down or build us up and make us stronger. We are powerful and strong people, but it is not our greatness that is energizing us, but the greatness of God moving though us to achieve and be agents of grace and love in a world so needy to drink it in.
A couple weeks ago we hosted a priest from Connecticut who shared some of the lessons learned by the church he serves that brought rebirth to their congregation. They were not new lessons as much as reminders of our mission to bring what we have in here, out there. The mantra of his church is that they are there for the people not yet there. It's a good reminder for us too. We are here not for ourselves alone, but for those not yet here who are looking for us and don't know where to find us. We have the Spirit of God burning in us in a way unique to us. We experience God as inclusive and loving and open without barrier or conditions. There are too many people in this world who have been excluded or hated or denied and barred from communities that present themselves as people of God and yet do horrendous things using God's name. The abuses of one community can turn the seeker away but cannot squash the desire to find God. In the pain and confusion that remains there need to be voices of intelligence and reason, voices of compassion and love, voices of acceptance and toleration, voices of openness and inclusion, voices in different tongues, but speaking the universal language of God's love and grace.
One of the reasons we repeat the biblical stories over and over again is to remind ourselves continually of the healing power it has for us and to take seriously our need to be channels of that love for others. Part of the problem in the religious communities is that we can get stuck in one of the stages of that wonderful Easter saga. Whether it's remaining stuck in a state of perpetual potential, or in a defeated attitude, or in an exalted state of resurrection alone, the community becomes stagnant and in danger of dying spiritually. Each of those segments leads to the need to bring the message outside and have it flow through us to others. We cannot keep God's love bottled up inside us or the hope or promise we've received. We have to let it out and bring it to those desperately looking for it.
What a joy it is to celebrate this wonderful feast on Mother's Day. Our mothers provide another view of giving birth to new life, facing the challenges and frustrations inherent in raising struggling and often willful seekers. And yet find in the joy in the midst. Life is a series of holding and letting go to each new phase of life. Cycles of grace and discovery, promise and fulfillment. Yet even in the midst of occasional disappointment or perhaps even failure, remembering that it is God who is the ultimate source of life and love. We are all channels of it in our own way and with our own voices. And in that way we speak one language declaring the goodness of God. Amen.
© 2008 St. George's Episcopal Church, Maplewood, NJ
Posts
