The passage starts with a picture of the church gathering for prayer – not at home but in a special meeting place. The room was packed with all the believers, about 120 of them. It was a regular focus and priority of the church.
And then while in the midst of one of these prayer meetings, when all were present, the Holy Spirit descended in a new way and dramatic way. In a show of controlled power THE SPIRIT came in the form of a violent wind that filled but did not destroy the house. And then THE SPIRIT manifested Its presence via fire from heaven that did not consume them but miraculously separated and rested on each individual.
The Holy Spirit came as a violent wind and fire to anoint the church with symbols of power and purity in response to their obedience and commitment to God.
The Holy Spirit then proceeded to enable them to miraculously speak in different languages. Around 120 people praised God in all the known languages of the Roman Empire, and yet without any confusion in the message. It was an incredible sign that God was ushering a new era where everyone irrespective of race or language could be united as a people of God through Christ.
But what of the present day? What is the Holy Spirit saying to us today? Are we still united with God through Jesus Christ? Are we still speaking in different languages, with different thoughts, yet find commonality through God without confusion? Or are we waiting for another Pentecost?
Imagine the scene, as the 20th chapter of John describes, the disciples cowering in a locked room—afraid. They are afraid of death. They are afraid of violence. They are afraid of responsibility. In a word, they are afraid of life. Without Jesus leading them, comforting them, healing them—without Jesus living life for them—they simply cannot imagine a future of meaning and purpose.
Picture then, Jesus suddenly appearing to them, ignoring locked doors and locked hearts. He simply appears—breathing into them, onto them, among them. Re-creation—a new beginning—the Word becoming flesh, this time in the brand new birth of an infant community. It is a community that will call itself church—a community that now has in them, on them, and among them the resurrected power of Jesus. And so, they—we—become the resurrected body of Christ in the world. ....Amazing!
When God sings through the birds, or breathes through the wind, do we see Him appearing to us? Or do we, like the cowering disciples, fear life locked in an anxious faith, afraid of life’s mysteries without the visible Jesus? Do we heed God’s calling in our lives, or are we waiting for someone else to do and be who God is calling us to do and be.
Do we see God in quiet, unexpected, faithful places Jesus, not to do ministry for us, but to breathe ministry through us—a re-creation of passion and purpose for our living, Churches and individuals who are doing marvelous and miraculous works in His name and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,… another breathing of the Pentecost.
Another Pentecost? … Whenever we choose to lock ourselves up in our human frailties, our utterly dependable God will not leave us alone. God comes to stand in our midst and breathe upon us—passing on resurrection possibility to us and sending resurrection power through us to resurrect the world. This is the good news of the gospel. This is the Pentecost promise.
But would we recognize Pentecost if it happened today? Distracted by disasters and mayhem, multimedia events, real and fabricated, it is difficult to discern the work of the Spirit in our midst. So what of little Pentecosts— the scores of people who have gone to Louisiana or to the wreckage of the tsunami, or to Darfur, to Guatemala, to lower Manhattan in the World Trade Center catastrophe.
When people gather with no previous notice to pray for trapped miners and for children killed without warning, and those who write checks to stop easy purchase of guns and to fill food pantries, to correct birth defects, and to look with awe at those whose children were killed who forgave their killers, and those who vote as if their life and faith demand it.
When is all that a result of sons and daughters prophesying, young men and women seeing visions, and old ones dreaming dreams? Or,.. God’s Spirit pouring out? Another Pentecost? Pentecost happens in our midst all the time. Jesus appears to us all the time. Do we see Him?
Welcome
Welcome to All. This blog is a discussion site, looking at our lives through our experiences, our spiritual, and, not so spiritual lens, ....what our lives look like at The Front. We are and some would argue, always have been, in interesting times. Servants, past and present have been at constant struggle with whatever the issues of the day have been. Where do we even begin to name them: poverty, hunger, education, shelter, .... and did I mention poverty? Fifty-one years ago, President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty, a war by the way, we're still fighting. Then again, we've always been at war with poverty, and yet poverty has remained steadfast. Jesus apparently got it right: "The poor will always be with you." But Jesus was a smart man. Did he mean what we think? Does poverty always have to be with us. Let's talk about this, and whatever else, in real and truthful ways. Let's view our lives from The Front.
If you have come to help me, then you are wasting your time. If you have come because your liberation is linked to mine, then we will work together.
----(Anonymous) Australian Aborigine Activist
--mailto:--neilpitts@aol.com
----(Anonymous) Australian Aborigine Activist
--mailto:--neilpitts@aol.com
Contemplative Action
The Rite of Initiation: You are going to die
A shocking statement. Perhaps. But the Franciscan Priest, Richard Rohr,,who has studied the Rite of Initiation has said the following::
"Every initiation rite I've studied had some ritual, dramatic, or theatrical way to experience crossing the threshold from life to death in symbolic form. Some ritual of death and resurrection was the centerpiece of all male initiation. It is probably why Jesus sought out and submitted to John the Baptist's offbeat death and rebirth ritual down by the riverside, when his own temple had become more concerned with purity codes than with transformation. It is probably why Jesus kept talking to his disciples, three times in Mark's Gospel, about the necessity of this death journey, and why three times they changed the subject (8:31-10:45). It is undoubtedly why Jesus finally stopped talking about it, and just did it, not ritually but actually. Death and resurrection, the paschal mystery, is the theme of every single Eucharist no matter what the feast or season. It takes us many seasons and even years to overcome our resistance to death.
"The transformational journey of death and resurrection is the only real message. It makes you indestructible. The real life, God's life, is running through you and in you already. But allowing it to flow freely doesn't come easily. When you do, the spiritual journey really begins. Up to that moment it is just religion. Everything up to then is creating the container, but you have not yet found the contents; you are creating the wineskins, as Jesus says, but you are not yet drinking the intoxicating wine."
No comments:
Post a Comment