Gospel: John 20:19-23
I invite you to light a
candle there at home.
Does anyone here love
fire as much as me? I love fire. The campfire is my favorite part of camping,
staring into the coals into the night, feeling the warmth, eating food cooked
over the open flame. Back in Portland,
we had a fire pit in our backyard, one of the old iron ones that my father in law
picked up at a forest service auction.
When I was pregnant with Sterling, the first time I felt Sterling move
was sitting at a backyard fire. I love
to train acolytes at church to wield that power of lighting the candles with
responsibility and reverence. My
favorite moment of the church year is lighting all our candles at Christmas and
watching the glow of faces while people sing in joy and wonder and hope in
praise of Jesus, our newborn King. I
don’t think I’m unique. We’ve stared
into fires throughout the ages and dreamed and cooked and warmed ourselves and
told stories and found hope.
At your baptism most of
you were given a candle, and these words were spoken to you by the pastor, or
priest, or one of your godparents, “Let your light so shine before others that
they see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” What I remember most about this part of the
service is the focus at this moment on the flame. Even little children and small babies look,
because it is obvious to them that something important is happening, something
powerful is happening.
I call The Holy Spirit “she”
because, she was present at the beginning of Creation, the Spirit, the breath
of God, moving over the waters. In most languages
other than English words have a gender, male or female. In Hebrew, the word for Spirit is Sophia,
wisdom, and the word for the spirit is feminine. Jesus would have called the Spirit “she” in
Hebrew, so I choose to as well.
It
is no wonder that the flame is the symbol and sign of the Holy Spirit. Fire is powerful.
Fire is hot. It brings warmth. Fire draws people to its warmth. So does the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is in and among us, warming
us to each other, warming us toward the poor and abandoned, filling us with
warmth for all God’s creation. Each week
I see the warmth that is shared through LifeCare Community FoodBank. It isn’t just food, but it is warmth and
kindness and relationship that is shared.
It’s the Holy Spirit that is shared.
Fire is bright. Fire illuminates what was hidden. It brightens a room. It draws our eye. It draws us close to see what is
happening. The Holy Spirit brightens a
room. She illuminates what has been
hidden, shows us what we couldn’t see before—our own sin, the evils in our
world, the good that God is doing. And
according to the second reading, it illuminates the gifts that we share with one
another in the body of Christ and the way we are all united. The Spirit gives us all abilities that
complement each other and help us work together for good. When I think of the brightness of the Holy
Spirit I think of the Little Doves room that was painted in the last 2 weeks. JoAnn took the lead and chose bright
colors. Everyone worked together to make
it happen. The teachers moved the
furniture. JoAnn prepped the walls and
painted down low. Rudy, Jessica, and
Bryce painted up high. It looks quite
lovely and inviting! Now children will
be drawn to that space, clean and bright to learn and grow and imagine and
play. All these people working together,
shared their gifts and time to bring the brightness of the Holy Spirit to the
little children who come here.
Fire spreads. Fire spreads from one log to the next in the
fireplace and in the forest. The Holy
Spirit spreads from one person to the next, from the first disciples all the
way to us these thousands of years later.
The love of God is not kept to ourselves, but spills over to the lives
of others, to those who come to the FoodBank, to the Little Doves children and
families, to all those we encounter with love and openness. And it even spreads through technology. More people than ever can sing and pray with
Spirit of Life over Zoom and Facebook and YouTube. And we can feel God’s blessing even over the
phone.
Fire purifies. Fire burns off the impurities, it
refines. Maybe you and I have some
impurities that could use a little fire.
Maybe this time of quarantine highlights some of our sins and
shortcomings and we might welcome some correction, some redirection, a
refining. The Holy Spirit doesn’t just
comfort us, but challenges us to live a new life, to take up our cross and
follow Jesus, and to burn off what isn’t loving or generous or honorable. We pray today for the fires that are refining
our nation’s sins against people of different races. We pray for the refining fire of dialogue,
for people to really listen to each other, for systems to change so that people
of all races would be able to breathe, not only when they are taken into
custody, but in polluted neighborhoods, as Covid-19 takes a disproportionate
toll on people with brown skin. May we
hold ourselves and each other our police and governments accountable to examine
how we see each other and treat each other until God’s justice reigns for all
God’s beloved people, plants, animals.
We pray that the breath of the Holy Spirit would reach everyone, so all
would know God’s blessing and life.
Fire is death and
resurrection. Fire destroys and fire
breaks down so that new life may begin.
A couple of years ago, we visited Mt. St. Helens. We saw the evidence of the destruction from
40 years ago, the landslide, the dead trees.
And we saw new life. We saw new
trees growing, wildflowers, wildlife.
The Holy Spirit brings the death of our sins and broken relationships,
takes us through the drowning waters of baptism, and breathes new life into us,
new life that starts right now and new life that stretches into eternal life.
When this description in Acts was
written, Mt. Vesuvius had erupted. The
people saw the sky turn to blood, smoky mist and fire. And they were terrified. But Christians had a different interpretation. It wasn’t all gloom and death. The mountain did not dictate life and death,
it did not rule over all. God’s saving
action was evident in the actions of the earth, the mountains, and the skies,
and in fire. The earth’s actions are
showing us the power of God. They are
evidence of the power of the Holy Spirit.
Fire changes things. Fire breaks things down. The Holy Spirit, too, tears down the barriers
between people. In the first reading
this morning, even the barriers of language are torn down because of the power
of the Holy Spirit. People can
understand what others are saying. They
all hear in a familiar way.
Fire is of God’s good creation. Sometimes we forget that God made us to be
stewards of the earth, partners with the earth in praising God, and working
together for the good of all. The Holy
Spirit is evident in creation, in the wind, in fire, in volcanoes, in trees
clapping their hands, and the mountains praising God. When we care for the water and air and plants
and animals, we show respect for God and participate in the work of the Holy
Spirit.
Christians over the years
have argued and disagreed about the coming of the Holy Spirit. Did it come on Easter day, or 50 days
later. Does it come to a person at their
baptism, or can it come before that? The
Holy Spirit does what she does when she does it. No human can tell her. She is powerful and always stretches beyond
our attempts to contain or explain her.
She is a powerful force and we don’t know what direction she will move
in next or what power she will display.
I invite you to look into
the flame of your candle. Picture your
baptism, the waters on your head, the words of blessing spoken over you, the hopes
of those gathered with you, the promise of God stretching over the ages and
reaching even you. Picture your candle
handed to you that day, your eyes bright with wonder, searching for the
meaning, part of community. Picture that
fire atop the heads of the disciples as he appeared among them, breathing
peace. Picture that flame above your own
head, marking you as one on fire with, alive with the Holy Spirit. Feel that fire burning within your
heart. Feel Jesus’ love refining you, spurring
you to generosity and kindness, translating other’s actions for you, so that
you can understand where they are coming from.
Feel that fire giving you hope to withstand more days at home, giving you creativity to fill the days
with meaning, and the courage to reach out that are safe to check on neighbors
and others who don’t have anybody else.
That flame is the light
of the world, the light shining in the darkness. The flame is the one who gives life to us
all. Let us shine with the light of
Christ, reflecting the faith, hope, and love to others, people, plants and
animals until all our barriers come down and we find unity in the One Body of
Christ.
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