June 4, 2006

Language of the Spirit

by Julianne Stokstad

Last Sunday Susie spoke of the lessons she had learned in her year as Minister in Training with us. The gist of it was that ministry is all about relationships. She challenged us to take seriously that we are made up of diverse individuals living together unified communal body. The rub has always been in the living out of this truth, understanding and accepting each other while resisting oppression and injustice.

Our scriptures today both tell of great challenges the people faced living in threatening and divisive times. The prophet Ezekiel was a Temple priest when the Israelites were forced into captivity as slaves in Babylon. Oppressed in a foreign land, they despaired for their very survival as a people. Then God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the Israelites, to give them vision and hope and to call them back to life. African-American slaves also oppressed in a foreign land identified with this story. The spiritual we just sang---Dem Bones, dem bones, dem dry bones, hear the word of the Lord tells how it is God who restores hope and brings new life.

Luke speaks of peoples gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish Festival of the Harvest, Shavuot, fifty days after Passover, fifty days after Jesus had died on the cross. The followers of Jesus were waiting, waiting in Jerusalem, not knowing what to do, waiting after Jesus died to find new life he promised them. And on this day, Pentecost, we celebrate that God's Holy Spirit came to them like a mighty rush of wind, like tongues of fire touching all their heads inspiring them and the Christian church was born.

The Bible tells us that ever since the tower of Babel, peoples of the earth have been separated from understanding each other by different languages. But so much besides languages separate us: geography, race, culture, ideology or religion, anything that makes some people different from others.

We live in a time fueled and energized by the language of fear, even terror of each other. And even though we are told to celebrate our differences, it is those very differences that separate us from each other, making us afraid and suspicious of each other. We live in a time of great inequities, where many people live under enormous oppression and injustice, politically and economically.

Both our scriptures today tell us what brings health, life and understanding into relationships is God's Spirit. But the Spirit is a hard thing to see, to catch and hold on to and God works through people. The Talmud, a Jewish religious commentary states that we see things not as they are, but as we are. What that means is if you are a lousy hunter, the woods are always empty. In biological terms, this is explained as a search image: when you know what you are looking for, then you are more likely to see it, be it camouflaged birds or patterns of trees or evidences of God's presence.

I am always peering into events to see where God's Spirit is active. Let me tell you about an experience I had several years ago where it was revealed to me in a most surprising place. It was Easter afternoon and before I could go home, I needed to go to a nursing home. I had promised an elderly member of our congregation I'd come by and bring him communion. I didn't have any bread or grape juice, so I stopped at a Safeway along the way. I was surprised to find very crowded, somehow I'd expected everybody to be home having Easter dinner with families and friends. But there were mothers with their crying babies buying diapers, men buying picnic supplies, all sorts of people rushing around like any other Sunday. And suddenly standing there in the aisle, everything was different. As I looked at the woman with her baby, I remembered being in markets with my tired crabby babies, that helpless feeling of waiting in a too long line, trying to keep the baby from going ballistic. As I looked at the people probably going to picnics, I remembered going off and found myself wishing them well, hoping they would have a really good time in the warm sunny afternoon. I felt suddenly connected with everyone in the market, a deep sense of oneness with them in their various concerns. I felt compassion for all the pressures of their lives, for all their hopes and aspirations. It was as though a curtain of separation between them and me had suddenly been lifted and we were one.

The Spirit brings us understanding and allows us to recognize our connection with each other. Spirit transforms, empowers, guides, sustains and gives hope. That Sunday afternoon the Holy Spirit had given me a glimpse of a world where we all understood each other's ways. That was just one person's experience of Spirit.

Imagine the God's Spirit coming into larger groups, like at Pentecost. Imagine if our leaders understood each other's ways and worked together to solve the problems facing our country instead of fighting each other. Imagine what could be accomplished. Imagine if all religions worked together for the betterment of all people and our earth? Imagine Islamic radicals sitting down with progressive Jews and fundamentalist Christians.

Imagine if the Spirit came here. What signs do we look for? Listen if we are speaking the language of gratitude and hope? Are we accepting of each other, in more than superficial and polite ways. In the TIE I have written about a series of conversations scheduled on three Sundays this summer where I hope we can begin to articulate our faith and beliefs. Do we have enough trust of our unity, of the ties and spirit that bind us together to really listen to each other?

Today is the day to celebrate the Spirit of God that binds us together. The Spirit of the Living God does blow through this church----I see it in ......well, the Rummage Sale. There were so many people working together, helping and sharing, for common good, recycling and giving all the proceeds to feeding hungry children. I see God's Spirit in our midst as we pray, as we sing, as we reach out to welcome strangers, as we seek to live in ways to sustain the earth, as we seek ways to promote justice and peace. I see God's Spirit in the way we reach out to help those in need in our community, the way people prayed for Char Ward, even though they didn't know her.

Today as we together to share communion, let us be of one mind. Let us put our focus on our God who comes to us and inspires us to love each other, to forgive each other, right here, right now, as the church, the body of Christ.

Listen....... Look around...... The Spirit of the Living God binds us together in one body, with love. Imagine a world where we truly were able to understand, accept and help each other out. Amen