Come Violent Wind, Come Breath of Life

Pentecost May 11, 2008 (John 7:37-39; Acts 2:1-21)Before the Pentecost event that we just heard read and before Jesus ascended intoheaven the disciples gathered around him. It says that he had been teaching them aboutthe Kingdom of God for forty days after the resurrection. Now he tells them not to leaveJerusalem but to wait for the gift that God the Father had promised. He reminds themthat they have been baptized with water by John the Baptist but in a few days they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. How do the disciples respond to this command? What dothey think this ‘gift’ will usher in? They ask, “Are you at this time going to restore thekingdom to Israel.” There is no notion in their psyche that the coming of the Holy Spiritwould usher in ecstatic spiritual experiences or miraculous powers. Much deeper thanthis is a promise that has abided with the Jewish people from their inception. It beganmost clearly in the act of trust that Abraham showed in relationship with God. God saidto Abraham that all people of the world will be blessed through his descendents. This promise remained with the people of Israel. When God called Moses to Mt. Sinai it wasto reveal to him how he could order the people to be kingdom of priests. The entire people were called to the priestly task of sharing God’s presence to all people and to all places. In Deuteronomy it says that God’s instructions were given so that the people of the world would see a wise and righteous example of living. Then with God choosingDavid to be king over Israel God gives him this promise saying, “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.” Over time it is the prophets who carry the vision of God’s promise to Israel. Isaiah casts thevision of God’s mountain ascending above all others calling out to the nations to learn peace and justice. Through slavery, famine, wealth, war, and exile this group did not

2shake the conviction that they were called to share a hope to all nations. This reality of God’s call to the Jewish people became a part of the identity and DNA of each person.To what other end could Jesus, their Messiah, be leading them than the restoration of Israel? And so they ask of Jesus, “Are you

at this time

going to restore the kingdom toIsrael?” Jesus says, “It is not for you to know the times and the seasons the Father has set by his own authority

but

you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; andyou will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”And that was all. With those words it says that Jesus was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. Jesus left us with two images that westill wrestle with. What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit and what is our call to bewitnesses to the ends of the earth? I am not sure that we in the Mennonite church haveany history with the phrase

baptism of the Holy Spirit

. My only experience with this phrase has to do with the modern expression of speaking in tongues of havingexperiences where you talk about being

moved

by the Spirit to act in any number of ways. I have mixed feelings about some of these expressions, though as we will see I dothink there is something to be said about speaking in new tongues. But when I look tothe context of the Pentecost I begin to wonder if there is something we are missing. Cantalk, and perhaps more importantly, can there be an experience and expression of the baptism, of the gift, of the Holy Spirit that can gain new traction today?It is helpful to start with an understanding of how the coming of the Holy Spirit isframed earlier in the gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke emphasize the relationship between Jesus and the Holy Spirit from the beginning of their gospels.

3Matthew and Mark show how John the Baptist interpreted or witnessed Jesus relationshipwith the Holy Spirit. In Mark the scene is simple John the Baptist is acknowledged as theone spoken of in Isaiah where it says that a messenger will be sent to make straight the paths preparing the way of the Lord. John baptizes Jesus and it says that, “as Jesus wascoming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending onhim like a dove. And a voice came from heaven [saying] ‘You are my Son, whom I love;with you I am well pleased.” Here the Holy Spirit comes as a sign of intimate andcommitted relationship. We will explore the implications of this sign of the Spiritshortly.In the book of Matthew we have a powerful image that comes in the midst of oneof John the Baptist’s tirades aimed that the religious leaders. The leaders seem to beclaiming that their authority is established through their lineage to Abraham. Bah! John blurts out. God can raise the children of Abraham up from these stones. No, he says(perhaps becoming more somber), the ax is already at the root of the trees, and every treethat does not produce fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Using the languagethat Jesus will pick up later he goes on to clarify saying, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I. He will baptizeyou with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Here the coming of the Holy Spirit is connectedwith the severing of our faith from the dead roots of local tradition or status. To say that Ihave the Driedger name or the Mennonite heritage as my foundation is to have John theBaptist’s words placed as an ax to the root of my existence. Here the Holy Spirit comesto name and tear down the powers that establish themselves by human standardsachievements.