The Guarded House: Ancestral Ash and Living Flame

You know, as your new pastor—and as someone still trying to figure out which light switch controls which hallway in this building—I have to tell you: there’s something wonderfully, maddeningly quirky about church people. We are a unique group. We have our "assigned" pews that we’ve claimed through some ancient unwritten rule, and Heaven help the visitor who accidentally sits in the spot where the pew squeaks. We have our long, passionate debates over the exact brand of decaf coffee served in the fellowship hall—because apparently, the wrong coffee bean is the first step toward heresy.

I may be new to the Vista community, but I am already falling in love with this church family.

And if we’re being honest, most of us didn’t show up here today because we have life all figured out. I certainly don't. The writer and theologian Frederick Buechner is famous for his quotes. He’s the one who so beautifully wrote that “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” But he also wrote that when a person looks in the mirror in the morning, what they see is "at least eight parts chicken, phony, slob." It’s an honest, funny reminder of our human weaknesses.

We come here to Vista with our messy parts and our timid hearts. We often carry a faith that feels less like a shiny trophy and more like an old hand-me-down sweater—inherited, a bit itchy, and maybe a few sizes too big, but somehow exactly what we need to stay warm.

We represent a faith passed down from person to person, often through the very people who knew our flaws best. When we turn to Scripture today, we find that even the Apostle Paul didn't start his letter with heavy theological arguments. Instead, he started with family history, reminding his friend Timothy that his faith didn't just drop out of the sky—it had a home, a mother, and a grandmother.

We read from 2nd Timothy...

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands, for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, in the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, and this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day the deposit I have entrusted to him. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us. --2 Timothy 1:1–14 (NRSVue)

I grew up in a more conservative Lutheran tradition, and it taught me a lot about routine and respect. The liturgy was as solid as the oak pews, and "reverence" was measured by how still you could sit without your shoes making noise on the floor. There was beauty in that structure, even if it felt a little stiff at times.

But the reason that tradition stayed alive for me was because of the real faith I saw in my family, particularly, my mother and my grandmother and grandfather. They had what Paul calls anupokritos—a "genuine faith." Literally, it means a faith without a mask, without faking it. My mother didn't just memorize what she was supposed to believe; she lived it. When life got hard, her faith wasn't a list of rules to follow—it was the ground she stood on.

She lived out a spirit of power, love, and a clear mind. She showed me that real faith isn't about doing every religious ritual perfectly. It’s about having a heart that trusts the God who defeated death.

That upbringing gave me my foundation. And just like Timothy, and just like me, our community here at Vista has its own history and soil.

Paul tells us that God hasn't given us a spirit of fear. When we feel like our faith is fading, he offers us three distinct gifts to lean on. First is the Spirit of Power. This isn't about human strength or winning arguments in a church meeting; it is God's strength that helps us keep going when things get tough. Second is the Spirit of Love, which pushes us to care for others and keeps our focus on helping a hurting world, even when it costs us something. Finally, he gives us a Clear Mind, or Sophronismos. In the original Greek, this means clear thinking and self-control. For us at Vista, it lets us look back at the two and a half years without a pastor not as the end of the church, but as just one chapter in a much longer story of God's faithfulness. It’s seeing that pause as a comma, not a period.

Here is the best part: Paul is confident that God guards what is placed in God’s hands. Paul tells Timothy to guard the faith, but he also reminds him that God is the one ultimately holding onto it.

Vista, I know you’ve felt the weight of keeping this church going on your own shoulders for a long time. But our faith is safe because God never lets go of it. The Lord has been watching over you, even while you were working hard to keep things going.

As your new pastor, I want to talk honestly about where we are. Vista has been through a lot. You made it through a long time without a pastor, and you brought different church traditions together. Each of those traditions had its own "Lois and Eunice" figures—faithful people who planted seeds years ago. Some people might look at the past and think the fire has gone out.

They are wrong.

Ash isn't useless trash; it’s proof that a fire was actually burning. As I step into this role with you, we will take time to grieve what we've lost over the years. But remember: we don't honor the people who came before us by turning the church into a museum. We honor them by taking the spark they left us and fanning it into a real flame today.

The faith of our ancestors isn't a heavy load we have to drag around. It’s fuel for our future.

So, Vista, here is our goal: rekindle the gift.

Don’t look at the future with fear. We aren’t doing this alone, and I’m not doing it without you. We are doing it together, with the help of the Holy Spirit inside us. We are taking that old, inherited faith and realizing it’s exactly what we need for the work God has ahead of us.

Let’s be a people who admit our weaknesses, but rely completely on the power of God. And, with God’s help, let’s take the ashes of the past and turn them into a living flame today.

Amen.

Preached Sunday, July 26, 2026, at Vista Lutheran Church, St. Louis Park, MN.

Living in Hope: The Way of Christ (Part 2)

When Pentecost Day arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

There were pious Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered. They were mystified because everyone heard them speaking in their native languages. They were surprised and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all the people who are speaking Galileans, every one of them? How then can each of us hear them speaking in our native language? Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; as well as residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the regions of Libya bordering Cyrene; and visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the mighty works of God in our own languages!” They were all surprised and bewildered. Some asked each other, “What does this mean?” Others jeered at them, saying, “They’re full of new wine!”

Peter stood with the other eleven apostles. He raised his voice and declared, “Judeans and everyone living in Jerusalem! Know this! Listen carefully to my words! These people aren’t drunk, as you suspect; after all, it’s only nine o’clock in the morning! Rather, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

    Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

    Your young will see visions.

    Your elders will dream dreams.

    Even upon my servants, men and women,

        I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

        and they will prophesy.

I will cause wonders to occur in the heavens above

    and signs on the earth below,

        blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.

The sun will be changed into darkness,

    and the moon will be changed into blood,

        before the great and spectacular day of the Lord comes.

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. --Acts 2:1-21 (CEB)

Be glad in the Lord always! Again I say, be glad! Let your gentleness show in your treatment of all people. The Lord is near. Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus.

From now on, brothers and sisters, if anything is excellent and if anything is admirable, focus your thoughts on these things: all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise. --Philippians 4:4-8 (CEB)

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Do you ever think about the Holy Spirit on that Pentecost day? More specifically, the sound of the Holy Spirit. Like a wind, our text tells us. It was a sound unheard at creation, but, here, on Pentecost it is like a wind.

Do you imagine what it sounded and felt like?  Do you imagine it was a soft, gentle breeze? Like the ones that we sometimes get here on a summer day, that make the heat of the day seem just a little more tolerable? Or do you imagine it to be a stronger wind? The type of wind that we also experience here - the wind that signals a coming storm front? That tells us our weather is about to change?

I think alot about the Holy Spirit as being like the wind. I always have. Maybe it’s because of growing up on the prairie where the wind blew constantly. Often a gentle breeze. But, sometimes, really strong winds. What we now call straight line winds. Winds that can be disorienting. Frightening. Unpredictable. Destructive. Even violent.

That was what the Holy Spirit sounded like that day. On that Jewish feast day, Shavuot. Or Pentecost in Greek. Meaning fifty. Because it was commanded to come fifty days after Passover. One of three of the primary Jewish festivals for which people were commanded to return to Jerusalem. Shavuot, or Pentecost, celebrated the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai during the Exodus - God’s Instruction coming down to God’s people. 

They had come from all over. We heard the names of the places near and far: Parthia. Mede. Elam. Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia. Asia. As far away as Rome. (Thank you, Gary, for reading all of those names.) Jerusalem swelled with diverse people on that day.  People who spoke many different languages. Who looked very different, one from the other.

And, then, they heard the sound. A tornadic sound. A sound so loud and violent that they rushed to see what was happening. When they arrived, not only did they see tongues of fire dancing on the heads of Jesus’ followers, but, incredibly, they began to hear the disciples speaking in their own languages. Breaking down the barriers between them.

Breaking down the barriers. Isn’t that what Jesus would have done had he been there? WWJD? What would Jesus do? Exactly what Jesus’ Spirit was doing. Breaking down the barriers.

I had a troubling conversation on Friday. 

Some of you may know that in December, after the tornadoes hit the western part of our state, the Bishop asked me to be one of two disaster coordinators - a co-coordinator - in our synod. When the Bishop asks…well, you know the drill. It’s pretty impossible to say no. 

So, I’ve been working with a colleague - Pastor Grace Pardun-Alworth, who serves St. Matthew’s in Paducah. Interestingly, she and I were classmates at Luther Seminary. 

On Friday morning, we were on a video call with the director of case management for Catholic Charities, based in Owensboro. Also on the call with us were each of the lead case managers assigned to work in the 16 counties that have been declared disaster areas. The director told us about some of the conversations she’d been having with volunteers coming in from churches and faith-based organizations from across the region - coming to help with the rebuilding process, now in its very early stages. 

She shared that some of these conversations have been very difficult. That when some of the volunteers hear that they’re being assigned to help rebuild a home for some who is gay. Or lesbian. Or undocumented. These Christian volunteers refuse to help them and ask to be reassigned somewhere else. Because, after all, you know God doesn’t like these kinds of people.

How small we make God! 

Father Greg Boyle, who I’ve mentioned before - he’s a Jesuit priest who works in the heart of east Los Angeles - says that “God’s dream come true is a sense of kinship and connection, that everybody would enter into a kind of exquisite mutuality with each other.” 

We need to break out of the kind of God that’s so tiny. And that’s a mirror image of ourselves. We know that we’ve created God in our own image when we discover that God hates the same people we do.

This is the disruptive and transformational work of the Holy Spirit. When we say, “God, it’s not about me, but about you” God says, “It’s not about me, it’s about you.” It’s about a compassion for the other that stands in awe of all that people have to carry rather than living in judgment of them. Awe is where God wants us to be. To honor others. To move past barriers rather than judging them and distancing ourselves from them. 

It’s about kinship. Kinship and connection. That’s really what the kingdom of God is about. Kinship. Because, the natural by-product of kinship is peace and justice. After all, it’s really hard to demonize someone you know.

Isn’t that Paul’s message, too? A message of gentleness. Gentleness here, which means a willingness to submit to injustice. To risk maltreatment. To break down barriers in order to move in closer so that we might, through the transformational power of the Holy Spirit, build kinship and connection. (Doesn’t that sound just like the “mind of Christ” we heard about last week in Philippians 3?) 

We love because God first loved us. That’s God’s hope. That’s the only kind of praise God is interested in.

So, on this Pentecost day, as we are soon to witness Lorelei affirming her baptism - may we reaffirm ours, as well: to live among God’s faithful people, to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth. Amen.

Preached June 5, 2022, at Grace & Glory, Prospect, with Third, Louisville, and New Goshen Presbyterian, Prospect.

Day of Pentecost

Readings: Acts 2:1-21, Philippians 4:4-8, John 14:16-17

The Power of God's Love: Many Gifts, One Spirit

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.Amen.

It’s been a hard week. As it began, we first witnessed the hanging in effigy - on Memorial Day - of our governor, a racist practice used to stir up images of lynching and to stoke fear. Then, on the same day, George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, was murdered by police, calling for his dead mother. And crying, “I can’t breathe!” On Tuesday, we learned that the Justice Department is investigating the death of another black man, Ahmaud Arbury, shot down execution-style as he was jogging through his neighborhood in suburban Atlanta. On Wednesday, we learned that we had topped 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 here in the U.S., with a recognition that people of color are dying at four times the rate of white people. On that same day the 911 tape became public from the death of Breona Taylor - an black EMT shot by Louisville police entering her apartment using a no-knock warrant with no identification or warning. And we heard the cries of her boyfriend, “I don’t know what’s happening. Somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend.” Then, on Thursday, as we began to see the aftermath of the uprising in Minneapolis and watched it expand throughout the country, we heard these words over and over again: “No justice, no peace!” On Friday, we turned on the news to hear of more uprising throughout our country, as well as news that another 2.1 million jobs have been lost, bringing the total to almost 41 million people out of work. And then yesterday, after days of businesses opening up, we hear that coronavirus cases are spiking once again.

It’s been a hard week. And if we’ve been able to simply turn off our television or radio or ignore this on our smartphones or computers because it has simply been too much to take, then I wonder what it must feel like for those who can’t escape it. For those who have suffered for days and weeks, and months and years, and decades and centuries. And who continue to suffer. 

It’s hard to find words today. Yet, on this Pentecost Sunday, I’m reminded of the words in Romans 8, that the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.

So, I sigh. And I pray that God, who searches my heart, knows, and that God’s will may come to you today in the few words I do have...

We are in two places in our readings today. We’ll begin in Corinth, because this is where we’ve been for the past few weeks. We know of the divisions in the church there - divisions that boil down to status - the belief that certain people are better than others. It’s this context where Paul writes these words in 1st Corinthians 12.

Brothers and sisters, I don’t want you to be ignorant about spiritual gifts. You know that when you were Gentiles you were often misled by false gods that can’t even speak. So I want to make it clear to you that no one says, “Jesus is cursed!” when speaking by God’s Spirit, and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. There are different spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; and there are different ministries and the same Lord; and there are different activities but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good. A word of wisdom is given by the Spirit to one person, a word of knowledge to another according to the same Spirit, faith to still another by the same Spirit, gifts of healing to another in the one Spirit, performance of miracles to another, prophecy to another, the ability to tell spirits apart to another, different kinds of tongues to another, and the interpretation of the tongues to another. All these things are produced by the one and same Spirit who gives what he wants to each person.

Christ is just like the human body—a body is a unit and has many parts; and all the parts of the body are one body, even though there are many. We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jew or Greek, or slave or free, and we all were given one Spirit to drink. --1 Corinthians 12:1-13 (CEB)

One of the problems in Corinth was that those who had been given the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues believed that their gift was better than all the others. By all accounts, the church in Corinth had been given a very full measure of the Spirit’s power. So, Paul sets about teaching them how they might discern God’s work in the activity of these many gifts. And, also, how they might value their brothers and sisters in Christ across that variety of gifts.

Or how they might discern what God is up to or what God may be doing in this place. Questions that we might, particularly, be asking at this time.

To begin with, Paul says that through God’s Spirit, God first bears witness to Jesus as Lord. One way to know whether a movement is led by the Spirit is to listen for its claims about Jesus Christ. Through the Spirit, we know Jesus on the cross, in the Lord’s supper, and in the resurrection. Through the Spirit, the church testifies that Jesus - not money, or security, or self esteem, or paranoia, or power, or anything else, but Jesus - is Lord. Gifts that come from the Spirit proclaim Jesus as Lord. 

They also serve the common good. This is Paul’s second criteria. Do our gifts serve the common good - our common life together, not only in the church, but in the world? The Spirit is all about building up the group rather than enriching individuals. While we each may receive gifts from the Spirit, they are to be used for the body as a whole. If not, or if they can’t be shared, then they are not from the Spirit. And, as was happening in Corinth, to rank one’s gift as better than the other is completely odds with the purpose of each gift, which is given for the good of all.

The third point that Paul makes is that, whatever God’s Spirit is doing, it will probably not be characterized by tidiness. Wherever we find the Spirit’s gifts, it will be messy. What Paul noticed in the Corinthian church is that they were enthusiastic about the more dramatic manifestations of the Spirit’s work, such as speaking in tongues, prophesying, or healing. They ignored the quieter work of the Spirit which is to draw them into a community that respects all of its members. Paul is trying to redirect some of their enthusiasm to the more excellent way of faith, hope, and, especially, love, so that they will return to valuing one another more than themselves and their own gifts. That brother or sister in Christ matters more than all of the spiritual gifts in the congregation, according to Paul. And this will be messy. But, Paul’s goal is not a neat and tidy life in community, but a loving one.

These are the criteria for discerning the work of the Holy Spirit among us. The Spirit proclaims Jesus as Lord. Offers its gifts to the church for the common good. And activates love for neighbor in all of the messiness it may bring. 

Now let’s go back in time a little to Acts and the first outpouring of the Spirit. We read from Acts 2:

When Pentecost Day arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak. --Acts 2:1-4 (CEB)

The disciples are gathered together in one house, devoting themselves to prayer, and waiting for the arrival of the promised Advocate. 

The future for them is uncertain. Jesus is no longer physically with them, but they wait. And hope. And trust. And, after these past few months, perhaps we, too, can relate. 

And then these signs of the Holy Spirit - fire and wind - descend on them and the Spirit pushes them out of the safety of the room in which they have been staying.

Fire and wind are powerful symbols. They have the potential both for creation and for destruction. Perhaps they are appropriate symbols for the work of the Spirit in this moment. As we wait in the wreckage of what was or what is coming, as we wait for the birth of what will be, we are called to see visions and to dream dreams. 

We might ask of ourselves what of our old lives, both personally and communally, needs to be burned away? What needs to be renewed? Will we allow the fire of pandemic and uprising to burn away the economic inequality and racial inequity that has led to so much unnecessary and unjust loss of life? Will we allow the fire to burn away mass incarceration and an industrial system that has served no one well? Will we allow the fire to burn away an economic system where too many workers are considered “essential” but are not compensated fairly for their work? Will we allow the fire to burn away the idea that equal access to health care is not a human right?

Yet as the Spirit fire burns and winnows, as the Spirit wind tears down and destroys, we know that the Spirit creates. We have seen unprecedented cooperation between scientists and researchers all over the world. We have seen healthcare workers and many others work in sacrificial ways to save lives. We have seen white people stand as allies with their black and brown sisters and brothers. We have seen people of faith reaching out in our neighborhoods in creative and caring ways. We have seen the face of the earth and the sky renewed. 

So, what needs to be burned away in our personal and communal lives in this time? What needs to be renewed? Or, in our language of worship, of what do we need to repent? And in what ways do we need to witness to the life-giving work of God in Jesus Christ? 

We have been given gifts to discern the answers to these questions. We have been given gifts to help us seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We have been given gifts to witness that Jesus. Is. Lord. In our homes. In our church. And where it is needed right now the most, in our world. 

So, come, Holy Spirit. Burn, blow, breathe, move upon us all. That earth and all that’s in it may thrive. That earth and all that’s in it may love. That earth and all that’s in it may live in the harmony and wholeness you desire for us, for people of every color, and for all of creation. Come, Holy Spirit. Come.

Preached online June 7, 2020, at Grace & Glory Lutheran Church, Goshen, KY.

Day of Pentecost

Readings: Acts 2:1-4; 1 Corinthians 12:1-13; Mark 1:4-8; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b 

Gifts of God's Grace: The Promise of the Holy Spirit

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Acts 2:1-4 NRSV

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit. Ah, the Holy Spirit. The one person of the Godhead that scares us the most. For us Lutherans, who have grown up in a theology that is so rational...that can seem more of a “head” theology than a “heart” theology...a tradition that for centuries disavowed glossolalia - speaking in tongues that is, in the Pentecostal tradition, a true mark of the presence of the Spirit in one’s life... 
For us Lutherans, I think the idea of the Spirit - this uncontrollable person of the Trinity that flits and floats freely and that can push us into seemingly irrational thought and action... For many of us Lutherans, I think the Holy Spirit scares the living daylights out of us!

So, today, let’s dig into the Holy Spirit on this Pentecost Sunday. And, more specifically, let's look at work of the Holy Spirit, using Paul’s text from Romans as a guide. A text I might add is an important and weighty text for our understanding and a text from which we often hear snippets - phrases that will seem very familiar to you, but that allow for us to look at it as an entire section. So, today, we'll study Romans 8 to help us more fully understand the work of the Spirit, that manifests itself in three ways. First, that the gift of the spirit marks the beginning of Christian life. Secondly, that the Holy Spirit is the power of new life. And, finally, that the Spirit works through us, not only as individuals, but particularly as a community.

Romans 8:18-25. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit that marks the beginning of the Christian life.

For the early church, those 120 plus men and women gathered on that first Pentecost who witnessed the first outpouring of the Spirit - Christ’s own Spirit that had been promised to them. When they witnessed this first outpouring, they knew that this was a moment in time when their Christian faith had fully begun. Although they may not have initially understood it, they eventually recognized that this free dispensing of the Holy Spirit on them and those baptized that first day marked a new age. The beginning of the end. The beginning of the last days. This time in between Christ’s first coming to earth and Christ’s second coming. The time in which we also live.

In Paul’s writing, the gift of the Spirit is likewise the beginning of the Christian experience. It is another way to describe our new justified relationship with God. It gives us a new sense of our own identity as adopted daughters and sons of God. In the Greek, the word used is one that marks a profound existential change in relationship. It means that, as God’s adopted children, we are heirs. Just as Daniel, who is celebrating his first communion today, has been adopted through the power of the Spirit in his baptism, so, too, you and I have been adopted.

This notion of adoption and inheritance was a profound message in Paul’s day. Much more profound, perhaps, than for us today. Because very few people had means to pass on. Very few people came from families with means to pass on. To be heir meant you had a future. It might be a future that required your patience and that required waiting. But, it meant you had a future. And, thus, hope.

So, with the early church, we wait. With patience. And with hope. Even in the midst of our suffering and weakness.

Romans 8:28-30.  Second point. The Spirit is the power of our new life in Christ.

The gift of the Spirit is a beginning of our final fulfillment as Christians - the first installment of a life-long process of transformation into the image of Christ. A process, called sanctification, that achieves its end in the resurrection of our bodies. It’s like that first downpayment on a new car. Or a new house. It’s the first step in a months-long or years-long process of purchasing that new vehicle or home. Reaching the point where it is finally ours. And we are fully free.

It is in this first downpayment of the Spirit where God begins to work and to build God’s claim on our whole being. Step by step, even in times of sorrow and struggle, when we no longer have even the words to pray. In contrast with the believers on that first Pentecost who were given the gift of communication, even when we have reached the point where we no longer have words to describe our sorrow and suffering, it is the Spirit who steps in. Who intercedes for us. Who prays for us. Who sighs for us. And whom God hears. For us.

Because God has called us through the Spirit. And, so, life then for us becomes a daily walking in our baptism. Responding to that claim of the Spirit on us. Lives that are given new power in the Spirit to more fully live into God’s claim on us. 

But, lives that are also lived in tension and conflict. Between the old and the new. Between the flesh and the spirit. Between saint and sinner. It is in this tension where God’s grace comes to its fullest expression. In our weakness. Because it was in Jesus’ weakness, in Jesus’ death, where God’s grace became real. Where death did not define the future. But, resurrection did. Life did. And so, for us, too, in our weakness, God’s grace is expressed most fully. It is the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus who has freed us and who empowers us to live fully into our identity as adopted children of God and heirs of God’s kingdom.

Romans 8:31-39. Finally, it is the Spirit that is experienced by all and works through all, in the love of God in Christ Jesus. 

For Paul, this idea of the Spirit being experienced by and working through the community was paramount. This community, which Paul called koinonia, was one of common participation where the Spirit worked to form a group of unique and diverse individuals into one body. Where, each of us allows the Holy Spirit to work on our hearts and to come to its fullest expression in what we say and do. Where we are formed into one body. Not that we should be alike. But that we, in all of our diversity, find our unity in Christ. And where we grow in the knowledge and understanding of Christ. Living together in honesty and authenticity. With no weak links in our community because through the power of the Spirit, we work to lift everyone up. Testing every word and deed that claims to be authorized by the Spirit with the standard that is Jesus Christ. The standard of love.

Because, isn’t that why we come here every week? To experience Christ’s love for us? This love that has the power to transform us, not only as individuals, but, particularly as a community. A community that is bound together in the love of Christ. A community that, through Christ love, is bound to God. And a community that will never be separated from the love of God in Christ.


This is the work of the Spirit. It is God’s love poured out for us in the Spirit that marks the beginning of our new life in Christ, that gives us the power to live more fully into this new life, and that forms and shapes us into a community of love. To live into a different vision for the future. Into God’s vision for the future. A vision characterized by God’s love in Christ Jesus. And a love from which nothing can ever separate us.

Neither death. Nor life. Nor angels. Nor rulers. Nor things present. Nor things to come. Nor powers. Nor height. Nor depth. Nor anything else in all creation. Will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 8:38-39)

We give thanks for the gift of the Holy Spirit. May we continue to live into God's love and be the loving people God is making us to be. Amen.

Preached Sunday, June 9th, at Grace & Glory Lutheran Church, Goshen, KY.
Day of Pentecost
Readings: Acts 2:1-4, Romans 8:18-39; Matthew 28:16-20.

Sent With Joy: Telling Our Story

Grace and peace to you from Almighty God - our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.

We ended Matthew last week with the words of the Great Commission - with Jesus sending the disciples out to go and make disciples. To baptize. And to teach. With a promise - that he would be with them always. Matthew ends leaning into the future.  

Today and next week we move into the book of Acts. Now Acts is the next chapter in the story. Acts is about that future. About the work of the disciples. The mission of the church to share the good news of Jesus. In faith. And in doubt. Both, inevitable parts of a life of discipleship.

Our reading this morning is from Acts, chapter 10. It’s the story of the conversion of Cornelius, a centurion in the Roman Guard. But, really, it’s the story of the conversion of Peter. In five scenes.

Scene 1. There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion in the Italian Company. He and his whole household were pious, Gentile God-worshippers. He gave generously to those in need among the Jewish people and prayed to God constantly. One day at nearly three o’clock in the afternoon, he clearly saw an angel from God in a vision. The angel came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

Startled, he stared at the angel and replied, “What is it, Lord?”

The angel said, “Your prayers and your compassionate acts are like a memorial offering to God. Send messengers to Joppa at once and summon a certain Simon, the one known as Peter. He is a guest of Simon the tanner, whose house is near the seacoast.” When the angel who was speaking to him had gone, Cornelius summoned two of his household servants along with a pious soldier from his personal staff. He explained everything to them, then sent them to Joppa. Acts 10:1-8 (CEB)

Our story opens in Caesarea, a prosperous port that served as the Roman capital of Judea. Our focus is on an officer in the Roman guard, named Cornelius. A good Roman name. He is a centurion. In our day that would be equivalent of a colonel. He is no low level character. Instead, he is known for his generosity, for putting his money where his mouth is, and, particularly, for his devotion. Cornelius is a God-worshipper. A Gentile God-worshipper. For Cornelius to become a follower of Christ, it would mean converting to Judaism. Circumcision. And, in his case, a likely loss of position and social status. 

As our story opens, Cornelius has a vision. At the height of day, an angel appears to him and directs his attention to Peter, who is no short distance way, but is staying in Joppa, an area that is primarily Jewish. The angel instructs him to send for Peter, even adding directions to the house where Peter is staying. Cornelius, this field officer who is used to giving commands, follows the angel’s commands, sending his servants along with one of his trusted soldiers to go and get Peter. 

Scene 2. At noon on the following day, as their journey brought them close to the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted to eat. While others were preparing the meal, he had a visionary experience. He saw heaven opened up and something like a large linen sheet being lowered to the earth by its four corners. Inside the sheet were all kinds of four-legged animals, reptiles, and wild birds. A voice told him, “Get up, Peter! Kill and eat!”

Peter exclaimed, “Absolutely not, Lord! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

The voice spoke a second time, “Never consider unclean what God has made pure.” This happened three times, then the object was suddenly pulled back into heaven. Acts 10:9-16 (CEB)

The delegation of three set out for Joppa. It’s a distance of about 4 miles. As they arrive, Peter is at prayer. Perhaps he’d been fasting, because during prayer, he becomes hungry. While he waits for food to be prepared, he has a vision. An odd vision. It it, he sees an object descending from an open heaven. Now, in scripture, heavens open for important revelations. Do you remember Jesus’ baptism, when the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit came upon him in the form of a dove? This object in Peter’s vision, which appears to be a linen sheet, has on it various animals of the earth. Then, there is a voice from heaven, telling Peter to “Kill and eat.” 

But, Peter is a good Jew. He follows all of the required food laws. So, Peter objects. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean,” he says. Then, the voice speaks a second time. “Never consider unclean what God has made pure.” This same dialogue happens three more times in the vision. And then, suddenly, the linen sheet is pulled back into heaven.

Scene 3.  Peter was bewildered about the meaning of the vision. Just then, the messengers sent by Cornelius discovered the whereabouts of Simon’s house and arrived at the gate. Calling out, they inquired whether the Simon known as Peter was a guest there.

While Peter was brooding over the vision, the Spirit interrupted him, “Look! Three people are looking for you. Go downstairs. Don’t ask questions; just go with them because I have sent them.”

So Peter went downstairs and told them, “I’m the one you are looking for. Why have you come?”

They replied, “We’ve come on behalf of Cornelius, a centurion and righteous man, a God-worshipper who is well-respected by all Jewish people. A holy angel directed him to summon you to his house and to hear what you have to say.” Peter invited them into the house as his guests. Acts 10:17-23a (CEB) 

As Peter is upstairs puzzling over this fascinating vision, there is a knock at the door. The Spirit tells Peter to go downstairs and meet this delegation. And to not ask any questions. So Peter does. He meets them and hears their report of a second vision - that given to Cornelius. Then, he offers them lodging. Because hospitality is not simply about being polite. To show true hospitality is to offer a social bond. In the case of Peter and these Gentiles, inviting them into the place where he is staying as his guests, is a big deal. It is a big, anti-cultural deal. And it foreshadows our next scene. 

Scene 4. The next day he got up and went with them, together with some of the believers from Joppa. They arrived in Caesarea the following day. Anticipating their arrival, Cornelius had gathered his relatives and close friends. As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in order to honor him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Get up! Like you, I’m just a human.” As they continued to talk, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them, “You all realize that it is forbidden for a Jew to associate or visit with outsiders. However, God has shown me that I should never call a person impure or unclean. For this reason, when you sent for me, I came without objection. I want to know, then, why you sent for me.”

Cornelius answered, “Four days ago at this same time, three o’clock in the afternoon, I was praying at home. Suddenly a man in radiant clothing stood before me. He said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayers, and your compassionate acts are like a memorial offering to him. Therefore, send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is known as Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, located near the seacoast.’ I sent for you right away, and you were kind enough to come. Now, here we are, gathered in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has directed you to say.” Acts 10:23b-29 (CEB)

So, the next day, Peter and the delegation get up to go to Cornelius. Notice that Peter does not go by himself, but he takes with him some of the believers from Joppa. This is not simply a personal mission, but a mission of the church. Cornelius, in Caesarea, has timed their arrival. To prepare, he has gathered together his entire household, as well as, some close friends. Then, Peter and the delegation arrive. And, as Peter, the Jew, crosses over the threshold into this Gentile’s house - something that would be completely unacceptable in Jewish custom. An act that would make Peter unclean and, afterward, would require that he go through cleanliness rituals. As Peter enters his home, Cornelius - this important military official - falls at Peter’s feet and worships him.

But, this isn’t about Peter. This is about the mission on which he’s been sent. Jesus’ mission. The church’s mission. Peter tells Cornelius to get up. He reminds Cornelius that he is human, just as Peter is human. Then, Peter asks Cornelius why he there

Scene 5. Peter said, “I really am learning that God doesn’t show partiality to one group of people over another. Rather, in every nation, whoever worships him and does what is right is acceptable to him. This is the message of peace he sent to the Israelites by proclaiming the good news through Jesus Christ: He is Lord of all! You know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism John preached. You know about Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit and endowed with power. Jesus traveled around doing good and healing everyone oppressed by the devil because God was with him. We are witnesses of everything he did, both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him up on the third day and allowed him to be seen, not by everyone but by us. We are witnesses whom God chose beforehand, who ate and drank with him after God raised him from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on everyone who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. They heard them speaking in other languages and praising God. Peter asked, “These people have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. Surely no one can stop them from being baptized with water, can they?” He directed that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited Peter to stay for several days. Acts 10:30-48 (CEB)

Invited by Peter, Cornelius shares his vision. We might expect that, in turn, Peter would share his. But, he doesn’t. Instead, Peter shares Jesus. He shares the good news in words, using a cultural model of Jesus that helps Cornelius understand.  Peter adapts his Christian message to the circumstance. Peter meets Cornelius where he is.

And, then, even before Peter has finished his brief sermon, the Holy Spirit swoops in. And falls on everyone - Jew and Gentile alike. The Jews that Peter has brought with him are astonished at this. Peter now fully gets it. He understands the vision. And, for him, there is only one conclusion: these people are to be baptized. Our scene, and our story, ends with an invitation for Peter to stay. And, in accepting this invitation, Peter is accepting a social bond. Affirming that Cornelius and his entire household are full members of the body of Christ. 


I’ve been thinking alot over the past several weeks about the story of this church. How the founders of this congregation sought to form a church here. In Oldham County. An area that, by then, had doubled in size since the mid-1970’s thanks, in part, to the construction of Interstate 71. But, also - let's be honest - thanks in part to white flight out of Louisville in response to school desegregation. 

How, in a time and place,where cultural norms might have frowned upon an openness to anyone of any race, sexual orientation, or any other difference that might put someone at the fringes of our world, this church was boldly formed as a Reconciling in Christ congregation, breaking boundaries that separate people. Celebrating differences. And proclaiming that unity here in this place is found in Christ.

Or how, this congregation, once again, broke boundaries in welcoming our elders to gather, to share their experiences and their wisdom - wisdom that comes from many years of living. Affirming their value in a world that values youth over age.

Or how, again, this congregation broke boundaries in this place - the wealthiest county in Kentucky, where one would not expect people to be hungry. But a place with a hidden population of people who are food insecure. And how this community would lean into the future by opening a food pantry - something inconvenient and time consuming. Yet, something that has become a beacon in this community, bringing people on opposite sides of the economic ladder together. A place where dignity and God’s love flourishes. 

Or how, last year in a time when anti-immigrant and anti-refugee rhetoric was at some of the highest levels we have seen in decades, this community publicly responded by co-sponsoring the Girmay family through Kentucky Refugee Ministries, along with Third Lutheran. This family who, after nearly 10 years in camp, is successfully building a new life for themselves and whose presence blesses us here today.

What amazing boundaries this congregation has crossed in its 26 years! What more there is to do! We, like Peter and the early church, are sent out into the world. To proclaim the Good News in our words. To share our story - the story of Grace & Glory - and how our story connects with God’s story and with the mission of Jesus Christ. And with the Holy Spirit, already at work, ahead of us, awakening curiosity, preparing hearts and minds, and sending other Corneliuses to us or we to them, giving us the words to help them connect their story with God’s story. And, in the process, like Peter, experiencing our own conversion.

This is the Good News of Jesus Christ. Crossing boundaries. Open to all people. May we continue to follow the work of the Spirit here in this place. Amen. Alleluia!

Preached May 5, 2019, at Grace & Glory Lutheran Church, Goshen, KY.
Third Sunday of Easter
Readings: Acts 10, Matthew 9:36-37

Quenching Our Thirst

So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become wealthy; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and he has given him all that he has. My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; but you shall go to my father’s house, to my kindred, and get a wife for my son.’

“I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you will only make successful the way I am going! I am standing here by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also”—let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’

“Before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her water jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels. Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her arms. Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to obtain the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn either to the right hand or to the left.”

And they called Rebekah, and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will.” So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse along with Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

“May you, our sister, become
    thousands of myriads;
may your offspring gain possession
    of the gates of their foes.”
Then Rebekah and her maids rose up, mounted the camels, and followed the man; thus the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

Now Isaac had come from Beer-lahai-roi, and was settled in the Negeb. Isaac went out in the evening to walk in the field; and looking up, he saw camels coming. And Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel, and said to the servant, “Who is the man over there, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.  Genesis 24:34–38, 42–49, 58–67 (NRSV)

Grace and peace to you from God, our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

I have to admit to you that, since I’ve moved to Kentucky, I’ve been a little intrigued by the bourbon culture here in this state. I don’t know if it’s only because of great marketing or what, but from the start, it has fascinated me.

So, a few months ago, when a member (who shall remain nameless) invited me to go and see the Evan-Williams Experience in downtown Louisville, I jumped at the chance. If you haven’t been there, it’s kind of a cross between a Disney-type history experience and a technical lecture of both the history of Louisville and the history and process of bourbon-making here in Kentucky.  I learned a lot and, to top it off, at the end, we participated in a bourbon tasting which, in itself, was quite educational.

One important fact that I found really interesting had to do with the limestone deposits in this area. Over 50% of the rock in Kentucky is limestone. It has a high pH, which promotes fermentation. Important for bourbon-making. It also filters out impurities, most importantly, iron, which gives liquor a bad taste. So, the presence of so much limestone in this area was perfect for the early distillers who developed bourbon. It also explains why the industry is centered here.

In the same way that limestone is commonly found here in Kentucky, it is also found in abundance in Canaan, the setting for our story today--our next chapter in the epic stories of Abraham and his family. And, just as it is here in Kentucky, where there was limestone in Canaan, there was also pure, good-tasting water. Wells were often cut out of solid limestone, sometimes with steps to descend down into them. Around the well, itself would be a brim or low wall, so nothing could fall into it, including people. And, often, near the well, were troughs, made of wood or stone, that were used to water animals.

Wells were central to life in Canaan. In a land that was arid and desert-like, they were critical to life and one’s existence. They served as a place of rest and refreshment in a dry land. Wells that were just outside a city or a village often served as a meeting place for local women, who were the ones who usually collected water for their families. It was often a stopping place for travelers who would share news. In Scripture, a number of important meetings take place at a well. 

Wells also played a significant role as images of God’s provision. A well and its water were symbols of God’s promise and God’s care. Writers in the Bible often compared the water of spring-fed wells to God’s gift of salvation for God’s people. 

It is around such a well that the action of today’s story is centered. 

But, before, we move to that action, there’s a little catch-up for us to do. 

In the period since our story from last week--the story of the near-sacrifice of Isaac--much time has passed. In the preceding chapter, we learn that Sarah is dead at age 127. Abraham was distraught. Verse 2 reads that Abraham “cried out in grief and wept” at her death. As time passed and as he began to move out of his grief, our story says that he “became older.” Perhaps it was that he was aging. Perhaps it was the loss of Sarah. Whatever it was, Abraham began to think about the next generation. In particular, he began to think of finding a wife for his son, Isaac.

He called for his oldest servant. We know that this was his most trusted servant because our story tells us that he was in charge of everything Abraham owned, which by this time was substantial, a result of God’s blessing. 

Abraham called this servant and asked him to swear an oath--to promise that a wife for Isaac would not be chosen from among the Canaanite women, but that the servant would go back to the land God had called Abraham from. The land of his father and his father’s household. Abraham wanted Isaac’s wife to come from his family, from his own clan.

When the servant expressed some hesitation, especially whether any woman would leave her family to come to Canaan, Abraham assured him that God would be faithful. That God would send a messenger ahead tp ensure that Abraham’s servant would find a wife there. Abraham also told him that if the woman refused to return, the servant would be off the hook. That he would be free of this promise.

And, so, Abraham’s servant agreed. He swore the oath by “the Lord, the God of heaven and earth.” By the God of the covenant and the creator.

The servant gathered together ten camels--only part of the herd--along with the best provisions and set out for the land of Abraham’s kin. When he got there, he went to the well outside the city where Abraham’s brother lived. 

Now, it wasn’t an accident that he ended up at a well. It had been a long, hot journey. He was thirsty. His camels, too. It was no accident he was there. It was also no accident that he arrived in the evening. Because it was in the evening that women from the city would come out to draw water. 

So, he had the camels kneel down. Kneel down and wait for women. And, then, he prayed. He prayed that God would be faithful once again with his master, Abraham. That God would once again show steadfast love and faithfulness to Abraham. And that God would guide him, Abraham’s servant, and make it happen in front of him. And in his prayer, he lays out his shrewd character test for Isaac’s potential wife. He will test her sense of hospitality--that key trait that would determine her fitness to marry into the family led by Abraham, so known for his hospitality. 

It’s a tough test, too. Because it will take much more than simple hospitality to volunteer to water ten thirsty camels, as each camel alone can drink and store up to 20-30 gallons of water.  

Even before he finished speaking his prayer to God, a young woman--our text says the was very beautiful, of marrying age, and still a virgin--appeared at the well with a jar on her shoulder. This young woman--Rebekah--then went down into the well, filled the jar, and came back up. When she returned, Abraham’s servant politely asked for a little sip, which she graciously gave. And then, even before he can ask, Rebekah empties the rest of her jar it into the watering trough. And she runs back down to the well and brings up another to continue watering the camels--a task that likely required 30 trips up and down the stairs of the well. 

All the time she was doing this, the servant stood watching, waiting, and wondering if God had answered his prayers, if this kind and hospitable and beautiful young woman would be Abraham’s kin.

The answer? Yes! She was Rebekah--granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. A member of Abraham’s clan.

Our story continues with the return of the servant to the house of Rebekah’s mother, where the scene at the well is retold, the big question is asked, a marriage is negotiated, and, eventually, Rebekah leaves with the servant to return to Canaan. The last verses of our story tell us that, when she saw Isaac, Rebekah, literally, fell off the camel. Isaac had a similar response. He brought her to Sarah’s tent, placing her into the position as family matriarch. They were married. And our story tells us that “he loved her” and “was comforted after his mother’s death.

Faithfulness. This is the message of the story of the servant and Rebekah at the well. It is there, at the well, in the quenching of thirsts that God provides Rebekah. A new matriarch. A new wife for Isaac. A new generation in Abraham’s line. Life. Salvation.

It is the same message for us, too. Just as the well and its water were symbols of God’s promise and God’s care in Abraham’s time, so, too the water of baptism--the living water of baptism--is a symbol for us of God’s faithfulness, of God’s provision, of God’s promise. God’s covenant promise of life. Quenching our thirst through the living water that is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and joining us in baptism to his death and resurrection.

Life. Salvation. Thirst that is quenched. All through the faithful love of our God, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac. 

May we praise God forever and ever! Amen.

Preached July 9, 2017 at Grace & Glory Lutheran Church, Goshen, KY.
5th Sunday after Pentecost
Readings: Genesis 24:34–38, 42–49, 58–67; Psalm 45:10-17; Romans 7:15-25a; Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Not the Same Anymore: The Power of the Spirit

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
    and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
    and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
        and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
    and signs on the earth below,
        blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood,
        before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ Acts 2:1-21 (NRSV)

Grace and peace to you from our risen and ascended Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Last December, before I was called here to Grace and Glory, I came for the weekend, if you recall, to interview with the council and also to meet all of you.

The weekend I came it was particularly chilly, in the high 20s. There was also a pretty brisk wind, which drove the temperature down to a windchill in the mid-teens. It led to a conversation with one of the council about how much wind there was in Kentucky.

Now, I recognize that I have not been here for very long. And, since I’ve lived here, I have definitely experienced some windy days. But, I have to say, that, up to this point, when it comes to wind. Kentucky just doesn’t compare to my home state of South Dakota. You really can’t claim to know wind until you’ve lived west of the Missouri River in South Dakota.

Growing up on the plains, wind was an everyday experience for us. A good wind day meant that there were gentle breezes in the 10-12 mph category. A bad wind day meant that those gentle breezes turned into gale force winds, in the 50-60 mph category, sometimes even higher. 

In the winter, wind chill temperatures were brutal. Spring and fall were always gusty, blowing leaves and dust everywhere. And, in the summer--well, in the summer, afternoon winds almost always blew in a thunderstorm.

The days that were good wind days--well, they were magnificent. I can still remember, as a little girl, walking in our pastures in the summertime, feeling the gentle breeze that just seemed to lift the air up, especially on days that could be hot and humid.

I also remember the smells they brought to me, especially the wonderful smell of prairie grasses to my nose (I wonder if bluegrass has a similar smell!). It was a sweet, rather exotic smell that, if close my eyes right now, I can still smell it in my imagination.

It was there, in our pasture filled with prairie grasses, tickled with gentle breezes, that I think I first experienced a sense of oneness with God and all creation. Thinking about those experiences today takes me to the same sense of deep peace that I felt as a child.

Yet, that same gentle breeze can turn into something that feels unexpected or risky or even terrifying, can’t it? I’ve experienced this sense many times throughout my life. I’m thinking you have, too. I’ve had experiences with tornadoes, eyeing a few that have come dangerously close, praying that they would switch direction. Or driving 200 miles in the midst of a winder blizzard, guiding my mother as she drove in near-zero visibility by opening my door ever so slightly to watch the lines painted on the highway.

As an adult,  I’ve stood close to the edges of cliffs as a hard wind blew off the ocean, risking a fall as I leaned into it, knowing fully that if it should stop suddenly, I might easily go over the edge. Or even flying kites over the years with my son, confident in my own abilities until suddenly, with little warning, the wind would send my kite crashing to the ground.

I feel intimately acquainted with the wind. 

So, imagine my delight when, in my first years of seminary, I learned that the word in scripture used for the Spirit means wind and, more specifically, breath of God.  It seemed fitting somehow.  That the Holy Spirit--this mysterious third person of the Godhead, this unseen presence sent by God into the world that appears in the most unexpected places, this Comforter that both reminds us of what God has said and continues to teach us about God, this Advocate through whom God has claimed us as God’s own and has formed us into the body of Christ--well, it seems only fitting that this Holy Spirit should be characterized as wind.  That natural, contradictory, unexpected force that, for me, can mean both deep peace and unexpected danger or risk.  As John writes in the third chapter of his gospel, “God’s Spirit blows wherever it wishes.  You hear her sound, but you don’t know where she comes from or where she is going.”

Perhaps that is what is most unsettling about the Holy Spirit.  It seems fairly easy to understand and categorize God the Father as creator and loving parent.  It seems easier to understand and categorize God the Son as redeemer and savior of the world.   

But, it is really hard to easily understand and categorize the Holy Spirit, isn’t it?  This Being who works in the water of baptism and the bread and wine of Holy Communion to bring us to faith, to forgive our sin, and to bring us into community with one another.  This Breath who speaks through the words of Scripture to us in our own language to further reveal to us who God is.  This Person who shows up when we least expect her and most need her through the kind words of a stranger, the supportive presence of a faith community, or the challenge of a close friend.  This Unseen Force who nudges us to act as we seek to “walk our talk” in our daily lives instead of just on Sunday mornings.  And this being, who works in our hearts and in our lives, broken as we are, and is continually creating and re-creating us more deeply into the people who God wants us to be. This Spirit Wind who, in one moment, carries us peacefully like a kite in the blue sky and who, in the very next moment, pushes us forward into new and sometimes terrifying places. Who continues to weave new life throughout the fabric of our lives and our world and all creation to renew the face of the whole earth.

This is the Holy Spirit.

And we are all her children.  Children of the Wind. Children of the Holy Spirit.  

So, let us pray then. Using the words of contemporary theologian, Walter Brueggeman, let us pray that the Holy Spirit might continue to come--to work in us and in our world. In this time of the Spirit, let us pray that she might continue to transform us, our church, our community and all creation.  So that all people might come to know and praise the goodness and love of our God, who comes to us through the Spirit in both ordinary and unexpected ways.

Let us pray:

We name you wind, power, force, and then,
    imaginatively, "Third Person."
We name you and you blow...
    blow hard,
    blow cold,
    blow hot,
    blow strong,
    blow gentle,
    blow new...
Blowing the world out of nothing to abundance,
blowing the church out of despair to new life,
blowing little David from shepherd boy to messiah,
blowing to make things new that never were.
    So blow this day, wind,
        blow here and there, power,
        blow even us, force,
Rush us beyond ourselves,
Rush us beyond our hopes,
Rush us beyond our fears, until we enact your newness in the world.
    Come, come spirit.  Amen.

Preached June 4, 2017, at Grace & Glory Lutheran Church, Goshen, KY.
Day of Pentecost
Readings: Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13; John 20:19-23.