I think that we all sometimes operate under the mistaken assumption that when the Holy Spirit enters into our lives and starts remaking us, it is going to feel good.
The Holy Spirit not only forms and reforms us as a church, it also forms and reforms us as individuals. I am not sure where we get the idea that the Holy Spirit is a gentle dove that is guiding our way, because the Holy Spirit that we hear about in today’s reading is downright terrifying.
Flames and noise and confusion.
But this Spirit…she speaks truth. The truth is often painful to hear and might not be what we want.
Just as the Holy Spirit gathers together an improbable collection of people in today’s text to form the body of Christ, she continues to do so even today.
What if Pentecost is less about the establishment of the institutional church and more about being broken open and baptized by a fire of truth over and over again?
. . . I want to share a story with you about how I experienced the Holy Spirit this week. In the heartbreakingly truthful way that she often works upon us. I spent most of last Monday at the capital building as we awaited the results of the vote for marriage equality in our state.
I was with friends, surrounded by at least a thousand others chanting and singing. You could feel the spirit move as we implored our senators to “be on the right side of history” and “make the right choice” and generally we all got caught up in the joy and excitement.
I went outside to get some fresh air and that is where the Holy Spirit really got me.
In the midst of a sea of orange t-shirts and rainbow flags was a lone middle-aged man wearing a polo shirt and khakis sitting on the steps holding a pink “Vote No” sign. It was clear that he was fearful and uncomfortable.
I really wanted to dislike this guy because he was invested in the idea that people like me and so many of those whom I love should not be allowed to marry. Instead of hatred, I only felt compassion.
This man was trying to be faithful in the best way that he knew how, just as I was attempting to do the same thing. And believe me, I am not a good enough person to pull this off on my own. The Holy Spirit is behind this one. It would have felt good to be angry with this guy, even to hate him, and instead, my eyes met his and I felt my heart-break. Even though I didn’t want to claim this guy as a fellow worker in the Kingdom of God, an integral part of the Body of Christ, he’s most certainly a part of it, and it’s not my job to decide whether he is in or out and not something I can do on my own. THIS is what the Holy Spirit will do to you.
This very Spirit is God coming into the world and smashing apart every human judgment and every disagreement and every possible flimsy construction we have for understanding who God is.
The church that was created on Pentecost is not a building and not a denomination and not a place you go on Sundays, but a body of wildly diverse people who are continually being made and remade in the image of God. And we need each other. That is what we celebrate with Pentecost.
