The Eliot Church of Newton

Acts 2:1-21, Romans 8:22-27

One of our favorite things to do as a family that consists of mostly four legged creatures is taking the dogs to the park. We walk in a quasi orderly fashion to get there, crossing a busy street, walking through the boatyard parking lot, restrained by halters and leashes (the dogs, not me and Liz). At the border of a wide grassy area, we stop, and unleash the dogs, to run free and unfettered, and somewhat wild. Tikvah, an apricot toy poodle that barely weighs in at five pounds is transformed into a speed demon racer, running huge circles around us, faster than any greyhound. It is quite the sight to see, a tiny yellow blur of fur running like the wind, unconstrained, changing directions at the whim or whiff of something in the wind that she should check out. Unleashed. It’s good for dogs to be unleashed and fully being their dog-selves.

On this Sunday, we visit again the “giving of the Holy Spirit” to the first Jesus followers gathering for a spring harvest festival of giving thanks for first fruits—Pentecost. We sometimes call this the “Birthday of the Church”. I think that is too sedate. I call it, “Holy Spirit: Unleashed”.  I am not so sure the apostles were expecting what happened that day…

Beverly Gaventa describes it like this: After Jesus’ ascension, “the apostles rejoin other believers in Jerusalem, to establish an orderly and apparently secluded community life centered on prayer. Peter efficiently takes the necessary steps to replace Judas, thereby mending the circle and establishing the correctness of his own leadership. Things seem to be proceeding in a methodical fashion, right up through the opening verse of Acts 2.

Suddenly pandemonium breaks forth! Sound overwhelms the room. Tongues of fire reach out to seize people. If the speech that comes forth from believers is intelligible, it is simultaneously incredible. The walls cannot contain either the people or the Spirit that moves them. With an instantaneous shift of venue, the believers are thrust into public view, and the first chapters image of order is shattered forever.”[i] People watching think they are drunk. The Spirit of God has been unleashed.

What do we do with this story of the unruly Spirit of God, coming, and interrupting everything?   What does it mean, to be filled with the Spirit of God?

At first, we might think of Pentecostal Christians, who raise their hands in worship, speaking in tongues and rolling on the floor, possessed by the spirit of God. Or we might think of Christians in West-Virginia, who by handling poisonous snakes give evidence to being empowered and protected by God’s power and spirit, based on a passage in Mark 16. The Holy Spirit, in these cases, is a personal experience—being filled with the Spirit is something that happens privately, between you and God, but to be a witness to other Christians of the same belief.[ii] 

But that’s not really for us New England Congregationalists, is it? We are as uncomfortable with those unfettered expressions of the Spirit as we are with the Acts story itself. It is an absurd story, isn’t it? We read this passage together in confirmation class on Wednesday evening, and I couldn’t help but think, these young people must think I am nuts, and that Christianity is nuts when we start telling these stories of tongues of fire and magical understanding of foreign languages. What this unique story means to us, I taught our confirmands, is that this the birthday of the church. When the spirit came rushing through, the spirit brought everyone together, and they became church. When the church does what it is supposed to, it becomes the center of the Spirit…and the Spirit is part of the institution of the church. Collectively. [iii] Like that makes any sense to 7 and 8 graders. 

So, they asked, are the Spirit and God the same thing? Sigh. Yes. No.

Here is the crux of the matter. Whether we individualize the experience of the Spirit, or institutionalize it in the Church, we are really trying to trying get to the Spirit off the streets of Jerusalem, and back indoors where things are safe and secure, on a leash, contained, and only for those on the inside. Out in the open, the public will ask questions, jeer and demand an explanation. Peter himself has to give several speeches in public because of the Spirits unruliness. When we try to pack the Spirit’ s roar and fire and outrageous speech neatly in a box, bringing it out at our convenience and for our own purposes, like a birthday celebration, a confirmation class, or to handle a snake, we are limiting ourselves from the power and wisdom of God. [iv]

However, thank goodness, the Spirit of God is not controlled by the church, it is not hostage to personal prayer language or a select few with special gifts. The spirit of God jumps out into the stories of our lives and in creation and will not hold back. It refuses restraint or being stuffed in a closet. 

The GLBT community reflects the tenacious roar of the Spirit, I think. 

This week, the GLBT community and advocates, were bitterly disappointed by the California Supreme Court ruling to uphold Proposition 8, denying marriage equality for all. There are those who continue to attempt to stuff the GLBT community into a collective closet, but if you have ever been to a Pride Parade, you know that the Spirit is wild and unleashed in that community, because being out and proud is so grounding and true to the one who Creates all of us. There is no way we will go back—in spite of setbacks and in the face of all the work and ministry yet to do. Gay teens suffer from the highest suicide rate of any population. Gay people are not safe in many parts of the country. Gay children are still rejected by their parents. Gay people still have to be careful and ‘act straight’ in the work place.   Gay people still are rejected by the church. BUT…the Spirit is at work—offering hope that one day, one day there will be understanding. Because, that is how the Spirit works.   It’s not orderly, or on our time-lines.   Our Roman’s text says that the whole creation groans in labor pains while we wait in hope for redemption, and that the Spirit helps us in our weakness. Unleashed. Knowing what we don’t know and what we can’t articulate.  

And what if we allowed this unleashed Spirit of God to breathe into our hearts, and set us on fire to be all of who we are created to be—people of faith and unfaith, longing for connection and wisdom in this world. 

I will be honest. I don’t always get the unruly, undomesticated Spirit of God. I kind of like the quiet spirit we sing about every week before we pray. But trusting in the unorderliness of the Spirit is transforming, as well. So, I try to remember to breathe God in everyday, and pray that the rowdy, natural Spirit would lead my thoughts and prayers and actions.   And when I have no words, have no hope, I am grateful that the Spirit intercedes in my weakness, with sighs so deep that there are no words, but those sighs resonate. And Spirit is with me. In spite of whatever stuff of life gets in the way. The Spirit refuses to let me go.

And this is true for all of us. Though humans crucify, God resurrects. Though humans divide and dominate, God communicates. God has the last word, and the word is wild. It changes everything. It rebuilds broken community. It breaks boundaries and enlarges the house. It makes possible understanding where before there was not understanding. It is unfettered, unleashed, and pouring out upon us.[v] 

Where is it that you know—or long to know-- the unleashed hope and wild abandon of God’s spirit in your world and your life today? Amen.