Pentecost Sunday – The Rev. Adrien P Dawson
June 12, 2011 – transcription from recording
Today is the church’s birthday, it also happens to be Nancy's birthday. Happy
Birthday Nancy. (applause for Nancy, crucifer on that day and recent high school graduate)
Today we remember the birth of the church, and just like any birthday it is about
remembering a beginning, remembering the first breath that the church took. So I want
you to think about first breaths for a moment.
Before babies are born, they spend 9 months, hanging out, breathing amniotic fluid,
practicing all that time, filling their lungs. I don't know about you, but my babies used to
get the hiccups. Don't ask me how you get the hiccups inside the womb, but they did, and I
would feel their hiccups, and think, "well, keep practicing." And when babies come out of
that warm place, they have to breathe air. This is a new experience, and sometimes when
you watch births in the movies, the baby is born and the whole room is waiting for that first
cry, "Waaaaaahh!" to come out of the baby's mouth. It is because that cry means that the
child has taken its first breath. Babies have to take that first breath of air, they have to for
the first time fill their lungs with oxygen because no longer are they getting what they need
from their mothers. They are in the cold hard world now, and they have to supply air for
themselves so that first breath is crucial. And when babies are born too early, we have to
help them along with that air, making sure that their lungs are receiving enough oxygen
even if their bodies are not developed well enough to suck in the air they need on their
own.
Every once in a while in the course of a person's life, something can happen that
causes them to stop breathing.
Ever have the wind knocked out of you? I fell off the roof of a garage once. I didn't
break anything, but it did knock the wind out of me. And as I sat there on the ground, my
friends all standing around wide eyed. I was gasping for a breath, and unable for a moment
to suck in the precious air. I was like that baby, the air had been completely pressed out of
my lungs by the impact and I had to take my first breath all over again. It was scary, I didn't
know if I was going to be able to get the air in there. Even more traumatic, when people
drown or something happens inside to cause them to stop breathing. Anyone here certified
for CPR? (Pause for people to raise hands. A few chuckles)
Where are my nurses? In case you stop breathing in church, look around. These are
the people you need. CPR - it is a way to put the breath back in.
If you have done CPR training, they give you a dummy doll to practice on... tilting the
head back, opening the airway just right so that you can breathe life back into that person.
Just like the newborn child. And I remember from my experience of CPR training, thinking,
as I leaned over this plastic dummy, “This is a very intimate thing.” You gotta really set
aside your feelings about getting that close to someone who might be a stranger - and just
do it for the sake of life. When we do CPR training, it is a little embarrassing. We were
looking at each other, laughing nervously when it was our turn. Here we go... and thinking
that if this really were an event of life or death, adrenaline would kick in and all my selfconscious squeamishness and embarrassment would disappear. I would not feel funny
about putting my own mouth and breath into another person. That their life is more
precious than my own feelings of personal space and how close I am willing to get to
another human being.
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In the gospel story that we heard today, it is the very first day of the resurrection.
So, rewind back to Easter Day, that evening the disciples are gathered in a room, they have
locked the doors because they are so afraid. Jesus had only died a few days earlier, and in
the midst of the room appears the risen Christ. Doors are locked and then poof, there he is.
Now I wonder if in that moment, did all the disciples have the wind knocked out of them?
Was it like falling off the roof to see the risen Christ? At least I suspect that they were
holding their breath - it is what we do when we are surprised. And Jesus says these
wonderful words to these disciples who think, up until this moment, that life has left them,
that hope and promise and God’s love left them on the cross. And Jesus says these life
giving words to them, “Peace be with you.”
He doesn’t say, “Where have you been? Why did you run away? What are you afraid
of? You know, I really could have used your help on the road to Golgotha.” He doesn’t say
any of those things. He says, “Peace be with you.” and then he does divine CPR. They didn’t
have CPR certification when John wrote his gospel, but John says Jesus breathes on them. I
imagine that he gets right up in their faces. I don’t think this was a little (breathing noise).
I think this is intimate mouth to mouth resuscitation for the disciples. He is bringing them
back to life. They have suffered such a tragic loss, they have disappointed themselves by
not being present for their Lord even in his time of suffering and death. They are sitting in
a room with the doors locked, in their own tomb, wondering how life can go on and Jesus
gives them CPR. He brings them back to life. Breathes the Holy Spirit from his mouth, into
their lungs. And they fill up again. They come back to life. It’s a miracle of resuscitation,
but when the Holy Spirit resuscitates you… you are resurrected.
So fast forward, 50 days later, it’s the feast of Pentecost. In the Jewish tradition
there was a festival 50 days after the Passover and everybody came to Jerusalem to
celebrate in the Holy City. Everyone was there, the city was full of people from all over the
Mediterranean. And the disciples have been waiting in Jerusalem, because that’s what
Jesus told them to do. Wait for the Holy Spirit, it will tell you what to do, to go and make
disciples of all people. And so they have been waiting in Jerusalem. Waiting for 50 days to
get the Word about what to do with their new life. Their resurrected life. This new breath
that has been breathed into them. And while they are all sitting around together, preparing
for the festival a wind comes rushing into the building. A violent wind, a wind that is
coming to blow through each and every one of them. Just like Jesus’ divine CPR, a wind is
coming to enliven them and give them the very breath of God. And when that wind appears
in the midst of them the description in Acts is that it looked as though a flame of fire rested
upon each of their heads. They were so full of life, and so full of the Spirit, that they were
on fire with God’s presence.
When the disciples began to speak (which you need breath to be able to do)the air
that comes out of them, the words that come out of them are the very breath and words of
God. And it is not words in their own native language, but in the languages of all the people
who have gathered in Jerusalem for this festival. Now I bet that they were all a little
surprised about this, the disciples are speaking in tongues. The surrounding nations who
have gathered for this festival are so shocked and surprised to hear the word of God being
proclaimed in their native language, their own mother tongue. They are not having to
translate it out of Greek or Aramaic, they don’t have to study Hebrew to understand the
Word of God. It is coming to them in the same words that their own mother would have
spoken to them as she held them in her arms. They hear the very word of God. And when
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they hear it, full of shock and surprise, maybe even the wind is knocked out of them. Their
second thought is these guys must have had too much to drink today. They still cannot
believe that it is possible for the Word of God to come to them in their own languages.
Once they begin to understand, to hear the word of God and recognize the work of
God’s Holy Spirit, once they breathe in that divine air. This is when the church takes its
first breath. That’s the moment. That’s the moment when the church is born into this
world. When the disciples speak out the word of God, and other people take in the word of
God, that’s the first inhale of the church. And ever after, for 2011 years we have been
speaking the word of God and breathing it in and recognizing that this divine and life giving
breath is not just for one group of people, or one family, tribe, community, or nation. It is
for all people.
We should never feel squeamish or shy about sharing this divine life giving breath
with anyone because it is the very breath of eternal life. It is what allows a child to live, a
person who has died to be brought back, it is what allows us to live when we are in that
dark place and wonder “How can I go on?” The Holy Spirit breathes into us. Right in our
face and gives us new life. When we are full of the Holy Spirit, there might even be a little
flame sitting up on top of your head. You are on fire and you cannot sit still. Jesus knew
that when he said to his disciples, wait in Jerusalem until the Holy spirit comes, then you
will know what to do. Well, the Holy Spirit is here with us, now, lighting us on fire, giving
us the life and the energy to do the things that will bring God’s kingdom here and will share
that divine breath with more and more people who are in need. You are full of that breath.
Don’t be shy about being on fire. Don’t be afraid about the very breath that dwells in you
and will give life to others. Share the Holy Spirit and keep the church breathing and alive,
because it is through each and every one of us inhaling and exhaling the Spirit that we give
life to Christ’s on Body made present in us. Amen.
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