Passages: Acts 2:1-21; John 14:25-31
Ընթերցուածքներ՝ Գործ. Բ 1-21; Յով. ԺԴ 25 – 31
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen!
I love this time of year! Especially living in Chicago, the weather is finally getting warmer, and we are seeing more of the sun. Along with the weather changing we see people changing as well. People smile more and are in a better mood when the weather is nice. Short sleeves, cold drinks, BBQ’s, food festivals, celebrations and of course use of the beautiful Lake Michigan. There is something about being out on the water that is relaxing, and at the same time terrifying. I never learned how to sail but it always fascinated me to be on the water, unsure of what was below. Today we use technology and we go out onto the water with yachts, speed boats, or even some modern sail boats. Yet, for most of human history going out into the water, being able to enjoy the sun from the water could only be done 2 ways, with oars, paddles, or if you had a bigger boat, the wind on the sails. And the winds play a crucial role in many areas of our life.
Whether we are out on the water, or walking down the street, though we love the summer weather, when it’s too hot, a fresh gust of wind, gives us relief and peace. That little soft breeze on our face rejuvenates us, or the gust of wind against the sails both allow us to keep moving forward. It is perhaps for this image that Christ speaks about the Holy Spirit coming to us as wind. In the story of Nicodemus, which we read during our Baptism service, Christ tells us that “You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (Jn. 3:7-8) The word for wind, which in Hebrew is ruach, is the same word we find in Acts 2, in the story of Pentecost. This wind, this power and freshness uplifted and moved the Disciples opening their tongues as we know from the story of Pentecost. For many, we read and celebrate the Feast of Pentecost as the birth of the Church, when the Holy Spirit opened up the Disciples tongues and the Gospel was able to be taught to all peoples. Yet, if we see this event merely as the start of the Church, as history, we miss out on something very important. What about the ruach in our life, where do we feel the wind moving us in our life?
My dears in life we have 2 types of wind. We have winds that blow in our life and which cause storms to rise up against us. Those winds are violent, dangerous and fill us with fear of sinking. Winds of addiction, depression, hate, etc.. However, the winds of the storms in our life are not the wind of which brings to us the Holy Spirit. In the C.S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia series, in the 4th book The Silver Chair, there is a moment when the 2 protagonists, Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole find their way into the a mythical land. While there, they find a cliff, where Jill approaches the edge, and Eustace, trying to pull her back to safety, falls over the edge. In that moment, it is Aslan, the main hero of the Narnia series who symbolizes God, appears and saves Eustace by blowing a powerful wind and sending him on a wind stream to Narnia, to safety. My dears, the wind that brings the Holy Spirit, the wind that Christ refers to and which fills the upper room is like that of a calm summer breeze, a stream, which comforts us, renews us and most important of all causes us to move. A wind that does not blow us over the edge into the abyss but towards safety. A strong, powerful wind that pushes the sails of boats on the water to move in the right direction, the same way that after receiving the HS, the Disciples began to move the hearts of those who listened to the Gospel message, of how Christ died upon the cross for our sins and who by His loving grace moves us, lifts us up, renews us from death to life.
In the book of Acts we read that in that time of Pentecost, the Jewish people were having a feast; the feast is known as Shavout. In Judaism, Shavuot combines two major remembrances, the grain harvest of the early summer and the giving of the Torah, the 10 Commandments and the Laws of Moses on Mount Sinai seven weeks after the Exodus from Egypt. For the Jewish people, much like most agrarian cultures, the harvest signifies an important reminder of God’s blessings. Another season of food, of nourishment and caring for our needs and being able to feed our families. And the latter, the receiving of the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai is the moment when the Jewish people received their understanding of how to live and be different than those around them, those who do not believe in God. My dears, when we receive the Holy Spirit, when the winds of God fills our soul we begin to feed on His Word; we begin to understand God’s love, hope and grace. We learn what it means in our prayers “Give us this day our daily bread…” That God is not merely a god that fills our stomachs or gives us material happiness. But God’s love is that calming breeze, that gentle wind that gives us strength even when the hot weather is bogging us down.
Furthermore, when we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive the wisdom, the illumination and purpose of how we are called to live, to move, to act, to behave in this life, how we are called to be imitators of Christ Jesus. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to yourremembrance all things that I said to you.” (Jn. 14:26) Yes, my dear brothers and sisters, whether we are up on a mountain, out on the water, walking down the street, in our homes looking up at the sky on sunny day, the beauty of this world is both enjoyable but also terrifying. What lies below or what is in the Heaven’s above is there for our wonder and amazement. Yet, we do not live in fear; we do not live with uncertainty, and we do not live stuck in one place. The winds will blow, the soft wind will kiss our face, lift us up, move our sails, push us forward and teach us who we are, who God is and what is our place in this world. Because our Christian faith is one of movement and growth, of sowing and harvesting, of setting us apart from the rest of the world. If on a summers day when we step outside and enjoy the weather, and change our behavior and outlook on life, imagine what God can change in us when we step out with the presence of God.