Sermon preached by the Reverend John E.
Kitagawa at the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist on Sunday, 31 May 2009 (The
Day of Pentecost, Whitsunday) at St. Philip’s In The Hills Parish,
Today, we celebrate Pentecost. The word, Pentecost, means “fiftieth
day.” In our tradition, Pentecost always
falls on the fiftieth day following Easter Sunday. As Peter Leithart wrote a year ago, one of the
nice things about Pentecost is that
Pentecost is culturally invisible. There are no [Pentecost] sales at the stores,
no gift-exchanges around trees, no jolly elf, no crèches, no heart-warming
holiday films, no Bing Crosby crooning about rushing, mighty winds …[1]
In
most churches, one of the readings is from the second chapter of the Book of
Acts. I did not choose this option
because some people draw the conclusion that Pentecost was a single, historical,
Biblical event, and therefore cannot be repeated. Instead, I picked other options that highlight
themes of hope, of the steadfast presence and activity of the Holy Spirit, of
the possibility of re-creation, of renewal, and of redemption.
The Ezekiel passage illustrates these themes
in a powerful visual way. Ezekiel tells
us the disconnected dry bones in the valley represent “the whole house of
Israel,” whose hope is lost, who feels cut off from the life-giving and
life-sustaining word of God (Ezekiel 37: 11).
The graphic images of the passage immediately bring to mind the traditional
spiritual, “Dem Bones, Dem Bones”. You
probably learned a version of it as a child.
Incidentally, I recently learned that the melody of this song is
attributed to James Weldon Johnson, composer of the hymn, Lift Every Voice and Sing.
Dem
bones, dem bones, dem dry bones
Don’t you hear the word of the Lord?
Toe bone connected to the foot
bone
Foot bone connected to the leg bone
Leg bone connected to the knee bone
Don’t you hear the word of the Lord?
Knee bone connected to the thighbone
Thighbone connected to the hipbone
Hipbone connected to the backbone
Don’t you hear the word of the Lord?
Backbone connected to the shoulder
bone
Shoulder bone connected to the neck bone
Neck bone connected to the head bone
Don’t you hear the word of the Lord?[2]
“Don’t you hear the word of the Lord?” Through the Ezekiel passage and this song, we
have a visual depiction of the power of the Spirit to renew, to re-create and
to redeem life. And, as a result maybe
we can envision the possibility of a new future and new life with the guidance
and power of the Holy Spirit at work? Discerning
new possibilities is often difficult.
There is a delightful story about the
inability to see new possibilities. Many
years ago, a bishop was invited to dinner at the home the president of a small
religious college. The president was
also a professor of physics and chemistry.
After dinner the talk turned to the future, and
the bishop claimed that the “millennium” could not be far off. One of the reasons he cited was the fact that
everything in nature had now already been discovered, and all possible
inventions had been made.
The president politely demurred. In his opinion, humanity was on the threshold
of brilliant new discoveries. The bishop
dared him to mention one. The president
said he expected that within fifty years humans would learn to fly.
This threw the bishop into a fit of laughter,
“Rubbish, my dear man, if God had intended us to fly, [God] would have provided
us with wings.”
The president’s name was Wright, and he had two
sons named Orville and Wilbur[3].
In the current circumstances of our nation
and our world, and the resulting impact on our daily lives, it is difficult to
envision a renewed future and new possibilities. I think it is human nature to batten down the
hatches, to hold fast to the tried and true, and to play it safe. In their dire circumstances, the original
disciples were confused and uncertain, holding on to each other for dear life,
relying on safety in numbers, and desperate to figure how to proceed without
the physical presence, the love, the wisdom and leadership of Jesus
Christ. As they talked amongst
themselves and prayed together, they must have recalled bits and pieces of
their conversations with Jesus, and of his teaching. Someone may have remembered some of the
things Jesus said at the Last Supper. For
example,
I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage
that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate [aka the Holy Spirit]
will not come to you, (John 16: 7).
And,
someone in that locked room must have questioned, “just what advantage did he
have in mind?” The Bible does not tell us
whether it was in a moment of silence, or in the midst of their discussions,
but
Suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the
rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house … Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among
them, and a tongue rested on each of them (Acts 2: 2)
From
that moment on, nothing was the same.
They had been teetering on the edge of oblivion, but now they were
emboldened to speak and act in ways they had never imagined. Their passions were enflamed by the Holy
Spirit, making it possible to spread the Gospel and to transform lives of
people near and far.
I do not believe Pentecost was a single
historical and biblical event. I think
people and communities receive and are transformed by the Holy Spirit all the
time. I believe this has been the
history of the Church throughout the ages, and that the possibility of enlightenment
and transformation remain real and potent today. I very much like Lane Denison’s take on
Pentecost:
Pentecost comes once again to brace and refresh
us, to call us back to and enlist us in the Way, the Truth, and the Life
revealed in the Upper Room.
Pentecost comes once again to drag us kicking
and screaming away from our fascination with ourselves and our need for ecclesiastic
security.
Pentecost comes once again to license us as
God’s agents, as Mary sang, to show the strength of God’s arm, to scatter the
proud in their conceit, to cast down the mighty from their thrones, to lift up
the lowly, to fill the hungry with good things, and to champion God’s peace,
justice and love for all[4].
In
my mind,
So, let us talk about showing the strength
of God’s arm, lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry with good things, and
championing God’s peace, justice and love for all. Most of you have heard about and some of you
have been involved with our After-School Program. In many ways it is grounded in a simple
concept. It uses our strengths and gifts
to touch and transform the lives of poor young students. By poor I mean the students qualify for the free
lunch program at school. These kids are
receiving a quality music education that would otherwise be beyond their reach,
and they get tutorial assistance with their homework, and a generous dose of
love—all from parish volunteers, led and coordinated by staff members Garmon
Ashby, Rosalind Garcia and Bruce Philips.
All this takes place under the roof and in spaces of St. Philip’s
facilities.
With the power of the Holy Spirit to unite
and strengthen, and with the After School Program as a paradigm, what new
possibilities can we imagine and bring to fruition? Some of you are aware that several of us have
gone up to All Saints’ Church,
Some of you have read my notes about a visit
with leaders of the Pima Council on Aging, and some preliminary thoughts about
the potential for developing some kind of St. Philip’s elder care
ministry. They exist on my Face Book
page, and an email attachment to the Vestry.
I hope to post further thoughts and ideas in the near future. Are we sufficiently open to the workings of
the Holy Spirit to imagine new ways to use our strengths and gifts to minister
in new ways to aging parishioners, and
to aging neighbors in need? Can we take
our healing presence and care to a new level, reflecting God’s compassion, love
and grace at the latest stages of their lives?
To some, it is crazy or irresponsible to
talk about developing new ministries when we struggle with a mission finance
deficit in the midst of a really bad economy.
While the shape of things to come is far from clear, it feels to me like
the Holy Spirit coming again “to brace and refresh us, to call us back and to
re-enlist us” in God’s way. It feels
like the same Holy Spirit whose job is “to drag us kicking and screaming away
from our fascination with ourselves and our need for security.” It feels like the Holy Spirit coming once
again “to license us as God’s agents, as Mary sang, to show the strength of
God’s arm,” and to be witnesses to the transforming power of God’s compassion,
love and grace.
Let us pray.
Holy Spirit, rushing, burning, wind and flame of
Pentecost,
Fire our hearts afresh with yearning to regain
what we have lost.
May your love unite our action, never more to
speak alone;
God in us abolish friction; God through us your
love make known[5].
AMEN.