"Wind, The Breath Of God"
by Rev. Tim Zingale
St.Olaf Lutheran Church
Fort Dodge, Iowa
15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. 27 You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning. 16:4 But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 11 about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
~ John 15:26-27; 16:4-15
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ the risen Lord. Amen
Imagine today you are with the disciples in the upper room. You are hiding there not knowing what to expect. Jesus has ascended into heaven and you are told to go to the upper and wait. Wait for what? Jesus said the Counselor would come. Jesus said the Spirit would come. You wait. You wonder what it will be like when this spirit comes? You wait, you pray, you wait some more.
Then you hear it. A small wind, A larger wind. Then an even larger wind blows into the room. The door is still locked, but the wind is there. A might y wind. A wind that you have never experienced before.
It is the wind of God. The breath of God which came over the land and created the earth. It is the breath which filled Adam’s lungs and gave him life. It is the wind, the breath of God. The breath of God breaks into tongues as of fire. They rest upon your head. You feel the breath of God enter into your body. You are somehow alive. You are somehow made different.
You along with Peter rush out into the street and you begin to preach. You preach in other languages. You preach about the risen Christ. You preach about the good news of the gospel. You preach and your preach. As the day ends many have been understood and accepted the good news of the gospel.
A story is told of that day with Peter preaching to the crowds, it says:
A man pushed his way through the crowd, and said: "Peter, do you think there is hope for me? I am the man who made that crown of thorns and placed them upon Christ’s brow; do you think he will save me?"
"Yes," said Peter," ’whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall b e saved.’ You are a ’whosoever’; if you call he will hear your cry. He will answer your prayer and save you." The man might have cried then and there, and the Lord saved him.
Another man pushed his way up and said to Peter, "I’m the man who took that reed out of his hand, and drove it down upon that cruel crown of thorns, sending it into his brow: Do you think he will save me?"
"Yes," said Peter, ’’he told us to go into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, and he did not mean you to be left out; salvation is for you. He did not come to condemn men; he came to get his arm under the vilest sinner and lift him up toward heaven."
Another man, elbowing his way through the crowd, pushed up to Peter and said, "I am the Roman soldier who took the spear and drove it to his heart, when there came out blood and water; do you think there is hope for me?"
"Yes," said Peter, "there’s a nearer way of reaching his heart than that: ’Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lo rd shall be saved.’ " And the Roman soldier might have cried then and there, and might have obtained forgiveness and salvation.
The day of Pentecost is the birthday of the church. It is the day that the holy spirit of God, the breath of God comes into the world. This day is not celebrated like Christmas or Easter. But the importance of this day cannot be overlooked.
Maybe you are like King George in the following:
On July 4, 1776, the members of the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia signed the Declaration of Independence. With this action, the American Revolution was launched and a new nation was born.
It is ironic that on that very day George III, King of England, made this entry in his diary: "Nothing of any importance happened today."
Nothing of importance happened in the life of the church, right. Wrong! The beginning of the life of the church happened today. Something of great importance happened today. The breath of God came into our lives. The breath of God came today so that we might be saved from death and brought into new life. The breath of God came today so that sinners, you and I would be brought into a few life, here on earth. And then brought into an eternal life after we have breathed our last breath.
Rick Kirchoff spoke these words at an annual conference of the Methodist church:
"It is a time to open up to the mind-blowing, heart-warming, life-changing power of God.
The power of God can invade the body, inflate the mind,swell the soul, lift the Spirit and make us more than we ever imagined.
It’ll make you young when you’re old,and it’ll make you live even when you die.
The power and presence of the Spirit will disturb, delight,deliver and lift.
When God sends forth the Spirit,"the whole face of the earth is renewed."
When God sends forth the Spirit chaos is changed into creation the Red Sea opens up to a highway of freedom.
When God sends forth the Spirit:
A young woman says "Yes".
Jesus is born and life is never the same.
When God sends forth the Spirit amazing things happen:
barriers are broken,
communities are formed,
opposites are reconciled,
unity is established,
disease is cured,
addiction is broken,
cities are renewed,
races are reconciled,
hope is established,
people are blessed,
and church happens.
Today the Spirit of God is present and we’re gonna‚ have church.
So be ready, get ready...God is up to something...
discouraged folks cheer up,
dishonest folks, fess up,
sour folks, sweeten up,
closed folk, open up,
gossipers, shut up,
conflicted folks, make up,
sleeping folks, wake up,
lukewarm folk, fire up,
dry bones, shake up,
and pew potatoes stand up!
But most of all, Christ the Savior of all the world is lifted up...
Can you feel the excitement which Rick wrote and spoke those words? This is not a day of no importance, but a day of great importance. The breath of God comes to shake up the world. The breath of God comes to form the church and gives us the power to spread the good news. The good news of the gospel which says all are saved by the life and death of the risen Savior, Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit comes to earth on this day of Pentecost so that we might be able to spread this good news. At our Baptism, we were given the Spirit by the Word of God and that Spirit dwells in us. It is that Spirit which allows and even encourages us to reach out to others.
The wind, the breath of God which came to that upper room, also visits each of us. We are filled with that wind. Sometimes, we ignore it. Sometimes we allow it to move us. No matter what we do, the wind of God, the breath of God dwells in us.
The breath of God, the wind of God is powerful. Look around you. We see the wind blow into tornadoes. We see the wind blow into hurricanes. We see the wind blow across desert places moving sand in its path.
The wind of God, the breath of god, the Spirit of God came to earth today in a different kind of way. It came to give power to the church so that it might proclaim the mighty acts of God through Christ. It came to earth not to destroy, but to build up. It came to earth so that Peter was compelled to leave that upper room and go into the highways and preach.
Can you and be like Peter? Can we be so filled with the breath of God that we pour out of this church into the highways and spread the good news of Christ?
A closing story speaks about the saving power of Christ:
"There was a missionary who became a good friend of an Indian pearl diver. The two had spent many hours together discussing salvation, but the Indian could not understand anything so precious being free. Instead, in making preparation for the life to come, the diver was going to walk the 900 miles to Delhi on his knees. He thought this would buy entrance into heaven for him. The missionary struggled to communicate to his friend that it is impossible to buy entrance into heaven because the price would be too costly. Instead, he said, Jesus had died to buy it for us.
Before he left for his pilgrimage, the Indian gave the missionary the largest and most perfect pearl he had ever seen. The missionary offered to buy it, but the diver became upset and said that the pearl was beyond price, that his only son had lost his life in the attempt to get it. The pearl was worth the life blood of his son. As he said this, suddenly the diver understood that God was offering him salvation as a priceless gift."
Amen
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The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. Sermon contributed by Rev. Tim Zingale on May 29, 2006.
Imagine today you are with the disciples in the upper room. You are hiding there not knowing what to expect.
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