Pentecost, 2009

JOHN 20:19-23
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I HAVE A HARD TIME PICTURING THE HOLY SPIRIT. ALL OF US HAVE AN IMAGE OF JESUS, THE SON, THE SECOND PERSON IN THE TRINITY; WE CAN'T HELP BUT SEE HIM AS A MAN WITH A WELL-TRIMMED BEARD, MAYBE HANGING FROM A CROSS, MAYBE WALKING WITH SHEEP. MOST OF US CAN SORT OF CALL TO MIND A PICTURE OF GOD THE FATHER, THE OLD MAN WITH THE WHITE BEARD. WE KNOW JESUS WAS AND IS A MAN, AND WE KNOW THAT GOD THE FATHER IS PURE SPIRIT, AND HAS NO SIZE OR SHAPE OR COLOR; BUT BEING HUMAN BEINGS, WE ALMOST NEED AN IMAGE.
BUT NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT. NO MATTER HOW YOU TRY, AN IMAGE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS AT BEST, TENTATIVE, AND OFTEN SEEMS TO BE A WHITE BIRD. AND PART IF THE REASON IS BECAUSE WE DON'T QUITE GET WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES. JESUS WALKED AND TALKED, AND TAUGHT, AND SUFFERED AND DIED. WE GET THAT. THE FATHER CREATES, HE IS THE WELLSPRING OF CREATION. BEFORE CHRISTIANITY MANY RELIGIONS HAD A “CREATOR GOD” AND THE ONE THE CHRISTIANS WERE FAMILIAR WITH APPEARED ON BUILDINGS AND COINS – THAT WAS JUPITER TO THE ROMANS AND ZEUS TO THE GREEKS. IT WASN'T A GREAT STRETCH TO IMAGINE GOD THE FATHER JUST AS THEIR PAGAN NEIGHBORS IMAGINED THEIR CREATOR GOD.
BUT THINK ABOUT WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES. FIRST, HE MEDIATES CREATION. IN GENESIS THE SPIRIT OF GOD HOVERS OVER THE WATERS WHEN THE EARTH IS A FORMLESS VOID, AND IS THERE WHEN GOD UTTERS THE WORDS THAT BEGIN WITH “LET THERE BE...” IN THE PSALMS WE HEAR THAT FAMILIAR REFRAIN, “YOU SEND FORTH YOUR SPIRIT, AND THEY ARE CREATED” AND THAT VERSE GOES ON TO SAY, “YOU WITHDRAW YOUR SPIRIT, AND THEY ARE DESTROYED”.
SECOND, THE SPIRIT ANIMATES PEOPLE TO CARRY OUT GOD'S WORK. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT WE READ ABOUT THE PROPHETS WHO WERE POSSESSED BY THE SPIRIT. WE SEE MOSES AND JOSHUA, SAUL AND SAMUEL AND KING DAVID ALL AT VARIOUS TIMES LEAD BY THE SPIRIT. AND WE SEE JESUS HIMSELF DRIVEN INTO THE DESERT TO FAST AND BE TEMPTED AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS MINISTRY – BY THE SPIRIT.
THIRD, THE SPIRIT IS THE SOURCE OF LIFE AND HEALTH. JESUS HIMSELF IS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. WHEN THE APOSTLES ARE WORKING MIRACLES, THEY ARE DESCRIBED AS BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.
FOURTH, THE SPIRIT IS THE SOURCE OF WISDOM AND ENLIGHTENMENT. STEPHEN MANAGED TO REFUTE THE ARGUMENTS OF THE JEWISH LEADERS BECAUSE HE WAS FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT.
AND WE COULD GO ON, AND ON, AND ON.
WE CAN'T VISUALIZE THE SPIRIT. WE CAN'T EVEN THINK OF WAYS TO REPRESENT HIM THAT AREN'T SOFT AROUND THE EDGES, EXCEPT MAYBE THE DOVE, AND EVEN THERE, IT IS A DOVE DESCENDING FROM HEAVEN IN FLIGHT, NOT PERCHED ON A TELEPHONE WIRE. TONGUES OF FIRE NEVER HOLD STILL; OIL, A SIGN OF ANOINTING, HAS NO SHAPE AND YOU CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH IT. WATER LIKEWISE IS TRANSPARENT AND SHAPELESS. AND WIND, TO WHICH JESUS COMPARES THE SPIRIT, AND WHICH WAS PART OF THAT MANIFESTATION TO THE APOSTLES, CAN ONLY BE VISUALIZED BY WHAT IT CAUSES; YOU CAN'T SEE IT OR IMAGINE IT IN AND OF ITSELF.
BUT THAT IS PROBABLY GOD'S INTENTION. FROM ALL ETERNITY, THE FATHER GENERATES HIS SON, WHO IS HIS PERFECT REFLECTION. AND AS THE FATHER LOVES THE SON, AND THE SON LOVES THE FATHER, THE SPIRIT IS BREATHED FOURTH, TO CARRY OUT THE WILL OF THE FATHER, WHICH IS TO GENERATE THE SON -- THROUGH CREATION; THROUGH INSPIRING PROPHETS AND PRIESTS AND KINGS TO PREPARE A PEOPLE INTO WHICH THE SON WILL BE BORN; AND FINALLY, TO CREATE IN MARY NOT JUST THE BODY, BUT THE WHOLE BEING, HUMAN AND DIVINE, WHICH IS JESUS. AND DOWN THROUGH ALL THE AGES, THE FATHER CONTINUES TO GENERATE THE SON THROUGH THE SPIRIT, HERE ON THE ALTAR WHEN FATHER CALLS DOWN THE SPIRIT TO TRANSFORM THE BREAD AND WINE INTO THE SON OF GOD. HERE IN OUR SCRIPTURES WHERE THE SPIRIT LEADS EACH OF US TO UNDERSTAND THE PRESENCE OF JESUS IN THESE SACRED WORDS, THE WORDS WHICH THE SPIRIT INSPIRED THE WRITERS OF THE SCRIPTURES TO WRITE. AND HERE AMONG YOU AND I WHERE BECAUSE WE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER IN HIS NAME, THE SPIRIT BRINGS JESUS INTO OUR MIDST.
DOES THIS ALL SOUND MYSTERIOUS AND OTHER-WORLDLY? WELL, YOU CAN SPEND A LIFETIME THINKING ABOUT THE SPIRIT, THE TRINITY, THE INCARNATION, AND STILL NEVER UNDERSTAND THESE THINGS FULLY. BUT WHEN WE KEEP IT SIMPLE, WE REALIZE THAT EVERYTHING THE SPIRIT DOES IS TO INCARNATE THE SON OF GOD IN SOME WAY, SO THAT JESUS' PROMISES WOULD BE FULFILLED -- “IF I BE LIFTED UP TO HEAVEN, I WILL DRAW ALL THINGS UNTO MYSELF” “THAT ALL MAY BE ONE, AS YOU, FATHER, IN ME, AND I IN YOU; THAT ALL MAY BE ONE IN US.”
THE GREAT THEOLOGIAN KARL RAHNER HAD A VISION ONE TIME; HE IMAGINED HE WAS LIFTED UP INTO THE AIR, OUTSIDE THE SOLAR SYSTEM, OUTSIDE THE UNIVERSE; AT THE SAME TIME HE SPED FORWARD IN TIME TO THE VERY END; AND FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE, HE COULD ONLY SEE ONE THING – THE FACE OF CHRIST. THE UNIVERSE HAD FINALLY ACHIEVED IT'S DESTINATION, TO BE ENTIRELY AND COMPLETELY THE INCARNATION OF GOD, THE COSMIC CHRIST. NOW WHETHER THIS IS THEOLOGICALLY CORRECT I'LL LEAVE TO THEOLOGIANS; BUT IT SEEMS TO BE CONSISTENT WITH THE IDEAS IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AND THE WRITINGS OF ST. PAUL, AND EVEN THE TEACHINGS OF OUR CHURCH – JESUS IS THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE REDEEMED; THE CHURCH IS THE BODY OF CHRIST; OUR SUFFERINGS COMPLETE WHAT IS LACKING IN CHRIST'S BODY. “FOR GOD WAS PLEASED TO HAVE ALL HIS FULLNESS DWELL IN HIM, AND THROUGH HIM TO RECONCILE TO HIMSELF ALL THINGS, WHETHER THINGS ON EARTH OR THINGS IN HEAVEN, BY MAKING PEACE THROUGH HIS BLOOD, SHED ON THE CROSS.”
THAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT'S ROLE – TO TAKE EVERYTHING THERE IS AND TRANSFORM IT, TO BRING IT ALL INTO CHRIST; AND THEN CHRIST PRESENTS IT IN HIMSELF TO THE FATHER. AND WE HUMANS HAVE A SPECIAL ROLE – THROUGH US THE REST OF THE MATERIAL WORLD IS GATHERED IN TO CHRIST THROUGH THE SPIRIT.
SO LOOK AT YOURSELF AND AT THE WORLD WITH NEW EYES TODAY; BECAUSE, AS THE POET GERALD MANLEY HOPKINS OBSERVED, “THE WORLD IS CHARGED WITH THE GRANDEUR OF GOD – BUT WE DON'T NOTICE, BECAUSE WE ARE SO INTENT ON PUTTING ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER, PLODDING AWAY AT DAILY LIFE; BUT THERE IS A MARVELOUS FRESHNESS, A CONSTANTLY RENEWAL OF NATURE JUST BENEATH THE SURFACE REALITY. AND THIS IS BECAUSE THE HOLY SPIRIT BROODS OVER THE BENT AND BROKEN WORLD WITH BRIGHT WINGS.
AND YOU AND I ARE IN THE CENTER OF THIS, BECOMING CHRIST, THROUGH THE ACTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.