Fire Shut up in my Bones-She, the Holy Spirit
(Before the beginning of the sermon, ask the confirmation students to come forward, handing them a candle, red representing the Holy Spirit, asking them about where they can see the Holy Spirit burning in their lives. After hearing their answers, or even their musings, turn to the congregation)
And you too,
Beloved
What new possibilities
Do we see
That are at work
As we immerse ourselves
In the Holy Spirit?
(pause)
Then again,
As people of faith,
Do we even have a choice
When it comes to
She,
The Holy Spirit
Because it seems
She,
The Holy Spirit is continuing the work
Of dismantling the norm
And disrupting the silence of emptiness and of
(pause)
She
The Holy Spirit,
Refuses
To cease,
Cease being that presence
That we so desperately need
In order that we might learn,
To love.
(pause)
She
Grabs our attention
Agitating our very being
Because,
We are forever discerning
What it is that
Christ wants us to do
What direction that He is calling us to follow
There is no reason to be fearful, right?
We have been marked with the sign of the Cross!
We should then,
Just jump into the Holy Spirit fueled waters
And do
Ministry
(pause)
Ministry,
Is as fluctuating
And freeing
Like waters of Baptism
From where I stand,
That’s how I have just rolled with the Holy Spirit
But I must admit
It is a struggle,
Because Jesus calls,
Jesus commandments
Tests,
And humbles us into relationships:
Love one another
Invite in the weary
Build that bond of the beloved community
Testify to one another
This is what it means
To travel along our
Spiritual journey
(pause)
Very quickly,
And especially during my Seminarian journey
How I relate to She,
The Holy Spirit
Is that She,
Has the tendency
To intrude deep in my life
Jostling me out of my apathy
Into action
What is your experience with Her?
Sometimes
The Holy Spirit is regulated
And limited
To that third place,
To a sub status
And therefore
Ministry,
Left up to our own devices
Has the unfortunate capability
to crumble in our human, frail hands
(pause)
Without Her,
Caring for the marginalized
The impoverished
The forgotten
That work,
Would be left undone
(pause)
Without Her,
Our voices
To cry out for the hurting
To demand peace and mercy for the fallen
To plead for grace and love for the offender
Would be non-existent
(pause)
What is your experience
When the Holy Spirit
Moved you?
I am sure over coffee
Over the breaking of bread
In moments of shared prayer with those
That we rely on
As our sisters and brothers in Christ
There have been testimonies shared-
When the Holy Spirit shakes us,
As people of Faith
Sets the fire which is shut up in our bones
Until we were restless!
And allowed that fire
To erupt forward,
Catapulting us,
From that timid, comfortable place on the cliff
Into unending, vast waters of Baptism
(pause)
The divine light,
Of the Holy Spirit
MUST SHINE THROUGH
US, beloved!
Where else can this broken world experience,
Grace
Mercy
Peace
Love
Than through our unbridled joy
Which we are moved
Because of the Holy Spirit?
(pause)
And this is why I invited our confirmands
Into conversation
Because, dear people
In order for this world to heal,
Whole
To eradicate the injustice
In our lives
We cannot just point to beautiful symbols
In stain glass windows,
Or etched in hanging paintings
And say,
“Look!
There is the Holy Spirit!”
We must embrace,
She
The Holy Spirit
In all her fiery wonder,
Allowing that flame
To set our dry bones,
Into life!
What is our collective experience,
When the Holy Spirit has moved us,
Beloved?
“When the day of Pentecost had come,
they were all together in one place.”
Who were “they”
That were gathered into that space?
What was their experience
When the Holy Spirit
So rudely invaded
That space?
Were they already dutifully religious?
Were they the women,
Who had been traveling
With Jesus?
Were they the many countless, faceless faithful
Who followed after Jesus,
When He had healed their wounds
Raised their sons from the death
Given them sight
Or perhaps,
They,
Were just like us,
Searching for the presence
Of something
That would make us whole.
Some sign
That we
Are loved?
(pause)
Have you ever stood outside,
As the skies transform
When a violent thunderstorm is birthed
Forcing Creation to bend
And the sounds that engulf you,
Are the violent winds
Until your soul can do nothing else
But weep,
Not in fear
But because this had to be
What they,
Gathered in the house
Gathered in the streets
Experienced
Of She,
The Holy Spirit?
(pause)
Have you ever stood at the base of a bonfire,
Watching the feverish beating of flames
Immerse everything,
Even feeling
Those flames,
Reaching forward to you,
As if to ignite something?
(pause)
Have you ever
Been in a room
Of Buddhist chanting
Or African drumming’
I’ve crumbled into a sodden heap of acknowledgement
Hearing the sacred drums
Of Indigenous peoples
Welcoming in the Nations
At the opening entry
Of PowWows
Because something in my spirit was shaken,
Because there I felt the Creator speaking
(pause)
Have you ever,
Experienced silence-
The silence when
The life of that one you love
No longer breathes
No longer speaks
But somehow,
You know,
The peace that remains
Is because
God is there
And the Holy Spirit hovers
To cradle us?
(pause)
This must have been powerful
To experience the entry,
The Birth
Of the Holy Spirit
In that place
All at once
WIND, FIRE, NOISE, SILENCE.
(pause)
Rev. Traci Blackmon,
A phenomenal pastor in the UCC
A phenomenal voice for justice throughout our nation
Shared her thoughts on the Pentecost
She wrote
That the experience that those fellow sisters and brothers
Of faith,
In that room
Didn’t end just there
“The difference then was that they waited on the Holy Ghost
…and when it came…
they didn’t just shout.
“The Bible says
…they left the room,
having received the Power…
and joined those in the streets…
sharing a message they could believe
and understand.”
This is the hope,
And the possibility
And the Good News,
That we crave in our lives-
That because Christ loved us
Because the Creator treasures us
And in order to remind us,
That we are not alone,
We are given this gift
Of She,
The Holy Spirit.
(pause)
Thanks Be to God
