Pentecost

(John 14:8-17, 25-27)

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”  Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?  Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.  How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?  The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.  Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, but if you do not, then believe because of the works themselves.  Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.  I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.  This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him.   You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you….

“I have said these things to you while I am still with you.  But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

            While in Texas, I stayed in an apartment that was in the warehouse that my son-in-law inherited from his father.  I’ve heard lots about this place over the years, but this was the first time I laid eyes on it.  Well, there is much to say about the property, but I bring it up today because one of the tenants is a church.  They are called Tabernacle Church, and they rent space in this building.  As I understand, they are Pentecostals, which means they are folks who, during worship become slain in the Holy Spirit, speak in tongues and are quite excited and passionate during worship.  There are only a handful who come to their services, but they continue to meet in this warehouse-like space.  They have a keyboard and speakers and chairs and a room for the kids to have Sunday School. 

            I bring this up today because this is the day of Pentecost when, according to the Acts accounting, things got kind of crazy.  They were seeing tongues of fire resting upon each of those gathered, and they all began to speak in different languages.  There was a mighty rush of wind, and it was all pretty scary to those who had followed Jesus all the way to the cross and beyond.  These folks were trying to sort themselves, grieving and despairing, as they were.  Then the Holy Spirit arrived to help them know what to be and how to be it.

            The folks in Texas at Tabernacle Church are living out their calling as they understand it.  Many of us Christians, over the years, have gotten caught up in saying things like, “What we’re doing is right.  You other folks are wrong.  You must do as we do in order to be the church, particularly when it comes to Jesus and the Holy Spirit.”

            I have chosen to preach today on the Gospel of John accounting of the coming of the Spirit.  It is a very different picture from the Acts scene, but, really, just as powerful.  I like both these readings because they present two pictures of the arrival of the Spirit, they illustrate two of the different ways we can live out our Christian faith and make our way to God.  And I say, as long as people aren’t being hurt or deliberately treated as underlings and being denied full humanity; as long as there is love and compassion, well Viva la difference! 

…This speech of Jesus that you just heard comes after a very familiar section in the Gospel of John, one that is used frequently in funerals.  It includes the image of “In my Father’s house are many rooms.  Did I not tell you that I go to prepare a place for you?”  All of this is part of what scholars have called Jesus’ Farewell Discourse to the disciples. 

I have been looking at a relatively new approach to John’s Gospel that puts the emphasis on the way that Jesus formed the community around him (and, of course, how that was formed after he left).  Because the people who joined what we call the Johannine Community often had to leave behind their old lives and ways of doing things and, sometimes, even their own people as they followed where the Gospel of Jesus Christ led them. 

So, their new community was encouraged to have an intimate relationship with Jesus and with God.  One illustration of that intimacy was the foot washing which, in John’s Gospel, occurs alongside the Last Supper.  This was such an intimate experience for Peter as Jesus, servant-like, knelt down and washed his feet. 

In today’s reading, you heard that Jesus spoke at length about his intimate relationship with God.  This is the model on which the community was formed.  The people were encouraged to be as close as brothers and sisters in the family of God, to be children of God, beloved members of the Jesus House. 

It seems as though Jesus may have been worried about that family, that the disciples would be left alone, that his leaving would be deeply and painfully felt. 

But, as we heard, he told them they should take heart because there would come another Advocate, another companion who would stay close, as close as could be, by their side.  This Advocate, of course, is called the Holy Spirit by Jesus.

…Now, some of us struggle with getting too close to others, either or both physically and emotionally.  It’s well known that most of us Midwestern white people like to put some space between ourselves and others.  This is especially true since COVID.  When I was at my gate at the airport, I looked to find 3 empty seats before I chose to sit down—me in the middle and two empties on each side of me.  …But there’s our Jesus, forming a community of intimates, of brothers and sisters; a found family that may not share genetics, but who shared a love of Christ, a closeness, an intimacy with God, a group that would be bound together by the Holy Spirit.

Now, these days you may not feel that closeness and intimacy with some Christians.  I know I don’t.  There are those Christian Nationalists who are declaring that we aren’t to accept people from other countries or anyone who is different than white Christians.  They want no separation between church and state as long as the church is their brand of Christian, as they define it. 

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that we are part of the same religion.   There are “Christians” who are all involved in conspiracy theories or there are those who are obsessed with the “other” and are determined to rid our country of anyone who doesn’t look like them.  Again, I don’t feel any closeness or intimacy to these people who claim to be in the same church as me. 

Once upon a time there were Christians who differed from me in one way or another, and that was fine.  We followed the same Christ, and we could find common ground around love and compassion for others.   …But this is different, folks.

John’s community had gathered people together under the banner of God’s peace and love.  Jesus left them with the assurance of his presence through the Advocate, the Holy Spirit.  Now this is a community I can get behind, a group that is welcoming, that excludes no one, that attends especially, to the poor, the little ones, the widows, the prisoners.  Some Christians celebrate the birthday of the church with speaking in tongues, with a mighty rush of wind; others embrace each other, knowing that the presence of God is with us.  As we will sing at the end of the service, “Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.  I can feel his mighty power and his grace.  I can hear the brush of angels’ wings, I see glory on each face.  Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.”

Church, let’s join together and link arms with those who understand that the Spirit advocates for peace and love, always and ever.  Amen.