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"Come, Holy Spirit, Come"
Polk City UMC
May 18, 1997
Mark Haverland


Acts 2:1-21
2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2:2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 2:3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. 2:5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 2:6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 2:7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 2:8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 2:11 Cretans and Arabs--in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." 2:12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" 2:13 But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine." 2:14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 2:15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. 2:16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 2:17 'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 2:18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 2:19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 2:20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day. 2:21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'


John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
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. 15:27 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. 16:5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' 16:6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. 16:7 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. 16:8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 16:9 about sin, because they do not believe in me; 16:10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 16:11 about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. 16:12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 16:13 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. 16:14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 16:15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Come, Holy Spirit, Come
Come as the fire and burn
Come as the wind and cleans
Come as the light and reveal
Convict, convert, consecrate
Until we are wholly thine
Amen


Some of you may know that my wife Faith's father was a very famous theologian. He was well know throughout the Mid-West particularly for his leadership of religious emphasis events, workshops, retreats and such. Nels Ferre was also respected by seminary professors and serious students of religion. He was raised in the Swedish Baptist tradition and immigrated to America as a young boy. Traveling alone, as a 13 year old adolescent, he came from Sweden into the polyglot culture of American. Faith, Kate and I spent a memorable morning on Ellis Island a few years ago as we tried to picture a confused, scared young man negotiating the Babel of languages, customs and religions thrown together waiting for permission to enter the United States. He told the story of nearly being killed for inadvertently walking across a Muslim's prayer rug. He soon ended up in Boston and rocketed through colleges and graduate schools to international prominence among both practitioners and scholars of the faith.


He left his fundamentalist beginning behind as he began to doubt that God could be quite the stern, angry, judgmental Authoritarian figure which his father preached. He eventually focused most of his belief in the power of the holy spirit to transform our lives and inspire our hearts. He took seriously the scripture lessons for this morning: an advocate will come to replace Jesus as the way God communicates with us. The scripture lessons this morning have Jesus fading into the historical times in which he lived to be replaced by the dynamic and mysterious power of the Holy Spirit. This got Nels Ferre in trouble with those stuck on worship of Jesus, but admired by those more centered on God. This is essentially the difference between what we tend to call fundamentalist and what are sometimes called mainline churches - such as the United Methodist Church. Although there is great variety within both approaches, it is fairly safe to say that fundamentalist churches are Jesus centered while preachers like me focus more on God and, as a result, on the Holy Spirit, which I take to be the way God now communicates with us. I tend not to say that Jesus talked, walked and befriended me. Rather I prefer to say that the Advocate Jesus said would be with us has provided me the counsel I need. We have come to call this Advocate the Holy Spirit who conspires to be our intermediary with God. We portray the Holy spirit as a dove in flight because birds have a special significance for religious people. They are the only animal which sings for the joy of it - much as humans do. But more importantly, because birds fly, they occupy the realm between heaven and earth. They are the natural symbol for an emissary or an intermediary between God and people.


The opening prayer for this sermon is the one which Nels Ferre used each time he preached. He did not ask for Jesus to come, for Jesus to inspire, for Jesus to befriend. Jesus was a person of the past who was a special messenger from God to the people of his time. Now we invoke the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus has promised would come to guide us into all truth, will testify for Jesus, will teach us about sin, righteousness and judgment. The Holy Spirit does not speak apart from or contrary to the historical Jesus. Rather, the Spirit keeps the voice of Jesus a living voice for the church. Although many people get fairly agitated over these distinctions, I do not. If it makes more sense to call on Jesus to answer your prayers, so be it. The scripture lessons this morning tend to ask us to rely on the spirit of God not the historical Jesus, but it is a subtle difference of emphasis, not a chasm of irreconcilable disagreement.


Indeed, the role of the holy spirit is to convince us that unity does not mean uniformity. We do not need to speak the same language to hear the same message. This is the message of Pentecost. The disciples and many hangers on found themselves babeling in many different languages, yet all could be understood. It does not matter so much what we say or in what language we say it, God speaks our language.


This is a difficult stretch for most of us. Difference is bad. We like people who are like us. We dislike people who aren't. We're suspicious of people with different customs, different clothing, different languages. They threaten us. Sometimes this fear and animosity takes ludicrous forms. Why in the world would Iowans take legislative action against people who don't speak English, when there are hardly any here who don't. The people in Boston or New York or southern Texas, may need to concern themselves with a common language. But Iowa? I wish we had more people who spoke a different language!


But I digress. The point is that no matter what language we speak, the Holy Spirit translates - both for us and for God. While we learn in Scripture that the Holy Spirit does many things, today we see the Holy Spirit primarily as translator - as the one who carries across to all of those present the mighty acts of God, particularly the mighty act of God in Jesus Christ. This translation is necessary because God is doing, has done, something new in the world, something which both creates and requires understanding, and love and unity. The Holy Spirit translates the mighty acts of God to us, and our deepest desires and thoughts to God, and, in that translation, binds us together with God and with each other.


The Holy Spirit at Pentecost reverses the experience of the tower of Babel. You remember the story: When the whole earth had one language and few words, and the people began to build a city and, ultimately, they desired to build a tower that reached up to the heavens. Because, in their pride and fear, they sought to be like God, God scattered them over the face of the earth and confused their language. The result of their sinful and prideful unity was confusion and lack of communication.


The day of Pentecost reverses this. Now that God has become like us, we can be one in spite of the fact that we speak a multitude of different tongues. While a single language is not restored, the ability to communicate and to understand is enabled by the presence of the spirit. Each hears the mighty acts of God in his or her own language. The Holy Spirit acts as translator, so that all might hear the word of God. The Spirit translates and transforms the way we understand speak to and each other.


We experience this work of translation every Sunday - especially during the sermon. I speak some words and you hear some words - quite often the words I speak and the words you hear bear only a passing acquaintance with each other. You hear what you want to hear, need to hear, are able to hear. I tell a story, or discuss a concept, or share my own thoughts on something, and you hear it in the language of your own experience. That you hear something of value in my words has very little to do with me, and a whole lot to do with the work of the Holy Spirit moving among us, who has enabled me to translate the scripture out of my own experience and, in turn translates my words into the experience of God speaking to your heart. When my preaching is bad and or when you hear nothing valuable, then one or both of us has gotten in the way - imposed too much of our own agenda on the reading and interpreting of the mighty acts of God. The Holy Spirit enables me to translate the words of scripture into my language and experience, and enables you to do so, too, either in direct contact with scripture or through the words of preaching.


I was made aware of this mystical power of words this past week when we used so many words as we sought comfort after the death of Verne Hill. The words at the gravesite and at the funeral were for the most part familiar words from scripture. Some were known so well that the congregation could recite them with me. It seemed to me that the words gained power to comfort us as the Holy Spirit translated them into messages of comfort from God. This, I think, is what happens during worship. The Holy Spirit transforms ordinary people saying and singing ordinary words during an ordinary time and at an ordinary place into the mystical communion with God.


But the Holy Spirit is not only present in worship. The Advocate is present wherever people experience the presence of God. This can happen anywhere and anytime. The fire which purifies can touch our lives at the least expected moment. The wind which cleanses can sweep through our world and blow away the debris of a life spent chasing vain things. The light can come anywhere to reveal our innermost longings and true needs. When the fire burns, the wind cleanses and the light reveals, we are convicted of the errors of our ways, converted to faith in God's abiding truths and consecrated for service to God and our neighbors everywhere.


Come, Holy Spirit, Come
Come as the fire and burn
Come as the wind and cleans
Come as the light and reveal
Convict, convert, consecrate
Until we are wholly thine
Amen