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“Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:22
Sixteen years ago, a group from St. John’s worshiped at the Ngaramtoni Lutheran Church just outside of Arusha, Tanzania. We were seated in the first row as honored guests. A woman pastor who taught at the seminary served as preacher. She was a powerful presence in the pulpit. I watched as the women and girls in the congregation leaned in so as not to miss a word. Our missionary, Dr. Mark Jacobson, sat next to me quietly translating the Swahili into English. Then I whispered it down the lane to the other eleven in our group. Only God knows how accurate it was when it got to the last person. The preacher was talking about the controversary Jesus had with some Pharisees over the ritual washing of hands, when Mark suddenly said, “This is a public health nightmare.” When I looked puzzled, he continued, “She told us we don’t need to wash our hands.” Though later she talked about the benefits of soap and water to stop the spread of disease, at that point there was cause for alarm.
Now 80 days into the COVID-19 quarantine, I confessed when I read the Pentecost story from Acts, with the followers of Jesus, all 120 of them, gathered together in one house, and then speaking to devout Jews from every nation under heaven, and later baptizing 3000 persons, I thought “This is a public health nightmare.” No one wore masks. No one practiced safe social distance. No one had on gloves. So while, the joyous birth of the church as recorded in Acts by the Apostle Luke, a physician no less, is one of my absolute favorite texts – especially when we have confirmations on this day and pray for God to stir up the gifts of the Spirit in our young people — the quieter, intimate version of Pentecost in the Gospel of John seems more appropriate this year.
It’s Easter evening. At dawn two disciples went to the tomb, and found it empty. Mary Magdalene actually spoke to the risen Jesus and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.” In spite of this astonishing news, or maybe because of it, the disciples hide behind a locked door, full of fear. Yet, Jesus comes to them and gives them four gifts.
Jesus begins by speaking directly to their fear and then blesses them with the gift of peace. In Hebrew it’s Shalom and means wholeness, completeness, soundness, health, safety, tranquility, now and always. Then, he shows them his marks of the cross, his wounded hands and feet, as proof that he’s truly Jesus, the crucified one. Yet, he’s not defeated. He is alive. Fear, suffering and death are defeated. But not him. After that Jesus gives them a second blessing of peace – to go with them on their way. As surely as Jesus is alive, as surely as he’s sent from God, so also the disciples are no longer defined by death-dealing fear but rather by life-giving mission.[i] And so are we.
This is one of the reasons why we have passed the peace in so many different ways – Jen teaching us sign language; me, the yoga Namaste which recognizes God in the other and the gift of peace that comes through that realization; and Tom with his peace signs of the late sixties and early seventies. All so that when we wake up in the middle of night full of worry and fear about the virus, the economy, whether or not, the kids will be home-schooled forever, we can know peace.
You see, fear turns us on one another and seeps into our lives in devastating ways. Ahmaud Aubrey is shot dead while jogging. George Floyd is killed while in custody, Christian Cooper is threatened with the police while bird watching. Fear gets out of control. It is projected upon others – family, neighbors, those who are a different race, political party, nationality. Fear takes over. Jesus knows this. He experienced the fear of the religious leaders, of Pontius Pilate, of those who called out “Crucify Him.” It’s not enough for Jesus to say “Peace be with you” just once – he needs to say it again before he sends his followers out into the world. And we need to hear it again and again — Peace be with you – with us – now and always.
Next Jesus gives his disciples the gift of purpose – we are sent into the world with the clear purpose of sharing God’s love. That’s our mission. Five of our young men – Jason, Evan, Nathan, Luke and Andrew – were to be confirmed today, but because of the virus their confirmation has been postponed to August 9th. Their guide, Rick Kramer, and I call them “Young Men on a Mission”. They share God’s love in their families, their schools, on teams, here at church. Last fall during a day off from school they built a shed to help one of their sisters in Christ. This spring, they served 100 hungry and poor people a delicious meal at Feast Incarnate. Two planned to go on the ASP Mission Trip and when it was canceled, hope to do so next year. All five shared their stories of living and growing in faith on Youth Sunday. They are amazing. In their daily lives, they care for and love others. They have purpose. And so do you and me even in this time, perhaps especially in this time.
Jesus gives peace, purpose and power. He breathes on his disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit!” It’s the same Spirit that rushes like a violent wind, dances as flames of fire and spews forth in a multitude of languages in our reading from Acts. The Risen Christ breathes this Holy Spirit into the disciples and into us. This Spirit gives us courage to care for the ones who cannot breathe free, whether because of a virus that lets carbon dioxide out but not oxygen in, the lost of a job leading to hunger and potential homelessness, the lost of connections with others, and the repercussions of prejudice and racism that is just under the surface of our democracy has been so from the beginning of our nation. It is our original.
The final gift Jesus gives on that Easter evening is the power to forgive sin and to withhold forgiveness. When to forgive and when not to do so can be incredibly hard to discern. While most often forgiveness is a true gift, sometimes it becomes a curse and even perpetuates abuse. Bishop Desmond Tutu put it this way: “Forgiving and being reconciled to our enemies or our loved ones are not about pretending that things are other than they are. It is not about patting one another on the back and turning a blind eye to the wrong. True reconciliation exposes the awfulness, the abuse, the hurt, the truth. It could even sometimes make things worse. It is a risky undertaking but in the end it is worthwhile, because in the end only an honest confrontation with reality can bring real healing. Superficial reconciliation can bring only superficial healing.”[ii] Martin Luther called this cheap grace.
On this Pentecost day our Risen Lord breathes life into us – giving us the Holy Spirit that we may live in the blessedness of peace, grow in purpose in loving and serving others; and share in power and grace of forgiveness this day and all the days of our lives. Amen.
[i] Diane Jacobson, The Day of Pentecost, New Proclamation, Year A, 2002, Easter through Pentecost, Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2002, 82.
[ii] https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/5943.Desmond_Tutu