So, first off I would like to thank the good folks here at Epiphany for inviting members of St. Andrew's, St. Matthew's, and Emmanuel to worship with you. It is very generous, opening up your doors to us. And don't think we don't appreciate the fact that you have guarded our northern flank for years against those Madison County heathens! We rest easier just knowing you are on guard.
But it's also a bittersweet day for many of us. When we began discussions months ago, life was different. At least it was for me. But in the last few weeks, things took a turn, affecting the health of my family...and my own health as well. And my doctor advised, and the bishop, essentially, ordered that I step back and not take on anything else.
I am sorry about that. Sorry about letting you down. But I can see the wisdom in it now.
Sometimes, it's hard to see wisdom in actions, especially when the actions are acting on you in the moment. Often it seems that we live in a country with no wisdom at all, with plenty of leaders that not only AREN'T wise, but actively forsake wisdom altogether. And that makes us anxious.
But this is nothing new, I suppose.
Today is Pentecost. We consider it to be the day the Holy Spirit rushed into the world. But that didn't come until later. Pentecost, or Shavuot, marked the passing of 50 days after Passover, and was the day that the Children of God reached Mt. Sinai after the original Passover in Egypt. It was here that they encountered God in God's law, the Ten Commandments. It was also a festival of the first fruits of the harvest.
So, Pentecost was a big deal to the Jews. From all over, Jews would stream into Jerusalem, celebrating and worshipping...but I have a sneaking suspicion that they were mostly celebrating. After all, when those crops start rolling in, people will eat and drink for another year.
I can imagine it being like any festival or fair or farmer's market that we have here. Folks sauntering around, greeting one another, exchanging gossip. Sampling breads and wines, roast this, pickled that. Going to the cow show, wagering on who has the biggest pumpkin this year, throwing their money away at the midway games.
And then headed to the temple to say your prayers, make a sacrifice of thanks to a God who gave them these laws that they live by and which sets them apart, makes them who they are: Jews, the Children of God. And this has been the case for generations, ever since they returned to the Promised Land after years in Exile. And this is how Pentecost has been celebrated since...well, since forever, it seemed. Moishe sacrificed a dove just like his dad and just like his dad's dad. And Miriam sold funnel cakes in a red and white tent used by her mom who sold funnel cakes in a red and white tent used by her mom's mom. Things are unchanging because God is unchanging, and the way we do things is unchanging.
And we all see the wisdom in things like that. Things that don't change because they work so well, and we're used to them and know how to work with them and around them. But maybe that's wrong.
Because there was this one Pentecost.
When the Holy Spirit blew in like a strong wind. Not some gentle breeze. But with power. With urgency. Because against all wisdom, against all predictability, against all odds, the things that never change are about to.
And just like that, church is born. Born of the wind of the Spirit. And here's the thing about wind: you only feel it when it's moving. And that's how church survives, by moving. Church is all about Loving God and Loving Your Neighbor. But how we do it both stays the same, and also changes.
Many here have heard this story, but some of you haven't. And I'm not one to pass up an opportunity, so here goes. When I was an only child and my dad had left us, Christmas Eve consisted of my mom having my grandparents and great aunt up for dinner and presents. Mom sat in her chair; my grandma and her sister sat on one couch; I sat on the other couch with my granddaddy. Then my granddaddy died. But we carried on, and I sat on the couch alone. Then my grandma. Still we carried on. Then my great aunt. Still...we carried on. My mom insisted that nothing change. But it did...it had. When it was just us one year and I was in my thirties, my mom started crying and saying, “Why can't things be the way that they always were?” And I said, “I dunno, maybe things never really were the way they always were.” And she looked at me like I'd smacked her... and then busted up laughing. A real, from deep in the soul, laugh. The kind of laugh that comes when you let so much pain and regret finally blow away.
So, eventually, my mom and I started something new. We would gather at my house with friends who had nowhere else to go, have dinner, and open gifts. And new traditions were begun. And we held on to the memories and honored those missing...but those traditions eventually changed, too.
Now I'm here in New York. I can't be home at all during Christmas. So, we have a new tradition...we Zoom for Christmas breakfast. Still honoring those missing, still enjoying the memories, but still changed.
That's life in a church. Heck, that's life period. And look around you. Folks, most of us are old and, near as I can tell, aging only goes in one direction! So, we know about change. We live it every day.
But the Holy Spirit doesn't affect only the young who live with constant change and are good at adapting to it, thank goodness. God's spirit blows through each of us here...every day if we let it. Changing us, molding us, bringing us closer to God in every way.
Like I said, until recently, I had all these plans...but the Spirit moved me in a different direction.
We had plans together...but the Spirit blew through and changed things for all of us.
The world is not what it once was...but the movement of the Spirit sees to it that it will, one day, become what it should be.
That graveyard outside this church is a testament to hundreds of people who loved this church just as it always has been. But because of the Spirit working in us generation after generation, how it has always been has never really been that way. Life has never been the way it always has been.
And it never will be.
Because our God is moving through the world still, building and molding and creating still. We will always be true to the core of how we worship – that is, the great commandment will NEVER change. We will always strive to love God and love our neighbor. But y'all, everything else is on the table. Don't shut the door of your soul to the rushing wind of the the Spirit. Because in that wind, because of that wind, we are always becoming, day-by-day, what our Lord wants us to be, needs us to be.
Because of that rushing, blowing Spirit...we are and always will be CHURCH.
Amen.