June 9th, 2019            Come, Holy Spirit                            

Today is Pentecost Sunday, when the Christian Church celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus Christ. Many churches celebrate Pentecost by confirming their youth into membership in the church. An idealized way of looking at this, is that when the confirmands claim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they are filled with the Holy Spirit to go forth into the world and face life’s challenges as Christians.

On this Sunday, we at Union Congregational Church are celebrating those who became members 50 or more years ago. Some of them became members through Confirmation, some of them became members because they were facing some trial in their life and had turned to Jesus Christ as their savior, some of them had been invited to church by someone and had found a home in the church.

When I was confirmed, I remember sitting in the pew, wondering what would happen when the pastor laid his hand on my head, and announced a blessing upon me. Would I suddenly be filled with some powerful spirit, would I roll around the aisle speaking in tongues. Just kidding. What I did experience was a sense of God’s love for me, a sense that God claimed me as one of God’s own, and a sense that from that moment on I was called to live life as a Christian.  

Not everyone becomes a member through confirmation. Through the years, I have heard many stories from people who had a friend or mentor invite them to church, and how they found a home with a people who made them feel welcome, cared for and loved. I have heard stories from people who were facing some crisis in life, who had come to the church and heard a message that gave them peace and strength for the living of their lives. I have heard stories from people who were church shopping and found a place that truly spoke to them about who God is, and gave them opportunities to live a Christian life through a variety of mission and ministry.

What unites all of these stories, is a sense of God’s love for us, of God claiming us, of God giving us peace and strength and meaning in our lives, a sense of our inclusion in the family of God, of direction for our lives, and a passion for living  That is where we come to our readings from scripture on this Pentecost Sunday, because that sense of all these things, is called the presence of the Holy Spirit.

In another part of John’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples, “my peace I give to you, I do not give (peace) as the world gives. Do not be troubled and do not be afraid.” This peace does not come from a worldly spirit, but from the Holy Spirit.

         For instance, when people believe that this world is all there is, they believe that the truth of life can be found in climbing the highest mountain, becoming the greatest success, or accumulating the greatest amount of money. Indeed, we live in the midst of a world full of people who believe that knowledge, power, wealth, and self-indulgence is the only truth and purpose of existence. Unfortunately, with time, our minds forget, our strength fails, our wealth is spent, and we reach the limit of our indulgence, and that worldly belief and spirit that so drove us, leads us to anxiety and despair.

         But then, as I mentioned before, many people find a different Spirit in which they find life, the Holy Spirit that is ours through faith in God’s love for us in Jesus Christ. In our gospel lesson this morning, Jesus names the Holy Spirit in a number of different ways.

         The Holy Spirit is our Guide, in that it directs us to choose and live by those values which have eternal significance for our lives. It encourages us to value our relationships with one another as more important than material things. It encourages us to practice honesty and faithfulness in our relationships with others. It inspires us to seek justice and the common good of all in the living of our lives. It helps us to see others not as our opponents or enemies, but as brothers and sisters, and as children of God deserving of a share in the blessings of creation. It leads us to live a life that gives thanks and praise to God for our blessings, and to seek God in the midst of our tests, trials, and setbacks.  

The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, in that it sets us free from the worldly powers and desires that we have allowed to rule over our lives. It helps us to see that this world is not all there is, so we do not need to despair of losing our minds, our bodies, our strength or our wealth. It helps us to understand that our trials and troubles in the world are not some punishment for being failures, but challenges to us to grow, and to ask God for guidance in our lives. Finally, this Spirit helps us to understand that our sufferings in life, unite us with the sufferings of Jesus Christ, so that in his death and resurrection, lies our hope for death and resurrection to eternal life as well.

The Holy Spirit is our Advocate, in that it seeks for us those eternal values of justice, faithfulness, compassion, and mercy to become the values of our relationships, communities, nations, and even the whole world. In establishing these values in the human community, the Holy Spirit acts on our behalf to protect us from the self-centered values of the world, and from the self-centered pursuits of those who live only for this world.   

         Finally, our Scriptures this morning, call the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Life, because quite simply, when we believe in the truth of the resurrection to eternal life that is ours in Jesus Christ, it is then that we truly begin living. It is then that we value our human relationships with one another, and all around us as children of God. It is then that we heal our divisions and the wounds that are caused by our self-centered pursuits. It is then that we seek lasting relationships, friendships, and goals that will be valued and treasured our whole life long. It is then that we begin to live for eternity, and begin to live in the light of our relationship with our creator and our savior Jesus Christ. And that is the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen.