Preached by Michael Cheuk
May 11, 2008, Pentecost Sunday, Year A
Psalm 104:24-34; Acts 2:1-21
Today, we are celebrating a very special birthday in the life of our church. Yes, Cecil Yeatts is celebrating his 80th birthday today. Happy Birthday, Cecil! 10 more years and you’ll get to celebrate your 90th like Billy Johnson did yesterday! And yes, today also happens to be my birthday. Happy Birthday, me! But more special than these two birthdays, today is Pentecost Sunday, a day on the Christian calendar in which we celebrate the birthday of the Church. Today, we celebrate our birthday as the community of faith of Jesus. Happy Birthday, all of us!
It’s always been interesting to me that we go all-out celebrating the birthday of Jesus during Christmas and we make a big deal celebrating the resurrection of Jesus at Easter, but when it comes to celebrating our birthday as the Church of Jesus Christ, many Christians, we Baptists included, mostly ignore it. In fact, I’m willing to guess that most evangelical churches today will emphasize Mother’s Day more than Pentecost Sunday.
Now don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating Mother’s Day and recognizing the role that mothers play in bringing forth, sustaining and nurturing life. After all, everyone in this room came into being through a biological mother. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be here today. Our mothers carried us in their wombs for around nine months, giving us sustenance and life during a time when we couldn’t do that for ourselves. And then for many mothers, they had to go through a painful labor and delivery process. Bill Cosby once quoted Carol Burnett’s description of what labor pain is like: “Take your bottom lip and pull it over your head!” And through all the breathing and the pushing, our mothers gave birth to us. And we can all be extremely thankful for that. Even so, no matter how much our mothers did for us while we were still in the womb, once we were out, we still had to draw our first breath of life in order to stay alive out in the world apart from the protective cocoon of our mother’s womb.
On that first Pentecost Sunday described in Acts chapter 2, Jesus’ disciples went through a similar birthing experience. They had been nurtured and fed spiritually by Jesus for three years. But now, Jesus had completed his mission on earth. Right before he ascended into heaven, Jesus told his disciples in Acts chapter one to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit, and when they had received the Spirit, then they were going to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. After he said this, Jesus ascended up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. So the disciples stayed in the protective cocoon of an upper room in Jerusalem where they waited and prayed. And then, on the day of the Jewish feast of Pentecost, the Bible says, suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. They also found themselves with the ability to speak in different languages, and pretty soon they were pushed out of that upper room and into the world addressing the crowds about the risen Christ. During this miraculous experience, it was almost as if God went through labor and through the breath of that violent wind, delivered the church out into the world, away from the protective cocoon of that upper room. And God’s Holy Spirit blew the breath of life into Jesus’ disciples, so that they were transformed from a group who denied Jesus and hid in fear during Jesus’ crucifixion, to bold witnesses spreading the good news of the risen Christ and the Kingdom of God. God’s Spirit breathed the breath of life into the newly born Church.
The Spirit that blew like a mighty wind that Pentecost day was the very same Spirit that, at the very beginning, brought life into the first human beings. In the creation account in Genesis chapter 2, verse seven says that “the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” In Genesis 2, God’s Spirit breathed the breath of life into human beings.
This very Spirit not only infused the breath of life into human beings, but this Spirit also created and sustained the whole creation. In our Psalm lesson today, we read in Psalm 104:27-30: “These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.” This Psalm expresses a faith that God’s Spirit sustains the life of all creation, bringing food and renewal upon the face of the earth. In Psalm 104, God’s Spirit breathed the breath of life into the world
This Spirit not only breathes the breath of life into human beings and into the world, but this Spirit also breathes the breath of life that brings spiritual rebirth into the followers of Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of John, chapter 3, Jesus had a conversation with Nicodemus, a teacher of the law, and he tells him, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” Here, we see that God’s Spirit breathes the breath of life into each of us – so that we may be born again into a new birth that extends into eternity.
In these passages, the words for “spirit,” “wind,” and “breath” all have their root in the same Greek word: “pneuma.” It is the word from which we get the word “pneumonia.” Now we all know just how important breathing is for our human survival. We need to constantly breathe if we are to stay alive, and anyone who has had pneumonia knows just how serious a disease it is. (Just ask Amanda Johnston) And just as the air that we breathe is a gift from God for our human life, the breath of life from the wind of the Holy Spirit is also a gift from God for our spiritual flourishing. If we are to be alive spiritually, as individuals and as a church, we must allow the wind of God’s spirit to breathe the breath of life into us. King David was right when he confessed in Psalm 51: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”
David knew that he was talking about. I’ve seen Christians and churches that seem to have stopped breathing in the Spirit and they have lost the joy of their salvation. They may be alive physically, but they are almost dead spiritually as their souls are filled with despair and apathy. I’ve seen Christians and churches that no longer have willing spirits to follow the leadership of God. Instead, they exhibit willful spirits set on doing things their way regardless of where God may lead. I’ve seen Christians and churches that are no longer sustained by the Holy Spirit. They lack spiritual power and courage to attempt anything great for God.
On the other hand, I’ve seen Christian and churches that have breathed deeply of the Holy Spirit and they show it by their joy, courage and creative power in being a channel of God’s blessing and love to others. Those Christians and churches are like a breath of fresh air because they are life-giving to all those around them and to their community.
I pray that we will be those kinds of Christians and that kind of church. On this second Sunday in May, let us pause and take a deep breath. Let us thank God who gives us the gift of our mothers who gave birth to us as human beings. Let us pause and thank God who gives us the gift of His Spirit, the breath of life who gave birth to the Church. Finally, let us pause and also thank God who gives us the gift of His Son, the bread of life who nourishes and sustains us as we partake Holy Communion.
God is full of good gifts, and today we come to receive all of these gifts. May we receive them with gratefulness and thanksgiving, and may we share these gifts with others as we go out into the world! Amen.
July 4, 2008 at 10:46 pm |
how true yet most christians believe it is some disembodied entity.
July 15, 2008 at 9:57 pm |
The breathe of life article was refreshing to read. The thought of this phrase was given to me in my devotion time with the Lord and what I read confirmed the manifestion of God using his breathe of life to minister to my brother in the Lord. We must accept him by his word and see what he would do to fulfil his word.