PENTECOST
2014/Emmanuel, Killingworth
Fear always says
“no”.
If you’re going
to remember anything I say this morning—remember this: FEAR ALWAYS
SAYS “NO.”
And remember this
as well: GOD SAYS “YES” TO US….
****
Jesus’ friends
were gathered in the same room they’d been using to hide. How many
were there isn’t clear. The book of Acts says 120—though that
number may be high. They huddled together, still frightened that the
Temple authorities might be after them, still grieving in some
way—though they had seen the Risen Lord time and again, felt his
breath upon their faces—and, most…most of all, they were
terribly, wrenchingly lonely.
Jesus had promised
them they would be clothed in power. Jesus had promised them he would
send an Advocate to be with them. Jesus had promised them they would
be baptized in Fire. Jesus had promised them he was already preparing
a place for them.
But the promises
seemed like so much pie crust to the disciples. They were still
waiting for the promises to be fulfilled. They were frightened. And
they were so lonely—so profoundly lonely.
****
That image…that
metaphor…that paradigm of being crowded into a lonely, frightening
room rings true for us today.
Fear haunts us
these days. And though we huddle together in our fear, we are still
so profoundly lonely. Fear speaks but one word and that word is “NO”.
Our faith teaches
us to be hospitable to strangers—but our Fear says “no” and we
distrust those who are different from us.
Our faith teaches
us to be compassionate—but our Fear says “no” and we ignor the
'least of these' in our midst.
Our faith teaches
us to share our gifts with those in need—but our Fear says “no”
and we live in the richest nation in the history of human kind where
the gap between the rich and the poor gets wider every day.
Our faith teaches
us that “a little child shall lead us” and that we must become
like children to enter the Kingdom of God—but our Fear says “no”
as millions of children go underfed, under educated and neglected
around the world and in our country.
Remember this: Fear
always says “NO”.
****
There
is no easy or simple way to explain it, what happened in that closed
and fearful room on the first Pentecost—it happened like this: one
moment the room was full of fear and the next moment the room was
full of fire and a mighty wind fanned the flames until the fear was
burned away and all that was left was hope and joy and those formerly
frightened people “found their voices” and left their hiding
place and spoke words that transformed the world.
We
need the Fires of Pentecost to burn away our fears and the Winds of
Pentecost to blow away our loneliness. We need the Spirit to give us
our voices so we may proclaim the “Yes” of God to this world.
Fear
always says “NO”—but God always says “Yes”….
We
need a Pentecost. We need to know that God says “Yes” to us. That
God calls us to wonder and joy and love and compassion and
hospitality. And not just in the “big things”—God’s “Yes”
to us is about “little things” too. God’s “Yes” to us is
global, universal, total.
This
is a poem by Kaylin Haught titled God Says Yes to Me.
It is a Pentecost poem, whether she knew it or not.
I
asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic
and she said yes
I asked her if
it was okay to be short
and she said it
sure is
I asked her if I
could wear nail polish
or not wear nail
polish
and she said
honey
she calls me
that sometimes
she said you can
do just exactly what you want to
Thanks God I
said
And is it even
okay if I don’t paragraph
my letters
Sweetcakes God
said
Who knows where
she picked that up
What I’m
telling you is
Yes Yes Yes
What Pentecost is
about is God saying “Yes” to you and you and you and you and you
and all of us. What Pentecost is about is the Spirit coming so we are
never, ever, not ever lonely again.
What Pentecost is
about is Fire burning away Fear.
What Pentecost is
about—and listen carefully, this is important—Pentecost is about
God saying to you and you and you and you and you and all of us:
Sweetcakes, what
I’m telling you is Yes Yes Yes.
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