<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Text: John 3:1-8<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of us\nare familiar with the story of Pentecost from Acts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the\ncrowds gather in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks, fifty days after Passover,\nthe disciples of Jesus were also in town. Suddenly, the Holy Spirit rushes in,\nsounding like a violent wind and appearing as tongues of fire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then,\nthe Holy Spirit empowers the disciples to reach out and speak to all who gather\naround, each able to hear in their own native language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three\nthousand people give their lives to Christ that day, receive the Holy Spirit,\nand the church is born. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just six\nweeks before, those disciples had been gathered together behind locked\ndoors. We heard this message right after\nEaster and also last week from Bishop Deb. \nJesus is resurrected and shows these frightened disciples his hands and\nside and then he breathes on them, giving them the Holy Spirit. He offers them peace and sends them into the\nworld. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This wasn\u2019t\nthe first appearance of the rushing, flowing, creative, breath of God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the first\nverses of our scripture, God\u2019s breath, wind, Ru\u2019ach, sweeps across the waters\nas the world is being shaped. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And in the\nsecond chapter of Genesis, God scoops up a handful of topsoil and forms it into\na human being. Then, God breathes life, Spirit, into its nostrils. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Birth and\ncreation and the Spirit go hand in hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And wherever\nthe Spirit shows up, the finite and the infinite are closer together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our very\nfirst stop on our summer road trip is Wind Cave National Park in South\nDakota. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the\nLakota people, their story of emergence into this world is connected with this\nsacred place. Emergence in this tradition is not creation per se, but when\ntheir people came to the surface and emerged from the spirit realm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their story\nbegins in a time when the plants and animals were being brought into existence,\nbut there were no people or bison living on the earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cave\nitself, is known as Oniya Oshoka, the place where the earth breathes. This cave is believed to be a passageway\nbetween the spirit world and the surface. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Creator\ninstructed their ancestor Tokahe to lead the people through the passage when\nthe earth was ready for them. When they\nemerged, they saw the hoof print of a bison who had come before and were told\nby the Creator, \u201cfollow the buffalo track and you will have what you need.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then the\nCreator shrunk down the entrance to the passageway, leaving it as a reminder of\nwhere they had come from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As a child, my family traveled\nthrough the Black Hills in South Dakota for our family vacation one\nsummer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, in this\npicture my brother and I ARE handcuffed together. You see, we made a stop at Wall Drug and got\nsome of those novelty handcuffs\u2026 and when we got out to take this picture we\ncouldn\u2019t find the key! <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, we\nnever found our way to Wind Caves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, it\nmost people traveling through the area probably would have been unaware of the\nintricate network of caves just below the surface. The opening from the Lakota Emergence Story\nis just a small hole where the wind moves in and out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1881, the Bingham brothers were\ntraveling by and heard the sound of a blowing wind, even though it was an\nincredibly calm day. They sought out the\nsource and the wind blew one of the brother\u2019s hats right off! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many came to\nsee the sight and explore the caves and in 1903 it was officially designated as\na National Park. It is one of the\nlargest cave systems in the entire world and still has not been fully mapped! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Scientifically,\nchanging barometric pressure causes the air to move through this the small\nnatural entrance to Wind Cave. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet that\nunseen force, that natural in and out, reminds us of the breath of life blown\ninto Adam\u2019s nostrils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It reminds\nus of the wind hovering over the waters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It reminds\nus of Jesus breathing the Spirit of peace upon the disciples. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It reminds\nus of the birth of the church! <\/p>\n\n\n\n And as\nfundamentally as our own life depends on every breath in\u2026 and breath out\u2026 our\nlife in God depends upon the flowing of that Rua\u2019ch, Pneuma, Spirit in our own\nlives as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Think about\nyour own breath. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Inhale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Exhale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That breath\nsustains you every minute of every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But how\noften do you really notice it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n The air\nentering your lungs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The muscles moving\nas it leaves again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The oxygen\nmoving to every red blood cell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I must admit\nI\u2019ve been thinking a lot more about my breath this week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve been\nthinking about it after seeing those images of George Floyd struggling to\nbreathe on the ground. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As a white\nwoman, I confess that when Eric Garner cried out that he couldn\u2019t breathe and\ndied in police custody in 2014, I was upset for a little bit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But my life\nwent back to normal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord have\nmercy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hear my\nconfession that nothing in my life changed, when I could have breathed in your\nSpirit and could have spent these last six years building capacity and standing\nup against racism in our community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The anger\nand frustration we see spilling out on the streets is a direct result of the\nfact that nothing has changed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That what is\nnormal is the systemic racism embedded in the fabric of our country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve been\nthinking about my breath every time I check the daily numbers of coronavirus cases\nand deaths here in Iowa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Because of\nthe essential nature of their work, the virus is disproportionately impacting\nour black and brown neighbors here in Iowa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But I also\nthink about the stories of children in the documentary \u201cThe Human Element\u201d who\ncouldn\u2019t breathe because of asthma. The\nfilm explored a school in a neighborhood with a lot of industrial pollution where\nso many of its children have this disease they have an entire asthma protocol. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We are so\nbusy prioritizing livlihoods over lives we can\u2019t hear the people in our\ncommunity telling us that they can\u2019t breathe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My insides\nare just twisted from grief and anguish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is\nPentecost and it is 2020 and it feels like the world is on fire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe you\nfeel the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Our gospel\nlesson for this morning comes from very early in the gospel of John. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Enter\nNicodemus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He was part\nof the ruling class in Jerusalem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He had done\neverything in his life right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He was the\nepitome of privilege and power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I think\nhe felt like his world was on fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He knew that\nsomething had to give, something had to change, knew that there was something\nhe wasn\u2019t seeing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And he was\nscared. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He was\nscared for others to know what he was wrestling with or how he felt\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In some\nways, he was waiting to emerge\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n So he goes\nto Jesus under the cover of night to have a conversation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What he\nhears surprises him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus tells\nhim that unless he is born anew, born from above, re-created\u2026 Nicodemus will\nnot be able to see the Kingdom of God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s as if\nhe is telling him, as long as you remain hidden, in the dark, under cover\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n As long as\nyou are comfortable with things as they way they are\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\nrefuse to let go and leave behind what you know\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Then you\u2019ll\nnever really experience God\u2019s Kingdom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nicodemus\ntakes Jesus literally and tries to figure out what it means to re-enter his\nmother\u2019s womb\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n And that is\nwhen Jesus brings the Spirit back into the conversation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We emerge\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n We are\nrecreated\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are born\nagain\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n We wake up\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are able\nto see and know and participate in the Kingdom of God only by the power of the\nHoly Spirit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus\ninvites Nicodemus to set aside his privilege and power and to let the power of\nGod fill his life and guide his actions instead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And just\nlike that very first breath in Adam\u2019s nostrils brought him to life, when the\nHoly Spirit moves into our bodies and minds and souls, we come to experience a\nlife that we couldn\u2019t even comprehend before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n God breathes\ninto our lives and changes everything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n All around\nus, our neighbors can\u2019t breathe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They can\u2019t\nbreathe because systemic racism is holding them down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They can\u2019t\nbreathe because of pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They can\u2019t\nbreathe because of an uncontrolled virus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They can\u2019t\nbreathe because of hatred and frustration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And I am\ntaking a good long look at my own life today and thinking about all of the ways\nthat I have directly or indirectly contributed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How have I\nstifled the breath of God? <\/p>\n\n\n\n How have I kept\nthat life-giving breath from entering their lives? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Where do I\nneed to emerge, wake up, be born again?<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Tim\nNafziger writes, \u201cJesus understand that power warps the way you view the\nworld. The more power, the greater the\nwarp. Being born again is what it takes to start seeing things again in their\nproper light.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n It all feels\nso impossible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It feels overwhelming.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The grief,\nthe division, the anguish is palpable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But you know\nwhat\u2026 it was for the disciples, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When I\ninitially wrote this sermon, I said that on the day of Pentecost they were in\nJerusalem celebrating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But how can\nyou celebrate when your leader has been executed by the empire? <\/p>\n\n\n\n How can you\ncelebrate when you are still angry and frustrated and grieving? <\/p>\n\n\n\n It had to\nhave felt impossible and overwhelming and they had to have still been afraid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And that is\nwhen the Holy Spirit showed up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Showed up\nwith fire and with wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Turned the\nworld upside down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n No doubt,\nsome in that crowd had just fifty-three days before been crying out \u201cCrucify\nHim!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n But the Holy\nSpirit showed up and they could see now what they couldn\u2019t see then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three\nthousand people were born again that day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Three\nthousand people woke up to a new way of life and living in the Kingdom of God\nwhere you put your neighbors first and love is the greatest command and you\nshare what you have and make sure no one is in need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I think\nagain about Nicodemus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If we follow\nhis story through the gospel of John, we find him again at the end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n No longer is\nhe hanging out in the night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He emerges\ninto public view, in broad daylight, after the crucifixion of Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a time\nwhen it would have been the riskiest for him to do so, the Spirit pushes him to\nthe seat of power to ask for the body of Jesus. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n He puts his\nown life on the line for the sake of the Kingdom of God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the midst\nof all that seems impossible, Come Holy Spirit! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Come and\nblow your life-giving breath among our communities once again! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Come and\nbreathe into our lives so that we might see Your Kingdom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Come Holy\nSpirit! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cleanse us\nof all within us that keeps others from breathing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cleanse us\nof all that has kept us from experiencing your life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Burn away\nthe sins of racism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Melt away\nour tendency to put profits over people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Come Spirit\nand help us to see things in their proper light. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Help us to\nsee ourselves in our proper light. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Help us to\nsee our neighbors in their proper light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your light. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Your\nlife-giving, life-sustaining, cup-runneth-over, abundant love for all light. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Empower us\nto be your church. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not in a\nbuilding, but right where we are\u2026 in our homes, our neighborhood, our work, our\nworld. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Come Holy\nSpirit and help us to set this world on fire once again with love and grace and\nmercy and kindness and forgiveness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s pray\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Spirit of\nGod may we breathe in and hold your love within us. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n May we\nbreathe out and share it with the world. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Spirit of\nGod may we breathe in and hold your peace within us. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n May we\nbreathe out and share it with the world. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Spirit of\nGod may we breathe in and hold your life within us. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n May we\nbreathe out and share it with the world.<\/em> (Christine Sine)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" note… the original sermon for Pentecost was written over 10 days ago because of staff vacations and our own pre-recording for worship in the age of Covid-19. But I couldn’t rest with this sermon and felt the Spirit keep nudging me to talk about how breath this past week has been stolen from so many……<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/katie.jpg?resize=718%2C505\")
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