John: 15:26-27;16:4b-15
Earlier in my ministry…a near-by Lutheran church gifted Bethany Lutheran church (a church I was serving) …a full set of used paraments.
- Bethany Lutheran church was like every other church’s little sister.
- So…they got a lot of hand me downs.
- As a group of folks went through those beautiful altar cloths…
- They came finally to the red set and found one with an image of a descending dove…
- With completely crazy eyes and claws that looked like talons.
- Yup…it was as though the Holy Spirit was a raptor.
- “O MY…someone said…we cannot use this one. It makes The Holy Spirit look dangerous.”
- That was some completely sound advice.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Yes…The Day of Pentecost IS a dangerous story.
- The story opens with that small group of believers isolating themselves as the text says: all together in one place.
- They were afraid of outsiders…so they all stayed together.
- Well…they were in danger but not from outsiders.
- The danger they were in…as they huddled all together in one place…
- Was from a God who is about to crash the party and bring in everyone they were trying to avoid.
- So then that red parament with the crazy taloned raptor dove is an apt image for the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit…while called the comforter…does not bring the warm chocolate chip cookies kind of comfort.
- The Spirit brings the comfort of the truth.
- So…let me tell you a story.
Way back in the 1970’s…at Bethany Lutheran Church in Siren Wisconsin…
- On the 17th of December…the phone rang…and a voice at the other end said:
- “This is Marie from Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services.
- I want to confirm the arrival of your Laotian family on the 19th.
- They leave Hong Kong tomorrow morning and will arrive at Minneapolis International airport Monday at 11:22 am.”
Silence greeted the woman from my end of the line.
- “Are you certain you have the correct party?” I finally managed to say.
- “Is this Bethany Lutheran Church Siren Wisconsin?”
- “Yes.”
- “Sir…I have several pieces of correspondence with Pastor DeSota, one as late as November 3rd.”
- I was the new pastor at the church.
- Pastor DeSota was my predecessor.
Why I did not tell the nice woman it was all a terrible mistake and that she would just have to find someone else to house the family…I didn’t know.
- But I didn’t.
For five minutes after I hung up…I sat in shock.
- Then I made two phone calls, confirming a hunch.
- The arrival of the six Southeast Asian refugees was not a total surprise to everyone.
- A few of the younger families had been consulted.
- Though everyone assumed that the former pastor had “canceled the order” when he left in November.
On Sunday evening I called a meeting at the church to decide what to do.
- The fellowship hall was packed.
- At first the group was in chaos.
- No one seemed thrilled over the prospect of locating a family just a few days before Christmas.
The meeting was approaching its second hour before one of the older members asked me what I thought.
- “There is a great deal about this situation that I do not understand” I began.
- What I do know is this: tomorrow morning six human beings…through no fault of their own…will be arriving at the airport without food…clothing, housing…or friends.
- A Wisconsin winter is hard enough to face under the best of circumstances.
- I intend to be at the airport tomorrow. I intend to be their friend. Do any of you plan to help?”
After a moment of silence…the room nearly exploded with excitement.
- No longer did people begin their sentences with “If this family comes.”
- Instead…they said: “When they come…”
- During the next 90 minutes…teams were formed to find food and clothing.
- And a woman in her 80’s…offered her house to the family until a permanent residence could be found.
- Later that evening…I fell exhausted into bed…pleased with what had happened but still apprehensive about what was to come.
The next morning the welcoming committee was near to the airport before it dawned on them that they would not be able to understand a single word this family would say.
- As it turned out…they need not have worried.
- When the family of six…a mother and a father in their mid-30’s…two girls…12 and 11…a boy…4…and a grandmother…
- Stepped off the plane…they communicated wonderfully in the universal language of gesture…smiles…handshakes…and even a tentative hug.
The next five days were hectic:
- The phone rang constantly.
- People offered food…clothing…and transportation.
- On Tuesday a house was located that needed fixing.
- And several volunteers quickly stepped forward to begin the necessary repairs.
- On Wednesday a pickup pulled into the church parking lot…filled with furniture.
- On Thursday an interpreter was found.
- One of the young women coming home from college brought an international student with her.
- At last…people would not be limited to pantomime for communication.
Bethany Lutheran Church…on Friday, December 24th…normally reserved and silent…was buzzing.
- People who ordinarily entered quietly and sat in their pews until worship began…
- Were in the aisles talking and shaking hands.
At precisely 7 pm the church grew quiet…not because the acolyte had lit the candles…or the choir had begun to process.
- But because six people…led by an 80-year-old woman…
- Had entered the church and found their way to the very front pew…right in front of the pulpit.
- When the service began…the church shook with singing.
- I beamed.
I read the Christmas Gospel…and when I finished the beautiful poetry from the first chapter of John…I paused.
- “Dear friends” I said. “A great deal has happened in this church in the past few days.
- In a way it is very much like the story of the first Christmas…
- Where room was discovered for our Lord on the night of his birth.
- A night when he and his family were refugees.
- What has happened is that the Holy Spirit of God has broken into our lives.
- Just as he broke into the lives of a people nearly 2000 years ago.
- With a phone call and the arrival of six strangers…the Holy Spirit has interrupted our lives and brought us here together.
- May Christ be with us all.”
And that…my friends…is the work of the Holy Spirit.
- And it did not feel like a chocolate chip cookie…at first.
- You see…we are the very people to whom God sends the spirit to mess everything up.
- The very people God loves enough to send that crazed bird with bared talons and a predatory beak to come and snatch out our stony hearts.
- And replace them with the comfort of God’s own heart.
That is the thing about the Pentecost Spirit of truth:
- It feels like the truth might crush us.
- And that is right…the truth crushes us.
- But the instant it crushes us it puts us back together into something holy and real.
- Because the mysterious and dangerous thing the Spirit does has always been to form us into the Body of Christ.