I think one of the scariest things is not being able to breathe.
Choking, drowning, being smothered, those are my worst nightmares.
Watching someone struggling to breathe. That is a hard thing.
God breathes into the man made of dust and he comes alive.
The psalm this morning says it best, “You take away their breath and they die and return to the dust. You send forth your Spirit, and they are created and so you renew the face of the earth.”
God’s breathe. God’s Spirit. They are the same thing.
It is life itself. The Holy Spirit the Lord the giver of life.
Today is the feast of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost, WhitSunday.
Today we listen to the breath of God, we celebrate the presence and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Scripture is all over the place when speaking of the breath of God.
The psalms describes the Spirit as Life itself.
The Gospel lesson today has Jesus breathing on the disciples and the gift of that breath is not only belief but the power to forgive sin. Forgiveness, the greatest power in the universe.
The Reading from Acts shows the Holy Spirit as mighty wind and flames of tongue. With this fire storm comes communication and understanding, the gift of conveying the message and the power of God, the power to proclaim and hear the good news of Jesus Christ.
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians speaks of the Holy Spirit as the animating power that activates the wild diversity of Spiritual Gifts within the Church. The same Spirit unites the wild diversity of God’s children into one body. The Holy Spirit is the cup we hold in common from which we all drink deeply.
The Holy Spirit is the amazing grace that inspires deep diversity and abiding unity all at the same time.
Today we celebrate that gift, we listen to that grace, we breath that life.
The Gospel of Pentecost is that the Spirit of God is renewing the face of the earth, creation is having a breath of fresh air.
The Gospel of Pentecost is that we can breathe again, even when our breath runs out, the breath of God still holds us in life and still unites us one to another.
Drink deep of the one Spirit.
Breathe in life and breathe out love.
Share the wild fruit of the Spirit.
Speak the Gospel that brings forth life.
Keep the feast!