The Day of Pentecost

Scripture here

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Do Not Settle

“Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

Mortal, can these bones live?!

Mortal, can these bones live?!

Can the blood-soaked ground give rise to flowers?

Can the long-dried sinews draw together the scattered?

Mortal, can these bones live?!

The bones of our dead.

The bones of the Church.

The bones of our democracy?

Can the death that we have wrought be transformed into life?

Into new life?

Listen, listen and hear dry bones, the word of the Lord.

The word that is life.

The word that is law.

The word that is love.

Take in the breath that has been offered. Take it in.

The desert wind brings storms.

The clouds gather.

The four winds converging into one point.

One body.

And those we have slain rise again.

Those we have slain are claimed as “my people”.

“My people”

Says God.

These are my people.

And, they will live.

They will live to drink the water of life.

They will live to birth a new hope.

They will live.

Filled, imbued, with the Spirit of God that gives life,

The Spirit of God that gives life through the truth.

The truth that is the love of God.

The love that cannot be shaken.

The love that sets us free from the grave so that we might live.

So that we might live—live, not for ourselves, but for the world.

And, this is the Spirit of Pentecost, the holy and life-giving Spirit that sets us free so that we might live according to the love of God.

13th century Saint Mechtild of Magdeburg, known for her ardent advocacy for the presence of God’s love, wrote

“Love flows from God into man,
Like a bird
Who rivers the air
Without moving her wings.
Thus we move in God’s world,
One in body and soul,
Though outwardly separate in form.
As the Source strikes the note,
Humanity sings--
The Holy Spirit is our harpist,
And all strings
Which are touched in Love
Must sound.”

We live and move and have our being within the context of the great and holy mystery of God’s love made manifest.

Made manifest not through law or judgement, but through the life-giving Spirit made tangible in fire and wind.

Fire that transforms.

Wind that brings change.

The burning bush that is not consumed.

The pillar of fire leading the Israelites by night.

A baptism by fire.

And the breath that brings life.

Calling us, leading us, transforming us, creating us!

We are made for a purpose.

We are called for a purpose.

We are redeemed for a purpose.

To live the love of God that lives in us.

The self-sacrificial love that sees the presence of God in all people.

That sees the presence of God in each and every human breathing on this planet.

That sees in the broken the Christ.

That sees in the hungry the Christ.

That sees in the persecuted the Christ.

That sees in the persecutor the Christ.

Each and every human breathing.

Part of the abiding presence of God.

And, so we are guided by the Spirit when we give our testimony.

Our testimony on behalf of God.

Our testimony on behalf of God’s people.

Our testimony on behalf of anyone, anywhere, who has been denigrated as anything less than a beloved child of God.

Mortal, can these bones live?

Yes! Yes, they can live!

And, thus our hope.

The hope that prevents despair.

The hope that shows us a way.

The hope that keeps us moving.

The hope that shines a light.

The hope that moves us from death and into life.

For, hope keeps us from settling.

Hope keeps us from giving up.

We must have hope.

We must cling to it,

Search for it,

Live it

Act it

Be it.

Because hope doesn’t settle.

Hope doesn’t bow down before the powers of this world.

Hope doesn’t give up.

Because, if we settle for death we will fail to advocate for life.

People of God, my beloved people of God. DO NOT SETTLE.

Take this Spirit of new life, so freely given, and be as the wind and the fire.

Taking what is and transforming it into what might be.

I’m sure many of you have heard the refrain that has become so common these past years,

“This is not normal”

Gun violence is not normal.

Misogyny is not normal.

Racism is not normal.

Lies are not normal.

We have to remember this.

We have to remember this.

Because if we forget, that God’s intention is unity grounded in love, we begin to abdicate our responsibility, as Christians, to work towards that new creation of water and the spirit to which we are called.

A new creation,

of water and Spirit,

fire and wind.

true love and repentance.

A new creation that casts aside our doubt and fear with the power of a Spirit that speaks so that everyone can hear!

In this coming season, the one we call “after the Pentecost”, I want each of us to spend some time in prayerful consideration of how we will bring life to the bones of this earth. To begin, I invite you to turn to page 832, of the Prayer Book. Prayer number 61, the prayer of of self-dedication,

Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated unto you; and then use us, we pray you, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Use us, to your glory.

Use us, to the welfare of your people.

And, in this may we be wholly yours.

Let the people say,

                                            Amen.