Acts & Gospel Text for Pentecost 5 June 2022

 Acts 2.1-21        When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in the same place. And there came suddenly from heaven a sound like the sweeping of a mighty wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Then there appeared among them divided tongues, as of fire, and one rested on each of them. And all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak in other tongues just as the Spirit gave them to speak. 

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem devout Jews from every nation under heaven. Now at this sound the crowd gathered and was confused because each heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astounded, they asked “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how do we hear, each in our own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and those who live in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjacent to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them speaking in our own tongues about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and questioning to one another saying, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

 

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Judeans and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you all, and attend to my speech. For these persons are not drunk as you suppose, it is only the third hour in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your daughters and sons shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your elders shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both women and men, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 

John 4.7-26        A Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” Now his disciples had gone to the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How are you, a Judean, asking a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?”(Judeans do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is the one telling to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir you have no bucket, and the well is deep. From where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, the one who gave us the well and with his daughters and sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again. But the one who drinks of the water that I will give will never thirst. The water that I will give will become in them a fount of water springing up into eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may never thirst or keep coming here to draw water.” 

 

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back to this place.” The woman answered and said to him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You said rightly, ‘I have no husband.’ For five husbands have you had, and now the one you have is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our mothers and fathers worshiped on this mountain, yet you say in Jerusalem is the place where people must worship.” Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Sovereign God. You all worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Judeans. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Sovereign God in spirit and truth, for these are the worshippers the Sovereign God seeks. God is spirit, and those who worship God must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Jesus, “I know that Messiah is coming” (the one who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am, the one who is speaking to you.”

Reflection    Jesus instructs the Samaritan  woman who is  much concerned about worshipping rightly, “God is Spirit, and those who worship God must worship in Spirit and Truth.” Sixteen-hundred years later Ann Hutchison, a well-educated midwife and daughter of an Anglican priest apparently takes Jesus’ words to heart as she boldly claims an “...unmediated experience of God’s Presence.”*  Hutchison dauntlessly declares that by grace her religious experience gives her wisdom, discernment and peace. In other words, Hutchison consents to receive and express the Spirit of Truth. Regardless of what other people say to or about her, Hutchison consents to the Spirit of Truth’s presence and action with her.

But it was the seventeenth century and, like the Samaritan woman Hutchison is supposed to be silently sequestered in shadows. There is no room in the Anglican Church’s story for her to think for herself, speak her mind, and certainly not claim direct access to the Spirit of Truth. Silenced by her mother church, Hutchison and her family join a Puritan community, cross the pond  to the New World where immediately she teaches that faith, rather than rigid adherence to Puritan rules, is the ticket to heaven and that individuals can and should read and interpret the Bible for themselves.

Hutchison’s teaching does not stop there.  Using her midwifery services as a pretext for gathering people around her, Hutchison encourages the people to “receive the Holy Spirit, claim the Spirit of Truth for yourself.”  I can almost hear her saying, “It is right here in John’s gospel. Read it for yourself. Jesus promises, ^“When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…  he will take what is mine and declare it to you,” (John 16. 13,14) Friends, we do not need officials telling us what to believe. The Spirit of Truth is with us.”

Oh dear!  Hutchison’s  message violates all that the keepers of the status quo protect. Outraged, the Church and government officials in the new Massachusetts Bay Colony bring Hutchison to trial and when she publicly claims direct experience with God, whom she assures them is not pleased with their behavior,  she is charged with contempt and sedition and banished from the colony. 

Has no one in the Church  heard and heeded God’s words spoken through the prophet Joel? and repeated by Peter?  “… I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh… upon slaves, women and men I will pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy.”

The windy Spirit of Truth lands on each of us. Apostles, Galileans, Parthians, Jews, Arabs, Mesopotamians, Mexicans, South Americans, Sudanese, migrants, asylum seekers, single, married, old, young, gay, straight, people of every skin and stripe, all filled with the Spirit of Truth and meant to speak Truth out loud. 

So, how does the Spirit of Truth get silenced on the way to Church?  

Maybe it is this. We humans are stuck on the question “What is truth?” the question Pilate raises when Jesus asserts, “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” (John 18.37,38) Rather than believe what Jesus testifies is true, we choose sides and fight for what we think is right? 

 

Here is the good news. The key to answering the question, “What is truth?” is hiding in plain sight and has nothing to do with answering (or worshipping) rightly.

When possessed by pride or the compulsion to win our bodies are as leaves tossed on writhing seas and like wind whipped flames our minds leap to judge, deface and destroy. By contrast, when we are steered by the Spirit of Truth our bodies like oak trees on good ground take root and like a pond’s mirror surface on a windless day our minds are clear. The trademark of pride and compulsion to win is insolence and dissension. The signature of the Spirit of Truth is humility and peace. The way to discern Truth in any situation is by asking ourselves and each other, “Does this thought, position, decision or action lead to greater peace within and among us?  Or does it lead to agitation, fear and dissension?” The key to discerning, “What is Truth?” is peace.

Remember Jesus’ words just one chapter before John’s text? “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you… You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” (John 14:27-28) Although the person of Jesus goes away, the Spirit of Truth comes to us. This is what the Feast of Pentecost is about, remembering and celebrating the Spirit of Truth that fills all people. 

We know the presence of the Spirit of Truth by the peace it imparts within and among us. We know when the Spirit of Truth is upon us because it replaces fear, judgment, anger and troubled hearts with peace, peace that is nailed to the cross of every moment regardless of the circumstance. 

Even though we call the season after Pentecost Ordinary Time I believe it is rather extraordinary because this is our collective opportunity to consent to the Spirit of Truth and give birth to peace.

While trapped in arguments over “what is truth?” our world is imploding. On the way to church we fight over abortion, gun rights, health care, education and the climate and who to blame.  As long as we are bent on winning we are guaranteed to miss the mark, because on the way to church we lose the key that Jesus leaves us. Peace. 

So let your car key or house key or church key be a reminder to consent to the Spirit of Truth and ask yourself, “Does this thought, position, decision or action lead to greater peace within and around me?  Or does it lead to agitation, fear and dissension?” And then, choose peace.

*The Reader’s Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. Houghton Mifflin Haracout Publishing Co., 1991.

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Gospel text for the Feast of Pentecost, 23 May 2021

 John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15        Jesus said to his disciples, ”When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Reflection        A grain of wheat falls to the ground, is broken and must 'go away' before it rises a new harvest. A temple is destroyed. A season passes before a new temple is raised up. Both agriculture and religious wisdom find their roots in the truth of maturation over time. 

In the Jewish narrative a forty-nine day “growing” season begins with the Waving of a Sheaf of ripe grain and a sacrifice that culminates when the Jews receive Torah at Sinai.  The season is called Counting the Omer. Beginning on the second day of Passover Jews count each of the forty nine days leading to the First Fruits Festival, also known as Shauvot or Pentecost. Each of the forty nine days in the Jewish mystical tradition Kabbalah counts as an opportunity to reflect on and develop positive qualities; loving kindness, might, beauty, victory, acknowledgment, foundation and kingdom. Thus do Jews cultivate their minds, maturing spiritually to receive Torah, divine revelation and guidance given by God.*

Likewise in the Christian narrative a forty-nine day “growing” season begins with the waving of palms beckoning Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem and his sacrifice that culminates with humanity receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This is called the Season of Easter which involves more than a forty-nine day celebration following Resurrection Sunday. Much as forty days of Lent prepare Christians new and old to make or renew their baptismal vows, the forty-nine day Season of Easter invites us to mature spiritually, to prepare our minds to receive divine revelation and guidance given by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  

Are you noticing parallels here? Both Jewish and Christian traditions realize the essential importance of the passage of time for the maturation of human beings. It takes time and deliberate care for us to prepare our minds to receive the transmission of wisdom. We must be spiritually mature to receive the Spirit of Truth, whether through Torah or the Holy Spirit, and this takes effort over time.

The Spirit of Truth is given to all people to transform their consciousness and thereby their lives  regardless of ethnicity, language or religious tradition. The Spirit of Truth comes to guide us into all truth. “Us” is not referring to a particular tribe or group. Us is all people. All people tell stories about who and how we are in the world. All of our stories are dressed in the particularities of time and place.  At the same time all of our stories are rooted in ubiquitous truths such as that of the grain that must be broken and mature before it can be harvested. Therefore, that which is true undergirds and overarches all that is experienced and expressed in the infinite variety of human culture and creativity. 

Recalling Jesus’ words, “Peace I leave with you; my Peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” (John 14:27-28) The First Temple goes away.  Jesus goes away. A grain of wheat falls to the ground, is broken, 'goes away' and matures before it rises as a new harvest. Life is a matter of becoming spiritually mature by consenting to the fertile dirt of time and the windy breath of God. And so we count our days on earth, a means of becoming wise. 

*https://www.aish.com/h/o/t/48969151.html

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Gospel Text for Pentecost 9 June 2019

John 14:8-17, 25-27        Philip said to Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”

"I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."

Reflection        Jesus leaves his peace with us, peace intended to replace our fear of the dark and murky places, our fear of what we do not know and cannot control, our fear of people who look and think and believe differently than us.  When we say  “yes” to Jesus’ peace the Spirit of Truth blooms from the inside out, illumining  our minds, inflaming our hearts and inciting our courage to act in spite of the complexity and uncertainty of our time. I believe the Spirit of Truth is with Warren Scott.

Warren Scott is a thirty six year old humanitarian aid worker  who provided water, food and shelter to two suffering undocumented migrants . Scott is a volunteer with No More Deaths, a Tucson-based aid group that leaves supplies for migrants crossing the Southern border. The provisions left in the desert are considered lifesaving, as at least 3,000 migrants are believed to have died walking through the desolate expanse. This week Scott faces charges in Federal Court; one count of conspiring to transport and two counts of harboring two Central American men who crossed into the U.S. from Mexico.

In light of Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan, what was Warren Scott to do? You recall the story Jesus told to a lawyer who wanted to test him and asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’ The lawyer countered, “who is my neighbor?” Whereupon Jesus tells the story of a Jewish man who is robbed, beaten and left half dead at the side of a road. A priest and a Levite, both Jews, pass him by but a foreigner, a Samaritan, moved with pity (the Spirit of Truth within him), breaks the law prohibiting Samaritans from touching Jews, stops and gives humanitarian aid to the dying stranger. The question Jesus poses to the lawyer and us is, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man …” suffering at the side of the road?”  Clearly our answer must be, “the one who showed …mercy.” How then can we ignore Jesus’ instruction, ‘Go and do likewise?” (Luke 10.29-36)

There are Good Samaritan laws in this country, laws intended to protect people who give assistance to those who are or who they believe may be injured, ill or in peril. The laws are intended to reduce bystanders fear of being sued or prosecuted for helping, to mitigate our fear of uncertain outcomes. 

Yes, it can make us anxious to do what we know is the Truth in our hearts because we cannot control the consequence. Even Good Samaritan laws cannot insure a favorable result when we are moved to loving action by the Spirit of Truth within us. Nonetheless we are assured, “My peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid.’ Now go, in the Spirt of Truth, and be merciful to those in need. 

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Hebrew Text for the Feast of Pentecost, 20 May 2018

Ezekiel 37:1-14        The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “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.”

So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

Reflection        What an extraordinary promise spoken to us, to all of God’s people, through the lips of the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel. Who is this prophet that pours words of prospect and promise into the hearts of the dislocated, despairing and depressed? Ezekiel, whose Hebrew name means, “God strengthens” is esteemed as prophet by Jews, Muslims and Christians alike and promises renewed life to all of us.

The Spirit of God does not exist as an abstract concept that we are meant to grasp with our minds. The Spirit of God is the breath that compels the words that spill from Ezekiel’s mouth, strengthening Ezekiel to speak with passion, passion born of the Spirit, the Spirit that gives life, that makes old bones dance. Of course this means the Spirit of God also breathes through each of us. It is God’s breath that anoints our being, the very source of our lives.

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, the day we acknowledge the Spirit of God breathes life through each of us, every language, culture and nation; “I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.” But, there remains a  question we must ask ourselves, “For what purpose does God strengthen us?”

I believe we are strengthened to worship and depend on God so that we can live righteous and ethical lives. We are accountable to God for how we live. We are liable if we fail to care for one another. Through our prayer and worship our minds are opened and our hearts transformed to receive the wisdom of the prophets and be strengthened to use every breath of our lives to live righteous and ethical lives.  How are we doing?

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Gospel text for Pentecost 4 June 2017

John 20:19-23        When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Reflection      How can we possibly respond to Jesus’ challenging commission, “Peace I leave with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you?… Forgive the sins of any and they are forgive…” I do not know about you but I want to say, “Jesus, are you kidding me? You are sending me to bring peace and reconciliation to all people? to forgive the sins of anyone, really? Have you not been paying attention to the news? Have you any idea what is going on in our world? The very thought of me bringing peace and forgiveness makes my stomach leap into my throat. This is hard to swallow.” 

Then I remember. This is not about us individual persons making righteous judgments, fixing people or the world. It is about us remembering that everything that is, is already part of God. This is reality. God is reality. In the words of Philip K. Dick, "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, does not go away."* All we need to do is sit still in reality, in  the middle of our storm tossed minds and emotionally fraught bodies and wait, wait for the peace that is evidence of God with us. Wait until we hear our hearts beating and the weighty, dependable peace rooted deep inside will rise to guide us to be the peace we desire for our world. 

When we stop struggling against reality as it is, we find ourselves steeped in the Reality of God, claim our place in the Mystery of the Holy Trinity and proclaim with our brother Jesus, “ I am in the Father, and you in me and I in you.” (John 14.20) We are One, all people and all of creation. Nothing is not part of God. God is Reality. This is spiritual freedom, freedom from identification with our thoughts, feelings and desires about God or Reality. This is freedom to be the peace we are sent to make known in all the world.   

For an interesting conversation about the relationship of Science, Religion and Reality please listen to Michael Dowd's Ted Talk by clicking on the top right of this page. 

* How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later, 1978

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Gospel text for Pentecost 15 May 2016

John 14:8-17, 25-27        Philip said to Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you."

"I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."

 Reflection       “We and God are bound in the task of giving birth to the Word.” These words of the 13th century German theologian, philosopher and mystic Meister Eckhardt raise important questions as we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

What are the implications of me, of us, being bound to God and God being bound to us? To be bound is to be joined, united and connected. Rather like being partnered or married being bound implies responsibility and accountability to one another. Alright. Though I frequently fail I intend to be faithful to God and God is faithful to me. I can get with being bound with God. 

What about being bound with God in a task? That suggests there is a mutuality or  exchange in which the relationship between God and us contributes to achieving a shared goal. This premise is a bit more wobbly. There is no doubt that I or we rely on God to achieve, well, everything. But Eckhardt’s words aver a mutuality of dependence. God also depends on us? Our mutual efforts are required to give birth to the Word? This suggest partnership, reciprocity and unity.   

Which brings us to Jesus explaining to Philip, who is still seeking external evidence of Jesus’ relationship with God the Father, “The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.” Jesus is speaking of mutual indwelling, God in humanity, humanity in God; intrinsic, dynamic, interpenetration, being bound together to accomplish a task. Jesus is of course the first and perfect revelation of the interdependent interrelationship of humanity and divinity. And, Jesus passes on the essence of his beingness, the Word made flesh, by sending the Spirit to fill all of us with grace and with truth.

Returning to Meister Eckhardt’s words, “We are bound with God in the task of giving birth to the Word.” Which begs the question, “How are we doing?” My experience suggests, many of us are reticent when it comes to engaging in conversations about our faith. Here are a few conversation starters, and remember, as Jesus did always begin with prayer. Mine goes something like this. “OK God, you want me to do this you better show up because there is no way I can do this without you. Thank you. Amen.  Then we might ask a friend, “Do you  have any kind of spiritual beliefs or practices? How was spirituality or religion part of your upbringing? What gives meaning and purpose to your life? If you died today, what do you believe would happen?”  Once you have asked someone these or similar questions there is every chance they may say, “What about you? What do you believe?”

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Gospel text for the Feast of Pentecost 24 May 2015

                                                                                                                                Tempesta   Pietro

John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15        Jesus said to his disciples, "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

"I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But, now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, `Where are you going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

Reflection        Jesus said to the disciples, “(The Holy Spirit) will take what is mine and declare it to you.” Sixteen-hundred years later Ann Hutchison, the well-educated midwife and daughter of a dissenting Anglican priest apparently took Jesus’ words to heart. Hutchison claimed to have an “Immediate or unmediated experience of God’s Presence.”*  She was unswerving in declaring her religious experience gave her wisdom, discernment and certainty. No matter what other people said to or about her, Hutchison was steady as a rock in affirming her experience of the Spirit of Truth.

But it was the seventeenth century and women were understood to be the property of men. They were not to think for themselves nor speak their minds. So Hutchison and her family joined a Puritan community to journey to the New World. Immediately she began teaching that faith, rather than rigid adherence to Puritan rules, was the ticket to heaven and that individuals could and should read and interpret the Bible for themselves. Needless to say, the keepers of the status quo were outraged. 

Undaunted, Hutchison cleverly combined her midwifery services with her subversive, teachings, encouraging the people, who would gather when she arrived to assist at a birth, to “receive the Holy Spirit” the spirit of wisdom and truth for themselves. Clearly, Hutchison was challenging the authority of the Puritan Church by daring to believe what Jesus said, “The Holy Spirit will take what is mine and declare it to you.” Ultimately Hutchison was charged with heresy and she and her family were exiled from the Puritan community. 

What if we took seriously our claim to the Spirit of Truth with us? How could we be sure we were acting in accord with the Spirit of Truth rather than the impulse of our emotions? This is a question of discernment.

When we experience emotional impulse it is unsettling as storming ocean waves, volatile as a fire on a windy day. When we experience Spiritual Truth it is steady and unchanging as the mountains, calm as the surface of a pool of water on a windless day. Emotional impulse is accompanied by un-ease and disharmony. Spiritual Truth is accompanied by peace and harmony. The key to discerning emotional impulse from Spiritual Truth is peace, the peace that Jesus leaves with us, peace that is the steadfast companion of Spiritual Truth. 

*The Reader’s Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. Houghton Mifflin Haracout Publishing Co., 1991.

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Gospel text for Sunday 19 May, 2013 Petecost

John 14:8-17      Philip said to Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

Reflection     We have walked with Jesus’ disciples through Lent, Holy Week and Easter season. We remember that long evening meal in the upper room; the disciples reclining around a low wooden table, sharing bread and wine and olives, listening to their friend, their teacher Jesus go on and on about how he was going to leave, they were going to stay and he and the Father would send “another Advocate to be with them forever.” I imagine that if the disciples were anything like me they must have been baffled and fairly intimidated when they heard Jesus say, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these...” Really? How is this possible?

Now we arrive at the moment when Jesus’ promise is fulfilled and the revelation of the Holy Trinity is complete. On this Sunday we see tongues of fire settle on the disciples as they are filled with the Holy Spirit and “begin to speak in other languages,” in languages the astonished crowds  understand.  On this day we celebrate the satisfaction of Jesus’ promise made during that final meal with his friends, the promise that he would go to the Father and ask the Father to give them another Advocate...the Spirit of truth...to abide with them and be in them. 

Unlike the unsuspecting disciples we have the benefit of hindsight. We ‘hear’ Jesus’ words to his friends, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me”  and we begin to understand that just as Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in him, so is the Spirit of the Father and the Son in us, which means we also are in them. Well, maybe not really understand but something amazing is happening.

It is astonishing. By the presence of the Holy Spirit in us we participate in the Holy Trinity. By our participation in the Trinity we too come not to speak on our own, but  (by) the Spirit who lives in us and does God's works. We must believe that we are in the Father and the Spirit of the Father is in us. And when we believe, we also will do the works that Jesus did. Not because we are great or special. But because we give ourselves to be used up for the greater good. And the way to give ourselves up for the greater good is to ask in the name of Jesus our Christ and believe his words, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these...”

For a “Neuroscientific look at speaking in tongues” go to                                        http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/health/07brain.html?_r=0 

Gospel text for Sunday, 29 May 2012

John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Jesus said to his disciples, "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

"I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But, now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, `Where are you going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

John 14.15-17, 25-27

(Jesus said,) "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you."

"I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."

Questions for engaging the text:

- What do I observe" What am I seeing" Does this passage raise questions for me?

- Is anything attracting me, drawing my attention, or repulsing me?

-What response is emerging within me? What is my response to what is attracting me?***

-In what ways might I specifically act on my insights in the world

*** 1st three questions taken from The Art of Engaging Holy Scripture curriculum (see resources).

I really want to hear from you. Thank you for clicking on "Comments" below and adding your responses. Debra