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| The Spirit of Pentecost (Ps. 139:1-12) |
| Written by Pastor Fausel | |
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In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Grace, mercy and peace be to you … The Day of Pentecost! … Our texts which were already read for today are rich in talk about the work of the Holy Spirit. We have the illustration of life, the Spirit of God, coming into the Dry Bones from the Book of Ezekiel, the historical account of the Day of Pentecost itself from the Book of Acts … and … the Significance of God’s sending of the Holy Spirit as predicted by Jesus Himself as we heard read from the Gospel of St. John. But there is another text for this day we’d like to pay close attention to this morning. For each Sunday there is a Psalm appointed for the day. And for Pentecost, the Psalm is number 139, of which we heard a portion read. Listen to these opening verses of that Psalm, this time from the New International Version, the NIV: 1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. 5 You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. The first 12 verses of Ps 139. They speak to what this Day of Pentecost is really all about. In contrast, you could say that our readings from Ezekiel, Acts and John’s Gospel are a bit like opening the hood of your car. They talk about the nuts and bolts of Pentecost … the who, what, when, where why and how… …Much like we could talk about how turning on your car’s ignition brings to life a bunch of dead cast iron and aluminum. And how amazed people were the first time they saw that happen … But today, that’s not what we’re really interested in … We’d rather talk about what bringing to life all that cast iron and aluminum means to us Like, when you get in your car, and turn it on, and bring the engine to life … how fast can it take you from say, from 0 to 60? So, then, enter then Ps 139. No nuts and bolts here … Just God speaking to you. To me. To all of us, who are His in faith. We can hear God speaking to us because of what Jesus has done: made you a saint, put away your sins … and given you the gift of His Holy Spirit. So, Life and salvation are yours …and ultimately, Heaven is your home. Now… with that special relationship with God we see ushered in with the Day of Pentecost … we can read these words of David in Ps. 139 with some unique insight. First, we learn that God knows you better than anyone. He not only knows you by name, but He also knows you so well … that he knows what you’re going to say before you even say it … He knows what you’re going to do, before you do it, He even knows what you’re thinking … right now! That’s in contrast to most people’s concept of God. A concept that puts God way off at a distance, just watching … A concept that sees God primarily as a judge, One to be feared. Now if you’re in that frame of mind, you can read Ps. 139 that way … especially as David speaks about fleeing from God’s presence That no matter where you might go: the heights of heaven, the depths of the earth, even “on the wings of the dawn to the far side of the sea” … God’s Spirit would always be there … night or day. That nothing you did, nothing you thought, would escape God’s notice … And if you’re thinking of God as a god whose wrath is something you’re afraid of … this Psalm would sound a lot like that warning of the old “Santa Claus carol” … “He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you’re awake … He knows if you’ve been bad or good … so be good, for Goodness sake!” That may be true of Santa Claus … But that’s not even close to who or what our God is: God is not a watchful vulture, a god of wrath, punishment, revenge and retribution. God truly is a God of love and mercy. So instead of reading this Psalm in that light, how about seeing it in light of what St. Paul says to us in the Book of Romans … where he testifies that neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. And this Day of Pentecost now tells us why these words of the Psalm are so true. Pentecost tells us … that God’s Spirit now lives in us. He is in us … and therefore with us, wherever we go. God’s love is something that’s now part of our being. That’s why Jesus can talk about His joy being made complete in us … You can’t have a closer relationship with anyone than Jesus now has with You through the Holy Spirit. Now … David speaks of the Heavens, the depths of the earth, the far side of the sea as places he could go … but never be abandoned by God’s Spirit nor His presence … The truth of Pentecost and the truth of this Psalm is that it speaks about my individual relationship with God … that God’s spirit is present in each and every one of us. And we have unity in that. That unity through God’s Spirit is what has made the New Testament Church possible. In the Old Testament, that bond of unity was through simple human heredity … back to Abraham through the 12 tribes of Israel. In the New Testament … that bond of heredity is still there, but it’s not about Human heredity… not with some ancient patriarch. Whether we are Jews or Greeks or whatever … there is one Lord, one faith, one Baptism. By that faith, we are Children of God, Brothers and Sisters of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Now, back to the Psalm again. Let’s re-read verses 9 and 10: 9If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. In Old Testament parlance, the right hand was the sword hand, the hand of power. That’s why Jesus even spoke of being seated at the Right hand of the Father. The side of Power. (Sorry, lefties, the Old Testament was not concerned about being Politically Correct.) But we digress, we read: “There your hand will guide me … your right hand will hold me fast.” We spoke earlier on about this Psalm being more about the 0 to 60 of Pentecost. Well there it is. Where? Step back a second. Think of the Calendar Year as a circle, January at the top, June at the Bottom … The Church year Begins with Advent in December and in six months brings us now to Pentecost … at the end of May. We call that period of time the Festival portion of the year … and during that time our readings are directed to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ … it’s all about How he Creates Faith in our Hearts. Now, Pentecost and its season, from June to six months later in December, is that part of the Year we call the Time of The Church … and Pentecost Sunday sets the tone. “Your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” As the festival portion of the church year was about how God creates faith … so the church portion of the year is about How God guides, and sustains us in our faith. That’s the 0 to 60 for now until December. How does God sustain us and our faith? The same way He creates faith … by His Word. So, by His Word the Holy Spirit is now here in us, and among us. Leading us and guiding us and holding us fast … as individuals and as His Church… Why? So we can just go about business as usual? No. So that God can accomplish His work through us. Which, in a few minutes is what we’re off to talk about. About what we as a congregation envision as God’s Plan, His roadmap for our ministry, for the coming year. I think that’s rather exciting. Especially, since He’s the one in charge. Pentecost … “Oh, Lord you have searched me and you know me …” Now guide me, guide us all, in Your most holy name. In Him, Amen. |