Feast of Pentecost, Yr A (2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Day of Pentecost, Yr A (2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Acts 2:1-21 St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
I Cor 12:3b-13
John 7:37-39
In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Amen.
“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh…
your children shall prophesy
and your young and your old shall see visions and dream dreams….
upon everyone I will pour out my Spirit!”
Do we believe it?
Do we live it?
Or was that just back then and there when all the disciples huddled together and began uttering languages they didn’t even know!
In our schools we often tell our children to “pay attention…stop daydreaming.”
Why?
Could we possibly give them a vision more creative than what is forming in their own heads and hearts?
Some years ago I overheard a 7-year old boy saying to his mother:
Mommy, I don’t understand.
If it’s wrong to kill someone,
then why do we kill people when they hurt someone else?
He knew something was wrong with this logic.
It seems that too often along the journey of life we learn to stop asking questions…
and to stop dreaming
and to think visions are impossible!
We learn to just tow the line,
get the job done,
and move on.
Except…
God pours the Spirit out upon all flesh!
If you think about it…I’d wager that
we all notice those folks in whom the Spirit has taken hold…
the ones who dare to dream and see a different world…
and who speak up about it,
or write about it,
or create art about it,
or make music about it.
They do not keep silent,
even when we think it would make our lives easier if they did.
This movement of the Spirit does not have to arrive in an earth-shattering way.
It may simply be the person sacking your groceries who always has a smile that lights up the store…and your heart…because the love of God is radiating through them.
It could be listening to someone’s story of fear, pain, or heart-ache.
Or, it could be something larger and more far-reaching,
like speaking out against a system of racism or pay disparity
or lack of resources or housing for the poor.
Jesus said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,
and let the one who believes in me drink.”
I don’t know about you, but I am thirsty…
and I would guess that, in some way, everyone sitting here is thirsty.
Our town is thirsty…
our world is thirsty.
We all are full of yearning…
yearning for something more than what is
and yearning to be someone more than who we are now.
We yearn for less hardship and more justice.
We yearn for peace among neighbors.
We yearn for abundant life,
and, I believe,
for the opportunity to bring about such life for others.
Clarence Jordan, an activist and man of faith said:
“The crowning evidence that Jesus was alive was not a vacant grave,
but a spirit-filled fellowship.
Not a rolled-away stone,
but a carried-away church.”
I am guessing that we yearn for the Spirit to carry us away
while also being frightened to death of the possibility.
“Pay attention…
stop your daydreaming” we are told!
But Jesus has another word for us.
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,
and let the one who believes in me drink….
Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.”
Rivers of living water…
out of you and me!
Can you imagine?
What wonderful and terrifying news!
In a few moments we will together renew our baptismal vows.
In our baptisms our primary identity is named:
“You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.”
We belong to God: that is our primary identity.
In God we live and move and have our being.
Think about that for a moment:
in God we live and move and have our being.
We are so used to thinking in terms of the Spirit dwelling in us.
What might it mean for us to dwell in God?
It is almost too much to even envision!
Do we dare to think of ourselves as entering into the eternal dance of the Trinity…
a relationship of life and love and listening deeply to the heart of another…
entering into the eternal union of Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifying Spirit?
So what happens when we take our yearnings, our thirst, to Jesus?
Jesus offers us living water!
And, Jesus not only offers us living water…
Jesus promises us that we ourselves will become rivers of life
through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
“Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.”
Not only are we refreshed,
but we are refreshed so that we may become rivers of life for others.
The lives of believers become like his – large and life-giving.
We then provide drink for one another and for the world.
“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your children shall prophesy,
and your young and your old shall see visions and dream dreams.
Everyone – every single person - shall see visions and dream dreams.
A yearning for God will come to fruition in action.
And that is what we are called to do.
As we live together in community,
gathered as the Body of Christ in this place and at this time,
sharing our gifts for the common good,
we are to dream dreams of the ways
we are to be living water to each other and the world around us.
How might we give voice to our yearnings and our dreams?
Dare we speak with boldness and courage,
being filled with the Holy Spirit?
I yearn to see all people in housing…
able to receive needed medical and mental health treatment…
having food on their tables,
able to work jobs that utilize everyone’s gifts.
I yearn to see an end to violence on our streets, in our schools, and in our homes.
I yearn to see children with equal access to a good education where they can learn and grow and explore and dream dreams.
What are your yearnings?
I invite you to dream and share your own yearnings
or what you see as yearnings in this community.
Share your yearnings with each other
and with your vestry members
and with me.
We are filled with the Holy Spirit,
and St. Andrew’s is a place that offers healing to the broken.
Let us continue to seek where God is leading us to share our gifts of abundant life with a world in need.
And may each of our lives overflow with rivers of living water,
giving refreshment to those we meet along the way.
Amen.
