“Receive the Holy Spirit, Today!” April 24, 2022 Pastor Hines

 

“Receive the Holy Spirit, Today!”

April 24, 2022

Pastor Hines

Have you ever received a gift? We all have our stories of holiday gift exchanges. Google has dozens of funny stories of re-gifting where people give you a gift that you gave them the year before. It even has the personal note you wrote in it as proof. One man said his friend wasn’t thinking when he gave him a kitten knowing he was getting ready to move across country with his girlfriend.  

Gifts are given for a variety of reasons. Gifts can be incentives, rewards, bribes, pay back, signs of mutual affection, and reminders of the love and care we have for one another. Scripture often refers to the Holy Spirit as a gift. Jesus loves us and gives us spiritual gifts that help us to live abundant lives. Our creator father-mother shapes us tenderly before we were in the womb and we become gifts to each other, the Holy Spirit abides in us to help us bear good fruit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness (or generosity), faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Verse 22 says Jesus breathed on the disciples and said these words, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

A gift is given when it is received. Have you received the gift of the Holy Spirit?

Jesus was a gift to us and to all humanity. Not all of us are able to share our wounds like Jesus did. Most of us hide our wounds and cover up our scars, but in verse 27 Jesus showed them the nail prints in his hand and the gash from the spear that was thrust into his side. As one of our Lenten devotionals by abuse survivor Linda Crocket noted, Jesus was abused. He suffered at the hands of sadists, people for whom the suffering of others inspired celebration and brought a satisfied smile to their faces.

Jesus came to bring the good news of God’s love. He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. He didn’t have to do it but he did. Didn’t you come today for the same reasons, to be the good news, to share the love that overflows from your life? You did not have to do it, but you did.

We can all see places in our life where we have been blessed, and blessed abundantly. As Christians, our life is rooted in Jesus and all the good he represents. Those whose life is rooted in someone or something other than Jesus may be rooted in money or rooted in their mind’s ability or rooted in -  as a song says, “the pleasures earthly things afford.”

Jesus offers us the gift of the Holy Spirit. First, he breathed on them. He was close enough to them to breathe on them. Breath and wind are symbols of the Holy Spirit moving and living in our lives. None of us would argue against the idea that breath is life? The breath you just took and the one that will come next is a sign that you are alive. Breath is a blessing, it is a gift. Who can live without it? As Christians, we know that without the Holy Spirit moving in our lives, we are on spiritual life support. Our condition is critical without the Holy Spirit.

My mother had Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease otherwise known as COPD. Every breath she took was hard work. Those with asthma also labor with every breath. Asthma has increased dramatically. We see more children with asthma than ever. Millions around the world are impacted. Some of the effects have to do with our environment.

It is wonderful that our United Methodist Book of Discipline begins with the Social Principles - a declaration to take care of the earth. This includes being responsible in regards to water, air, minerals, soil, plants, animals, climate stewardship, outer space, food safety and food justice.

Of course, not all United Methodists agree on the policies to make something good happen. We differ on abortion and sexuality. There have been heated discussions on fracking. Fracking is good business and income for some. Almost two million U.S. wells have been completed using the fracking process, producing more than seven billion barrels of oil and 600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. At the same time concerns are raised because hydraulic fracking injects chemical-laced water to break up the shale and allow natural gas to escape into the shale to push out the minerals. Environmental groups protest because of the negative impacts on the quality of water, soil and air. It’s a hard call when people depend on the process to feed their families.  

There is no path that is without its pros and cons. There is no way to make every decision that is perfect and without some controversy. The best thing we can do is to pray and follow God’s guidance. In this world with its uncertainty of disease and distress, I want all the good gifts Jesus has for me. And, out of gratitude for God’s loving care and knowing everything about Jesus is good and leads only to good, I want to walk and talk with him. I want to be close enough to hear him whisper in even a still, small voice as he breathes on me and invites me to receive the Holy Spirit. How about you?

One of my favorite hymns is Breathe on Me, Breath of God

1.    Breathe on me, Breath of God,
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love what Thou dost love,
And do what Thou wouldst do.

2.    Breathe on me, Breath of God,
Until my heart is pure,
Until with Thee I will one will,
To do and to endure.

3.    Breathe on me, Breath of God,
Till I am wholly Thine,
Until this earthly part of me
Glows with Thy fire divine.

4.    Breathe on me, Breath of God,
So shall I never die,
But live with Thee the perfect life
Of Thine eternity.

 

It was evening when Jesus breathed on the disciples. The door was locked because they were afraid because hose who crucified Jesus were hoping to kill his disciples, too. The disciples were afraid, but they had each other. They were afraid, but they were together. We can relate. We know there is power, peace, and protection in being together. We know what life is like when evening comes. We too are afraid for our health, our children, our vulnerability to war and violence, our future, but we are together.  

Right now, Jesus is with us in THIS room. Like Thomas, we are close enough to see, if not touch his wounds. Wounds are real. Many have them. His words “Peace be with you,” are music to our ears. Every breath comes from him. His is a gentle breeze that calms our fears. Our hearts are warmed. With every breath we take we have an opportunity to receive the Holy Spirit.

There are three good reasons we should accept the gift of the Holy Spirit. First, the Holy Spirit provides light for us to see as evening falls. Second, the Holy Spirit shows us when to lock the doors. Thirdly, the Holy Spirit gives us joy for the journey as he did for the disciples in verse 20 which says they were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. If you need light to walk in the ways of truth and love, if you need direction when you are afraid, if you need some joy for your journey, do this one thing today – say “yes” to receiving the Holy Spirit. Amen.