There is nothing new about this Spirit
that is poured out on the Feast of Pentecost,
that moves among the followers of Jesus,
and that moves them from that time on
to speak in new ways for all the world to hear,
to act in new ways,
to reach out and touch the world in new ways,
to transform the world around them.
This is the same Spirit – same Holy Spirit
that in the beginning and from the beginning
has moved over the face of the waters,
brooded over the chaos of Earth,
and helped the world come to good order
according to God’s Word and good will.
How the world was in the beginning
is how it is in every age –
a chaotic sea of possibilities,
of energies and forces in tension and conflict –
always threatening to fall apart into unholy mess –
always held together, brought together, healed,
and saved from its own worst designs and fate
by the Spirit of God breathed into it,
and the Word of God spoken to it.
In the olden days – in the days of the ancients,
people looked to their kings, their priests,
their prophets, their wise men and women,
their shamans and sages
to be in touch with Spirit
and with the Wisdom of God,
to know the ways of God,
to be able to guide, rule and lead the people
in ways that were good
for them, for others, and for all life on Earth.
What’s new –
what the Pentecost story in our tradition is about,
is that Spirit now is poured out more widely –
that the Spirit that moves over and through the world
to hold it together and heal it,
to move the world towards good order and wisdom,
is now poured out on us, on all of us,
on all who believe, on all God’s people.
It is the sons and daughters,
both the young and old,
the powerful and powerless together,
the high and the low alike,
all who are willing to turn to God
and ask for help to know the way of true life
who now are inspired, empowered and called
to help hold the world together, and heal it –
to help make life good
not just for themselves,
but for others as well, for all life, for all Earth.
People come to this place – they come to live
as people of holy Spirit in many ways.
We cannot imagine
how many and different ways there may be in the world,
for Spirit moves in all places and through all that
is.
But we know that for us, it’s through Jesus.
He is our doorway, our gate.
He is our guide, our shepherd.
And as we follow him, learn from him,
and let him teach us the ways of true life and love,
we too grow into Spirit
along with others in the world.
We grow into, and grow up to be the people –
the spiritually mature and maturing people
God desires us to be
for our own good,
for the good of others,
and for the good of all Earth.
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