Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in us the fire of your love.
(Gospel Acclamation ELBW)
I am a reader and devour books quickly. During COVID-19, I decided to change my reading habits to include books I do not usually gravitate towards. This has meant an increase in various forms of non-fiction; the latest being Michelle Obama’s autobiographical book, “Becoming.” Her telling of her story, and that of her family, has influenced my reading of the text for Pentecost Sunday.
As the sound of violent wind fills the air and tongues of fire come and rest on those gathered in the house where they were sitting, all of them began to speak in other languages. The Spirit presented a powerful show that day in Jerusalem, first with the experience just described, followed by open-air preaching – wherein the disciples were so empowered, lively, robust, shaken--- people concluded they were inebriated; drunk.
As weeks progress, Jerusalem bears witness to many acts of the Spirit – acts beyond robust proclamation of the good news. As the movement spreads, glimpses of the Spirit’s work are captured in texts like the letter to Corinth, where residents encounter gifts and fruit of the Spirit: gifts of healing, the working of miracles, speaking or interpreting tongues, wisdom, knowledge, and faith.
Applying the movement and works of the Spirit to today, what does the world encounter? The people standing in the marketplace or the large city parks? Do they hear preaching or tongues, see healing, experience miracles, be given interpretation, acquire wisdom, knowledge, or faith?
I am going to say NO, but YES. The terminology we use, the spiritual virtues we practice, the gifts and fruit needed today are different; so the Spirit in her wisdom has moved with the winds of time and expresses herself in new forms.
Let us return to Michelle Obama’s book. Michelle separates the her life into three sections: becoming, becoming us, becoming more. Her sections remind me of our life with God and the way we understand participating with God through liturgy and ritual.
Becoming -
Becoming begins in the waters of baptism. Through water and the Word the Spirit whelms us with grace to flow through our life as we become. Promises are made of how we will participate in becoming: hearing the Word, receiving the Holy Supper, knowing the Lord’s prayer, the Creed, the Ten Commandments; taking care of God’s creation, and living with a disposition to strive for justice and peace.
Becoming, for Michelle, meant a lot of time rigourously working on her plan. From a young age doing her best at school, learning all she could, moving through to university to her corporate lawyer job. All one needs to do to become is to follow the plan, working hard and doing extra, each step of the way to become all you can be; so as not to be a disappointment, to rise above, to accept and receive every possibility in life. It takes determination and rigour.
Becoming Us -
The scripture from Corinthians says for by the Spirit we are all baptized into the one body (vs. 13).
Baptism -although a nice photo-op- is not about the baptized individual. The liturgy is literally the work of the people, a whole community of baptized who together as one body live Jesus into the world.
Becoming Us , becoming community, is not always easy.
In this section of the book Michelle speaks about growing in relationship with Barak. Barak, had a different set of gifts. He was high spirited, spontaneous, would step aside from the plan because a different path was interesting or worth pursuing. Michelle had to dabble in patience to learn to ‘become us.’
And from visits I have made with grandparents patience is a gift many struggle to employ.
For those of us who like a ‘correct order’ -baptism, Sunday School, confirmation, getting envelopes, joining church council, bringing up own children in the church, dying as church member – there is a sadness or grief that comes with changing times. Across the church more baptisms are happening for teenagers, combined with Confirmation classes; mothers or fathers are being baptized as their new baby is baptized. Becoming is being welcomed in – period. Some like the ordered plan, others diverge up or down interesting paths—the Spirit is manifest in different ways through different gifts.
Becoming More –
This is the section of the Michelle’s book that has me grapple with the coming of the Spirit and what that means for communities of faith. As a family, the Obamas, were happy and their jobs were contributing to better lives for the people in their community. This was not enough for Barak’s spirit...and although it would drastically change their life, and mean going outside of her regular comfort zone, there was no way that Michelle would hold Barak back from the expenditure of his gifts for the common good. This required the combination of spiritual virtues: rigour and patience.
The drive behind ‘becoming more’ was wound up in Barak’s gift of optimism --- which Barak had (has) a thousand-fold over. The optimism was captivating, dynamic, and contagious.
Gifts and fruit of the Spirit, spiritual virtues – whatever term you want to use-
the letter to the Corinthians suggests that the manifestation of the Spirit is for the common good. Verse 7 says: To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Prompting me to consider what the manifestation of the Spirit is today? What spiritual gifts or fruit would be for the common good? What is the common good in need of?
In recent months, ---becoming, becoming us, becoming more--- in the life of the church is changing. How we come to belong, how we ‘become us’ when not in the same room, how we ‘become more’ as we consider opening physical spaces and shaping a world amidst, beyond, COVID. The Spirit shakes us this morning, not through the sound of a rushing wind and tongues of fire, but through remaining pandemic – become, become us, become more.
Michelle wrote: “Becoming takes equal parts patience and rigour. .. Becoming is never giving up on the idea that there’s more growing to be done. ... Optimism is a form of faith, an antidote for fear.” Perhaps these are the 21st century gifts and fruit of the Spirit. Patience, rigour, optimism. These are the virtues, practices, components of faith, for ideal faithful living in the midst and beyond pandemic. If there was ever a time, the time is now, for the Spirit to shake us into new ways of becoming. As we are shaken, look up, put your hands up to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. On this Pentecost, a birthing of church becoming more, fall on us breathe of God, fill us patience, rigour, optimism, for the common good.
Holy Wisdom, Holy Word,
Through the waters of baptism we are embraced and belong.
Through worship, hearing the Word, and proclaiming the good news, we become us – a community of God’s faithful people.
Through your being a Spirit, of - wisdom and understanding, council and might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord, and the joy in your presence - you shake us to be more.
For the healing of the world, may we become more!
Amen.
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