Pentecost Sermon 5/28/23

The Holy Spirit is Fire, as spoken about in our bible verse today, and as you see symbolized so well up here on the altar!

The Holy spirit is also a loud rushing wind. 

Wind feeds fire, 

both are motion and energy, 

both move in each moment and lack solid form.

The Holy Spirit is a feeling of connection with God, it is the life force pushing up through hard earth, it is the flow of a stream, it is the inspiration that helps us to be holy in our actions towards others, it is the anticipation of the promises of God’s kin-dom on Earth. 

The Holy Spirit calls us to love each other, 

to love God,

love the earth, 

comfort the suffering

embrace the lonely

feed the hungry 

house the homeless

Treat the sick

welcome the migrant

The Holy Spirit, 

calls out to us and sings

Come!

Open your heart! Show

Your mercy to all those in fear! We are called

To be hope for the hopeless so hatred and blindness 

Will be no more!

Even as the spirit is calling to us, migrants are being bussed to Chicago in great numbers from Texas, coming from many different countries that are experiencing severe turmoil, oppression and violence. We can hardly imagine.  individuals and families are sleeping on floors in police stations because there is nowhere for them to go.

We are called to be hope for the hopeless. 

We are called, by the Holy Spirit, to love those around us.

Chicago was already a destination city for LGBTQ+ children and teens who have been rejected by their families and communities. Homophobia and Transphobia are being stirred up all over our country and many of these youth flee here, especially to Boystown, in hope of finding a more accepting community where they can feel safe being themselves.

We are called to be hope for the hopeless. We are called, by the Holy Spirit, to answer the needs of homeless queer and trans kids and teens who have nowhere else to turn.

Chicago will likely continue to be a destination in the decades to come, as we see more and more climate refugees. As climate chaos takes hold around the world, the midwest will be safer than the coasts, which may be consumed by water, or the dry regions which may be consumed by fire. We can expect that many, many more people will come here needing shelter, food, homes, safety, love, acceptance. 

It can be scary to face this future. But, we are not alone. The Holy Spirit is available to come into our hearts, to show us the way forward, to help us to connect with one another, to meet the needs of all people, together. The Holy Spirit reaches to us! Can you hear her? She shouts for us to

Come!

Live in the light! Shine

With the joy and the love of the lord! We are called 

To be light for the kingdom, to live in the freedom

Of the city of god!  

Beloves, we are already doing this work!

On the 5th Sunday of April, as with all 5th Sundays this year, we did a spiritual practice instead of a sermon. ON April 30th specifically, we imagined together through meditation and creative artwork, how our church could be living into the promises of God 10 years from now. We used the early followers of jesus as an example, as they lived together, shared their belongings in common, were filled by the holy spirit, and spread the love of god through their actions. They were inspired by the lessons from their teacher, Jesus, who had taught them about loving one another and that the kingdom of God on Earth, or as we like to say here the kin-dom of God on Earth, was at hand. God’s promised kin-dom is a world where we honor our relatedness, where all people have their needs met, all live in harmony and peace and freedom and well-being.

Pentecost is the day we celebrate today, the day in our scripture reading, where the holy spirit descended onto those early apostles. They spoke in tongues and everyone who was listening could understand them in each person’s own language. The Holy Spirit spread the love of God by entering the hearts of the people. Language barriers didn’t matter in that moment, because that love is more powerful than the limitations of spoken words. While Christmas is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, Pentecost is the day we celebrate this birth of the church. That is the day that people started building the institution of the church as a human attempt to fulfill God’s promise.

On April 30th, we together envisioned a future where Broadway was living into that promise of love, that example set by the early disciples. And, our social justice committee here is working together to find ways to put that love of God, to put the calling from the Holy Spirit, into action. This committee is working to support JFON, Justice for our neighbors, by creating literature for annual conference about ways that congregations can support new migrants. 

Part of our work in creating the social justice committee has been about building relationships with one another, and building trust. Every meeting includes plentiful time for check-ins so that we can hear about each other’s lives. We have a covenant, or shared promises, that we read in every meeting that includes agreements such as agreeing to speak up if something doesn’t feel right (or the sour milk rule). Church isn’t just about what we do, it’s about how we do it. We aspire to do our work in a spirit of cooperation and caring, trust and open communication, because God’s kin-dom here on Earth happens through us better when we give room for the spirit to flow in our hearts and lives.


Our work can feel large, but we need not be afraid when we realize that God is larger, the Holy Spirit is larger, than the problems we face. We find our way to the other side of our problems by going through. We don’t automatically know the answers. We don’t get a step-by-step guide for how we will get through the coming times. The only way is through. But we can trust the Holy Spirit to be with us, to lift us up, to inspire us, to move in us, to work in us, to sing in us. So, Beloved, lift up your hearts, open to the love of the Holy Spirit, of God, and of Jesus, and say yes to the song that your heart calls you to sing. The Spirit reaches out to us and invites us to 

Sing! 

Sing a new song! sing

Of that great day when all will be one! God will reign,

And we’ll walk with each other as sisters and brothers

United in love!