All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak

in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. (Acts 2:4)

Dear Edwards Church Community,

To stand before a painting by Titian and bathe in its beauty can be stunning. This one doesn’t have the rich colors many of his paintings do, but it captures the moment. I have had the privilege of traveling to museums where you can stand before one of his paintings and just be blown away by the depth of detail, the stunning colors, and other qualities of his work. The size, depth and splendor of most of the ones I have seen is what draws me in. In this painting of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, represented as a dove, radiates light and warmth, providing insight, encouragement, and a shared sense of identity to the gathered community of Jesus followers. Titian was a master of the high  Renaissance, and it shows in his style.

Like the diversity of nationalities in the people gathered in Jerusalem on the first Pentecost, people drawn to follow Jesus have always come from different backgrounds. In the 1970’s, French missionaries engaged Cameroonian Christians in retelling gospel stories by acting them out and having those reenactments captured in pictures. As noted on the website Indigenous Jesus, “The paintings that resulted from this partnership were western in style, but depicted the Mafa and their environment accurately so that the Mafa could identify with the biblical stories being portrayed.” Same Jesus, same Spirit, different expression.

Maybe it was the natural resistance to change, or the need to provide an explanation they were ready to accept, that caused a skeptic in the crowd at the first Pentecost to claim that those who heard the apostles speaking a language not their own must be “drunk on new wine.” The author of Acts reports that Peter then explained how Jesus fulfilled Hebrew scripture’s promise of a Messiah.

Three thousand people were baptized that day. Peter must have been a really good preacher! The book of Acts reports: “Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.  All who believed were together and had all things in common …. “ It was the Woodstock phase of the early church. Same Jesus, same Spirit, different expression.

Today we face new circumstances. Participation in any kind of a community of faith is way down in our culture. Covid has affected almost all communities of faith in challenging ways. And we have some conflict still to recover from.

Following Jesus has always involved struggle and being invited, if not required, to change in ways we cannot fully foresee and only understand after the fact.  If you read the whole book of Acts, you can better appreciate that contending points of view and a variety of backgrounds among members have always created tension in Christian communities. We still need the same Jesus, the same Spirit and our own expression. May they be ours to share.

In faith, with hope, for love,

Michael

From the Minister of  Faith Formation

Dear Beloved of God,

“Who has seen the wind?

Neither I nor you

But when the leaves hang trembling

The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I

But when the trees bow down their heads.

The wind is passing by.”

(Christina Rossetti)

While we are still in the season of Eastertide, the day of Pentecost and the season following it – Ordinary Time – will be here shortly after this edition of the Spire arrives in your inbox or mail box.  Pentecost is celebrated fifty days after Easter and the liturgical color for the day is red. (Many of you may remember that all are invited to wear red or some semblance of that color to worship that Sunday). Along with the liturgical color, symbols for Pentecost include a descending dove, flames of fire and often a ship symbolizing the church and the birth of it on Pentecost.

While the author of the Book of Acts gives us some clues, I like to enter the story and contemplate the many emotions that must have filled the room that day. A sense of community in being with others; fear or amazement at the sound of the violent wind and seeing tongues of fire resting on the heads of those gathered; the cacophony of noise with the sound of so many languages being spoken at the same time; affirmation of feeling heard and  understood; confusion as to what was happening and what would be next; grateful for the fulfilled promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Spirit means pneuma, breath, wind, air.  Like the wind we can’t see the Spirit; however, we, or at least I, can truly feel and see the effects of the Spirit at work.  We, or least I, can see the gifts of the Spirit manifest in people, events and nature. Gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. How, when, or in whom have you experienced these gifts?

The mother rabbit in The Runaway Bunny, by Margaret Wise Brown is representative, for the young of God’s indwelling and loving presence. God’s Spirit will always be with us.  That indwelling Spirit in each one of us manifests itself as we make meaning with and bring healing to others and to our world.  Or better yet, when in the words of the prophet Micah, we do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. (Micah 6:8).

Often during my morning meditation (and when no one is around to hear me), I sing this song:

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me,

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me,

Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me,

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

As the summer months and vacations for many approach, I pray that each of us will intentionally be open to the Spirit of our living God falling upon us, melting, molding,   filling, and using us just as she will and when she desires.  May we notice the Spirit’s presence in those around us, in ourselves, in our communities and the world.  May we be manifestations of the gifts of Spirit seeking to bring about God’s vision of Shalom for all people and all of creation.

Blessings,

Deb

To read the full SPIRE click here.