Come, Holy Spirit Ezekiel 37: 1-14, Romans 8: 22-27, John 15: 26-27; 16: 4b15 June 8, 2003

(Pentecost Sunday) Rev. Deborah Dail Denbigh Presbyterian Church Some years ago a traveling preacher entered a small mid-western town to preach a revival service. As a traveling preacher, he often preached in barns or tents or wherever an audience could gather. For this particular revival he would use a local farmers barn. While preparing for the revival the preacher enlisted the help of a young boy. He showed the boy a box in which he carried a beautiful white dove (a symbol of the Holy Spirit). He told the boy to go up into the rafters of the barn prior to the service and take with him the box and the dove. The preacher instructed the boy: When you hear me get to the part in my sermon when I say, Come down Holy Spirit! release the dove so that it can fly down into the congregation. The boy listened attentively and agreed to help out. The revival began and the preacher began his impassioned sermon. Then the moment came. He proclaimed: Come down Holy Spirit! But, nothing happened. With a somewhat louder and more impassioned voice he repeated: Come down Holy Spirit! Still, nothing happened. So a third time he shouted: Come down Holy Spirit! From high in the rafters a meek voice called down: Im sorry, sir, but it appears that the cat has eaten the Holy Spirit.

Contrary to the belief of some, the Holy Spirit is alive and well and at work in the world, in the church and in each one of us. Nearly 2000 years ago, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on the Day of Pentecost. The special effects were spectacular and memorable. But when the special effects were over, the Holy Spirit remained to comfort Gods people and to confront Gods people. My friend spoke of the Holy Spirit in one of his sermons as the one who comforts us in our pain and pains us in our comfort. The Holy Spirit comforts us in our pain. The scriptures refer to the Holy Spirit as the comforter and the advocate. The Holy Spirit meets us in our brokenness, meets us when we are dried up, when our hope is lost, when we feel cut off completely. Recall the reading from Ezekiel. The prophet Ezekiel speaks of the Valley of Dry bones and how Gods Spirit revived even dry, dead bones, putting them back together. That tells me that the Holy Spirit helps us by putting back together the broken pieces of our lives. When everything has fallen apart, the Holy Spirit breathes new life into us, into our broken relationships. And, the Spirit sustains us, comforts us, mends us even when a relationship is pronounced dead. The Holy Spirit meets us where we are. It is very comforting to know, as Paul tells us in Romans 8, that the Spirit intercedes for us. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the

saints according to the will of God. I have been comforted by this many times, knowing that when I cannot pray the Spirit intercedes for me. How grateful I am that the Holy Spirit comforts us in our pain. It would be nice to stop right here. The Holy Spirit is in our advocate and comforter. The Holy Spirit comforts us in our pain. But if we stop here, we miss another dimension of who the Holy Spirit is. The Holy Spirit also pains us in our comfort. When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on that first Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit rocked their world. Everything that had not already been turned upside down was turned upside down that day. The Holy Spirit, like an unpredictable wind, stirred them to go into an unpredictable world to serve unpredictable people. The Holy Spirit is the peaceful dove, but the Holy Spirit is also the unpredictable wind and fire. The Holy Spirit came to fire up the disciples to carry out the Great Commission, to make disciples beyond Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria and to all the world. The Holy Spirit fired up the disciples to move beyond what was comfortable to the Gentiles and not just to the Jews. The Holy Spirit came to help the disciples to see human beings in a new light through the flames of Pentecostto see all people as children of God; to see that God was the God of all people, not just the Jews. The Holy Spirit pained the disciples in their comfort and the Holy Spirit pains us in our comfort. Today on this Pentecost Sunday weve called out Come down Holy Spirit. For most of us the image of the dovethe comforteris more appealing. We call out to

the Holy Spirit, beckoning the Spirit to come when we want Him to come, when we want Him to show up in our lives. I for one am very grateful for this dimension of the Holy Spirit. Im grateful that the Spirit comforts us in our pain, ministers to us when were hurting, breathes new life into the dead and dying places within us and our relationships, puts the pieces back together when everything has fallen apart, prays for us when we are so devastated or confused or angry we cannot pray for ourselves. However, I am not always grateful for the Spirit when the Spirit pains me in my comfortwhen the Spirit confronts me. I am not always grateful when the Spirit confronts me with my sin, my complacency, my narrowness of mind, my tendency to do only what makes sense when God is clearly calling me toward something that does not make sense. I am not always grateful when the Spirit as an unpredictable wind stirs me from placidness or when the Spirit as an unpredictable fire destroys the familiar to make a place for new growth. I am not always grateful when the Spirit as an unpredictable wind and fire rocks my world, calling me to serve and give and live outside of my comfort zone. Yet today, we have called to the Holy Spirit to come. The Spirit has come. The Spirit will come, both to comfort us in our pain and to pain us in our comfort.
Copyright 2003 by Reverend Deborah Dail