The Day of Pentecost-Year B

The Day of Pentecost-Year B May 20, 2018 Four years ago, I was on an 8 week sabbatical in Hawaii where David was working for 10 months. Our family had a wonderful time and experienced so many unique and interesting things. One night, our friend Paul convinced both David and me to go skydiving with him and a group of our friends. [Let me just say I have no idea why I agreed to this! (But I will say there may or may not have been whiskey involved in the decision making process.) As most of you know, I am one of the least likely people to agree to go skydiving. But I did.] As we went to bed the night before our skydiving trip, I lay awake for hours absolutely terrified. I lay there imagining what it was going to be like to stand in the doorway of the open side of the plane and to have to jump out into the great wide open. And I thought, “I don’t know how I’m going to do that.” But I had committed to going and didn’t want to back out. When the day finally arrived and we got all suited up for our jump, I was introduced to my tandem jumper, a very large Russian man named Viktor. As Viktor tried to make small talk with me, I think he quickly realized that a). I was absolutely terrified and b). I couldn’t talk much because I was trying not to throw up. We took off in the plane as Viktor was religiously checking and re-checking all the buckles and straps of our two harnesses by which we were thoroughly attached, and all too quickly, it became our turn to go. The moment I had most feared loomed before me. I made my way to stand in the doorway of the plane (which was rolled open on the side of the plane like a garage door), and I remember thinking that there was no way I was going to be able to do this, when Viktor did something that surprised me. He shouted in my ear to sit down on the floor of the plane and dangle my legs out. I felt a certain degree of momentary relief as I followed his instructions, and the next thing I knew, I was out of the plane and hurtling through the great blue sky. Now, what I only realized later after talking to our friends was how Viktor and I actually got out of that plane. Our friends confessed how horrified they were to watch as Viktor actually threw me/us out of the airplane. Today is the feast of Pentecost, when we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. The word that Jesus uses that is translated as Holy Spirit is Paraclete, and that actually has been translated in a variety of ways. One way is as Comforter (which I talked about last week). Another is Advocate; another is Helper. Some equate the Holy Spirit with Wisdom or Sophia (from the Old Testament) who is personified as a woman. Another way of translating Paraclete is “the one who comes alongside.” But regardless of how you translate it, the readings for today are clear. When the Holy Spirit shows up, the Holy Spirit brings change, and change is hard for us (I’ll refer you back to the Romans reading.) And you know, as much as I like to see that lovely comforting Holy Spirit show up with a cup of tea and words of comfort, sometimes the Holy Spirit shows up, comes alongside us, checks and double checks that we are harnessed together securely and, like Viktor, throws us out of the airplane because there is just no way we are getting out on our own. And thankfully, the Holy Spirit stays connected as we free fall for what seems like an eternity but is really only seconds and then deploys the parachute with a tremendous jerk that leads us to land (sometimes softly, sometimes not) at our next destination. (It’s interesting to me to note that the only other time I’ve shared this sky-diving story in a sermon was exactly a year ago today, when I was interviewing with another search committee in another church, exactly one week before I came here and met your search committee. I knew the Holy Spirit was in the process of throwing me (and my family) out of the plane, but I had no idea she would land us here in Savannah. And oh, how thankful I am that she did!) How has the Holy Spirit shown up in unexpected ways in your life or in the life of this parish often during times of change or transition? In what ways might God be calling you to trust in the work of the Holy Spirit, as unexpected as it might be? What are the lessons that the Holy Spirit may be trying to teach you right now that you are not able to learn on your own? Where are the airplanes that you have to get thrown out of because there’s no way you’re going to jump on your own? In closing, I’ll share with you a quote from Thomas Merton that I came across this week: “You do not need to know precisely what is happening or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and the challenges offered by the present moment and to embrace them with courage, faith, and hope.”