Sermons for the Month

Open Up Those Holy Spirit Holes!
DATE: May 19, 2002
TEXT: Acts 2:1-21

“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN

A year ago I read an article titled "Holy Spirit Holes" and the phrase has stuck with me ever since. In fact, there is a print in my office that I purchased with just those words in mind - Holy Spirit Holes. What in the world is a Holy Spirit Hole?

Before I answer that let me say that while this is an unusual concept, it an appropriate topic as we celebrate Pentecost. Today is the birthday of the church when we recall the arrival of the Holy Spirit and the empowerment of believers to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Churches usually mark this day, to greater or lesser degrees, with splashes of red, liturgy and music that call to mind the Holy Spirit's arrival. What we do, however, is a far cry from what happened in the Christian Church around the 10th century.

The article I mentioned earlier (Homiletics, May 26, 1996) contained a detailed description offered by Harvard scholar Diana Eck who wrote that the medieval church took upon itself the task of making sure the festivals of the church were the dominant guiding force in daily life. So it is that Pentecost was one of the most unique days on the church's calendar.

In an attempt to dramatize the coming of the Holy Spirit, she wrote, the leaders of Pentecost services involved architecture, not just anthems. You see, there were trap doors in the cathedrals vaulted ceilings. During the Pentecost worship, servants who were waiting on the roof would release live doves through those holes. Ms. Eck writes that this living symbol of the Holy Spirit would descend toward the people below as the choirboys broke into the whooshing and drumming sound of a holy windstorm. Then, down from the holes would float thousands of rose petals, symbolizing the tongues of flame that rested on the first recipients of the Spirit.

Can you imagine such a thing? In spite of the fact that you would have to keep your head covered with all those birds flying around, it would have been such a tangible and yet mysterious reminder of the Holy Spirit's arrival. But the way, Ms. Eck says that those trap doors were called Holy Spirit Holes.

Holy Spirit Holes are, I would propose, what we need as a church and as individuals. But we need those holes not to let the Holy Spirit in, since It arrives within us without such assistance. We need Holy Spirit Holes for releasing into the world what is created by the Spirit within us.

Today's first lesson gives some examples of what I mean. Without reviewing it in detail, let me remind you that once the Holy Spirit settled upon (and within) those first followers of Jesus they began to speak in languages they had not previously spoken. It would be as if I began to preach this sermon in French, although I've never studied the language. In other words, they were not babbling in some unknown tongue but in common human languages that were known to people around them. So it is that the Holy Spirit's first act was to empower the disciples, as a group, to speak out with voices that could be heard by the entire world.

Then Peter, who had a long reputation of speaking rashly and fearfully, was suddenly transformed into a vital witness for the Gospel. He stood up, spoke out, and explained what was happening. So it is that Peter, who consistently messed up, cited the words of the 9th century BC prophet Joel. He described the all-encompassing nature of the Spirit who will descend upon men and women, young and old, slaves and free - everyone - empowering them to proclaim God's deeds of power.

It's easy to see that the church was born during a two-part process. The Holy Spirit arrived and the followers spoke in meaningful ways. Do we?

Do we, as a church, speak in a language - in voices - that can be heard throughout the world - but particularly in our corner of the world? I have to tell you a brief Bolivia story. On a Sunday morning last month, while I was in that country, my friend and I decided to be good Lutherans. So, we looked up a Lutheran congregation in the phone book, found out the service times, hailed a taxi, and arrived 10 minutes before the service began. I was prepared to struggle through a Spanish service, knowing that I would not grasp everything that was said. But, when we arrived, we discovered that all of the services at that congregation were in German. Knowing that nothing would make sense to us, we left.

Now, obviously, I don't know the history of that church; perhaps there is a very logical reason that the services are in German. However, on the surface it seems very odd that a church would speak a language that the majority of the people who live near-by could not even begin to understand.

Let me say that again, it seems odd that a church would speak a language that the majority of the people who live near-by could not even begin to understand. And yet it happens all the time. The church speaks in ways - in worship, in programs, when communicating publicly - that are meaningless to many people. Now, I'm not suggesting that we blend with popular culture; that would be absolutely contrary to the Gospel. But we must be constantly vigilant concerning the needs - particularly spiritual needs - of all who live in this fast-paced world.

Please let me say, though, that Faith has been conscientious about this, that's obvious in the variety of worship services, the Explorer's Club, the Website, the list could continue. We should rejoice in that, but it also is important that we keep this concern ever before us. We must be constantly in tune to change, and be guided by the Spirit, enabled to open our Holy Spirit holes and speak in languages that can be understood.

But remember, this is not just a corporate task. As Lutherans we believe that the Holy Spirit is within us, a gift of our baptism. It only makes sense then that we each are empowered to proclaim the Gospel so that our neighbors, our family members, our co-workers and those whose eyes we avoid as we walk down the street can hear it. Each one of us can develop Holy Spirit holes so that as we speak, as we act, as we think, the work of the Spirit flows out of us and into the world.

Oh well, we say, that may be true for someone else, but I've never really noticed the Holy Spirit in me, and I'm not that religious, and I'm so busy and preoccupied. (Or, as one of the residents at St. Luke told me, "My brain is in a frolic.") And, besides, I have no particular talents.

Can't you just see the Holy Spirit holes disappearing? The Spirit is there, but its gifts can't get out. OPEN UP THE HOLES! Think about your relationship with God and how you would like to see it deepened and strengthened. Ask yourselves what you like to do, consider your dreams, reflect on how you interact with others and, most importantly, be open to giving of yourself. Then, those Holy Spirit Holes will appear and amazing things will happen in your lives, in the church, and in the world.

I was speaking with my Aunt Ruth on the phone the other night. She and her brother, my Uncle Louis, never have been people who sit around. That has not changed as they have reached the ages of 79 and 86.

They are Methodists (my great grandfather was kicked out of the Lutheran Church for being a Mason, so that side of the family do not belong to the true faith). In any case, their congregation in southeastern Nebraska is building a new church. The other day my Uncle - who happens to be a retired physician - was overwhelmed by dizziness. His self-diagnosis was stroke, so he called 911. When the various tests indicated that a stroke was not the problem, he determined that varnish fumes had the caused symptoms. It seems that he and my aunt had spent the day before varnishing woodwork at the new church.

My comment was, "Can't people under the age of 80 do the varnishing?" My Aunt's matter-of-fact response to that was, "I suppose, but we want to do it."

That's such a simple statement; we want to do it. Yet that's how the Holy Spirit often works, by instilling the desire and the ability along with a willingness to make sacrifices. Then, those Holy Spirit holes open and, to honor my family's tradition I'll put it this way, things get done.

So I close today with this question, "How will we - as a church community and as individuals - experience the opening of Holy Spirit holes in the days to come so that just as was true on that first Pentecost, the Good News is heard? Consider that on this great and glorious Pentecost.

AMEN

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