Reflections on "Touched by the Spirit" Ezekiel 37:1-14; Acts 2; 1-22

Pentecost Sunday!  I had a new insight on the Acts story -- when the people who were given the gift of another language realized that God had given them that gift so that they could go to new places, it was scary for them.

The dry bones of Ezekiel are always a great image to preach, although I did not focus exclusively on that vision.

we were not full-speed on our technology today, but it would have been fun to have shown the commercial that I detailed in the conclusion.  

“Touched by the Spirit” Ezekiel 37: 1-14; Acts 2: 1-2; FPC, Troy; May 24, 2015; Pentecost

introduction: On the Pentecost Sunday, we read of Ezekiel being touched by the hand of the Lord and the spirit, the breath of God, breathing life back into dry bones; and we read of the Spirit sweeping among the early Christians; and we are reminded that to be touched by the spirit means we are people of hope and people with amazing, scary possibilities.

Move 1: To be touched by the Spirit means we are people of hope.

a. A vivid image from Ezekiel that speaks to the plight of Israel at that moment in its history.

1. The Israelite had been defeated by the Babylonians.

2. the Israelites had been uprooted from their homes and taken into captivity.

3. Jerusalem and the Temple had been destroyed.

4. For the Israelites deported to live in Babylon, “the future seemed a black hole into which the people were destined to disappear.” http://jointhefeast.blogspot.com/2009/04/may-31-ezekiel-371-14-joshua-t.html

b. God takes Ezekiel to a valley full of dry bones and ask Ezekiel: “Mortal, can these bones live?”

1. Ezekiel knows the answer. The dry bones are death. He cannot say it, but he knows: there is no future...there is no hope...death has arrived.”
2. The dry bones are Israel, the clicking sounds reverberating with the sound of death.
3. But Ezekiel cannot speak of the death of Israel, so he answers God's question with “only you know.”
4. A sliver of hope, perhaps.
5. An acknowledgment that even in a moment of utter despair, only God has the final answer.

c. God has a word of hope, not death.

1. God's breath will blow into the bones and bring them back to life.

2. Israel was lost and given up for dead, but God is not done.

3. God will breathe life back into Israel.

4. There will be a future.

d. On this Pentecost Sunday we claim our hope.

1. On a day when we remember those who have died in war and pray for those who are still at war today, we dare to hope for future of peace because God's breath is in us.

2.. On a day when we pray for the divisions and injustices in our own country, we dare to hope for a day when love and reconciliation will reign because God's breath still fills us.

3. In a time when we can read article after article about the decline of the church and diminishing role of faith in people's lives, we dare to hope for God to fill us with the Spirit and lead us into the future God has in mind.

We are a people of hope.

Move 2: To be touched by the Spirit also means to be filled with exciting, maybe scary possibilities.

a. We read the familiar Pentecost story.

1. Imagine with me for a moment that you were there that day.

2. that you were one of those who was already a follower of Christ.

3. You were there gathering with the others in your faith community.

4. You have already made the leap of faith and decided to believe in the resurrected Christ.

5. There is comfort in being with others who have taken that same risk, claimed that same faith.

6. People like you, who evens peak the same language, probably Aramaic.

b. then the winds sweep through, tongues of fire appear.

1. You open your mouth, and you speak another language.

2. You are bi-lingual in an instant.

3. Scary enough that you have acquired this skill, but then you consider the possibilities.

4. Why has God given me the gift of another language?

5. Does that mean that I am now expected to go somewhere else, some place where others speak this new language.

6. Does this mean that God is calling me to move out of my comfort zone and go to a new place to do a new thing?

7. you thought you had this follower of Christ thing figured out, but now the game has changed.

100. Here you are, most of us in the same pew where we always sit.

1. We have our comfort zone.

2. We profess our faith and try to contain it as best we can!

3. But here comes the Holy Spirit.

4. new possibilities that demand you follow, that demand you do a new thing.

5. We may sing “Breathe on me Breath of God,” but we're not taking that thought too seriously.

6. Watch out. The when the spirit touches you, your life changes in an instant.

Conclusion: Blog showed an old General Electric wind energy commercial: begins with young boy (perhaps Italian) running the last few steps with wind blowing across him, onto an overhang is on a overhang above the ocean with a jar that he opens, holds up in the air to capture the wind, and then seals tightly with the lid. He begins a journey back to somewhere;runs down a path; takes a trains across a bridge (pretty young girl is sitting across from him); steps across a stream rocks; walks through an open field with snow-covered mountains in the background; rides in a sidecar of a motorcycle (complete with helmet and goggles);runs up a dirt path to a home and burst in the door where a birthday party, complete with a birthday cake and lots of candles (it appears to be his grandfather celebrating his birthday); cake covered with candles; he gives jar to his grandfather, who opens it and wind blows out candles and windows of house and even moves the clothes on the clothesline outside; they all look shocked and mother's hair is askew; then smiles; voice over "Capturing the wind and putting it to good use" found on Milton Brasher-Cunningham's blog, http://donteatalone.com/run-and-catch-the-wind/ "run and Catch the Wind" May 31, 2009,

We cannot bottle the Holy Spirit – it sweeps into our lives bringing life and inviting us to new possibilities.

Amen.