Wind The Breath Of God

Pentecost Sunday

John 15: 26-27, 16: 4b-15

"Wind, the Breath of God"

26 ¶ But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me;

27 and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning.

4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you of them. "I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.

5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ’Where are you going?’

6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.

7 ¶ Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

8 And when he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:

9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;

10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more;

11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

12 "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.RSV

Grace and peace to you from our Lord ad Saviour, Jesus Christ the risen Lord. Amen

Imagine today you are with the disciples in the upper room. You are hiding there not knowing what to expect. Jesus has ascended into heaven and you are told to go to the upper and wait. Wait for what? Jesus said the Counselor would come. Jesus said the Spirit would come. You wait. You wonder what it will be like when this spirit comes? You wait, you pray, you wait some more.

Then you hear it. A small wind, A larger wind. Then an even larger wind blows into the room. The door is still locked, but the wind is there. A might y wind. A wind that you have never experienced before.

It is the wind of God. The breath of God which came over the land and created the earth. It is the breath which filled Adam’s lungs and gave him life. It is the wind, the breath of God. The breath of God breaks into tongues as of fire. They rest upon your head. You feel the breath of God enter into your body. You are somehow alive. You are somehow made different.

You along with Peter rush out into the street and you begin to preach. You preach in other languages. You preach about the risen Christ. You preach about the good news of the gospel. You preach and your preach. As the day ends many have been understood and accepted the good news of the gospel.

A story is told of that day with Peter preaching to the crowds, it says:

A man pushed his way through the crowd, and said: "Peter, do you think there is hope for me? I am the man who made that crown of thorns and placed them upon Christ’s brow; do you think he will save me?"

"Yes," said Peter," ’whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall b e saved.’ You are a ’whosoever’; if you call he will hear your cry. He will answer your prayer and save you." The man might have cried then and there, and the Lord saved him.

Another man pushed his way up and said to Peter, "I’m the man who took that reed out of his hand, and drove it down upon that cruel crown of thorns, sending it into his brow: Do you think he will save me?"

"Yes," said Peter, ’’he told us to go into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, and he did not mean you to be left out; salvation is for you. He did not come to condemn men; he came to get his arm under the vilest sinner and lift him up toward heaven."

Another man, elbowing his way through the crowd, pushed up to Peter and said, "I am the Roman soldier who took the spear and drove it to his heart, when there came out blood and water; do you think there is hope for me?"