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each year the church celebrates the
great feast of Pentecost which is the
Feast of the Holy Spirit
and there are three symbols that are
classically associated with the spirit
namely water fire and wind I want to
point out first that each one of those
has a very negative overtone because the
Holy Spirit is dangerous let me develop
that idea first water those of us who
live on the far side of Katrina know
that water can pack a terrible punch
think of the water that came from the
sky and from the sea and from those
reservoirs that pour through the broken
levees basically brought a major
American city to its knees and we're
still dealing with the effects of that
terrible event fire as I record these
words there's a terrible brush fire
raging in eastern Arizona they say it's
now the size in area of the city of
Chicago and they're doing what they can
to control it but basically they have to
wait till you know it rains and puts the
fire out it's threatening not only the
the earth but threatening all sorts of
cities and villages what can you do in
the face of that enormous destructive
power not much
then of course wind just a few weeks ago
we saw the tornado as it swept through
the American South and then the really
terrible one that came through Joplin
Missouri people who were there say it
was just like an atomic bomb falling on
the city businesses and homes and a
major hospital all just obliterated by
the power of wind well the Holy Spirit
who is water fire and wind is in a
similar way destructive remember years
ago when I was at Theological College in
Washington we had a wonderful man who
was our rector named father Tony Lobo
and he gave a sermon I've never
forgotten it and the climax the sermon
was gentlemen the love of God
is not a warm fuzzy you tend to think of
God and God's love in sort of
sentimental terms the Holy Spirit is is
ferocious and dangerous and what do I
mean I mean that the Holy Spirit comes
after all those things that stand
opposed to God and God's ways God's love
which indeed is not a warm fuzzy God's
love knocks things down God's love
obliterates certain things God's love
cleans things out now I think this is
the best way to understand the time
we're going through and I've spoken
about this before but the sex abuse
scandal in our country first of all is
the worst crisis in the history of
American church I would have said if
you'd asked me 20 years ago I would have
said the period the 19th century when
the know-nothings were organizing
themselves politically against Catholics
when they're burned down convents and
monasteries and all that but this is
worse than that time we're going to the
worst crisis in our history and secondly
we're still going through it
it's not simply over we're enduring it
now what are we enduring a very hard
time indeed not just you know
financially for the church but in every
way I've argued that the sex abuse
crisis has undermined our work in every
way how do you read that well read it
sociologically read it too politically
read it psychologically any way you want
but I think we have to read it
biblically what we're witnessing I would
say is this terrible power of the Holy
Spirit in its cleansing and flattening
and purifying expression
what's Holy Spirit doing knocking some
things down burning some things up
washing some things away now is it for
an ultimately good purpose yes indeed
it's for the purpose of cleansing the
church is for the purpose of protecting
the innocent but that doesn't make it
any easier to go through are we enduring
the cleansing and purifying work of the
Holy Spirit because of this terrible
crime yes also
are the enemies of the church to some
degree involved in this of course they
are so in the Old Testament God
typically hands Israel over to its
enemies for purification that's how they
read the Assyrians the Babylonians that
Greeks the Romans are we being handed
over today to our enemies to some degree
sure it's under the guidance of the Holy
Spirit in its negative of purifying
chastising mode okay is that all there
is to it no go back to those three
symbols water is destructive indeed it
can be but water is also that power that
gives life to to everything on the
planet right without water there's no
life fire is destructive indeed but fire
if you look at it in the grandest sense
is behind all of our technology wind
destructive indeed sure I think the last
time you took off an airplane it's
basically wind that lifted up that huge
machine wind is enormous ly powerful in
a constructive way so the Holy Spirit is
operative positively in the church what
do we do something from st. Paul it's
from 1 Corinthians chapter 12 Paul says
there are different kinds of spiritual
gifts but the same spirit there are
different forms of service but the same
Lord there are different workings but
the same God who produces all of them in
everyone well see just as water this the
one element water gives rise to all
these forms of vegetation in life so the
one spirit is even now giving rise to
all this ministry and life in the church
as wind is going to lift up millions of
airplanes so the Holy Spirit lifts up
millions of different forms of life and
ministry in the church as electricity
fires all of our technology so the Holy
Spirit is firing all the different
ministries in the church here's the
thing the spear is destructive the
spirit cleanses and now the spirit
rebuilds and raises up for us now we
have to cooperate with it
cooperating with the spirits
chastisement might mean simply enduring
it in faith maybe that's how we
cooperate with it but now in the
positive side we cooperate with it
whenever we say ok Lord what's my task
what's my role how is the wind of your
holy spirit lifting me up how is the
water of your spirit now enlivening me
from my work how is the electricity the
fire of your spirit illuminating me and
energizing me if we want to be as
baptized members of the body of Christ
if we want to be part of the solution to
this problem we're going through that's
the work of discernment we have to do is
to determine how the spirit is operating
and in cooperate with it how is the
water of the Spirit rushing through us
how is the fire of the Spirit burning in
us how is the wind of the Spirit lifting
us up
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