Four Walls

You might think that it was the four walls that made the gathering special.  It’s right there in the opening lines--they were all gathered in one place.  Imagine, a whole crowd of people packed into a room.  Four walls, hugging them in, creating that magic that comes from human bodies existing, living, breathing in the same place.  

I remember those times.  Bringing people together, gathering, getting close enough to see and hear one another.  

You might think that it was the four walls that made this first Pentecost special, but that wasn’t it. We might idealize those up close and personal get-togethers after this year plus of distance.  We might still be missing those times that we can all be under one roof, but don’t forget that there can be emptiness there, too.  

These members of the early church can tell you, so much if you can get together in one place, but what if you can’t understand one another?  What’s the meaning of being together if there is no communication, no sharing, no life?

It wasn’t the four walls that gave life to the first Pentecost.  It was the movement and power and presence of the Holy Spirit. 

I know that because it has not been these four walls that have given us life this year.  It has not been this building, or even that we are gathering in one physical space.  But we have had life!  We have seen and felt the movement of the Holy Spirit.  We don’t need to worship these walls.  We need to worship the Holy Spirit.

I mean, it would be easier to praise the location.  Imagine if we could just return to the site of the first Pentecost, or return to our building, or return to a magical location where we could be certain of God’s presence and blessing.  Maybe this is a bad message for the day in which I’m hoping many of you will help tidy and clean our physical building right here.  Yet our scriptures tell the story again and again of a God that is on the move, of the Christ who didn’t stay put, and the Spirit who moves and breathes among us today. 

You cannot limit the Spirit to four walls.  

Today, on this first of many Sundays that we will be worshipping outdoors, I celebrate that.  I celebrate that our worship has changed to be even beyond this space, to welcome all who are connecting online.  I celebrate that today is the birthday of the Church of Jesus Christ--a living, moving, breathing body that has never seen fit to stay in one place or speak in one language, or maintain a single way of being.  

The church is alive because the Spirit is alive in our midst.  It is our responsibility to recognize and respond to this life.  

There is a line tucked into the ending of the Pentecost scripture that could be written for us today.  It says that the saving message of Jesus Christ is for “you and for all who are far off.”  These words could not have imagined their resonance as they have travelled around the world to find us here in Bedford, Ohio, to find us in Florida, in Illinois, in Georgia, and more.  

Today let us not celebrate these four walls.  Let us instead celebrate the Holy Spirit.