This Week

Whence comes this rush of wind?
I stand at the earth's rim
And feel it streaming by
My hair, my eyes, my lips.
I shall be blown clean off.
I cannot stand the cold.

Earth shrinks. The day recedes.
The stars rush in, their fire
Blown wild as they race by.
This wind's strange, harsh embrace
Holds me against the earth,
Batters me with its power.

My bones are turned to ice.
I am not here, nor there
But caught in this great breath.
Its rhythm cracks my ribs.
Blown out, I am expelled.
Breathed in, I am inspired.

The wind broods where it will
Across the water's face.
The flowing sea of sky
Moves to the wind's demand.
The stars stretch fiery tongues
Until this mortal frame
Is seared to bone, to ash,
And yet, newborn, it lives.

Joy blazes through the night.
Wind, water, fire, are light.
----Madeleine L'Engle"Pentecost", 


 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together 
in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound 
like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire 
house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, 
appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to 
speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven 
living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered 
and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking 
in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, 
they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 
And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own 
native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, 
and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, 
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt 
and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, 
and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 
Cretans and Arabs--in our own languages we hear them 
speaking about God's deeds of power." 
All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, 
"What does this mean?" But others sneered and said, 
"They are filled with new wine." But Peter, standing 
with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, 
"Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this 
be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, 
these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is 
only nine o'clock in the morning.

No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 
'In the last days it will be, God declares, 
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, 
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, 
and your young men shall see visions, and your old men 
shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, 
both men and women, in those days I will pour out 
my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 
And I will show portents in the heaven above 
and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, 
and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness 
and the moon to blood, before the coming of the 
Lord's great and glorious day. Then everyone who 
calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' 
----Acts 2:1-21


Peter's sermon begins - and this day's lection ends - 
with a quotation (vs. 17-21) from the prophet Joel 
(Joel 2:28-32a), and nothing could be more symptomatic 
of the nature of Pentecost than the transmutation 
of this text. That which in the prophet's discourse 
appears prominently as a forecast of destruction and 
death has become on Peter's tongue a declaration 
of new life. For Joel the signs of the outpouring 
of the Spirit are a prelude to disaster, 
but for Peter these wonders have been fulfilled 
in Jesus Christ, himself the greatest of God's wonders, 
and their purpose, Christ's purpose, is nothing less 
than the redemption of humankind. Again the Spirit 
has invaded human life in ways that shatter old expectations. 
It is not death that is the aim of the Spirit's visitation, 
but new life - sudden, unmerited, irresistible new life! 
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (vs. 21). 
---- Texts for Preaching