The Rev. Dan Rondeau
St. Margaret's Episcopal Church & School
Joel 2:28-32 | Psalm 33:12-22 | I Corinthians 12:4-13 | John 20:19-23
God said, "I will pour out my spirit…." (Joel 2:28)
On this day, this day of Pentecost, we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. The great gift of Father and Son is the Holy Spirit within us and working through us. We remember how the disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, "began to speak in other languages…about God's deeds of power." Filled with courage they went out from Jerusalem and continued to share the Good News. We know that they healed, that they forgave sins, that they baptized, that they broke bread in thanksgiving and sacrament. We know that the disciples spoken about in today, changed the world.
As a convert, Paul, the great Apostle to the Gentiles, was filled with the Holy Spirit. He took his turn in sharing the Good News. In a letter to the Galatians (Gal 5:22f) he tells about the fruit of the Spirit:
But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. (New Living Translation)
Today we gather, by baptism, confirmation, and even ordination, we join the company of disciples as brothers and sisters in the faith, "filled with the Holy Spirit." As we celebrate and rejoice in this gift, I want to share a meditation about choosing to use the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Breaking all kinds of rules, I suppose, I will speak in the first person. You will hear about me, and my choices. It is my hope that you will take my choices and invite the Spirit to so guide your choices that together we will continue the work begun on Pentecost so long ago.
There is a moment early in my day when the demands of the day haven't begun to clamor for my attention. I have not begun to worry about the things I want to do or change or influence. Early on, just after I get up out of bed, I am not yet behind schedule. I can make some choices in this calm. On my better days, I do make choices, usually as I am praying. For it is in this quiet moment that I choose to accept the gift of the Holy Spirit, and I choose to give free reign to the expression of the fruit of the Spirit. 1 "Today," I tell myself, "today…
I choose love . . .
Nothing in this world justifies hatred. Bitterness, deceit, words that hurt or harm, actions that tear down rather than build up, are killers of love; today I will love God and what God loves. Today I will love my neighbor as I love myself. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created and loved so extravagantly by God.
I choose joy . . .
I will seek, within my heart, that joy promised by Jesus; a complete joy; a full joy. In all circumstances of today, I will seek the presence of my God with me; I will seek joy, even if the circumstances are not joyful. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical. In all things I will discover another opportunity to see God at work, creating, redeeming, and sustaining.
I choose peace . . .
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live. If I can speak a word of healing and hope, I will speak it. If I can offer comfort by my presence or embrace, I will offer it. If I can be a reconciler today, I will act with tolerance and compassion.
I choose patience . . .
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who drives with aggression or indifference, I'll pray for him/her. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of groaning about and resisting new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.
I choose kindness . . .
I will be kind in my words, offering encouragement to the discouraged, light to those closed in by darkness, hope to those who despair, and courage to those who are afraid. I will be kind in my words today, praising a child for his/her accomplishment, thanking a colleague for his/her integrity and his/her labor, and thanking the volunteer who makes my work possible. I will be kind in actions today offering my hands to help those in need and using my hands to bless the life and work of others.
I choose goodness . . .
I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will gladly work in the background in support of others. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.
I choose faithfulness . . .
Today I will keep my promises. I will pray for those who asked my prayers. Those who trust me most, my wife, my children, you my parishioners will find your trust well placed. I will seek God's will before I seek my will. I renew my trust in God today, and rejoice in God's trust in me.
I choose gentleness . . .
I choose the gentle strength I have found in Christ. My hands will be closed in prayer, not in anger. My voice will be raised to praise God and to rejoice in the accomplishments of others. I choose to make demands on me only, not those around me.
I choose selfcontrol . . .
I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose selfcontrol. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose selfcontrol.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and selfcontrol: the fruit of the Spirit given on Pentecost; the Holy Spirit, received by me in baptism and confirmation and again in ordination as God's great gift to me, his child.
On my better days, I choose to accept the gift of the Holy Spirit, and I choose to give free reign to the expression of the fruit of the Spirit. When I succeed, I give thanks. When I fail, I seek God's forgiveness, and God's grace. On this Pentecost Day as we celebrate the gift of the Spirit, I pray that you will choose, with me, to accept God's gift and choose, with me, to give full expression to the fruit of the Spirit. As we succeed in this, God's Kingdom will surely expand, our families, friends, and neighbors will be blessed, and God will receive the glory. What a great adventure we have been invited to join. Thanks be to God.
Most mornings at 4:30 am as I awaken I do not have the full meditation I have just shared with you. Instead, I pack these choices into a little prayer that I learned here. Using this little prayer I invite the Holy Spirit into me so that the choices of the day may be "fruit-full" choices. I invite you to do the same. For some of you this prayer of invitation is well known (and perhaps well used). Some of you will hear it for the first time. Let it be a gift to you today in renewal or introduction.
Come Holy Spirit
Come with your fire and burn us
Come with your rain and cleanse us
Come with your light and reveal to us;
Convict us, convert us, consecrate us,
Until we do something with our lives.
Amen.2
1
2 Sermon prayer used by The Rev. Brad Hall at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church until his death in 1997.