As the wings of doves are over their nestlings,

Today is Pentecost Sunday. There are a couple different ways to explain what Pentecost is all about. The first explanation that usually comes to mind is the familiar account from the book of Acts in which the followers of Jesus are filled with the spirit that descends upon them like tongues of fire and empowers them to proclaim their message to a huge crowd of foreigners who speak different languages, yet somehow each one hears the message in his or her own native language. This story of Jesusí followers being empowered by the Spirit is often referred to as the birthday of the church. Yet as far as actual history goes, Luke is unreliable and is undoubtedly crafting this story to make a theological point about the universal nature of the churchís mission.

Pentecost was also known in the first century as the Jewish Feast of Weeks. This was an agricultural festival marking the end of the grain harvest.

For some early Christian communities is was a celebration of being baptized in the Spirit.

For today I want to focus on this day as a celebration of the movement from being people filled with fear and sorrow to being members of a compassionate, inclusive community filled with a spirit of love, joy and gratitude, actively engaged in co-creating the Kindom of God in our part of the world.

First, letís reflect on how this spirit may have inspired and enpowered the communities of Jesusí followers in the first century. Burton Mack characterizes the early Jesus movements as loose knit, socially experimental, theologically adventurous, at times even playful, groups that organized around three main themes. First was a concept of the Kindom of God as their vision for life together. Second was their practice of open membership that included anyone, regardless of their social status, ethnicity, ability, etc. Third, was their belief that this crazy combination of diverse people was exactly what the Kindom of God was meant to look like! This must have been an exciting time to come together and re-imagine what the world could be if we just started living as if a God of love and justice really was more powerful and more authoritative than the Roman Emperor.

There is also evidence in Paulís writings that some of these early Christian communities were getting a little out-of-hand in their celebrations. Some, like the Corinthians, were so pleased with their own spiritual gifts, like speaking in tongues, prophesizing, knowing esoteric wisdom, etc., that they had forgotten the importance of love as the tie that binds them all together in a united community that values and esteems each and every member regardless of their gifts and abilities. It is in this context that we find Paulís famous hymn to Love that is still a favorite for wedding services today.

The Gospel of John, probably written at the end of the first century, took some huge imaginative leaps in itís view of Jesus. In this gospel, Jesus is imagined as the Divine Logos that created the world, a Cosmic Christ who is the Bread of Life (John 6:35), the Light of the World (John 8:12), the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), the True Vine (John 15:1), etc.. Whatever you believe about Johnís presentation of Jesus, the mystical, poetic and creative spirit of the author or authors of this gospel is clearly and distinctly evident.

The odes of Solomon was also probably written at the end of the first century or the beginning of the second. Scholars believe that there is a relationship between the Odes of Solomon and the Gospel of John, though they differ on how they explain that relationship. I am persuaded that the Odes are extremely important in our study of the New Testament and the origins of many of the texts contained within it.

This morning, as we celebrate the Pentecost movement from fear and sorrow to joy, gratitude and loving service I want to highlight portions of the Odes which speak to or from this spirit-filled experience. These Odes are the memory of and a testament to a community that had a deep and profound experience of spirit in their midst.

Ode 6 begins, ìAs the hand moves over the harp and the strings speak, so your Spirit speaks in my members and I speak by your love.î I canít help but love a text that begins with such a poetic musical metaphor. They must have had a powerful experience of Godís spirit moving and speaking within them that brought inspiration and comfort. Another Ode uses similar language when, during a time of difficulty and distress, the Odist writes,

The experience of praising God was also a core practice of this community. Indeed, these odes are the liturgies and songs of praise of the community. Praise springs out of a sense of joy and gratitude not only for the gifts and blessings we receive, but from a spontaneous celebration of the nature of God which we share. Ode 40 joyously proclaims,

The Odist uses the image of a fountain quite frequently in the Odes of Solomon. The water the springs from a fountain is compared to the teachings of wisdom, the knowledge of truth, and the overflowing presence of the Spirit. I canít help but to hear the story about the woman at the well from the Gospel of John at these moments, particularly the part when Jesus says to the woman, ìall who drink the water Iíll provide them with will never get thirsty again; it will be a source of water within them, a fountain of real life.î (John 4:14)

Other Odes also employ this imagery. In Ode 11 we read,

The beginning of Ode 12 borrows from this same image of water flowing from within as a metaphor for the teaching of the community.

Ode 30 is built around this image and invites us to ìDrink deeply from the living fountain of God.î In this Ode all who are thirsty are invited to drink from the fountain that is already theirs. It is the source of peace and blessing.

Actually, a good two thirds of Ode 6 also revolves around the image of water that floods the institutional bounds of the temple and spreads over the whole earth (just like the Kindom of God according to the gospel of Thomas). This sacred water is the source of blessing, of healing and wholeness, and of abundant life. Whatever the details were for this early Christian community about their movement from fear and sorrow to the love, joy, and gratitude that came to characterize their spirit-filled common life, they had experienced within themselves something that could not be contained, something that connected them with their divine source and united them with one another, something that was as freely and generously given to the world as it had been given to them.

I think the key to all of this was in their own openness to the Spirit that was flowing within them. It was not something imposed upon them from an external authority, but something deep within them that bore witness to their own essential nature as love. The discovery of the truth of that identity, the recognition of our essential nature, is not something that can be compelled. It happens when we are ready to receive it.

As a community of faith, however, we do need to continually check that we are not creating more barriers to this inner discovery through the imposition of doctrines, dogmas and creeds that limit the flow of a spirit that cannot be contained. The goal is to celebrate and share, to encourage and support, to witness and to embrace the life that flows within and between us; and to remain open, with all our love and wisdom, to remain open to the mystery, the fullness and the newness of the Spirit. As the Odist writes in Ode 28,

As the hand moves over the harp and the strings speak.

so your Spirit speaks in my members and I speak by your love.

You transform what is foreign and bitter.

You are from the beginning and will be to the end.

Nothing will be your adversary,

nothing will resist you.

You, God, multiply your knowledge;

You are zealous to make us know what you give us through

your grace.

You give us praise for your name,

and our spirits praise your Holy Spirit.

A stream goes forth and becomes a long and broad river.

It flooded and broke and carried away the temple.

Ordinary people could not stop it,

nor could those whose art is to halt the waters.

It spread over the face of the whole earth, filling everything,

and the thirsty of the earth drink and their thirst is relieved

and quenched.

The drink comes from you, the Highest One.

Blessed are the ministers of that drink who are entrusted

with your water.

They assuage dry lips.

They raise up those who have fainted.

Souls that are about to depart they draw back from death.

Limbs that become crooked they make straight.

They give strength to our feebleness and light to our eyes.

Everyone knows them in You, God, and by your water