Between Our Inhaling & Exhaling

I like to think that just as we can see leaves rustling on trees or our breath in the cold morning air, we can see God’s Spirit whenever we see acts of love and kindness happen in the world. I think this is what it means to be ‘church.’

Pentecost, by Jyoti Sahi (Indian, 1944–), 1983.

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. 
                  ~from the Acts of The Apostles 2:1-2

I’ve experienced a couple of hurricanes, a few tropical storms, one very close tornado and the endless barrage of Santa Ana winds that often rip across Southern California.

​You could say I have a pretty good idea of the kind of power a strong wind can generate.

​But this strange rush of violent wind that blew through this particular Jerusalem home can still stump me.

In a beautiful sermon on Pentecost, Barbara Brown Taylor describes this scene like this, “Before any of them could defend themselves, that mighty wind had blown through the entire house, striking sparks that burst into flames above their heads, and everyone of them was filled to the gills with God’s breath.”
 
In one giant divine breath, the Christian church was born. And those who inhaled it, well…their life would never be the same again.
 
It’s not unusual to speak about the Holy Spirit as the breath of God. The Greek word for "spirit" is pneuma, the same word for "breath." And in Hebrew the word is “ruach,” which has many meanings; including “wind, breath, and spirit.”
 
Breath has gotten a lot of attention these last two years – mostly because of COVID and wearing masks for long periods of time. But for me, it was until the tragic death of George Floyd that made me realize the only time we really think about our breath is when we run out of it.
 
Wind is another story. It tussles you and slaps you, screams and howls at you. It can bite you, break you, and even blast you away. Wind can generate enough power to light up a city, and destroy it at the same time. Wind is wild. And wildly unpredictable. And it’s hard to ignore.

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At a very young age, my dad taught me how to sail. Part of this training was learning how to read and understand the wind. I would set sail in the Gulf of Mexico the way most kids rode their bikes; daily, excitedly, and recklessly.
 
I remember one quiet summer morning I took our catamaran out by myself. As I drifted over the placid waters, I trimmed the sails and manipulated the rudder to capture what little wind there was. Gliding slowly, my mind began drifting further and further away from the shoreline.

​The gentle lapping of the water against the boat, had me so completely relaxed that I was caught completely off-guard by a sudden gust of wind that came out of nowhere. It filled my sails with such intensity that it caused the boat to flip over.
 
While I believed I was old enough to set sail on my own, I knew I didn’t weight enough to right the boat. So, I sat and floated in the Gulf of Mexico, wondering where that wind had come from and where it was going.
 
Pentecost is our reminder of how God’s Spirit can catch us off guard, tip us over, and turn our world sideways. Although she might leave us feeling adrift at times, God’s Spirit never abandons us. In fact, she’s always so close to us that we often forget she is there.
 
Henri Nouwen wrote, “In the Holy Spirit, God comes to be as close to us as our own breath.” To think that God’s Spirit is more intimate with us than we are with ourselves.  

In that space between inhale and exhale, the Bible tells us that Spirit of God is always present, “praying in us the gifts of love, forgiveness, kindness, goodness, gentleness, peace, and joy…the kind of life that death cannot destroy.”
 
But here’s the thing. We can feel the wind kiss our cheeks. We can smell hints of coffee or mint on someone’s breath. But how do we know that the Spirit is here?

I like to think that just as we can see leaves rustling on trees or our breath in the cold morning air, we can see God’s Spirit whenever we see acts of love and kindness happen in the world. I think this is what it means to be ‘church.’
 
I think Jesus would agree that random acts of love and kindness are the best ways we can worship and glorify God.  And it’s the Holy Spirit that empowers us to take the love that has been given to us through Christ Jesus, and breath it out into the world.
 
As Barbara Brown Taylor put it, “The same Spirit of God that had entered Mary and give birth to Jesus, has entered those who believed so that God could be born again.”
 
You see, in that room in ancient Jerusalem, God wasn’t becoming incarnate in one body. Instead, God breathed life into a universal body of believers who inhaled the breath of the Spirit, just as Jesus had, and “used their own bodies to distribute the gift.”

Pentecost is not just a one-time event any more than it is an annual birthday celebration. It is the very gift of life from God that needs to be celebrated and shared every day.
 
Every breath we take is a reminder of who we are as a church and as believers. Thus, every breath we release says something about who we are and what we are about.

If we inhale God’s spirit of love and forgiveness, then we must exhale God’s spirit of love and forgiveness; just as Jesus did from his first breath in Bethlehem to his final breath on the cross at Golgotha.  If we speak the name Jesus, if we use our breath to call ourselves Christians, then every breath we are given must be used to tell his story through our words and deeds.
 
In the space between our inhaling and exhaling, God moves in and out of us. With one divine breath, God fills the lungs of ordinary people like you and me to empower us to do extraordinary things. How will we use that power to inspire and execute acts of mercy, kindness, and justice in all the ways we love?
 
As Keri Day writes, “The Holy Spirit is a subtle power. It’s the secret force behind all beauty, truth, and goodness; every act of kindness and compassion; every wise insight and every noble decision.”  When the church lives faithfully in the Spirit of God’s love, “every need can be cared for and every painful circumstance can be met.”
 
This is how one gentle breath can turn into a mighty wind that can move with such force that it catches the world by surprise, and tips it over towards the righteousness of God.
 
Between the horizon and the shoreline, I sat on the pontoon of my capsized boat. As I dangled my feet in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, I felt a light breeze kiss my wet skin; reminding me I was not alone. God was with me.

Before my parents could send out a search party for me, an elderly man in a rusty old fishing boat puttered over to help right me over. As I grabbed the tiller and trimmed the sails, I found just the right amount of wind, breath, and spirit to sail smoothly and safely home.
 
If these last few years have taught us anything, it’s that unexpected events happen every day. We can fear capsizing or running aground. Or we can settle into the truth that God doesn’t stop breathing in us; empowering and guiding us to proclaim the good news of God’s redemptive love in all that we do.
 
Between each inhale and exhale, God moves in us and through us. By this normal, everyday action, God transforms us to become living, breathing, thriving vessels of love and grace wherever we are.
 
I believe this was God’s intention for us from the very beginning. Nothing has changed since the Spirit of God hovered over the darkness and breathed all of life into existence. As we sit here, in Anamesa, we are a part of this divine breath.
 
When our Lord let go of his last breath on the cross, God took it, and strengthened it into “a holy hurricane” that burst into flames above the disciple’s heads and filled their gills to capacity. Like Barbara Brown Taylor notes, “It was as if God wanted to make sure that Jesus’ friends were the inheritors of Jesus’ breath.”  In the same way, God used the Spirit of the first church to ignite something amazing in us.
 
We must ask ourselves how will we turn our gentle breath into a mighty wind that can set the world on fire? How will we move with such Christ like force that it breathes life into new kinds of communities where justice and equality are the new norms?
 
Our Lord gave us this Spirit to do good in the world. How will we use our gifts of breath so others can see God’s glory in and all around them?
 
We know what Jesus did. He loved, healed, forgave, redeemed. The disciples took that spirit and created loving and lasting communities around the world. We’ve been given this gift for a reason.
 
How will we inhale and exhale the divine love of Christ upon one another?
 
How will we use each breath to speak Christ into our communities where there is hurt, pain, suffering, and darkness?
 
How will we inhale life and share it abundantly with each other, just as Jesus did by loving God, loving others, and serving both?
 
 
 
 
Works Cited
A refresh of an original sermon entitled Wind. Breath. Spirit. (May 15, 2018)
Bartlett, David L., and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. Feasting on the Word: Year B, Vol. 3. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2007.
Day, Keri. We Need A Pentecost. May 3, 2018. www.christiancentury.org/article/critical-essay/we-need-pentecost (accessed May 18, 2018).
Nouwen, Henri. Bread for the Journey: A Day Book of Wisdom and Faith. New York: Harper Collins, 1997.
Taylor, Barbara Brown. Home by Another Way. New York: Cowley, 1999.