Unity Matters. May 28, 2023. The Reverend David M. Stoddart

 

Acts 2:1-21

One day a young man visited a very traditional church whose denomination is best left unsaid. The music was beautiful, the liturgy was flawless, and everyone was impeccably dressed. It wasn’t exactly a warm place: actually it felt very cold and formal. But the readings, the hymns, the whole experience somehow moved this man deeply. He raised his hands in prayer, praise for God filling his heart as his body swayed gently to the choir’s anthem. The people around him, however, looked on in dismay, whispering among themselves until, finally, one of the ushers, an especially severe looking gentleman in a bespoke suit, came marching down the aisle. He went right up to where the young man was sitting, wrapped in prayer, and said, “Excuse me, sir. Your behavior is most inappropriate. I’m afraid I must ask you to leave.” The young man looked bewildered and said, “But why? I am enjoying the music and the worship. I’ve got the Spirit!” And the usher replied, “Well, you didn’t get it here.”

F0r the record, I am quite certain you can get the Spirit in the Episcopal Church. That said, however, I know that many people (and not just Episcopalians) can feel very uncomfortable with the manifestations of the Holy Spirit described in the New Testament, things like speaking in tongues, prophesying, and worshiping with jubilant enthusiasm. So pronounced is such behavior in our reading from Acts today that onlookers accuse the disciples of being drunk at 9:00 in the morning.

But I don’t actually want to focus on our worship style this morning. I want to take one step back and remind us all of what the Holy Spirit does that causes such joy and effusiveness. The primary thing the Spirit does in the Bible is not fill us with good feelings or make us clap our hands and shout during the liturgy. No, the first and most important work of the Holy Spirit is to make us one with Christ and one with each other. Realizing that essential unity matters more than anything else. Everything — everything —depends on that. The source, the wellspring of all the joy, all the manifestations, all the gifts, all the fruits, all the power of the Holy Spirit is a profound experience of union with God, with other human beings, and with all of creation. When through the Spirit we see that we are truly one, all of us deeply interconnected, then the infinite power of love is unleashed and there are no limits to the joy and wonder we can know.

Just look at this reading from Acts. When the Spirit is poured out, then all the usual divisions of nationality and language are overcome, and everyone is connected. Everyone hears the Good News, everyone shares in the same experience of divine love. They are a very diverse crowd, but even so they are one. And when Peter stands up to preach, he quotes the prophet Joel, who predicted that someday God would pour out God’s Spirit on all flesh, and all flesh would be united: sons and daughters, young and old, slaves and free – they would all share in the same Spirit, a prophecy that is fulfilled on that first Pentecost and continues to this day. So we are not just one with each other here, but one with people around the world. And not just with those who are alive, but also with those who have died. In our Evening Prayer service we pray that “we may be bound together by your Holy Spirit in the communion of all your saints,” i.e., all those who have gone before us. We pray for them because even now we are one with them, and in the fullness of time we will see them again.

None of this is to say that we are not individuals. Each one of us is unique and uniquely precious to God. But heavenly reality transcends all of our normal dualistic, either-or thinking. In God, we are individuals, each one of us a once-in-eternity manifestation of divine life, and at the same time we are completely one with Christ and one with every other creature through the Holy Spirit. That’s not a logical problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived and enjoyed.

And enjoyment is where I am heading with all of this. If we want to experience the joy of the Spirit in our lives, then the way to do that is not to focus on our feelings. The way to do that is to practice communion, to practice living not as isolated, separated entities but as spiritual beings deeply connected with all that is. And to start, practice the presence of God. God is intimately close to us in every breath we take, during good times, bad times, all times. As Thomas Keating says, the only thing that separates us from God is the belief that we are separated from God. But that belief is an illusion. The Holy Spirit uses worship, prayer, acts of self-giving, moments of beauty, and countless other ways to remind us that we are in fact one with Christ, one with God, united in eternal love. Practice accepting that, practice living that, and the Spirit will move powerfully and we will feel her joy.

And in the same way, we can practice living in communion with each other. You know, people will often tell me how much they enjoyed working on a WAC cooking team, or serving in the food pantry, or participating in some ministry here at church. They usually don’t use Spirit language to describe what they’re feeling, but that’s what’s happening: as they do something in union with others, they are experiencing the Spirit’s power and joy. And that’s one of the wonders of worshiping together. When we are together like we are right now, and we’re united in prayer, exchanging the peace with each other and sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ with one another, then even with all our individual personalities and differences, we are one in the Spirit, whose love is infinite and whose joy is beyond measure. If we do nothing else on this Pentecost Sunday, we should allow ourselves to see that and celebrate that.

And how will we express it? Well, that will vary from person to person. Some will do it exuberantly and loudly, others will do it quietly and softly. If we genuinely experience the truth, then we will find an authentic way to express that truth in our lives. The means of expression, though, are secondary. What matters most is experiencing the truth, and the truth is this: through the Holy Spirit of God, you and I are one: one with Christ, one with each other, one with all that is.