As preached by Sister Cecelia
Children of
Zion, be glad and rejoice in the Lord.
How much
more so are we to rejoice and be glad with the knowledge of God’s goodness to
us since that first Pentecost. We do not have to wait for the Holy Spirit to
come to us, because the Spirit is here now.
In the
Gospel this morning, we heard Jesus pleading with his listeners to come to him
and drink, meaning that they are to believe in Him and the Father God who had
sent Him. Jesus claimed that “Out of the
believer’s heart living water would flow.” Scripture says that this meant that
the Spirit would come to believers when Jesus was glorified.
I have
pondered what it could mean that Scripture has been translated to say that there
was no Spirit yet because Jesus was not glorified. I still don’t really
know what it means. We believe the
Spirit has always been, just as God and Jesus have always been—the Trinity,
from all eternity.
Jesus
appeared in many forms during the time from his Resurrection until his
Ascension. A possible explanation for no spirit yet is that Jesus in bodily
form had to leave so that we could more easily accept the bodiless Spirit
coming, not only to his immediate disciples at Pentecost, but to all of us who
have come to believe.
When we are
open to the Spirit, are we as courageous as the early Christians were? What
would make us as courageous? When we experience the Spirit within, we come to
the awareness of the oneness of everything that is. What unites everything is
the God that is within and without everything that is. It was Juliana of
Norwich, gazing at a hazel nut, who exclaimed that she could see the whole
world there.
We are much more prepared to understand this perplexing, awe-inspiring idea in a post- Einstein world—where energy is the one constant. We awaken to enjoy an entirely sacramental universe, and to recognize God’s image in all creatures, without exception. This transformation happens when we live in the now of our lives. When we allow the moment, the person, the idea, or the situation to influence us and even change us. We need quiet times and reflection to be changed. We need to be vulnerable enough to say “yes” when we sense what God is asking of us as Mary did to the Angel who gave God’s message to her.
It seems
God’s goal is always to be united. That is different from any personal
perfection, which is merely a goal of the ego that we might be striving for. Life lived fully and honestly always involves
joy and suffering, a path of little deaths that teach us to let go and to live
in the joy of divine union. Our ego must learn to become the servant instead of
the master, and even be willing to die for the sake of its union with the
Spirit, just as Jesus did on the cross.
When we are
capable of contemplation—non-dualistic thinking—we can forgive and accept our own
imperfections and those of the world around us. With a better understanding of
science and psychology, we see many new possibilities for spiritual growth and
human development. Growing up and waking up are both essential to be able to
attain wholeness and holiness.
When we are
open to the Spirit, we can be courageous to let this same Spirit guide us to an
ever more encompassing growing up and waking up.
Christ is in
our midst!
