Pentecost(es) (B) + The Presence of the Lord is here + 5.24.15

(Thanks Anthony Guillen+ for the photo!)

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Acts 2:1-21; Ps. 104:25-35, 37; Romans 8:22-27; John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15)

“Es mejor para Ustedes que yo me vaya.” “It is to your advantage that I go away (John 16:7).” What? This is perhaps the least sensible sentence that Jesus says in the whole of the gospels. ¿Que quiere decir Jesús aquí, “es mejor que se vaya?” No hace sentido.

In fact, in the Acts passage of today, you don’t immediately see what Jesus meant. They are in the upper room, trying to be faithful. Todos están en Jerusalén para el festival de Pentecostés, para celebrar cuando recibió Moisés los diez mandamientos. Everyone but everyone is in Jerusalem for the Festival of Weeks or Pentecost, which commemorates when Moses received the Ten Commandments.[1]
And the Spirit decides to put on a show. Primero solo están incluidos los discípulos pero por lo milagroso de lo que pasa todos alrededor se dan cuenta y congregan allí cerca de la casa donde están los discípulos. The crowd is drawn to this miraculous occurrence. They can all hear, and understand! Aunque son del este y del oeste, ¡se entiendan!

But in the moment—fear, disorientation. This is not a calm moment. Este no es un momento calmado, pero un momento turbulento, de mucha agitación. A moment of complete dis-orientation.[2]

Where do we feel this dis-orientation today? Hoy creo que más escuchamos de sentir este sentido de desorientación cuando escuchamos hablar de la situación con el medio ambiente. This past Tuesday I was at a graduation at which the speaker spoke about the environment, and how although God has entrusted it to our care, we have created a situation which could well be catastrophic. Algunos piensan que hemos creado una situación que puede resultar en un catástrofe. Vemos la extinción de muchos animales, pero a veces sentimos sin poder de hacer nada. We feel powerless to do much about it. But the speaker suggested that part of what happened was that we humans, faced with the option of being dinosaur snacks, began to act as if our existence was not interconnected with everything else that lives on the planet. En existir como si no fuéramos conectados con todo ser viviente en el planeta, sobrevivimos de un estilo darwiniano, y así logramos no ser solamente unas meriendas de los dinosauros. We have survived in a sort of Darwinian fashion by dominating the earth rather than coexisting with it. En nuestra dominación dijo él que hemos vivido como si fuera mentira una verdad integral al universo: que todo ser viviente vive en interdependencia uno con el otro. And the speaker suggested that the way to get ourselves out of this mess is to build community.[3]
Su sugerencia fue que la manera de salir de esta situación es construir comunidad. Porque las corporaciones no van a hacer cambios por sí mismos. He suggested that corporations sure won’t make the change in and of themselves, as it is not in their self-interest, but communities can be built to advocate for a world that cares not only for other animals but other people. Let us not imagine that the plight of those on ships in the ocean in Asia is only about politics and economics and has nothing to do with environmental causes. El medio ambiente afecta a los seres humanos también, así que cuidar de él es también cuidar de las personas vulnerables en diferentes partes del mundo.

I read an article in the Episcopal News about just this, how we can respond as people of faith to the climate crisis,[4] and interestingly, one person responded that he hoped the church would have time to return to the work of spreading the Gospel. Una persona, escuchando hablar de estos temas, pensó de deberíamos regresar al trabajo de predicar el evangelio. And in fact, our collect, or prayer of the day, makes it clear that when we receive the Spirit of God, that is how we should respond.
But what is the good news?
Perhaps it is that the Spirit, who as we see in Romans, is very conscious of the groans of creation, and of our groans, too deep for words, will hear us. El Espíritu Santo está consciente de los dolores de la creación, y de nuestros gemidos que no puedan expresarse en palabras. And really, we can’t express our concerns in words well, because we are at a loss with what is going on in creation. But the Spirit intercedes, to those sighs, with those sighs, working in and through our disorientation to move us to God’s work in the world. Es en este momento de desorientación, de cambio que el Espíritu puede entrar y trabajar en y por nosotros.

This is why Jesus says she is such a good thing, the Spirit. Esto es porque Jesús sugiere que queremos que él vaya, que parezca el opuesto de lo que queremos. He suggests that, even though it feels like the opposite of what we want or need.

Because in Jesus Christ’s departure, his Spirit can be sent, and She fills us with that power. Ella nos llena con su poder. She fills us to the brim. Y, si la dejamos, este Espíritu nos puede mostrar cómo hacemos. She may show us what do to do.
Because She is conspiring in our favor. Porque ella conspira en nuestro favor. Si servimos a Dios. If we are serving God.

Growing up, I had a quote about that on my wall, a loose translation of something Paulo Coelho said in The Alchemist, “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.” “Y cuando quieres algo, todo el universo conspira para que lo logras.” This is a great statement of optimism, but I think St. Paul’s corrective in Romans is helpful. San Pablo dice que “sabemos que Dios dispone todas las cosas para el bien de quienes lo aman, a los cuales él ha llamado de acuerdo con su propósito” (Romanos 8:28). St. Paul says that “We know that all things work together for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).” Y lo que me gusta aquí es el idea de que tenemos que servir el propósito de Dios. That is to say, we have to be about serving God’s purpose for all things to work together for our good.

And we know that a central part of our purpose, as outlined in our creation story in Genesis, is to be stewards, or carers, of creation. Es el propósito de Dios que cuidamos su creación. El Espíritu Santo conspira en nuestro favor. The Holy Spirit is conspiring in our favor, and in creation’s favor. And the good news is that, with the Spirit, we will get there. Encontramos una manera de cuidar al planeta, pero solamente con su ayuda del Espíritu y solamente en comunidad.

In community, and with the Spirit’s help, we have a hope of caring for creation.

“You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; and so you renew the face of the earth.

Envías tu Espíritu y son creados; así renuevas la faz de la tierra” (S. 104:31).

The Presence of the Lord is here.
Can you feel it in the atmosphere?[5]
Amen.

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[1] Frank L. Crouch, “Commentary on Acts 2:1-21,” Pentecost (B), https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2457.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Joseph Lyons, “Commencement Address,” Claremont School of Theology, May 19, 2015.

[4] Lynette Wilson, “Reclaiming climate change as a moral issue,” http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/03/30/reclaiming-climate-change-as-a-moral-issue/.

[5] Fran McKendree, “The Presence of the Lord is Here,” Awake.