At all times and places

from my message on Pentecost, May 19, 2013, from Acts 2;1-21

Manuel.  His name is Manuel.   I met him at Jireh house a couple of weeks ago.  Jireh house is a Methodist mission in the midst of a huge apartment complex called Cassiano Homes, on the south side of San Antonio.  Imagine this:  Methodists  having a presence right in the middle of a pocket of poverty.  There are 499 units in the complex.  One of them is the home of Jireh house.  Jireh is from Jehovah Jireh, or "the Lord provides."

I was at Jireh House because the group of 12 pastors who are in route to becoming ordained had wanted to do a mission project there.  I am their spiritual director.  Usually as a mission project, we build something, like a house.  This time, we were building relationships and trust.  We went to Jireh house to do 3 things:  play games with the neighborhood children, sort clothes for the clothes closet, and distribute flyers about the clothes closet being open on the next day.

Before we went out, we heard testimonies from some of the people who had been helped by Jireh House.  The director, Ms. Vega, is a dynamo.  She has health problems, and is getting on up in years, but she is the angel behind Jireh House.  It has been her baby since 1995.  The first one to give witness was Manuel. I will share it in a moment.  Others spoke.  Esperanza whose name means "hope," said, "yesterday, I had no hope.  My husband is in prison.  I keep coming back here, because they are my family."  Monica said, "I came first to get clothes from the clothes closet.  Now I run the clothes closet."  Daniel said, "I'm not too good with words.  I've been in prison 3 times.  Now I am a changed person."  Most of them were Hispanic.  Ed was white.  He said, "I was a CPA with one of the big 4 firms.  My job was outsourced.  I lost the house, the 2 fancy cars, nearly lost my family.  We moved to San Antonio to be with my wife's family.  We came first for the food bank.  Now we come for the spiritual food."  Manuel, the first one to speak, said, "I grew up in the projects.  LIfe was hard.  I've been to jail.  I've been on drugs.  Now I've been sober for 1 1/2 years.  My wife is about to graduate from nursing school in 2 weeks."  I would have gone to Jireh House for the testimonies alone.

Manuel were partners in the mission project.  We were passing out flyers announcing the clothes closet would be open the next day.  You could take all you wanted.  There would be a free lunch afterwards.

You may be asking, What does this have to do with Pentecost?  On that day, they were all together, and all heard them speaking in their own language.  Do you hear the list of nations?  It reminded me of an article I read nearly 20 years ago, given to me by one of my ministry friends.  The article said something quite remarkable.  I found reference to it this past week in a foot note from one of the commentaries I was reading.  It said that in the list of nations named, not all of them existed at the time that Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles.  I am glad that you  laugh at that.  It's pretty funny.  LUke is trying to make a theological point.  The Holy Spirit comes at all times and places.  You can look it up.  Parthians and Elamites had already faded from the scene when Luke wrote.  The Cretans and Arabs are peoples, not nations.  Luke is trying to say that the Spirit won't be located in just one time and place, but will penetrate all times and places.

So the Spirit that was hovering over the face of the waters of creation in Genesis 1 is the same Spirit blowing across our lives today.  The Spirit that literally inspired the prophets, when they said, "The Spirit of the Lord came upon me," is the same Spirit inspiring us today.  The fire in the burning bush that Moses encountered in the Sinai desert is the same fire burning in us today.  The fire that was in Jeremiah, when he said, "If I do not preach the word of the Lord, it is like a fire in my bones," is the same fire burning within us today.  The Holy Spirit won't be domesticated.  The Holy Spirit leaps over all of our barriers of time and space.

I have been to the Holy Land 3 times.  It is a wonderful pilgrimage.  It is like reading the fifth gospel.  I remember the first time I went. I wrote in my journal.  "I went to see the Holy Land.  I found that the Holy Land is wherever I am."  Holy Spirit comes at all times and places.  If you want a good definition for the Holy Spirit, here it is, the presence of God in every present moment, in every place.

So Ms. Vega is full of the Holy Spirit on the south side of San Antonio in the midst of government housing.  She said, "I don't have your education.  I get my wisdome from God." 

Manuel is full of the Holy Spirit.  We were passing out leaflets advertising the clothes closet.  We started by knocking on doors.  Not many people were home in the middle of the afternoon.  We saw children gettng out of school.  We saw parents picking them up.  We started approaching the parents with our leaflets.  Guess who had more street cred?  Me, middle aged white guy in an Aggie hat?  Or Manuel, young Hispanic, in his baggy shorts, with high top shoes unlaced, sports jersey, and jauntily tilted cap?  Manuel was so much more effect in that time and place.  So are you.  You can go so many more places and times than I can.  Where is the Holy Spirit calling you to witness? 

The good news is that the Holy Spirit comes in all times and places.