Spiritwind
Scripture Reading
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
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. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
– Acts 2:1-4, NRSV
Reflection
I will never forget the early morning hours of September 22, 1989. I woke around 3:30 a.m. to the sound of wind like I had never heard before. It was Hurricane Hugo, blowing through Charlotte, where we lived, with winds of 70 – 100 miles per hour.
I went outside and stood on the front porch of our little house in awe of the sound. As the wind increased I could hear the loud cracks of large pine trees snapping in the powerful wind.
The hurricane brought our neighborhood together. We first went to the Jankowski’s house to clear a tree from their driveway. Fifty years earlier, Mr. Jankowski had been a Polish soldier who was captured by the invading Nazi army and sent to a concentration camp.
We crossed barriers of language, nationality, age, and life experience to serve this older couple who barely spoke English. The power of the wind enabled people who hardly knew each other to transcend our differences and become neighbors.
As told in Acts 2:1-21, the mystery and miracle of Pentecost was that the Holy Spirit enabled ordinary men and women from Galilee cross the most basic barrier of human difference to speak to people in their very own language. Crossing cultural barriers that separate people is something we all find hard to do. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we can open our hearts and minds to accept people who are not like us.
The blowing of the Spiritwind empowers followers of Jesus to be his presence to all people, to be his love across barriers of nation, race, lifestyle, and political opinions. The Spiritwind empowers us to have unity in the midst of human diversity. The Spiritwind unites, empowering us to be the presence of Christ in a world of differences. When the Spiritwind blows, all become one in Christ.
The Spiritwind blows anew each day, giving us the power to transcend all false boundaries of human culture. Through the power of the Spiritwind, we can choose to be open to different races and social groups. Through the Spiritwind we can reach out to others as the presence of Christ. Through the Spiritwind we can love all through the love of God.
The Spiritwind is blowing around us. Can you feel it in your heart?
May the Spirit in us enable us to cross boundaries and differences to be the presence of Christ for the world around us today.
Spiritual Practice
In what ways is the wind of the Spirit blowing in your life? What boundaries of difference can you cross to be the presence of Christ for another person? How is God calling you to cross a cultural barrier to turn a stranger into your neighbor?
Greg Smith, Director of Legacy Ministry, First Baptist Church Decatur