Spirit-Breath of God, by Rev. Frank Schaefer

At the original Pentecost event something extraordinary was reported to have happened to the disciples of Christ. Something changed them from the inside out and there were even descriptions of a physical manifestation such as tongues of fire and a miracle of language.

The two most common words used for spirit in the Bible are the Hebrew ruach and the Greek pneuma. Ruach means breath, air; wind; breeze; and spirit among others

The idea that "wind," "breath" and "spirit" are so closely related that they share the same word may seem strange to modern people, however, this explains a lot of things. For instance, when God breathed into Adam's nostril he became a living being (Gen 2:12). The breath of God is the very spirit that animates human beings.

Ruach is also the word used in Ezekiel 37 which describes the resurrection of an army of men slain in the desert....full manuscript

More Sermons:

• With Open Hearts John 7:37-39, Rev. Randy Quinn  (see below)
   
• Surprised by the Spirit, Numbers 11:24-30 and Acts 2:1-21, Richard Gehring

• Tuning Up to God's Spirit! Acts 2:1-20, by Rev. Frank Schaefer

• What Language Shall We Use? Acts 2 by T. Hall

• Of Dreams and Visions, Acts 2, by F. Schaefer  

• What Do We Do When the Spirit Starts Messing With our Worship? Acts 2, by T. Hall

• Breaking Down the Walls in the Name of Christ, Acts 2:1-21, Rev. Frank Schaefer

• It doesn't have to be noisy,  Acts 2:1-20, annonymous

• What language shall we use?  Acts 2:1-21, by Thomas Hall

• Using the Gifts of God, Acts 2:1-21,  by Rick Mason

• A Little Piece of Pentecost,  Acts 2:1-21, Brad Hall

• Experiencing God  Acts 2:1-21, by Sue in Cuba, KS
• Expecting the Unexpected, Acts 2:1-21, Rev. Dr. Cynthia Huling Hummel

• Tuning up to God's Spirit Acts 2:1-20, by Rev. Frank Schaefer

• Dreaming Along the Margins, Acts 2:1-21, by Rev. Cindy Weber

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With Open Hearts
John 7:37-39
Rev. Randy Quinn

We take water for granted. Even when we go through dry spells and droughts, we assume there will be water available. None of us – not a one of us – have experienced life without water. (I know that, because we can’t live without water, and we’re all alive – we may be sleeping, but we’re still breathing.)

How many of you can remember drinking out of a cistern, though? (I’m sure some of the older people will remember that.) It was before my time, but I know there was a day – before deep drilling wells and before rural water districts – when the primary sources for water were rainfall and rivers. Rainwater was collected – in barrels or cisterns – and used for most daily functions. Farm ponds were created to collect rainwater in areas where there was no river.

But river water is what most of the settlers looked for. The earliest and largest settlements were along the banks of rivers. New York City was founded on the Hudson River. Washington, DC, is along the Potomac. Closer to home, we know Kansas City, St. Joseph, and White Cloud are on the banks of the Missouri. The older the city, the more likely it is to be near water.

Wells provide a substitute source of water, but we don’t often think about the difficulty entailed in digging wells prior to the development of more modern engineering equipment. We now use all kinds of test equipment to determine the best place to drill, and then use power equipment to push a pipe to the source of the water so we can pump it up to the surface.

But what if you weren’t sure where the water was?
What if you had to dig the well by hand?
How deep would you dig before you gave up?

As often as we hear stories in the scriptures about people meeting at town wells, it’s easy to forget that in much of the ancient world they were really quite remarkable. They reflected a combination of careful observation and determination to locate and then dig a well in the arid environment of the Middle East.

Rivers are easy to find. Wells are not so obvious. So imagine the surprise when Moses simply struck a rock and water flowed out of it (Ex. 17:6)!

Partially in commemoration of that story, the people of Israel gathered in tents during the festival of Succoth. A part of their celebration included bringing water from the wells and pools and cisterns and splashing it at the base of the altar. It was an offering of a precious commodity, but it was also a reminder of the time when God was able to cause water to flow out of the rock.

Every day, for seven days, they repeated the ritual. And on the last day, “the great day,” they splashed two buckets of water on the altar instead of one. Seeing that event, remembering the stories that were being commemorated that week, Jesus offers an invitation. In words reminiscent of Isaiah, he says, “Come to me you who are thirsty, and I will quench your thirst” (Jn. 7:37; see Is. 55:1).

He turns the imagery around. Rather than thinking about water being splashed on the rock, Jesus reminds them of the water that flows from the rock. Rather than seeing the people making an offering to God, he speaks of a gift God is making to us!

I have to confess to you, that this is the way I see and experience the work of our Annual Conference. I know some pastors who dread our time together; I also know some lay folks who think of it as a burden. They see it as a time and a place when our precious commodities of time and money are thrown against an altar in a different city.

But I have long seen it in terms Bishop Jones referred to when we began this year, as a spiritual discipline, an exercise in holy conferencing as we listen and learn and discern what God is doing in our midst. When I go, I find myself receiving blessings when we meet together.

For me, it’s a time of refreshment – especially through the worship services and conversations taking place during the sessions of Annual Conference. Often those conversations take place “at the edges” of the conference during meals and in the parking lots. This year was no exception to that – even though I spent most of Friday running to Topeka for hospital visits. [continue]