Holy Spirit, Breathe on Me

April 7, 2013            

John 20:19-31

Prayer

Today in our gospel reading we have 2 separate stories.

One… is a familiar story of a doubtful Thomas, which is most often preached on the Sunday after Easter. In the doubting Thomas story we often tend to vilify Thomas as a sub-par believer, then transfer that over to those of us who doubt or at the very least have little faith. The truth is… all of Jesus’ friends have been documented as doubting and at varying times were faithless… this is simply Thomas’ turn in the lime-light. Remember Peter’s infamous, “I will never deny you, Jesus” words? Of course Peter is the poster child of doubt.  All of them doubted… All of them could be considered cowards at various times during Jesus’ ministry. One reason why the doubting Thomas story gets more press is because it more than some other stories is a pretty close reflection of us.

The other story… which by the way is probably a more empowering and positive story, but often missed, by what Jesus says before and after the Thomas story. Many scholars believe this is John’s Pentecost story of the coming of the Holy Spirit.

-       Vs 21… Jesus greets his friends in the upper room saying, “I’m sending you, just as the Father has sent me.” Then he breathed on them saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

-       Then… in Vs 29… Jesus closes by saying, “You have faith because you have seen. The people who have faith without seeing are the ones who are really blessed.”

This isn’t the first time Jesus talks about the coming Spirit. One example In John 16 Jesus talks about sending an “advocate” or “helper” to his disciples. This Spirit will empower them to go out and share the Good News. The empowering Spirit will help them keep the faith, encourage them, help them over-come fears, and to help them participate in God’s on-going work in the world. By breathing on them Jesus is giving his friends God’s “Ruach” literally meaning “God’s Breath”… and this term is used only one other time in the bible found in Gen 2:7 when God breathed life into Adam. This is significant for John because Spirit or Breath means life for John.

How do We See?

Thomas and his friends had to see in order to believe.

-       So the question for us is How Do We See?

-       How do we come to believe?

-       Where has Jesus showed you his hands, feet, and side?

I want to suggest that how we see is by that of the Holy Spirit. What I believe John to be saying is, “The Holy Spirit opens our eyes through the sharing of the Good News by others.” In other words… the Holy Spirit empowers people to believe through the good news, then shares that with another, who shares the good news with others, and they share, and so on and so on… down to us.

Those Empowered with the Holy Spirit

How do we see? By those empowered with the Holy Spirit. As the Good News of Jesus is shared with us the Holy Spirit is breathed upon us thru those who have witnessed to us thus empowering us to share and witness the Good News to others. By doing this we keep the story of Jesus alive… we keep the Holy Spirit active… and God’s workings in the world moving.

In Ted Harrison’s book, “Elvis People: The Cult of the King” Ted states, “The difference between faith in Elvis and faith in Christ is the story keeping the spirit alive and the spirit keeping the story alive. As long as the story of Elvis is promoted and marketed, as long as people remember, then the spirit of Elvis will continue. With Jesus it is the spirit which keeps the story alive. The story would not live without the gift of the Holy Spirit. That Christ is more than a memory. He is a spirit presence with us. And as long as the spirit is with us, the story will continue to live.”
--As quoted in Ted Harrison's, Elvis People: The Cult of the King, (London: HarperCollins, 1992), 182-183.

So… How do you see Jesus?.... How do you have faith?... The Holy Spirit!!

The Holy Spirit breathes life into our dry and dusty lives and gives new life. There’s a story in OT from the prophet Ezekiel about dry bones in a desert. Israel has turn far from God and the prophet speaks about judgment. Even though Israel has dried up and become nothing but bones and dust… Ezekiel preaches Good News that God will breathe new life into the dry bones. 

There’s a story where dryness is deep down in our bones. A dryness that won't go away. A thirst that cannot be quenched. Some try sipping from false streams, the polluted rivers of power, possessions, sex, drugs, alcohol, music, religion, hobbies. Nothing we reach for, nothing within our grasp, can touch this eternal thirst. Who will preach to our bones? Who will breathe life into them?

Can these dry, dead, lifeless bones of ours rise to life? We must know. We must be sure. The answer is yes, these bones will live. In Jesus who died and rose, these bones can live. They live by his Word and his Spirit. Jesus' words are Spirit, and they are life. If God's Word and Spirit can raise a valley of dry, dead bones, imagine what he can do with us Lutherans, with this congregation, with each one of us!
-Web page of Holy Trinity Sermons, Hacienda Heights, Pentecost 1997.

 See You Out on the Road