A New Song Birthed in Fire

May 23, 2021 • Pentecost Sunday
Reading: Psalm 98 (adapted from The Inclusive Bible)
Rev. Jeff Wells

[You can view the video recording of this message at Facebook.com/churchofthevillage/videos.]

The world is on fire! – at least it feels that way. The Amazon basin is burning. There are wildfires in large swaths of Australia and the West Coast of the U.S. Glaciers and the polar caps are rapidly melting. And, of course, smaller fires from civil and international conflicts, with their attendant death and destruction, seem never ending. Observing and experiencing all that we are facing right now can be very discouraging and frightening. Yet, could it be that what appears merely as destruction actually represents the death rattle of old systems and the birth pangs of a new world being born? Of course, we do not live in a binary world, so any either/or response won’t suffice. The truth is we are experiencing both destruction and creation at the same time. 

Today is Pentecost Sunday – the day the church was born. This is a big day in the Christian calendar and in Christian spirituality. On Pentecost, we recall that the followers of Jesus, after his death and resurrection, were touched and transformed by the Spirit of God. The author of the Acts of the Apostles compared the experience to being touched with something like “tongues of flame.” It was a Spirit fire!

After this dramatic experience, the followers of Jesus felt the Spirit so strongly that it led them to form a new spiritual movement, to walk a new pathway, to sing a new song. This new movement immediately attracted many new followers and all of them, too, were touched and inspired by the Spirit of God. Soon, instead of 100 or so, there were thousands. 

The word “inspired” means to be “filled with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.” At a more basic level, it means, “to breathe in.” Jesus’ disciples and those who join them had breathed in the Spirit. 

I hope you noticed, in our main image today, the Phoenix rising from the ashes. The Phoenix is an ancient mythological bird. It’s feathers were bright red and gold and it was said to live for 500 years or more. At the end of its life, it always died in a fire and, depending on the version of the story, the bird either rose again or a new Phoenix was born from the ashes. This mythical bird is associated with both destruction and creation as well as death and resurrection. 

Today, we are going through a kind of death of the old Christianity. The Spirit is, again, touching millions of people with its fire and calling us to participate in the birth of a new church. As Methodists, we are familiar with the birth of something new out of the old, because our movement was founded that way – as a movement for spiritual revival within the Church of England. The movement ended up birthing a new denomination. Today, the church needs and, I believe is going through, another rebirth – a rebirth necessary for the church to survive and to reach people with what is needed for our current context.

We are also witnessing the slow and painful death of our current civilization – of our past and current ways of being in society. So, God’s Spirit is calling all of humanity to participate in the birth of a new world, a new ecological civilization. This must be a very different sort of civilization than humanity has ever seen before. If we are to survive, humanity will have to birth ways of living that center the common good, the needs of people over corporations and institutions. We have to learn to live in harmony with the ecological systems in which we exist. We will have to open our bodies, minds, and spirits to breathe in the Divine Spirit of God so that the Spirit can lead us to discover new pathways to the flourishing of our spiritual communities along with all humanity, all creatures, and the whole natural world.

This Spirit of God is available not just to Christians, but to Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists – in fact, to all people, including those who do not believe the Spirit exists. The Holy Spirit is not the sole possession of human beings. The Spirit moves through all the living and inanimate parts of creation.

We cannot continue to live in the “old ways.” The Spirit is lighting a fire in us. It is a fire of thirst for love of neighbor, a passion for justice, a fire for creating a new world that works for the flourishing of all. While there are powerful forces working against this, there are also millions, perhaps billions, of people who are feeling a profound desire to bring this new world into being.

It is no accident that the Spirit of God is often represented by fire. The Spirit can awaken our fire for love and our fiery passion for justice, peace, equity, and the common good. I believe it is that Spirit that moved millions across the globe into the streets after the murder of George Floyd last year. It is that same Spirit that causes people to rise up in resistance to war, military repression, exploitation, impoverishment, and all manner of oppression. The Spirit is inspiring large movements around the world to confront governments over their dangerous lack of action to confront and reverse climate change. 

You might be asking yourself, “Do we have to go through fire to get to the kin-dom of God?” Why can’t we just make incremental changes and reformed to the church and society we already have? I would argue that the negative aspects of so many of our old systems are so entrenched and embedded that they cannot be extracted or changed without death and new birth. As novelist, Octavia Butler, put it, “In order to rise from its own ashes, a phoenix first must burn.” 

We should remember forest fires are a natural part of healthy forests. They help prevent more destructive wildfires and also clear the way for new growth. My hope and prayer is for life-giving fires that make way for us to rise from the ashes. God’s Spirit wants to lure us toward life in all of its glory and abundance. Toward the common good. Toward the kin-dom. 

And the truth is we don’t have much time left. Nor, can we separate birthing a new church from confronting climate change or dismantling white supremacy or promoting peace. They are all tied together. I’m not saying we all have to be involved in every aspect or do it all ourselves, but we have to see the connections and be part of letting go of or even destroying the old and also part of birthing the new. Friends, we are living through dangerous times, yet this is also a time of great opportunity. Can we experience a new Pentecost? If we can, I believe the Spirit can summon in us the courage, resilience, and the will to venture through the flames and we can arise on the other side with the birth of a new church, a new social order, a new humanity.   

We need to be touched and infused with a revolutionary spirit grounded in love. As the old Christian folk song says: 

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity will one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love

The challenges we face will require a level of commitment and sacrifice that has not been required of most of us before. As individuals, we each have a role to play and, joined together, our church community has a role to play, together with many allies and accomplices. 

Remember what occurred in the aftermath of the church’s Pentecost birthday. A new community was formed in a spirit of revolutionary love. Let me read again the way the Book of Acts describes it: 

The community continually committed themselves to learning what the apostles taught them, gathering for fellowship, breaking bread, and praying. Everyone felt a sense of awe…. There was an intense sense of togetherness among all who believed; they shared all their material possessions in trust. They sold any possessions and goods that did not benefit the community and used the money to help everyone in need. They were unified as they worshiped at the temple day after day. In homes, they broke bread and shared meals with glad and generous hearts. The new disciples praised God, and they enjoyed the goodwill of all the people of the city. Day after day, God added to their number everyone who was experiencing liberation.

We are building that kind of community and birthing that kind of church. The Spirit of God inspires and empowers us to enter into the destruction and the creation, the death and the resurrection, that will be needed to survive and thrive. My hope is for nothing less than that all of us can take the Spirit fire into ourselves and let God use us to bring forth God’s vision of a reborn church and a flourishing of our planet for all living beings.

In just a moment, together and individually, we will have an opportunity to accept the Spirit fire and recommit ourselves to the work of singing a new song, birthing a new church, and offering our minds, bodies, and spirits to create a new world. Let’s listen now to a song that is actually a prayer to God to summon our commitment and use our gifts. 

Take, O Take Me As I Am

Take, o take me as I am. 
Summon out what I shall be. 
Set your seal upon my heart, 
and live in me.

Pastor Jeff:  Let’s take a moment to commit ourselves to this work of 
singing a new song birthed out of fire and ashes. 

We face huge challenges that will demand from us a level of commitment and sacrifice
most of us have never experienced. As individuals, we each have an important role to play.
As a community of faith, love, and justice, we become more than the sum of our parts as we combine our individual gifts and energies, along with many allies and accomplices, to work together with God to build a new world. 

Pastor Jeff:   Friends, will you open yourself to the Spirit of God to ignite a fire of passion in you for allowing the old to die and assisting in birthing a new world?
All: We will. 

Pastor Jeff:   Like the first Christians, will you continually commit yourselves to learning, gathering for fellowship, breaking bread, praying, caring for one another and our neighbors?All: We will.

 Pastor Jeff:   Will you follow the Spirit’s leading as we strive together to love extravagantly, practice radical inclusivity, promote just social relations, and undermine systems that diminish living beings and destroy ecological systems?
All: We will.

 Pastor Jeff:  Let us pray: 
Evolving and Creating God, lead and inspire us to birth a new kind of church. 
Break us open to take the Spirit’s fire into ourselves. Use us to bring forth your vision of a reborn church and a flourishing planet for all living beings.
All: Amen.

Copyright © 2021 Jeff Wells
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