The Spirit Breaks Down Locked Doors - Pentecost & Pride - June 5, 2022
Acts 2:1-21
Deborah Laforet
The Spirit Breaks Through Locked Doors
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by your Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
Have you ever been locked in a room? Have you ever felt trapped? Have you ever hidden behind locked doors because you felt yourself to be in danger? Many of us have lived privileged lives and have never been in fear for our lives, but I think we’d be surprised at how many of us have felt unsafe, either as children, as women, as people of colour, because of our sexual orientation or gender identity, for just being who we are.
On June 28, 1969, members of the gay community gathered to protest against the police raids at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village in New York city. They were tired of hiding. They were tired of the police raiding their safe spaces. There were more protests the next evening and again several nights later, and within weeks, Village residents demanded the right to live their sexual orientation and gender identity openly, without fear of being arrested. A year after the uprising, to mark the anniversary, on June 28, 1970, the first gay pride marches took place in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. Since that time, pride events and marches or parades have been held annually in June in honour of the resistance in Stonewall.
Throughout history, people have hidden from oppression and discrimination. Sometimes they have found a physical location to hide. Other times, they have changed their appearance, or their name, or they’ve learned to conform, or they move far away, looking for a safe place to live their lives.
Then there are those who decide to quit hiding, who decide that they would rather risk their lives to be free and open. Sometimes it’s because they are angry. Sometimes it’s because they want justice. Other times, it’s because they’re just tired of hiding. Whatever the reason, something wells up within them. Some might say they had no other choice; they had to fight or something within them would die. They stand up for themselves and for their loved ones. Sometimes they are heard and other times they are trampled and silenced.
Today we read a story about the followers of Jesus after his death. We heard that they were all gathered in one place. In the gospel of John, we are told that they were in a room with the doors locked, for fear. Jesus, their leader, had just been killed by the Roman Empire, given over to them by Jewish authorities, who saw him as a threat. What did that mean for the followers of Jesus? Would they be next?
The Jewish people had been conquered and ruled over by other nations for thousands of years before the time of Jesus and his disciples, beginning with the Assyrians and then the Babylonians. In Jesus’ time, their land was occupied by the Roman Empire. Over the years, the Jewish people had rebelled, again and again, but the more powerful military oppressors put them down, over and over again. They must have felt anger. They must have cried for justice. They must have felt tired of being subjugated and put down.
After Jesus’ death, after the disciples who followed him had abandoned him, after they locked themselves up in a room, hiding from authorities, Jesus appeared to them. These scared, runaway disciples experienced the risen Christ. He came to them and to others, showed them the wounds in his feet and his hands, shared bread and fish with them, and showed them that death was not the end, that new life always triumphs over forces of death. Jesus also told them that he would leave them, but that the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, would soon be with them.
The story we heard today was about that arrival. The Holy Spirit welled up within them. The Holy Spirit gave them voice and pushed them out of that room. The Holy Spirit helped them to know that it was time to stop running and continue the work of Jesus. No more hiding behind closed doors. No more waiting in fear. It was time to go out into the world, to share Jesus’ message of non-violence, peace, and justice for all people.
Have you ever felt the Spirit in you, pushing you to do something you’d rather not do or that fills you with fear? How many of you have taken risks because something inside was telling you this needed to be done, that you needed to take action for yourself, for someone you love, for the world? You knew you couldn’t be silent anymore; you knew that you could not be still anymore; you knew that doing nothing was no longer an option.
The Spirit affects us in many ways. Sometimes we experience the Spirit as a comfort, as an assuring presence when we are in need or feel alone.. Sometimes we experience the Spirit as a guide, a source of wisdom, when we are confused and searching. On Pentecost Sunday though, we celebrate another aspect of the Spirit. We use symbols like fire to represent passion and chaos, and wind to symbolize changes of direction and unexpected turns. This Spirit pushes us into places we had no intention of going. This Spirit knows what is needed and forces us to open our eyes to that need. This Spirit gives us voice to power. This Spirit brings the unexpected and opens up unimagined possibilities. This Spirit can be scary. This Spirit can be exciting. Like fire, like wind, you just never know where it’s going to take you.
When I marched in the Black Lives Matter protest in Burlington, two summers ago, I felt that Spirit, angry and justice-filled. When I stood with others for a climate crisis protest, I felt the Spirit, bringing hope amidst despair. When I attend Pride parades, I feel the Spirit, bringing a voice to those silenced, and bringing fun where there is hurt. I never imagined I’d be a part of these events, but the Spirit takes us to unexpected places, new directions, sometimes with a risk of danger, but always with the promise of new life.
Next week, Dave Harder from Trinity Centres Foundation will join us after worship to explore where the Spirit might be taking St Paul’s. He’s going to share stories of other churches where the Spirit took them in new directions. It is not expected that we will imitate these examples, but that we might hear the stories, be inspired, and be open to where the Spirit might take us.
This aspect of the Spirit can be scary. I can’t imagine the disciples, even with the Spirit filling them, didn’t feel fear as they walked out into the open, into Jerusalem, to preach the good news of Jesus. I can’t imagine that those who walk in Pride marches or Black Lives Matters protests don’t feel fear as they walk amidst people who might want to harm them. Even faith communities who make big changes, sometimes face the ire of their community or their own members who don’t want change and who are happy the way things are.
Today we celebrate this Spirit. We wear read, we blow fans, we talk about fire and wind. Today we celebrate Pride, displaying rainbows and reinforcing our public, intentional, and explicit work towards creating a place to which everyone can be safe, be brave, and belong. Today, we celebrate the movement of the Spirit and where the Spirit might take us next, knowing that we have to want to be moved, that we have the power to say yes to the Spirit, or no, I’m not ready. What do you say? Are you ready? Are we ready?
May God be our source of strength and resilience. May Christ be our source of wisdom and inspiration. May the Spirit never let us become too comfortable, offering comfort when comfort is needed, pushing us when we need to be pushed, bringing us closer to world of peace and justice, God’s kin-dom on earth. May it be so. Amen.