A Promise Fulfilled

TEXT: Exodus 3: 1 - 12 and Acts 2:1:1 – 15

A burning bush
Tongues of fire

A promise made
A promise fulfilled

This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Moses could not believe his ears. What was this promise being made to him by The Holy One? How could this be so?

The crowd could not believe their ears. How could these people ... these followers of Jesus ... suddenly be speaking in foreign languages. These were not educated people. They were fishermen and vagabonds. While many were amazed at what was happening, others dismissed it. They must be drunk.

I love Peter's response. Drunk? We're not drunk. It's only 9 in the morning. Way too early for us to be drunk.

The promise of power, the promise that Jesus gave his followers before he disappeared behind a cloud ... this promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, the Jewish harvest festival celebrated fifty days after the celebration of freedom ... the celebration of the exodus from Egypt.

Was this power what the believers expected? Probably not. Maybe at this point they knew to not expect anything specific. But that the power of the Holy Spirit would manifest itself through glorifying God in languages of other countries, who would have imagined that? How strange.

Flames of fire flickered over each one as they spoke. Just like the flames in the bush that spoke to Moses did not consume the bush, so the flames that flickered on the day of Pentecost did not consume the believers.

The Holy Spirit has a different kind of power, and we share in it. We are not consumed by it.

Could it be that these flames do not consume us because they are tempered in their essence. Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit this way in the Gospel of John:

John 7:37 – 39 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, "Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.'" Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

The Holy Spirit, in her essence, is both fire and water. We are filled with rivers of living water and flickering flames of fire rest upon us. But wait, there's more!

John 20:19-22
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When Jesus had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

So the Holy Spirit is breath/air, water and fire. What element is left?

According to the story in Genesis 2:7 we are made from the earth itself. The Holy One, the Creator, formed the human "from the dust of the ground" We are the missing element. We, the earth, are filled with Holy Air, Holy Water, and Holy Fire.

We area not the simple creatures that we appear to be.

Too often we forget the gifts that we have been given – we forget the power that fills us. It is not a power that consumes. It is not a power that uses force to take. It is a power that creates. It is a power that gives life. It is a power that reaches out to people beyond our own ability to reach out. It is a power that confuses people because it does not consume. We have to explain it sometimes. It is also a power to explain itself.

This power is a gift to you and a gift you share. This power is a promise fulfilled.

We must remember that this is a balanced gift of fire, water, and air. We are the earth container of our Divine Beloved. If we just think of ourselves as filled with power, we go off in all kinds of crazy directions. This creation – this created world that we live in – gives us constant reminders of the wholeness of our gift. The Creator is pretty smart. Everywhere and with all of our senses, we can perceive the gift we have been given.

Refreshing water – we drink it, we wash with it, we swim in it
Fire – it heats us when we are cold, cooks our food, provides with light
Air – we breathe it to survive, a breeze feels good on our skin

And we know when there is imbalance in creation how damaging it can be.

Too much water, too much fire, too much wind ... all can prove damaging or even deadly.

This need for balance must not cause us to not allow ourselves to walk in our power. I believe we must walk in our power for there to be balance. Let the gift live and thrive in you ... in whatever specific way it has been given to you. When you release yourself to be the earthen container of the Holy Gifts, you will live like you have never lived before.

The promise has been offered. The promise has been fulfilled. It will not consume you, because in her essence the Holy Spirit is balanced.

Peace! Peace I leave with you. Not as the world gives peace. But peace in your soul to release the flow of the Holy Gifts.