Fill me up!

There’s nothing that says “Summer Fun” quite like a humble beach ball.  For children, it was a big soft ball that even the smallest of toddlers might be able to play with as it was big and slow and quite soft compared to the hard red rubber balls that were used for endless games of dodgeball.

Beachballs were more durable than balloons, and could be used on land or in water.  They could be used for volleyball, or water polo, soccer, and if there was a hollow plastic bat, it could be used for a pick up game of baseball.  Mind you, no one over the age of 8 would be impressed with how far the ball might fly.  Even fully inflated, beach balls would never break windows or leave bruises after a hard game of soccer.  They couldn’t knock kids off their feet or break a tooth.  They were gentle and soft and caused no harm to their users.

But beachballs depended on someone having a good set of lungs.  Without having some serious air volume, the beach ball would eventually go soft and not be nearly as much fun, as bouncy, as responsive to the actions of younglings wanting to have a good game of catch.  The balls were only as good as their ability to keep air locked inside.  Sometimes they needed to be patched with some good old duct tape.

In our John reading, the gospel tells us of the first Easter Sunday experience, after Mary Magdaline found the tomb empty but before Thomas asked questions and got answers.  The disciples were deflated from the events of their beloved Rabbi’s crucifixion.  They had gone through immense trauma as they ran away or witnessed his humiliating treatment by the temple leadership in a secret trial at night. Some witnessed the state-sanctioned torture and execution by Roman law enforcers.  Never mind that the trial was unjust and the interrogation was done by a corrupt politician, the disciples felt like the wind had been knocked out of them.  They had lost their bounce and playfulness.  They were deep into depression and grief.  They were tired and traumatized.

Then Jesus appeared, greeted them with peace and breathed on them.  They were filled with joy!  Just like a beach ball that is pumped up to the brim, they were ready to bounce and have fun and spread joy.  They still were not ready to go out into Jerusalem to share their good news.  That’s where our Acts reading comes in.  Pentecost is a Hebrew festival 50 days after Passover that celebrates the first harvest of grain for the year.  Pente means 50.  What were the disciples doing for those 50 days? Luke described Jesus telling them to wait.  Wait until the Spirit let them know what’s next.  So they waited. For two months of questioning, conversation, experiences of the risen Christ, debates, decisions, praying and wondering what would be next. 

Waiting is not easy as anyone will tell you who has been pregnant or is waiting on the results of a biopsy.  Waiting is an uncertain time.  It can be stressful too in its own right.  People who rush too soon to decisions can find themselves dealing with unintended consequences, something we saw happen this week when a committee released their report to the public before they had even finished their meeting!

Waiting is hard.  Yet the disciples waited as Jesus asked.  They rested, they reminisced, maybe they planned a committee meeting or two. They prayed, they sang, they talked and they listened.  Then on that 50^th day, something happened that changed their world.  Wind and fire and God!

Things happen that change our world too.  Wind, and fire sweep into our lives unexpectedly.  10 years ago on Pentecost Sunday, Donnalee preached in Athabasca United Church with several folks from Fort McMurray United in attendance, which was the first time we did a joint worship together.  At that time, Athabasca omitted all references to Pentecost flames. We knew that this was a resting time, a waiting time for the whole city in exile, waiting until it was safe to return.  Even when the fires were out, more waiting happened, waiting to hear if their homes had been spared, and how they would rebuild.  No one had the time or the energy to bounce back.  They lost more than homes and possessions, they lost any sense of order, security and stability they might once have had.

Now much of the world also feels like it has lost stability and predictability.  We hear news of politicians making confusing decisions, building ballrooms while people struggle to pay the bills, plans to round up unhoused people and force them into detention centres, plans to change AISH and plans to hold a vote on whether to hold a vote on separatism. No plans whatsoever to repair the loss of privacy for millions of Albertans.

They are rushing to make decisions which will have unintended consequences.  Do these decisions have the ability to restore our bounce?  To help us feel joyful?  To give us space to be playful, loving, hopeful and kind?  Somehow, I doubt it.

Time and time again, Christians have lived in chaotic seasons of political instability.  They have lived through seasons of plague, times of persecution, years of drought or famine, decades of war or oppression.  They turned to God in their distress, turned to deep spirituality through reading the bible, praying with words and without words, remembering hymns that encourage them, and sharing stories of times when God filled them with hope, love and yes, even joy in the midst of terrors.  They have waited for Jesus and been sustained in a community of broken but hopeful believers practicing deep spirituality together.  They have found inspiration that has filled them up until they are able to not just survive but thrive and encourage others to thrive.  We are living in such times again.

We wait, we pray, we sing, we share, we gather together to be inspired and to inspire others.  Sometimes we wait quietly, sometimes we wait joyfully.  And we wait together to find God’s breath filling us up until we are able to love and serve others, seek justice and resist evil, and proclaim Jesus crucified and risen.  In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is filling us with love and hope and joy.  May God restore the bounce in our step and inspire us to thrive in these times with wisdom and compassion. Amen