"Flames of Fire"

(The following is a transcript of yesterday's Pentecost episode of"Godspell")

“Flames as of Fire”

Live from Lynn, it’s “Godspell”.

Hello, this is Fr Paul Bresnahan. I’m a priest of the Episcopal Church.

Welcome back to “Godspell”: a time to spell it out.

Who is God, and how is God involved in our lives?

“Godspell” is a nice old English word for the Gospel or, what I call, the language of God, the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Silence

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

The Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

The Collect: 

Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Acts 2:1-21

1 When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5 Now there were devout people from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:17 “In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
   and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
   and your old men shall dream dreams.18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
   in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
     and they shall prophesy.19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
   and signs on the earth below,
     blood, and fire, and smoky mist.20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
   and the moon to blood,
     before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

“Flames of Fire”

It was Thursday, April 4, 1968. I was in Harlem interviewing for a seminary internship at a small inner city church. These were back in the days of my youthful idealism, when I thought I could make a difference. Many of us thought this way. After the interview I wandered around to get a flavor for the neighborhood and then I stayed for dinner. 

The year before I had heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in Washington as he called for anti-war activists to join forces with civil rights workers in the search for justice. For me, it was a life changing experience to hear him preach, which is why I found myself in Harlem. 

The sun was setting as I entered the subway. There was an eerie silence on the train. Then word began to spread. Whispers, horrifying whispers, spoke the news; Dr. Martin Luther King had been shot in Memphis. 

America burst into flames yet again. The riots of the long hot summer of 1967 reignited. It was the first time in my life that I witnessed for myself the pent up rage that exploded onto the American urban landscape. But not the last. Not by any means. Here we are again.

I lived and worked in Harlem for two years. I drove taxi and learned a few things about the rough edges of what we sometimes call “race relations”. 

I also learned the expression; “Who will protect us from the police?” I had never experienced police brutality. Then one night outside Madison Square Garden. I attended an anti George Wallace rally. I was warned not to go. But I felt I had to. Someone tossed bricks at the mounted police and they charged into the crowd. I saw a police officer clubbing a young black man and I intervened and told him to stop. So he clubbed me. Blood gushed form my skull. The cops took me to a clinic in Hell’s Kitchen. They were decent to me, which is more than I can say for how they treated people of color then as now. 

There were flames of fire in the city in those days.

The Scripture says that there were flames of fire at Pentecost.

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church has called on the us to dedicate this weekend to a time of mourning the loss of those 100,000 taken from us during this pandemic. That was before the events of this week. 

Let us add to that a time of lamentation for America. More than 40 million unemployed, the economy in free fall and many of our young people are on the streets without much to channel all that energy. Then they murdered George Floyd Monday evening. Again, our cities are on fire. There is much to mourn. 

When and how will the cycle of violence end? The “leadership” we have from the highest levels of Government seems merely interested in fanning the flames. 

I think it would help if those in authority knew what George Floyd knew of the Gospel. Yes you heard me right. There is much more to learn from George Floyd than the last few words of his life as he begged to breathe. 

Did you know he was a man of God? In an article from Christianity Today, Kate Shellnut, wrote these words about George on Thursday of this week.

“Before moving to Minneapolis, the 46-year-old spent almost his entire life in the historically black Third Ward in Houston, where he was called “Big Floyd” and regarded as an “OG”. That’s urban slang for “old gangsta” a de-facto community leader and elder statesmen for kids to look up to.

Floyd spoke of breaking the cycle of violence he saw among young people and used his influence to…do discipleship and outreach, particularly in the Cuney Homes housing project, locally known as “the Bricks.”

“George Floyd was a man of peace sent from the Lord that helped the gospel go forward,” said Patrick PT Ngwolo, pastor of Resurrection Houston, which held services at “the Bricks”.

“The platform for us to reach that neighborhood and the hundreds of people we reached through that time and up to now was built on the backs of people like Floyd,”

Pastor Ngwolo and fellow leaders met Floyd in 2010. He was a towering 6-foot-6 guest who showed up at a benefit concert they put on for the Third Ward. From the start, Big Floyd made his priorities clear.

“He said, ‘I love what you’re doing. The neighborhood need it, the community need it, and if y’all about God’s business, then that’s my business. Whatever y’all need, wherever y’all need to go, tell ’em Floyd said y’all good. I got y’all.’”  

Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. Our experience on that day was of flames of fire that alighted upon our heads and minds and souls. We understood all the languages of the world that day. We were able to speak in every language on earth. George Floyd understood the language of the street in a city housing project. He put his life on the line to break the cycle of violence for young people.

The church was born in a dark time of violence. The Herods and The Caesars were great masters of power. They were hardly interested in the Gospel message of love, forgiveness, and reconciliation. They were about divide and conquer. All the disciples of that original Pentecost experience had to give their lives for the Gospel message.

George Floyd also had to give his life on Monday night. That’s not to gloss over what may have been financial hardship, or abuse of alcohol. God knows we all have the ingredients of sin we carry within our hearts. But many of us carry the Gospel there too. George had a Gospel heart.

I had a funny dream on Friday night. I was on a basketball court ready to play. That’s very funny. There were a bunch of bullies pushing and shoving a couple of black kids around and I asked them to stop. The black kids were maddeningly passive and accepting of their fate. Someone who looked like Donal Trump was sitting bigger than life where the basket should be. He folded his arms the way I’ve seen him do a hundred times. I pleaded with him to stop the bullying. He turned his head away and ignored my pleas for compassion. By the way, this was only a dream. 

And then the dream morphed and there was an old black man dying of emphysema. His breath reeked of alcohol. He reminded me of James, a man who frequented a soup kitchen I worked in West Virginia, where I served as priest for 11 years. James and I were friends. Why he haunted me in my dream I don’t know. But James was dying and he pleaded with me that he couldn’t breathe. I was worried about the virus in that illogical disordered way dreams do.  But I threw caution to the wind. I became his priest in that moment. I knelt down and held him close. And I said the prayers we say at the end of life. I did not want James to die alone. I wanted him to die in the arms of human warmth. I wanted him to know that he was being held in the arms of Jesus.

As I watched the winding and rewinding of the tapes of George Floyd’s death, I found myself wanting to be his priest. I understand he pleaded for his mama and his children during those last minutes. I wanted to be there for him. What human being wouldn’t? I wanted to put my arms around him. And say the prayers. Has anybody said the prayers for him yet?

“Depart, O Christian soul, out of this world;

In the Name of God the Father Almighty who created you;

In the Name of Jesus Christ who redeemed you;

In the Name of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies you.

May your rest be this day in peace,

    and your dwelling place in the Paradise of God.”

Instead, George had that knee on his neck. I am filled with more than sorrow. I am filled with rage. If this is the way I feel, can you imagine how those who love him feel?

But that brings us to the fundamental choice of Pentecost. What flames will we choose to alight upon our heads, in our minds and in our souls? Will they be the flames of hatred and destructive rage? Or will they be the flames of the Holy Spirit and the love of Jesus that makes the whole world new again?

As I say, long life has given me to gift of some perspective. We’ve seen it all before. We face a choice today. We face a choice every day; to love or to hate.Will we be filled with the Mighty Winds of God, the rushing in of that Spirit with the courage and the Grace to live lives anew and alive in the love of Jesus?

The crowds all around us may go mad. But remember George Floyd back at “the Bricks” in the Third Ward in Houston. Let us be the ones who stop to cycle of violence. Let us be the ones, like George, who bring the healing touch of Jesus to the human heart. May the flames of God’s own Holy Spirit fill our hearts once more on this, the Birthday of the Church.

Amen 

Renewal of Baptismal Vows

Prayers for the Church and the World.

Lord’s Prayer

A Blessing

See that ye be at peace among yourselves, 

and love one another.

Follow the example of the wise and good

and God will comfort you and help you,

both in this world

and in the world which is to come.

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,

wherever He may send you.

May He guide you through the wilderness,

protect you through the storm.

May He bring you home rejoicing

at the wonders He has shown you.

May He bring you home rejoicing

once again into our doors.

And may the Blessing of God the Most holy undivided and everlasting Trinity be upon you this day and always. Amen.

Fr Paul