Breath Wind and Spirit (10-18-2020)

Breath, Wind, and Spirit 10-18-20 Beginning Scripture - Ezekiel 37:9 Then he told me to call to the wind and say: "The Lord God says: Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe upon these slain bodies, that they may live again." How often the Scriptures speak of the Holy Spirit as breath! In his vision, God told Ezekiel to use his breath to preach to his people and so in the end, it was the breath of God (His Spirit) that brought the people to life from the darkness in which they had been living, from the darkness they had been making for themselves by neglecting or rejecting God. The Hebrew word is rûaḥ (RU-akh). It is a word with many translations which depend on the context in which it is used. Most often it is translated as wind, breath, or spirit. But these three words do not adequately express rûaḥ, the Hebrew word that appears 376 times in Sacred Scripture. Also, the word is not used in a purely spiritual way but is used very often in connection with the natural world. The Hebrews did not see a great gulf between the physical world and God, so often in Scripture we see and hear the intimate connection between God's spirit (rûaḥ) and the world. In addition, Jesus so often spoke of the Spirit, and experienced the Spirit within himself. In fact a whole book has been written by SMU professor Jack Levison about "The Spirit According to Jesus." An Unconventional God: The Spirit According to Jesus [A fresh take on the Holy Spirit in the gospels] by Jack Levison Let me give you some examples of this close connection between God's spirit (rûaḥ) and the world: 1. In Genesis 1:1-2 the rûaḥ of God hovers over the cosmic abyss. 2. During the flood, drowning humans and animals alike, possess the breath of the spirit of life (6:17; 7:15, 22). 3. In the Old Testament story of Joseph, an Egyptian pharaoh recognizes the rûaḥ of God in Joseph (41:38). 4. It was the rûaḥ of God that parted the Red Sea for Moses and his people. 5. When someone dies, it is the rûaḥ, the soul or spirit of God, that leaves the body. Let me change the subject just slightly: These days it seems this intimate connection between God and the world is not even thought of, much less spoken of out loud. This is the unfortunate state of affairs in our Western secular world. This situation is a matter of perception or awareness. God is increasingly unseen or ignored as part of what happens on earth - just the opposite of the Hebrew perception of God and Earth. Now, back to Ezekiel in Chapter 37 the chapter in the Old Testament that shows the tremendous union of breath and God's Spirit. In Ezekiel 37:11 the Jews are pictured as lamenting: "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely." Yet God directed Ezekiel to preach the restoration of the nation of Israel. And to paraphrase Professor Levison, this chapter is the most glorious expression in Old Testament literature of rûaḥ as the rush of vitality, creation, and the promise of God's fidelity. Ezekiel's visions and imagination express the highest surge in Israelite literature of rûaḥ as breath, wind and the source of national restoration. As is true in so much of the Old and New Testaments it is not a period of joy, ease, and affluence but the communal crisis with that yielded this literature in Ezekiel of unsurpassed hope in the power and potential of God's rûaḥ to breathe new life into a defeated and dislocated community. You know, we sometimes speak of being in-spired but maybe we should say: in-spirited. For example, when I hear a stirring sermon and feel that rush of excitement within my chest, I think I am experiencing the Spirit of God, rûaḥ within me. Remember: the word inspire can also mean to breathe in. I don't know if this happens to you, but when I hear a profound truth or achieve a deeper understanding of some problem or issue, I often sigh, I take a deep breath and let it out. At those small moments, it seems as if I am expressing the Spirit catching me and vocally exhale the sense of peace. It seems to me that this breathing in and out is what the prophet Ezekiel and other prophets do with their preaching. Isn't a prophet someone who is inspired and breathes the Spirit out in his or her words? Isn't a prophet a spokes-man-or spokes-woman of God? And the word EXpire can mean to let out a breath. Or it can mean that a person has died, that is, their body has breathed out its last breath, its spirit or its soul has left it. I hope that as long as I breathe I will continue to take in the rûaḥ, the breath, wind, and spirit of God and when I die, I pray that I will be in a state in which my soul leaves me full of God's Spirit. Questions and Challenges * What are two or three instances or examples of you experiencing the rûaḥ or the inspiration of God? * What can we do to increase our perception of God in the world? * The next time you are in a state of being stressed or troubled, take in two or three deep breaths and allow God to enter your body and to bring it alive, to fill it with his Spirit. Prayer Jesus, you were full of the Spirit of God and you promised that you would send God's Spirit into your followers, into those who believe in you. We ask you to do this now and throughout the week. Help us to be open to inspiration during this worship service and this week and help us to give to others the gift of that same Spirit. We pray these things in your name, our precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.