|
|
 |
|
Pastor's Page |
|
|
Waiting to Exhale
Before His passion, death and resurrection
for our salvation, our Lord Jesus Christ
promised to send the Holy Spirit to the
disciples. Christ was “waiting to exhale.”
After His resurrection and ascension, He
sent the Holy Spirit to the disciples so
that they could be His witnesses to the ends
of the earth. As His Blessed Mother and the
disciples were gathered in one place in the
City of Peace, waiting for the gift of the
Spirit, the very breath of God moved them to
exhale as they spoke in other languages as
the Spirit gave them utterance. Reversing
Babel’s confusion as the Spirit’s one
language of love brought thousands to Christ
on that first Pentecost, the disciples
became apostles. And when they were, they
were sent to breathe peace among others,
sharing the life-saving Gospel of Jesus
Christ so that people could be saved.
Through the proclamation of the Word of God
and the administration of the Sacraments
according to Christ’s command, pastors
continue to share the Good News of Jesus
Christ, breathing peace that was breathed
into them by the Holy Spirit through those
Means of Grace.
Our foul world needs this fresh breath. The
world needs the Holy Spirit’s peace, truth,
hope and love. The Holy Spirit continues to
come to us through the Means of Grace so
that we may breathe that peace, hope, truth
and love to others. We are free to breathe
as people who have been made alive in Christ
Jesus. Reconciled to the Father with our
sins forgiven, we breathe every day as He
breathes in us. Dry bones live. Dead men
walk. Limp lungs breathe. Closed mouths
sing. Signs of peace continue to accompany
the breathing of that Spirit among us.
As the Church celebrates Pentecost and God’s
gracious giving of the Holy Spirit for the
salvation, healing and life of the world, we
savor every breath, no longer breathing
threats of violence and hatred but breathing
life as sanctified children of the one
heavenly Father. Reconciled with God and
each other, we become a breath of fresh air
in our homes and workplaces, altering
people’s death-driven perspectives and
directing them to the One who has the words
of eternal life. There is no need for
waiting to exhale. Now is the acceptable
time; now is the day of salvation. We wait
no longer to breathe life, hope, peace,
truth and love in the Name of Jesus.
So, Christians, don’t hold your breath.
Don’t quench the Spirit. Our city has
people from all over the world gathered in
one place waiting for us to exhale. Our
city may truly become “a City of Peace” that
directs people to the New Jerusalem still to
come when the trumpet blast exhales the
sound of our eternal salvation. In that new
city, all God’s children will breathe in the
Spirit of life forever. Don’t hold your
breath. Don’t quench the Spirit. Our dying
world is waiting for us to exhale.
Peace, joy and love,
Pastor Taylor |
|
|