Thursday, June 23, 2011

Sermon

Sermon # 1045
June 19, 2011
Genesis 1:1-2:7
Dr. Ed Pettus

"The Breath of Life"

Last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost, the movement of the Spirit upon the disciples, the wind of God, the breath of God. John’s gospel, which we heard last Sunday, spoke of Jesus breathing on the disciples – an unusual description of a Pentecost event. Today we will also spend some time with the scriptures and the Spirit of God, beginning with the beginning!
In the beginning...we read about the wind of God sweeping over the waters. The Bible begins with God and the wind – the Spirit of God. This is the wind that ushers in the first word spoken, "Let there be light." Some translations, like the KJV, translate the phrase, "The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." The Hebrew word may also be translated breath so we might say that the breath of God was moving over the water. That is one of the more fascinating things about biblical languages, that various meanings or various English words can be used depending on the context of the story. Wind might seem more appropriate to some translators for the creation story. We all know that the wind sweeps across the ocean, across the waters. People use it all the time for sailing! Wind, Spirit, Breath, these are the possible words from the Hebrew Ruach. The word ruach can be seen in many places throughout the Old Testament.
Also in the creation story we read that Adam was created and given life, life that comes from the breath of God. Yet once again it is the Hebrew word that may be used for wind or spirit, so that God in-winded Adam or blew the Spirit into him. Any one of those words can be appropriate for the story…physically God started Adam breathing. Spiritually God gave Adam his Spirit, that unique quality of God’s presence. God gave Adam something unlike any other creature – the mysterious wind of God.
We can move ahead in the Bible to the time of Noah when God said in Gen 6:17: “For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.” Those who had been given the breath of life from God also faced the consequence of sin when God took that gift away!
At the anointing of King David the spirit of God "came upon David in power." Again it is the Hebrew word ruach. 1 Sam 16:13: “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward.” The mystery of God is perhaps most evident in the working of the Spirit. We have the breath that God gives, and yet there are also times when we receive the Holy Spirit anointing or some special manifestation of the Spirit in our lives or in our midst.
In the New Testament it is the same situation with the Greek word. Jesus promised the coming of the Holy Spirit and Acts tells the story of the blowing of the mighty wind throughout the house where the apostles waited. Acts 2:2-4, “And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” How does one describe a story like this? The only way the narrator can express such an event is to call it a violent wind.
When Nicodemus met Jesus in the night, Jesus describes the Spirit in terms of wind: John 3:8, “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”


In both the Old and New Testament languages, the word for Spirit can be translated wind or breath. All three English words contain elements of life.
Breath is obvious, when we stop breathing we die.
Spirit is a term we use in a variety of ways. People who are said to have spirit are full of energy, spunk, full of life. In the church we know the Holy Spirit gives life and many other blessings and gifts.
Wind even testifies to life in creation. It demonstrates to us that the world is still spinning, that God's creation still lives and "breathes."

Since these words from biblical languages can be translated and understood in a variety of ways, we have this rich vitality to our understanding of God's Spirit. We can understand the Holy Spirit as the wind that blows where it will. It is capable of powerful things even destructive things, and also can be as gentle as a summer breeze. We know the Spirit as the breath of God that gives life to his creation and his people. We also know the Spirit as it compares to the old term Holy Ghost. We do not mean here the way many understand "ghost" today, as a scary, evil spirit in movies, but ghost in terms of a person in spirit. We do not refer to the Holy Spirit as an "it" but in personal terms – the Holy Spirit as person...the Holy Spirit as real, God's Spirit living in his people. I do not know anyone who has had an experience like that of the anointing of David or the pouring out of the Spirit like a rushing wind at Pentecost! The Spirit is free to come to us as he chooses, in a mighty wind, a gentle breeze, a deep sigh, or perhaps through everyday breath. It is the mystery of God, as Jesus says, "What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:6-8).

Rauch wind, spirit, breath we have no ruach on our own; breath is given moment by moment and when it is not given, we die. When God breathes, our weakness moves to strength and God gives life. Any time God breathes we are raised to new life. No one intrinsically possesses power for life and vitality. This breath, this wind, this spirit which God has given is a gift. It is a gift with each breath you take. It is a gift you cannot hold on to because it is continuously given. We could try to hold our breath, but it is eventually relinquished and given back to us. The breath of God is the gift of life!


1. Human persons have no possessing gift of life; it is only given by God.
2. The Spirit belongs to God's God-ness; it is in God’s character to give spirit/wind/breath which makes life possible.
3. When God's wind enlivens the body, we become a living nephesh – a soul, a self, a life. Nephesh, a Hebrew word, means we are a living organism.

It is like the book of Acts states, Acts 17:24-25, “The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.” The scriptures reveal that human existence is foundationally relational or covenantal. In relationship to whomever can “breathe” on us. Is there any other god who can breathe? Is there any other god who gives life through a relationship with us? No and no! There is no other like our God!
The creation story also reflects this relational aspect of God’s nature. God created them male and female, for relationship. When I counsel with couples about to marry, I often speak of this relationship in marriage being a reflection of the covenantal relationship we have with God. Adam made in God’s image, the woman made from the bone of man, the two become one flesh, related through God’s created order and marriage is, at its best, a reflection of the covenant relationship we have with God and all of this is a gift, as mysterious as the Spirit, as wondrous as the wind, as close as a breath.

We can never really be too thankful for breathing, that is, until our breathing is affected by disease or other problems. I remember when I had the breath knocked out of me, usually during a football game, and the pain and brief fear that we cannot breathe. When that breath finally returns, we are so relieved and thankful to have breath - to have life.
It is the gift of life. A collision tries to knock the breath out of us, the world tries to take the wind from our sails, sin attempts to quench the spirit, there are forces at work which are trying to convince us that this is not a gift but just mother nature or chance or whatever. But it is the gift of God. A gift that was around at the beginning of creation, and has blown through the history of God's people, into the church and we know not where it will blow next. Genesis reveals the life God gives and the life God intends for us, in creation, in relatedness, created for community in the Spirit.
The wind is impossible to predict, we are unable to contain it. It is the wind of God that blows across our lives and moves us, and cools us, and excites us, and frightens us. It is the same Spirit that teaches us and speaks to us, even today.
We may not think much about the wind, but when the wind picks up, we night think of God. From time to time when we become conscious of our breathing for whatever reason, we can remember God, and when the Spirit reminds us in small ways perhaps in a quiet voice, remember the Spirit of God.
A growing spiritual life comes to realize the extreme of the gift of life: life given in our breathing, life given in the wind and life given in the Holy Spirit. The question we may want to entertain is: "What shall we do with such a gift? What response will we make to the God who gives us the breath of life?" Amen.

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