Last night the rain held off just long enough for our Bible study group to roast a few marshmallows over a bonfire (not the one pictured above, that was from a few weeks ago). One of our group members reflected on how mesmerizing fire is to watch.
The thing about fire is that it can either be a cozy campfire or a lovely candle – or it can rage and destroy like the January 2025 SoCal fires. As Pentecost approaches this Sunday (don’t forget to wear red!) I am struck by the association between fire and God’s Spirit. The Spirit shows up in Scripture most often as God’s breath, but also as fire, water, or a cloud. Fire, water, and clouds are ambiguous powers, they can be comforting or powerfully life altering (compare, for example, the difference between a cyclone and a cumulus, or between a creek and a flood).
In Acts 2, we read that Jesus’ followers were waiting in that upper room following his death and resurrection. I don’t know if they felt comforted or afraid when tongues of fire landed on their heads and a rushing violent wind filled the room – but in the end we are told that the Spirit filled them with power to go out and change the world.
The Spirit has been called many things, but my favorite is the “wild child of the Trinity.”
I love the Holy Spirit. She is like the wild child of the Trinity, anywhere and everywhere moving, calling forth, and stirring things up. She is wonderfully illusive yet also fully present. She is untamable, full of possibilities and creative potential. She is the salsa beat in our daily foxtrot. She is and will be unconventional, even uncultured. She is the wonder that moves our questions from, what does this all mean? to, what shall we do? She can forever alter our lives and change our world. She is life-giving breath, wind, and fire. She is the ruach elohim, the flaming divine pneuma that is always “going native” because she wants to be encountered by all. She is calming Spirit amid the storm. She is wisdom. (Latina Evangelicas: A Theological Survey from the Margins)
Pentecost is coming – and I pray with it the Spirit comes to us in new and surprising ways. Being open to the Spirit’s calling and empowerment means being open to the Spirit’s doing things we don’t expect. I mean, those disciples certainly didn’t expect flames to fall on their heads or a storm to rise up indoors! God’s power can’t be contained, even if at times it appears to us in the form of a shepherd.
No matter how the Spirit shows up, be it calm or wild, we can be assured that God’s Spirit will lead us into ever expanding ways of living out our faith. The Pentecost promise remains the same, that we will be empowered to share the good news to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). And right now, with the world pressing down and harming people, don’t we need a bit of God’s wild power to help us carry out this calling?
Blessings,
Pastor Amy
