What do we do with this fire? [Acts 2:1-21 - Pentecost A]

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The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson

Acts 2:1-21

 

What do we do with this fire?

 

What do we do with this fire?

Breaking into locked spaces

Scorching one-hundred and twenty faces

Undermining homeostasis

 

In the upper room

Where they were waiting

It blew in on the breeze

 

At first among them

And then on them

Living lighters

Just milling about

Each saw one hundred and nineteen fires

The others’ fires

Everywhere

Spotlighting the frenzied faces

of friends and fellows

Each person saw mant,

but felt just one,

one tongue of flame

And one was enough

 

You don’t need to see what can be felt

It’s like faith

But in the hair

On the scalp

Like a burning bush:

Consumed but not consumed

 

Disruptive

To the days of silent prayer

And talking

And pacing

And waiting

Waiting for something

To come down from the skies

Like the angels promised

 

But not this

No one expected this:

To be set ablaze

 

These stubborn believers

The ones who would not accept the evidence

Found life in the empty tomb

Still able to see God through the gaping nail holes

Waiting and waiting while the world moved on

Waiting and waiting for the manifestation of a promise

One made by angels

As the one they loved, dead and yet alive, floated from sight

 

Before the sun came up

And the fire fell

They were the sleeping seeds of a latent movement

Still below the surface

Where things are quiet

And dark

Including the future

Seeds

waiting not for water

but for that fire

 

A house fire that left the house untouched

A bonfire floating in midair

A scorching predator with an appetite for human flesh

Or human hair

Zombies with flamethrowers

searching for brains

Unexpected

but experienced

Definitely experienced

And so intensely.

 

Flames

Flames dancing on heads

The tongues of angels

The tongues of dragons

The breath of God

 

Not coming down slowly, gently from the clouds

But on the rush of a violent wind

Riding and then resting

Burning but not consuming

 

Compelling

Each one out the door

Outside

Into the streets

To find what?

a watery well, a babbling brook, a garden hose?

No, not to extinguish

 

But to spread

To let this new fire devour the oxygen

In the air outside

Beyond the walls of a stifling room

Beyond the confines of a hideout

Like breaking through the ground

 

Locked doors, unlocked

And then opened

Where they could find

Fuel for their flames

 

Bursting from the door

A holy backdraft

In search of heads

More heads

Hungry

Desperate to become a wildfire

In an urban landscape

 

The people became the flame

Joined forces with the fire

Sanctified pyromaniacs

Looking to set the world ablaze

To watch it burn

To burn it down

 

To burn it down

To watch it burn

The final remnants of an old dispensation

 

Burn it down

To see what might grow up

From the ashes

From the charred remains

Of an old world

An old world built on striped backs

And violent intentions

 

A fire to spread

Across the abandoned ruins

Of a thousand impervious empires

Through the kindling

Of brutal nations

With their brutal rulers

Their unjust laws

And their vicious gods

Interested only in war and prosperity

 

A fire to set things right

Finally and forever

A fire to clear the way

For a new kingdom

A better kingdom

A kingdom governed by the Law of Love

A kingdom built on an economy of Mercy

A kingdom that burns with zeal for justice

And a passion for peace

A kingdom ruled by the one who shattered the terrors of Hell

And set the captives free

And baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire

A kingdom without end

 

Make straight the paths

For the wind is blowing in

Not in a room

But in a world

 

In a tinderbox world

In need of Holy Spirit

In desperate pursuit of visions and dreams

That make sense

That bring life

That spark hope

 

In need of young and old

And middle-aged

Those with eyes to see a new day

Who willingly wear fire on their heads

Dreams in their hearts

Consumed but not consumed

Pentecost people

 

What do we do with this fire?

We let it spread

Watch it burn

Clear the ground

And from the ashes

With our dancing flames

And daring dreams

We finally welcome

God’s Kingdom come.

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