PROMISES, PROMISES

One of my cousins is the business of selling cars.  He’s been doing it for decades now at one of the dealerships along 494. When the time comes for me to look at buying one I usually buy it used as that makes better economic sense to me.  But I’m aware there is always a certain risk that comes with that:

• When a car has been previously owned I don’t know about its history – How it was driven and maintained?Has it been in any accidents? OR maybe a flood?How much wear and tear is on it?
• And I don’t know anything about the person who sold it or traded it in.Was he/she honest?Is the dealership to be trusted?
• And I don’t know whether the asking price is fair or not. I can look it up in a book or do a Google Search for the that, but it will only tell me what cars like that in general ought to cost. But I want to know about this one that I’m standing next too.
• And I may not be able to get a warranty, at least not without paying extra for it.
• And even if I take it out for a test drive, how much can you really get to know about a vehicle in half an hour trolling around the city streets?

So I’m very glad for my cousin Tom because I know him, and I know he won’t let me make a mistake in a decision involving spending a lot of money.  I have actually watched him get down on his back on the pavement and inspect the underside of a car that I’m looking at.  And I’ve heard him tell me, “You don’t want this one” or “it’s not worth this price” or “I see evidence of damage here.”  This is his own place of work, at the risk of losing a sale. And if there’s nothing on the lot that I want or can afford he will ask what kind of car I’m looking for and he’ll promise to keep an eye out for it and to call me when he something that might make for a good fit.  When I buy something, I don’t always get exactly what I expect, but when I don’t it’s not because I’ve been deliberately misled or cheated.

As we come near to the end of the Easter season here and at church and as we anticipate the celebration of [Confirmation] the Feast of Pentecost next weekend – the rich outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit upon us -- we are reminded again the gospel that The Spirit arrives with many important promises that come right from the mouth of Jesus himself.  In fact, some of those promises seem almost incredible or impossible…which is already in itself an important lesson for us about how to read the bible intelligently. It’s not that the promises aren’t true.  It’s that they have to be rightly understood. E.g. even though Jesus promises his disciples today that the Holy Spirit will empower people to speak new languages, I wouldn’t bet on anybody here walking out the door after mass being fluent in Spanish – unless they already were when they arrived. And although we hear the promise of picking up poisonous snakes with our hands or drinking toxic liquids without getting sick, I would advise against doing this.  And when The Holy Spirit is promised as a cure for those who are sick by our simply laying hands on them, I have to report to you that over the course of 32 years of anointing terminally ill patients – Thousands of them, I can count on one hand the number that ended up making a full recovery to health.

So what exactly is Jesus talking about when he makes such outlandish predictions for those who welcome The Holy Spirit into their heart?  Our candidates for Confirmation this weekend have spent a lot of preparation time and prayer in coming to a decision about whether they actually want gifts like that knowing not only about the promises and rewards involved, but also aware of the risks. And I’m fairly certain that those who have said yes to the Spirit have done so just as the rest of us have – not only on the basis of words recorded on the pages of the bible but maybe even more so as a response to trusting in the goodness of a person(s) who has shown witness to faith by the way that they have lived among us day by day, year by year.  Beginning with the most perfect witness of Jesus himself, but also including these of our families, friends, loved ones, elders and teachers who express regularly how important such promises are by the way that they order their lives all the times, even when we aren’t always 100% sure of ourselves that Jesus’ words are trustworthy and true – in fact, especially during times like that. We believe it because we know somebody who we trust not to be misleading us. And those people are everywhere – in our schools, our homes, our churches, our places of work, our civic communities and even at the used car dealership. (Sometimes!)

Who are these people?

• They are the ones who are able to speak new languages by the power of the Holy Spirit, like the language of compassion and mercy in the midst of hatred and revenge. Or the language of welcome where mostly exclusion and indifference are spoken. Or the language of justice and peace where loud shouts of militarism and “me-first” threaten to be overwhelming.
• And they are the people who can be confronted by danger and even death without allowing those threats to win over their hearts. They stand amid forces of deadly poisons like abuse, racism, pandemic despair, political narcissism, and religious criticism and they do not themselves become sick with it. Because of The Spirit’s gift.
• And they are the ones who confront the inevitable losses of time and age and health and energy – both in themselves and among their loved ones and neighbors, and they extend the healing hand of care and encouragement rather than caving in to fear.

To be true to our Christian call [especially on the occasion of Confirmation] means not merely to be consoled and strengthened by the witness of all of those fellow believers. It is to become one of them, that trustworthy friend, that credible bearer of heroic faith for the sake of others and all of us.  It is to be the reason for skeptics and doubters to be amazed what promises of the Holy Spirit are carried out each day in and through us.  It is to be that person whom other know and depend upon not to disappoint or fail them in the things that matter. The things of God.

Veni Sancte Spiritus!  Come Holy Spirit!