In my life, I’ve experienced hurricanes, tropical storms, tornados, and the strong Santa Ana winds that have been known to sew chaos across California. I can say that I have a pretty good idea of the kind of power a strong wind can generate. But yet it’s hard for me to wrap my head around this strange rush of violent wind that hit ancient Jerusalem on Pentecost. 
 
Barbara Brown Taylor describes it by saying, “Before any of them could defend themselves, that mighty wind had blown through the entire house, striking sparks that burst into flames above their heads, and every one of them was filled to the gills with God’s breath.” It was in that one single, divine breath that the church was born. It has been inhaled deeply into our lungs, pumping blood through our hearts ever since.
 
It’s not too unusual to speak about the Holy Spirit as the breath of God. The Greek word for "breath" is pneuma, the same word the New Testament writers used for "Spirit." In Hebrew the word is “ruach,” which also has many meanings; including “wind, breath, and spirit.”
 
Let’s start with breath. It doesn’t take hearing the words “I can’t breath” to know that breathing is essential to life. As my friend Jason posted this in our group chat yesterday, “I find it profoundly evil to tear gas folks protesting the suffocation of a man by police during a pandemic driven by a respiratory disease.” It’s a bit ironic that the only time we think about our breathing is when we can no longer do it on our own. 
 
Wind is another story. It slaps you, screams and howls at you. It can bite you, break you, and even blast you away. Wind is hard to ignore.
 
At a very young age, my dad had taught me how to sail. Part of this training was learning how to read the wind and use it efficiently. By the time I was ten, I was navigating the Gulf of Mexico all on my own – sailing a used Hobie Cat the way most kids rode their bikes; …daily, excitedly, and recklessly.
 
I remember one quiet morning setting sail on my own. The air was already warm and still. As I skimmed the placid water, I trimmed the sails and manipulated the rudders to capture what little wind there was. With a gentle glide my mind began drifting further and further away from shore.  I was quickly brought back to reality when a sudden gust of wind filled my sails with such intensity that it caused me to capsize. Since I didn’t weigh enough to right the boat, I sat and floated, wondering where that wind had come from and where it was going. 
 
Pentecost is a reminder of how God’s Spirit can catch us off guard and turn our world sideways. It might leave us feeling adrift or even abandoned, but if the holy scripture is true, then we know we’re not alone. In Christ, God has already planted the Spirit inside and all around us.

Henri Nouwen wrote, “It’s as close to us as our own breath.” And yet, it’s a mystery. I can feel the wind kiss my cheeks. I can smell hints of coffee or mint on someone’s breath. But how do I know the Spirit is here? 
 
I think about it like this: In the same way we see the leaves rustling on trees or our breath in the cold morning air, God’s Spirit is made known whenever we see and do acts of love and kindness in the world. This is what Jesus taught. And what it means to follow him.

To be the body of Christ inhaling and exhaling the love of God upon one another. When Jesus exhaled his last breath on the cross, God took it, and strengthened it into “a holy hurricane,” as Taylor described it. “It was as if God wanted to make sure that Jesus’ friends were the inheritors of Jesus’ breath.” 
 
What then does this say about George Floyd’s final breath? And what will it inspire us to do?
How will we use what God has given to us, to make justice a reality for all? How will we use our breaths to breathe life into new kinds of communities, where everyone has a chance to thrive? 
 
Remember what I mentioned above. "God loves things by becoming united to them, not excluding them." Therefore, every breath we inhale is a reminder of the love God has entrusted to us; love that promotes justice and shows acts of mercy and gives grace and inspires forgiveness...to all of creation.  Thus every breath we release must proclaim this gospel truth.  
 
With the Holy Spirit, “God is working through us; doing the loving in and through us, back to God, towards our neighbors and our enemies, and even towards the sad and broken parts of ourselves.” (Rohr, 2016) There is no place the Spirit cannot penetrate. No depth the Spirit cannot reach.Wherever their is air, there is the Spirit of God ready to fill us with God’s goodness. 
 
Every day this Holy Breath is being sucked into the lungs of ordinary people like you and me … empowering us to do extraordinary things. It stands with us as we stand in peaceful protest with our brothers and sisters who have had the knees of inequality on their necks for hundreds of years. It inspires us be the wind and breath of change that unites us all together to God, as God’s own children.
 
The Holy Spirit is a subtle power. But one we are given to harness and fill our sails with the opportunity to move beyond where we’ve been. According to Keri Day, “It’s the secret force behind all beauty, truth, and goodness; every act of kindness and compassion; every wise insight and every noble decision.”  
 
But not everyone sees it this way. Some think they have exclusive privileges to the Spirit of God. As George Floyd gasped for air, there were others whose breathing was steady and calm as they watched him die. That is the antithesis of the Holy Spirit. It goes against everything Jesus taught. No person who believes there was an iota of justice being served while that man died, cannot claim the name of Christ. Period.
 
Let me just say this, when we live faithfully in God’s Spirit, “every need can be cared for and every painful circumstance can be met.” This is why Jesus gave us his spirit when he gave up his last breath. God’s Spirit does not allow room for violence - whether you’re the one doing it or allowing it to happen.
 
Just as the Spirit burst into flames above the disciple’s heads... so too must we ask ourselves what the Holy Spirit igniting in us? 
 
How will our gentle breath turn into a mighty wind, one that can move with such forcefulness that it catches the world by surprise, and tips it over towards the righteousness of God? 
 
May we never forget Christ gave us his Spirit to guide, sustain, and empower us to be a living, breathing, thriving vessels of all that is good in the world. 
 
In closing I want to say one last thing.While I do not promote violence or the destruction of property, Jesus showed us that sometimes the tables in the Temple need to be overturned to get a point across.
 
Thus, Pentecost is not just a one-time event or an annual church celebration. Like breath itself, it’s the very gift of life that needs to be honored and celebrated daily.

Therefore, let us breath freely and frequently, inhaling and exhaling the love of Christ upon one another – as one people, one body filled with one Spirit, for the sole purpose of speaking the universal language of one divine love. 

Let us pray: In the great Spirit of your Son, Jesus the Christ, we pray to you merciful God, for guidance and the strength to see us through this challenging season of change. Like him, may we walk in your rightness so that all might come to honor the glory of your name. Amen. 


Works Cited
Part of this sermon that was first given on May 20, 2018.
Bartllett, David L., and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. Feasting on the Word: Year B,  Vol. 3. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009. pp 3-7.
Day, Keri. We Need A Pentecost. May 3, 2018. www.christiancentury.org/article/critical-essay/we-need-pentecost (accessed May 29, 2020).
Nouwen, Henri. Bread for the Journey: A Day Book of Wisdom and Faith. New York: Harper Collins, 1997.
Rohr, Richard. Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality. Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2016,  p. 97.
Rohr, Richard. The Universal Christ. New York: Convergent, 2019. p 16.
Taylor, Barbar Brown. Home by Another Way. New York: Cowley, 1999.

The disciples are given a choice. And oh, the places they go. From Jerusalem to Ireland, to the Middle East to the Far East, to Africa and beyond, they share the good news in all the things they do and say.

Filled with the Holy Spirit, the disciples become what we are today – the church, the visible body of Christ. They set out to go to the furthest corners of the world to love God, to love others and to serve both. Had they sat around waiting for Jesus to return, there’s a strong chance we would not be here today. I like to think Jesus envisioned New Church Sherman Oaks when he planted that little mustard seed on that Palestinian mountainside. 
 
Just as it was then, we too are called to continue the mission of Christ – ushering in the Kingdom of God. We are to be “a society on earth,” as William Barclay wrote, “where God’s will would be as perfectly done as it is in Heaven;” ushering in a kingdom founded on divine “love and not on earthly power.”
 
Jesus isn’t calling us to take up arms against the world, but to take the world up in our arms through powerful acts of love, compassion and justice. We are to be both the Great Commandment people, loving God and our neighbors. And the Great Commission people who carry the love of God in Christ Jesus to the ends of the earth.   
 
As their story unfolds, the disciples show us that life doesn’t just magically become easy once we get our diploma. Being the church is not a day job, it’s a lifelong calling – to be imitators of the One who has blessed us with the Holy Spirit, the very breath of God. Just as we inhale that Spirit into our lives, so too are we called to exhale it by bearing witness to God’s redemptive glory. 
 
As Henri Nouwen once described the church, we are called to be “windows constantly offering each other new views on the mystery of God’s presence in our lives.” Nouwen sees this when we pray and worship together.  But I also believe we do this when we share our joys and our burdens together, when we feed and care for one another, or stand united for justice for all. 
 
These are just a few ways that we are made aware of the presence of the Spirit among us, ... and a few ways to allow God’s glory to shine through us.  
 
We can look up to heaven and wait for Christ to re-appear. That’s okay. I faithfully believe one day he will. But what if that day is today? Jesus has called us to bring his love, mercy and grace into every village, every home, and place.
 
And so in closing I leave you with these parting words of advice
When it comes to love I hope you never think twice.
 
Brother’s and sisters, aunts, uncles, dads and mums
Open your hearts, there’s still work to be done 
 
Be your name Fiona, CJ, Nicole or Shea
Run off to great places. Today is our day!
 
God’s kingdom awaits
Don’t doddle or stray
And always begin with bowed heads that pray: 
 
Our father…
 

 
 
 
 
Works Cited
Barclay, William. The Acts of the Apostles, Daily Study Bible Series. Philadelphia: Westminster PRess, 1955.
Bartlett, David L, Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word, Year A, Vol 2. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2010.
Godin, Seth. seths.blog. May 23, 2020. https://seths.blog/2020/05/a-community-of-practice/ (accessed May 23, 2020).
Seuss, Dr. Oh, The Places You Will Go! New York: Random House, 1990.

Let’s face it suffering isn’t a new phenomenon. And we all react differently to it. In 1927 the wife of Scottish preacher Arthur Gossip died suddenly. When he returned to the pulpit, Gossip preached a sermon that compared life to watching a plane pass through the sky during wartime. “There you are,” he said, “lying on your back watching a plane fly gracefully across a brilliant sunlit blue sky when all of a sudden it is blown apart by gunfire and falls to earth a tumbling, tangled mess of metal.” 
 
The gunfire was the tragically unexpected death of his beloved wife. Gossip went on to explain that while he didn’t understand why this happened, he knew he needed faith if he was going to survive the darkness he felt. He ended his sermon with this recognition of truth “You people in the sunshine may believe the faith, but we in the shadow mustbelieve it.” 
 
We all have a story like his, where suffering and faith feed on one another. The death of a loved one, a loss of a job or all the events you planned for your senior year. It might have been an accusation that ruins your reputation, or a misunderstanding between friends. Suffering is unavoidable. And it’s going to happen to you at least once in your life. ​

This year’s high school seniors were born into the world after September 11th. They have lived their entire life in a country mired in an endless war. They’ve lived in fear of school shootings and endured countless lockdown exercises to prepare for when the next one occurs. They’ve watched their family and neighbors succumb to two global economic crisis, and now this pandemic that our nation’s leaders once insisted wasn’t that big of a deal. It’s safe to say that these young adults understand suffering like no other. And it sucks.
 
The question that keeps repeating over and over again is this: What are you going to do with all pain and anguish you are feeling? Are you going to wallow in self-pity? Or take control and change the world so this kind of stuff won’t affect future generations? Will you use this experience to fall apart? Or to tear down the structures that have kept people from being who God made us all to be?  Beloved and blessed.
 
Peter knows that his readers are either going to face suffering or that they have already suffered because of their faith. This is what he had to say. Read: 1 Peter 3:13-17.
Peter’s advice seems simple enough - stand firm in faith by living a life above reproach. After all, he argues, “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?” Are you kidding me? Is that all the wisdom he has to impart on us? Be eager to do good and no one’s going to hurt you? In what world does this work? Certainly not ours where tweets are the new stones we throw.
 
I know Peter’s just asking a hopeful rhetorical question here, but his follow-up doesn’t seem to be the balm we want. “Oh yeah, and if you do suffer for doing good, don’t worry, you’re blessed.”  Not the words of comfort we like to hear while enduring the pains of life. 
 
Since suffering is unavoidable, and pretty much a guarantee, we are left with this question to ponder: exactly how do we to live into our blessedness – especially as we’re enduring the pain of suffering? 
 
As Peter suggests, live in such a way that our hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Peter encourages his readers to not fear or bow to intimidation but keep their hearts ready and “in adoration of Christ, so when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick.” In other words, be imitators of Christ, who suffered greatly at the hands of his own people and yet was exalted in glory. This is our mission as a church and as students of Jesus. By being little Christs in the world we become both the blessed ones and the one’s who bless others.
 
The famous evangelist John Wesley understood this concept, and chose to live by this rule of life: “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” Now that’s good advice. I’m sure Wesley would agree that doing good in the world doesn’t automatically translate into an easy life. People will try to take advantage of you.
 
Susanna Metz notes, “It’s not terribly reassuring to hear that when we suffer for doing good it’s a blessing. Suffering is not pleasant, whether it’s as simple as having our feelings hurt or it’s the ultimate price of losing our lives.” And yet it didn’t stop Dr. King from demanding justice and equality for all human beings. Or Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador, who was eventually executed for caring for the poor. 
 
It doesn’t seem right that we suffer for doing the right thing, does it?  Metz poignantly asks, “What keeps us from just giving up and caring only for ourselves?” Her answer is simple: love. Specifically, God’s steadfast love for us. It’s a love that is so deep and so abiding that even death gets swallowed up by it.
 
Just as suffering is unavoidable, so to is God’s love for us. There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop God from loving you...whether you accept it or not doesn’t negate this truth.This is why living into our blessedness is so imperative - especially in times like what we’re experiencing today. We are called be little Christs, to be the visible presence of God’s love to the world like he was so that people will come to understand the love that God has placed in them
 
Through his words and deeds Jesus taught us that our best defense to suffering is in what we do, or don’t do, in life. Don’t get upset when someone betrays you. Don’t hit back when someone takes a swing at you. Bite your tongue when someone belittles or criticizes you. By imitating Christ, we are able to make visible the deep, abiding love of God that draws us in and wraps us in compassion even when the pain of suffering and persecution endures.
 
While this pandemic is causing many of us to suffer physical, mental or economic hardships and even deaths, God’s love remains with us and in us; often appearing in the goodness of others and ourselves.  People are helping one another with grocery shopping, pet sitting, and mask making. You might see these as small acts of kindness, but really they are giant acts of Christness –  people living into their blessedness by being little Christ, often to people they don’t even know.  
 
Last week I vlog’d about the three families who showered my daughter Fiona with gifts through the Adopt a Senior program. One was a very dear friend and mentor to Fiona. But the other two were complete strangers. They didn’t know my daughter, yet they chose to suffer with her; to feel her pain of not being able to graduate with her friends.

One evening I watched a mom and her daughter drop off a bouquet of flowers and other little gifts at our door...it was all I could do to hold back the tears. I was in awe, witnessing on our front porch God’s love made manifest. In the faces of these strangers was the face of Christ, smiling and giggling, marking this space and time sacred and holy. This is just one of a million examples of God’s abiding love pouring out from person to person, heart to heart, moment to moment.
 
Mother Teresa, who was no stranger to suffering, made this observation: “There is a light in this world, a healing spirit more powerful than any darkness we may encounter. We sometimes lose sight of this force when there is suffering, too much pain. Then suddenly, the spirit will emerge through the lives of ordinary people who hear a call and answer in extraordinary ways."
 
It seems as if she is suggesting that God’s answer to our suffering is you and me. God gives us one another – gift after gift to help us deal with this life in good times and bad. As we continue through this time of uncertainty, a time when still so many people are afraid, anxious, and alone...
 
Remember this: The Spirit that empowered Jesus is the same Spirit that allowed his disciples, ordinary people like you and me, to do the extraordinary. That same Spirit is in us today...loving us, comforting us, and guiding us to do the same for one another.
 
We are God’s goodness. We are God’s blessedness. And we are called to be the Christness – the visible presence of God’s love that makes every space, every action, every emotion, everything sacred and holy. Will you join me today in accepting this gift by stepping into your blessedness and going out into the world to bless others with hearts that sanctify Christ as Lord.
 
Let us pray:  Lord Christ, thank you for showing us the way to our blessedness, and for sharing with us your spirit to help us bless others. Send us now into the world to love as you love, forgive as you forgive and to be as you have always been...One with God, now and forever. Amen 
 
 
Works Cited
Bartlett, David L and Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word Year A, Vol. 2. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2010.
Metz, Susanna. "Blessed Be God." episcopalchurch.org. May 11, 2020. (accessed May 14, 2020).

Even though breastfeeding is a natural way for many mother’s to feed their young, the act itself is often frowned upon when it’s practiced in church. In fact, in some churches it’s taboo to even talk about it. But since people around the world are celebrating the one who gave them their first taste of life, it only seems appropriate. Plus, it’s also part of today’s lectionary reading. 
 
Read 1 Peter 2:2-5
 
In these few verses Peter gives us some wonderful analogies about our faith journey: Suckling babies, living stones, holy priesthoods.
 
Because it’s Mother’s Day I’m going to focus mostly on the suckling baby analogy. There are many people in our community who’d rather talk about breastfeeding than recall or honor their mothers. If you’ve had a bad childhood or have suffered the loss of a child or for one reason or another never had children, today can be a painful day. 
 
Not to diminish their pain, it’s also worth noting that parenting is no simple task either. Just because you were handed a newborn and sent you off with some diapers, doesn’t mean you’ll step up to be a parent. Some don’t. And some do, knowing they will make mistakes along the way.
 
Christian faith is no different. Just because you claim the name Christian doesn’t mean you are instantly Christ like. There’s always going to be challenges that we will fail. Peter gives us a pep-talk of sorts; encouraging us to latch on to Christ. And live into his name as God’s beloved child. To be like suckling infants drinking in God’s pure kindness. 
 
In her writing on this passage, Joy Douglas Strome understands “There is always some trial and error when a new mother learns to breast-feed her newborn.”  She notes the mom has to be relaxed enough for the milk to flow. She has to be attentive enough to help the baby latch on. And she has to take care of herself nutritionally to produce the milk. 
 
First of all, having faith doesn’t need to be an anxious endeavor. And it certainly doesn’t help to be stressed out over it. Yes, the world will try to make you doubt your faith. And culture will make it more difficult to live it faithfully. This is why it’s always important to focus on this one simple truth: That out of great love for you, God made you perfect. Even if you don’t get it right all the time, that does not negate your perfection. 
 
We will make some mistakes. That’s how we learn, grow, become resilient and strong…living stones like Peter described. Jesus never said it was going to be easy, but showed us how to persevere. It is important to stay focused on Christ. Because faith requires you to be attentive and proactive in order to mature. As Peter knew first hand, one’s faith can be easily attack, or abandoned. Especially when it’s new or young.
 
We have to take care of our faith - making sure it gets spiritually nourish in God’s Word and love. It’s easy to fill up on the junk food of culture or become lazy. But Jesus is always calling us to get our soul food on. As Peter put it, to “taste the goodness of the Lord.”  It was Christ who said, “I am the bread of life whoever comes to me will never hunger.” Like a nursing mom, Christ is always ready to feed us. But are we ready to feast on Christ?
 
Immediately after Sean was born, the doctor handed him to Kathleen. After a moment of being blessed with love and kisses, Kathleen attached him to her breast. She knew how important it was for mom and child to bond like this to work together right from the start.  
 
In the same way, we work together with Christ.  Like Strome notes, “A new Christian knows at some deep level that spiritual milk is what will nurture their life of faith. To be sustained for the risk and challenges of a long life of faith, we start as a newborn starts, with the raw material of Jesus’s teachings - the good milk that is specially designed to meet our most basic needs.”
 
You might recall Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It begins with the physiological ones – air, water, shelter, reproduction. That’s followed by the need for safety, then love and belonging, and self-esteem. At the top of Maslow’s pyramid is self-actualization – becoming your best self that you can be. 
 
Whether it’s an individual or a new church, we all start out with the basics before we can grow into our true, divine selves. Nothing is more basic than God’s love for you and me. This was the good news Jesus brought. That we are loved by God, no matter what. Your past doesn’t define you; it only defines God’s love for you. Once we can latch onto that truth, we can live faithfully - sharing God’s love with others. 
 
As Jesus demonstrated throughout his life, it’s in our giving of love that we grow into our blessedness. It’s our giving that becomes the building blocks of our faith – living stones constructing a sanctuary vibrant with life. And it’s in this sacred space we become holy – offering our lives to God as children of God in Christ. 
 
It’s in our self-giving that we move from suckling infants to motherhood. For we are all destined to be mothers. To quote Meister Eckhart, “What good is it to me that Mary gave birth to the Son of God if I do not also give birth to the Son of God in my time and in my culture? We are all meant to be mothers of God. God is always needing to be born.” 
 
You don’t have to be child bearer to be a life giver. Mother Teresa never experienced childbirth yet held the title by being a mother to all. She famously pray, “in all that I do, may other’s see Christ and not me.”  What a good example she, and others like her have set for us. 
 
God is calling you and me to be mother’s giving birth to love, grace, and peace every day. This is what it means to be a Christian, to follow the way of Christ.
​
By loving kindness as Jesus did, seeking justice and being humble like him, we keep his mission alive – become living stones that build a spiritual house whose corner stone is Christ himself. And whose identity is secure in the arms of a God who serves us spiritual milk like no other.
 
Therefore, if you haven’t already, I invite you to latch on to the bosom of God, and taste the goodness of true life which is Christ the Lord.
 
 
Let us pray:
 
Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with your spirit and love. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of you. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus. Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. Amen.
 
 
 
Work Cited
 
Strome, Joy Douglas. Feasting on the Word, Year A, Vol. 2. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox; 2010) p. 462.
Prayer by St. Teresa of Calcutta

Sister Joan Chittister wrote, "The death of Jesus left a fledgling faith community bereft ... until they themselves rose out of his grave to begin life over again, wiser for what they knew, stronger for what he was, determined now to finish what had already been begun. All things end so that something else can begin."
 
Her words make me think about what will arise from this tragic situation we’re in today? For Peter and the other Apostles, the answer was simple. Preach the gospel and practice it daily. As a result of their actions, people followed suite, and the world was forever changed.   
 
Imagine if we followed this blueprint of gospel living to relaunch the world’s economy.Imagine if everyone held to the word of God and lived in accordance with it. How wonderful would it be to live in harmony; lacking in nothing?  
 
The early church had a word for this: koinonia, which in ancient Greek means “fellowship” or participation in a shared life.  Think about the changes that could happen if we moved from isolation into intimate communities of care in the Spirit of koinonia?
 
Although today’s reading gives us a wonderful picture of what the church once was, I believe it gives us a vision of what it can be if we can all come together – with one heart and one soul – giving generously as an expression of Christian unity and love.  

To borrow from Paul, we are a community of the Spirit, therefore let us agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends with our neighbors. Let us forget ourselves long enough to lend a helping hand to those in need (c.f. Phil. 2:1-4 MSG). 
 
To be a community of the Spirit means to be united with one heart ... the heart of Christ... and to always treat others in loving and sacrificial ways that honor Christ! Sadly, I fear we’ve become unfamiliar with this concept in our divisive, winner takes all kind of world. We’ve been looking out for ourselves for so long that we forget how to love as God loves us. And to live into that love as Christ did.
 
It’s also worth pointing out that koinonia is noun. You see the early Christians didn’t occasionally fellowship. They were a fellowship, living a way of life that mirrored the way of Jesus. They didn’t just show up to church once a week to hear a good message. They were the church everyday – living the good news in word and deeds as Jesus did. Even with the fear of death looming over their heads (you see, their way of worship was illegal because it did not honor Caesar as god), they risked their lives for the sake of living out the truth. As a result, God added to their numbers.  
 
Up until the stay at home order, few of us have experienced life together as the early Christians did – as a common, daily, material life of unity and sharing. Sure, most of us were good at reaching out to others on Instagram or texts, but overall we live lives that are very much our own.  It’s safer that way. There’s very little risk involved when others aren’t in the mix.
 
The problem is, we were not meant to be alone but in community, in deep and vulnerable relationships with others. It didn’t surprise me that the one thing people want to keep going once this pandemic has passed is their community of family and friends. 

watch message here
I don’t want to go back to the self-isolation that we already had in place before all this happened. Where we travel from our home to our job back to home again with little regard of our neighbors and their wellbeing. Is it wrong for me to think that maybe Covid is God’s way of bringing us together again – moving us from self-isolation to a life that is genuinely inter-dependent like we read in Acts. 

One does not have look further than social media to see how a small flame of koinonia is lighting up the world again. Every day stories are being posted of folks pulling out lawn chairs on their driveways to share happy hour with neighbors whom they’ve never really socialized with until now. Like the first church, people are finding new ways to spend time together, sharing meals “with glad and generous hearts.” This is koinonia. 
 
And what about the now infamous impromptu sing-a-long that happened on Italian balconies; inspiring cities around the world to do the same. In New York City, people are applauding medical personal and first responders from their windows as a signal of unity and support. Music and praises lifted up to God’s ears. This is koinonia.  
 
I just saw on TV Subaru is partnering with Feeding America to help people who are struggling during this pandemic. Here in L.A., the Unified School District has vowed to use their resources to make sure their students (and their families) still get fed at least two meals a day. Volunteers have signed up and have served over 15 million meals to date. Pooling resources and working together to help all who are in need.  That is koinonia. 
 
In our neighborhood people are sharing fruit from their trees, bread from their ovens, and books from their homes. This is what the world is supposed to be like: sharing life together in harmony and peace. Recalling the words of Brian Tracy who said, "Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others." This echos the ethics of Jesus, who showed us how to truly live by giving his love away freely. 
 
Jesus knew that even the smallest act of kindness is powerful enough to transform people and communities. A conversation with a woman at the well, an dinner invitation for a sinner to sit and share the table with him, a gentle touch of compassion shown to a leper who by law had been excluded from his community. These are just a few signs and wonders of God at work in the world healing our wounds and leaving us in awe. 
 
This is what I want to happen when the country opens up again. I want the entire world to constantly be in awe of the Spirit of God working in us and through us and all around us. I want love to be the power that drives our world’s economies and treaties. And I believe it can.

In this flicker of koinonia, I see hope growing and fears fading. I see bridges connecting people and walls disappearing. But who will stoke its flame with me? It’s not like hunger, poverty or health care needs will disappear once the pandemic has passed. 
 
In giving us the Holy Spirit, Jesus empowers all of us to take these threads of good will and weave them into a new social order. As the church, the very body of Christ himself, we must be the positive jolt that moves the world towards new social habits that care to the wellbeing of all people. (Marty, 2020) By practicing koinonia the church can lead the way making positive changes in the world. 
 
But in order to be the agents of change, we must be willing to first change ourselves.  For far too long Christians have pushed people away instead of inviting them in. We spend more time playing church than actually being the church. We need to take a risk and be  the gospel and good news in the world for transformation to happen.

We must set aside the church doctrines and political differences that separate us and live in unity and awe of the risen Christ who holds us all together in God’s grace and love.  In Christ, we are the very heartbeat of God’s love that not only revives the soul of the world, but resurrects it to new life.
 
In closing, I want to leave you with a familiar saying of mine.  I want you to know that:  You are loved. And you are love. Go and be both – and you will be ready to truly embrace whatever today and tomorrow brings.
 

 
Work Cited
Marty, Peter W. "The Coronavirus Pandemic is Nurturing Neighborliness." christiancentury.org. April 24, 2020. https://www.christiancentury.org/article/editorpublisher/coronavirus-pandemic-nurturing-neighborliness (accessed May 1, 2020).