Text:  John 20:19-22

Title:  Dare to Inhale

Date:  May 11, 2008

      Today is Pentecost which for some may be significant while for others it is not. For I do believe that Pentecost has lost its power. In the Jewish religion, it was a holiday that celebrated God’s giving of the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel. In the New Testament, Pentecost takes on a new meaning. Pentecost is the day to celebrate the gift and presence of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church. 

      As you may or may not know, there are two accounts of Pentecost in the New Testament. In the book of Acts, it is a large celebration where as in the gospel John, it is small. In the second chapter of Acts, the day of Pentecost takes place in Jerusalem. There were 120 people in the house and thousands of people in the streets for the festival of Pentecost. Suddenly it happens; a very violent wind swept through the room. There was fire, the fire shaped itself into tongues, and the people began to speak in other languages. In looking at this story, it is clear that the author intentionally used images of wind and fire from Exodus 20. 

      The other Pentecost celebration is in a house in Jerusalem and some of the disciples are there. The door is locked because they are scared. Jesus had been put to death and there are reports that he is alive again. The disciples cannot help but wonder what now was going to happen to them. Then it happened. The risen Christ appears before them. Suddenly Christ is with them and says, “Peace be with you.” He says this twice. And then a strange thing happens: Jesus breathes on them. In this story there is not a big violent wind, nor fire, but a human breath and a human word, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

      This too is Pentecost, but instead of describing it in the light of Exodus 20, John describes it in light of Genesis 2: then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.¹  From the very beginning of God’s creation, the gift of the spirit or breath has been life, which in Hebrew and in Greek, the native languages of our faith, are one in the same: in Hebrew the word is ruach and in Greek it is pneuma. These words can be translated as wind, spirit, or breath.

      This past Sunday afternoon, 8 students gathered in the upper room--the Goldston Sunday school room that is--to learn how to breathe life into others, that is, how to administer CPR, and how to use the automated external defibrillator. This was taught by our own Red Cross instructor Jerry Moran and Dr. Tom Bender, who could have billed the event as the “Tom and Jerry” show, but did not.

      Anyway, so for several hours we practiced giving CPR to mannequins, breathing our breath into them, doing chest compressions, making sure the airway was clear and open, back and forth; 30 compressions to two breaths, 30 compressions, two breaths, over and over again. 

      But I must tell you, it was to no avail. None of us were able to bring the two mannequins to life. We had learned how to do it right but at the same time, it didn’t work. We had learned the right words and the right steps. It was a great exercise and training, but that was all.

      Now of course I never thought that the mannequins were going to come to life. But this training got me thinking about breath; the very idea of breathing my breath into someone else, breath that would help sustain life, breath that could offer hope, breath that could help bring life back. My breath could possibly do all that which I find pretty amazing.

      But then I learned something even more amazing--- for not only would it be my breath, but the breath of all creatures that have ever existed. What? That’s right. I am sure I learned this in earth science, but had forgotten it for if you have studied earth science, then you know that our planet is wrapped in a protective veil we call the atmosphere, which separates the air we breathe from the cold vacuum of outer space. Beneath this veil is all the air that ever was. The same ancient air just keeps recirculating.²

      Now I wanted to check these facts so I consulted our own Dr. Toni Sauncy, physics professor at A.S.U, who added that we not only keep recirculating the same air, but it takes only about 5 years for one exhaled breath to be completely redistributed around the planet. Now I am not sure how they know that anymore than how it is determined which side goes up on the microwave pop corn bag, I mean some things are just beyond my comprehension. 

      But think about the implications. On those mornings you feel like you have brontosaurus breath, it is because you do. The same ancient air just keeps circulating. When we take in a breath, we take in what was once some baby’s first breath, or some dying person’s last. 

      Think about how that connects us with all of creation, past, present, and future. We breathe the same air that Plato breathed, Mozart,³ Abigail Adams, and yes even Jesus. The same air that filled his lungs fills ours. Think about it. The same breath that Jesus breathed upon his disciples in a locked room is the same breath that is breathed upon us, and what does that mean?

      Well, what did it mean for them? What did it mean for them to receive the Holy Spirit in the form of a human breath? The results were, pardon the pun, breathtaking! The once shy and scared disciples who were once locked behind closed doors were out among the people boldly proclaiming the gospel. Their confusion had been replaced with conviction. Their fears have been replaced with fearless confessions of what God has done in this one named Jesus. 

      The disciples who had not believed in themselves were now discovering abilities within themselves that they never knew they had. When they opened their mouths to speak, they would sound like Jesus. When they laid their hands upon the sick, it was as if Jesus himself had touched them. In short, they were saying and doing things that they had only seen Jesus say and do and the only explanation for it was they had dared to inhale the breath that Jesus had breathed upon them, the same life giving breath that God breathed into humanity. They had sucked in God’s own breath and they had been transformed by it. 

      Again the question, what did it mean for the disciples to receive the Holy Spirit in the form of a human breath? The answer—it meant new life. New life for the church! New life for the individuals in the church! New life through the spirit of God.⁴ That is what happened on Pentecost long ago and this is what happens still today. On Pentecost we celebrate God’s continual life giving breath that has the power to renew, restore, and reshape lives. Of course the question is:  Do you believe that God still works that way? 

      Do you believe in the possibility of new life with every new breath you take? That new life, new breath, can replace old and stale ways. If you do, then take a deep breathe. Do you believe that God’s spirit has the power to rebirth dying dreams? If you do, take a deep breathe. Do you believe that breath can restore hopes and fuel the flames of smoldering relationships? Do you believe that God’s spirit has the power to repair broken promises and compromised covenants? If you do, take a deep breath. Do you believe that God can restore your life? If you do, take a deep breath. Dare to inhale. Take a deep breath and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

¹ Genesis 2:7 (NRSV)

² Barbara Brown Taylor, Home By Another Way (Massachusetts: Crowley, 1999) 143.

³ Ibid. 

⁴ Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on