B. Pentecost

(St. Mark's and St. James')

When we get stressed and feel tense, our breathing becomes quick and shallow. One of the easiest ways to de-stress is to slow down and breathe. Inhale slowly, deeply, steadily, paying attention to the breath, feeling your abdomen, rib cage and chest expand. Then exhale slowly, completely.

I feel better already. ;-)

Focusing on our God-given breath is also a very basic way to meditate. We can sit quietly, focusing on our breath that comes from the One in whom we live and move and have our being. Short prayers can be added to the inhale and exhale, like little mantras. Often when I wake up in the middle of the night focusing on breath prayer helps me get back to sleep—otherwise sometimes my mind starts going off in all directions. So I’ll inwardly say “You are my breath,” on the inhale, and “you are my rest” on the exhale.

People who use the Jesus Prayer contemplatively also tie it into the breathing cycle. For me, it’s “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God” on the inhale and “Have mercy on me, a sinner,” on the exhale. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me a sinner.

Have you ever heard the phrase “Caesar’s Breath?” It’s kind of a scientific term, a teaching tool. It’s the idea that when Augustus Caesar was murdered by Brutus, he released an enormous number of molecules in his last breath, mostly nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Someone with perhaps a lot of time on his hand calculated that the number of molecules is .05 X 6 X 10 to the 23rd. 10 to the 23rd alone is a ridiculous number, a 10 with 22 zeros following it.

So what happened to all of these molecules? Some would have been absorbed by plants, and some by animals, and some by water, and the rest would float around the earth so that, with every breath we take, we inhale at least one or two molecules that came from Caesar’s last breath.

As we gather here today, you and I are exchanging molecules as we breathe.

Now think of our Gospel. “Jesus breathed on them and said, ‘receive the Holy Spirit.’” Jesus breathed on them. While we may be taking in Caesar’s breath, it’s just as likely that we are inhaling molecules from Jesus’ breath. And by his breath, we share in his life.

Because In the scriptures, breath is life. Think about Genesis chapter 2:

The LORD God formed a man's body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person (v.7).

God breathed into it the breath of life.

And how about that strange story in Ezekiel—well much of Ezekiel is strange, but the story about the dry bones in the desert.

So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived . . . (37:7-10).

Breath is life. And Jesus breathes on the disciples and they receive his life in the form of the Holy Spirit. Christ’s breath, the breath he breathed on the disciples that day, is still circulating, still with us. And it is certainly greater, more powerful, more life-giving by far than Caesar’s breath. It was the very breath of God incarnate.

So just how does this event compare with the coming of the Holy Spirit in the 2nd chapter of Acts, our first lesson today? After all, our Gospel reading takes place on the night of the Resurrection, when the disciples are locked up in fear and Jesus comes among them. It’s the story of when Thomas wasn’t there, and a week later Thomas saw Jesus, his scars, his side, his hands, his feet, and said, “My lord and my God.” Surely it was the Spirit who enabled him to say that, even though he hadn’t been present that first night. But with Christ’s breath, the power of the Spirit was unleashed, perhaps like the act of conception, and the Birth, the ultimate gift, was given 50 days later, after Jesus had ascended to the Father.

In both cases, in the quiet breath of Jesus, and the powerful theophany of the Spirit in Acts, his disciples were entrusted with a mission. They are sent to do God’s work in the world, to be Christ in the world.

And as we have received the Holy Spirit at our baptisms, we too are sent to do God’s work in the world, to be Christ in the world. We have received the power of the Holy Spirit. The same power that transformed fearful, doubting, ordinary men into fearless, confident, extraordinary apostles and missionaries is available to us. The power to transform the world. The life-giving Spirit, the very breath of God is our breath.

Discipleship is not just about believing in Jesus, though that of course must be part of it. It’s also about the indwelling of Jesus the Son, through the Holy Spirit. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus lives in us, and we in him. “To receive Christ is to obtain the Sprit; to be filled by the Holy Spirit is to experience the living presence of Jesus Christ within. Christian transformation is Christ at work within us, bringing about his glory in our Spirit-led renewal” (Burge, Gary M. The NIV Application Commentary: John, Zondervan, p. 575).

In the book of Acts the giving of the Spirit seems to be about power and the outward manifestations of he Spirit’s presence, but in the Gospel that’s not the main point. In John the emphasis is on relationships, and especially the relationship Jesus wants to have with his disciples, both then and now. This relationship has its foundations in the work of the Holy Spirit. “Christian discipleship is a union with Jesus Christ that empowers and transforms, that is mystical, that exceeds our rational abilities to understand and quantify. To make it less is to miss the work that Jesus tried to accomplish with his followers on the first Easter” (ibid, 576).

One of my favorite personal prayers, especially when settling down to pray, will probably have new meaning now, remembering that with my breath I am breathing in elements of Jesus’ breath. It goes like this: “Lord, you are closer to me than my own breath. May each breath that I take deepen my awareness of your presence.”

The Holy Spirit is Christ’s presence within us, empowering us, and especially enabling us to have a relationship with both the Father and the Son.

I also love some of our hymns that focus on the work of the Spirit, and especially this one:

1. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
fill me with life anew,
that I may love what thou dost love,
and do what thou wouldst do.

2. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
until my heart is pure,
until with thee I will one will,
to do and to endure.

3. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
till I am wholly thine,
till all this earthly part of me
glows with thy fire divine.