This is an approximation of the words I shared during my sermon on May 31, 2020 on Pentecost
The Holy Spirit as Agitator
We need an agitator in our collective lives. This has been a tragic week in our nation with the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. On a day when we celebrate the Holy Spirit, the presence of wind and breath, we hear the words of George Floyd: I can’t breathe.
People are angry, people are upset at the racism and the white privilege that permeates our society. I want to be clear, upon the death of George Floyd, God as the first to weep.
As I look in the mirror this week, I wrestle, as a straight, white male with privilege my own complicity in a world where racism and systemic racism grows unchecked.
Let me be clear: Racism is a sin. Systemic racism is sin
As the church (big C Church) we need to confess that we don’t know what it takes to truly be an anti-racism, pro-reconciliation church.
A friend once told me that if you let it, the Holy Spirit will mess you up. Church, we need to let the Spirit mess us up. We will not eradicate the sin of racism until the church gets busy confronting it, at being anti-racism, pro-reconciliation.
As the first followers of Jesus gathered in Jerusalem, they were living in an unjust world. It was the Empire that had put their Messiah and friend to death. They were waiting on something to happen. The resurrected Christ told them to wait. And the Holy Spirit came.
therevdanny 