It may sound strange or silly, but has anyone ever told you, "Now, just take a deep breath," as she or he tries to calm you down?  When my children were younger, Amy, our daughter was the one who would remind people to breathe when they were particularly frustrated.  There were a few times when I received that same encouragement she would look at me and say “Mom, breathe, breathe in and breathe out.”

When people hyperventilate the remedy to slowing down their breathing is by using a paper bag.  Where soon there breath sounds are slower and calmer.  Simply breathe.

Inviting us to take a breath before we start services is my way of giving each of you an opportunity to slow your breathing and to transition from a time of whatever your life has been during the last week and to move into a time of sacredness worshipping and praising God.

By this point in their journey, the disciples were probably quite breathless themselves. Remember all that has happened in the last 50 days for them. Jesus' goodbye. His arrest and crucifixion-an event itself accompanied by loud sighs and long wails of grief. But, then, his resurrection and continued ministry with them. Their shallow, grief-laden breathing must have become full and robust again as Jesus resumed teaching them about the kingdom of God.

And, yet, just as the disciples caught their breath, Jesus did as he said he would-he left. He was taken out of their sight and returned to the One from whom he came. It must have been heart wrenching. The wind was once again knocked out of them.

And so the disciples did what all church people do in times of fear and chaos-they had a meeting. They busily began to try and get their game plan together. There was so much to do. They needed to get organized. They needed to choose more apostles to help them with all the work Jesus had left in their trembling hands. After all, they were now supposed to tell other people about what God had done in Jesus. It was a daunting mission. They could not believe they were now the ones in charge of continuing Jesus' ministry to the outcast, to the poor, to the powerful, to the sick-but all without his physical presence. It was enough to make them scared and breathless.

But before the disciples knew what was happening, out of the blue, there came from heaven a sound like the rush of a violent wind and it filled the house where they had been sitting. The wind blew through the entire house, filling each of them with a breath that came from somewhere else, Someone Else. The wind, the breath, filled them with a power they did not understand. They had not asked for this breath nor expected it. This power, this breath, this courage just swooped into the room and filled them up in a way they could have never predicted. And with it, they discovered a reserve of strength they did not know they possessed. They came face to face, lung to lung, with the gift of God's Holy Spirit, God's holy breath.

And so what did they do? Once the disciples realized they could breathe again, once they shook themselves loose from the stress and the anxiety, once they unwound the grip of chaos from around their throats, they found themselves speaking of God's deeds in their lives. But and here’s the surprise to everyone there they burst out in languages they did not even know they could speak-telling the story of how they became God's people. They, who not that long ago had no faith and now, they were God's own sons and daughters, were given the breath of faith.

These timid, stressed-out disciples found themselves preaching and sharing with others their faith stories of how God had interrupted their lives, changing them and what God had continued to do in their lives. And the people listened. The crowd grew. Yes, some in the crowd thought they were drunk. Perhaps if you and I had been there we might have assumed the same thing. It was the only explanation the crowd came up with so strange was the event that happened.

But then Peter gave voice to what was happening. And as he preached, I imagine all of these people-people from near and far, strangers and foreigners, young and old, began to breathe deeper. They started to purposefully inhale some of this Spirit breath into their own lungs. And the church was breathed and birthed into being. And people far and wide, in all kinds of languages with all kinds of traditions, began to speak of God and how God was at work in their lives and in the world. And the breath of God blew freely and wildly, filling their lungs, giving them courage and a strength they did not know they had. And Christ's body, the church, was knit together and began to move.

But here is the crutch of this story: While this reading from Acts is a meaningful story and powerful story, we simply cannot keep it contained in the past. God's Spirit still works this way. The Holy Spirit, the breath of God, is at work, here and now. Through Scripture and prayers, through music and proclamation, through experience and relationships, God's holy breath challenges us, comforts us, scares us, clarifies things for us. The story of Pentecost tells us if we are open to breathing it in, if we dare to pray "Come Holy Spirit," we will find our own lungs filled with a courage, a reserve of strength, and a passion of faith we did not even know we had.

As people of Pentecost, God invites us to experience the fullness of life which God intends with God's holy breath. We are invited to breathe deeply and consciously in every moment of our lives. Breathing, expecting to be filled with God's Spirit, God's holy breath. Expecting to be changed by it as it fills our lungs. Expecting that we might see things we could never imagine seeing, or speak things we did not think we had the courage to say.

I wonder where this church would be and how it would be if the Spirit had not moved Shirley Baxter and others to open the thrift shop and those who continually volunteer in it with such devotion.  What a gift from the Spirit to this church and to the wider community!  Or how about those folks who year after year put together and work at our Spring Plant Sale or the Christmas Tea and Bazaar or your Board members who have let their name stand once again.  Or how about when you’re having a bad day and suddenly out of nowhere a friend calls or someone goes out of their way to be kind.  I call those folks angels but that’s the Holy Spirit at work.

I could go on and on. I imagine you have your own stories of when you have experienced the holy breath of God. I encourage you to share them with another rather than keeping those moments of experiencing the Holy to yourself.

For this day of Pentecost affirms for us that God's Spirit, God's breath is still at work around, among, and in us. It is a breath of life, of courage, and of proclamation that can fill our lungs to overflowing, causing us to sing and to dance, to live and get through each day. It is a breath we do not want to miss. It is a breath we want to learn to expect, for which we want to pray. So perhaps you and I will remember to breathe deeply. To remind those we love to breathe deeply. And, then, we can watch and feel what happens when we do.

Let us pray.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill our lungs, our souls, our lives with your breath of courage and good news. May we be open to your newness. Amen.