Pentecost: The Body Electric

Pentecost. The day Jesus sent the gift of his Spirit. Tongues of fire appeared on the heads of the disciples. Everyone spoke in his own language and yet everyone understood.

The birthday of the church.

Yes, yes, yes, and Yes.

I remember sitting in a class on John's Gospel at Weston School of Theology - which, at the time, shared faculty, classroom space and a fabulous library with the Episcopal Divinity School - with a wonderful Jesuit scholar and one of the authors published in the Jerome Biblical Commentary.

Near the end of the very last of his wonderful lectures, he asked us to turn off all our tape recorders (Do people still use them?). Then, he asked us to put down our pens and pencils (A few of us had computers. No one had laptops. Yet.) and close our notebooks. He took a deep breath, put his glasses on the end of his nose and said, "You never heard me say this . . . .".

Which, of course, insured that we'd never forget what he was about to say.

He took another deep breath and said, "From everything I've studied, I do believe that Jesus knew - in the very center of the intersection of his humanity and divinity - that his life and ministry, his death, ascension and resurrection, had all been so that the Holy Spirit could come."

"Yes," he said, "to answer the question that is dancing around in your heads, I'm saying that, as important as the gift of Jesus was, he was not as important as the Holy Spirit. Just as John the Baptist knew that he must "decrease" so Jesus could "increase," (Jn 3:30), Jesus knew that he must do the same for the Holy Spirit."

He quoted Jesus in John's Gospel to further support his claim: “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come." (Jn 16:12-13). 

"The church has got it all wrong," he said. "It's not about Jesus. It's about the Holy Spirit." 

"If you want proof of that, just take a look at some of the hymns the church sings about the Holy Spirit.  Music that sounds more like lullabies and speak of the Holy Spirit as a 'murmur of dove's wings' so miss the mark."

"If we paid any attention at all to what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit, we'd be spending less time in church looking at the cross and more time dancing in the wind."

I remember the room being really, really quiet as we let that revelation sink in. 

The Episcopal version of 'speaking in tongues'

After more than forty years of Pentecost celebrations in the Church - red balloons, red dresses, red ties, red socks, strawberry shortcake and red Kool Aid at coffee hour and all that perfectly dreadful, practically anesthetic music - I think that Jesuit professor was right. 

Indeed, experiencing Episcopal liturgies on Pentecost remind me of what Jack Spong once said: 

"The Episcopal Church will not die of controversy. The Episcopal Church will die of boredom long before it dies of controversy."

Indeed.

The more I think about the significance of The Holy Spirit, the more I think about the fact that every time Jesus talked about the Holy Spirit it was always in connection to two things: on-going revelation and eternal life. 

It was never about his body. It was always about the Spirit. 

The body is the vehicle. The Spirit is about what was, what is, and what will be. 

The body is what is - flesh and spirit. 

The Spirit is about revolution and new life which leads us to and prepares us for Life Eternal, which is the gift of the life, death, ascension and resurrection of Jesus.  

Pentecost is more of a mystery than the incarnation, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus combined. 

It is also the point of the incarnation, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. 

Because it's all about The Trinity and The Trinity is all about relationship with God and each other in Christ, empowered by The Spirit. 

If asked to point to one song that captures the essence of the mystery and meaning of Pentecost, I wouldn't be able to name anything in the 1989 hymnal of The Episcopal Church - or, in fact, any hymnal authorized by The Episcopal Church. Yes, I'm including "Lift Every Voice and Sing."

If asked, I would most assuredly point to the final song in the film "Fame". 

Inspired by Walt Whitman's  1855 poem, "I sing the body electric," Whitman asks, "And if the body were not the soul, what is the soul?" 

It's the question at the heart of the mystery of Pentecost.  I don't think the song directly answers the question, but it points us closer to an answer than anything the church does on Pentecost. 

So, on this Feast of The Pentecost when we celebrate in great thanksgiving the gift of the Spirit, which is the gift of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, I offer this song. 

Try to remember and never forget:

We are the emperors now
And we are the czars
And in time
And in time
We will all be stars

 Happy Pentecost!



I sing the body electric
I celebrate the me yet to come
I toast to my own reunion
When I become one with the sun

And I'll look back on Venus
I'll look back on Mars
And I'll burn with the fire of ten million stars
And in time
And in time
We will all be stars

I sing the body electric
I glory in the glow of rebirth
Creating my own tomorrow
When I shall embody the earth

And I'll serenade Venus
I'll serenade Mars
And I'll burn with the fire of ten million stars
And in time
And in time
We will all be stars

We are the emperors now
And we are the czars
And in time
And in time
We will all be stars

I sing the body Electric
I celebrate the me yet to come
I toast to my own reunion (my own reunion)
When I become one with the stars

And I'll Look back on Venus
(I'll look back on vanity)
I'll look back on Mars
(Ill at this path)
I'll burn with the fire
(burn)
Of 10 million stars
(fire inside)
And in time (And in time)
And in time
And in time (and in time)
And in time
And in time (and in time)
And in time
WE WILL ALL BE STARS