Holy Winds

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Genesis 1:1-2

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

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Call me the breeze
I keep blowin' down the road
Well now they call me the breeze
I keep blowin' down the road

"Call Me the Breeze" by J. J. Cale, recorded by Lynyrd Skinner from "Second Helping"

My favorite word in the Hebrew language is Ruach. There is an airy quality to the word that is appropriate because it means wind and breath. When you pronounce it, ru-aaaaach (heavy on the "a" light on the "ch") it sounds breathy, positively ethereal. It also means Spirit. So that wind from God that swept over the face of the waters is in truth the Holy Spirit of God.

Gotta love the breeze that creates, it continues to create, it keeps blowin' down the road. Even after six days of active creation of stuff and a seventh day where Sabbath is created, the breeze moves on down the road and continues the amazing work of God in all creation.

In Genesis, the breeze that blows across the waters, this breath of God, this spirit is imparted just before the light is created. It is the breath that blows across the chaos, across the darkness, across the void. This is the breath that precedes life. This is the breath that gives life to all creation.

This is the wind that comes off of the water in the morning. It’s the cool breeze that brings the dew to fall on the grass. It’s the summer breeze that rustles the leaves in the trees and tells us that all is right in the world. It is the Spirit that reminds us that God is in charge and regardless of the chaos of the world around us, it is the Spirit that says Emmanuel, God is with us.

The wind that blows across the waters of the formless void makes the form of our lives. And still, this wind calls us to listen and believe. When we stop listening to the word of God, when we quit feeling the breath of the Lord blowing across our faces, across our lives, we are not able to respond according to the Word. We instead pay attention to the words we hear from other voices.

When we stop listening to the voice of God, when we stop feeling the breeze on our faces and in our lives we stop forgiving and start retianing other’s sins. When we hear other voices, we do not hear the blessing of the Lord, “Peace to you.”

Who Does Stop the Rain

Genesis 8:1-3

But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and all the domestic animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided; the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters gradually receded from the earth.

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Long as I remember the rain been coming down,

Clouds of mystery pourin' confusion on the ground,

Good men through the ages tryin' to find the sun,

And I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop the rain.

"Who'll Stop the Rain" written by John Fogerty, originally recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

It's easy, way to easy to find someone who is in desperate straights and say that God provides. First of all, it's true. God does provide. God remembers. In this reading from Genesis, God remembered Noah and every living creature in the Ark. And when it was time for the trial to subside, God made a wind blow over the earth, the heavens closed, and the water receded over the face of the earth.

It's like that 60's hippie poem "Footsteps." It's true, when there is only one set of prints in the sand it's not because we're alone it's because the Lord is carrying us across the desert.

Still, it's lousy care. When someone walks up to you and asks "Who'll stop the rain?" we are not supposed to just say "Jesus" and get on with our lives.

Something that gets lost in our translations is that the Hebrew word of wind is the same as the word Spirit. This word is often used in the Old Testament to point to the Spirit of God. God sends the Spirit to do the holiest of work, even if it is just drying the waters from what will again be dry land.

The same Spirit blows on us. We are sent, we are called, we are ordained to do God's work. Sometimes we are called to build the ark, sometimes we are called to dry the tears. Sometimes we are called to try to find the sun, we are also called to try to find the Son.

We can't do God's work ourselves, that is up to God. Still, we have to be attuned to the work God sends us to do. We can't stop the rain, but we can help clean up after the flood.

Seeking What God Has For Us

1John 4:1 (NRSV)

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

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Well they say that time loves a hero
But only time will tell
If he's real he's a legend from heaven
If he ain't he was sent here from hell

"Time Loves a Hero" by Little Feat

Faith is a sticky thing. We are called to do as the Lord tells us, but since the Lord has yet to send email as an answer to prayer, it can be tough to discern which way is right sometimes.

We have to remember that the greatest heretics of the Church were just men (yes, at the time it was only the men who made great heretical history) who thought they had it right and they were doing the will of the Lord.

Only time will tell they say. If he's real he's a legend from heaven, if he ain't he was sent here from hell. While it is true that time will tell, we don't have the witness of history when we seek to do the will of the Lord in our lives. So we need something more than the rear view window.

Seeking the Lord is how we test the spirits. Do the spirits bring the fruit of the Spirit? Galatians reminds us that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are the fruits of the Spirit. There is no law against such things. If the spirit brings these things, then it passes the test.

By extension, things that do not pass muster, indiscretion, gossip, sloth, stinginess, gluttony, these things don't come fromt the Lord and bring no good. Times when it seems that hate is the right thing to do, there must be another way, and there is.

Listen to the Lord, test the spirits, seek the Holy Spirit.