June 8, 2025; John 20, 19-23; Pentecost
Today’s gospel tells us that on the evening of the resurrection Jesus breathed on his disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Why would Jesus breathe on his disciples before imparting the spirit? What do breathing and Spirit have in common? The answer to that question would be obvious if we were reading this passage in the original languages of the Bible, because in Hebrew “Spirit” and “breath” are the same word. God’s Spirit is God’s breath. When God creates Adam in the Book of Genisis, God breathes on Adam to give him life. God gives God’s very breath to Adam, God’s Spirit, just as Jesus gives his disciples his breath and his Spirit. The Bible uses the reality of breath to emphasize how close God is to us. Our God is not a distant God, ensconced in the heavens. God is as close to us as the air we breathe. The movement of taking in and breathing out air is God’s breath within us. It indicates the presence of God’s Spirit..
This insight leads to two conclusions for our lives on this Pentecost Sunday. The first is this: We have value. You and I are not random accidents of the universe. We are not mistakes of genetics. Our life and our dignity have been given and are maintained by the rhythmic pulse of God’s breath moving within us. Even when we fail, hurting ourselves and others through our weakness and selfishness, even when we loose faith because of sickness or grief, we continue to live because of the presence of the Spirit. Our dignity is validated with every breath we take.
The second conclusion we can draw is this: Everyone has value. We characterize other people in a variety of ways. We can see them as wounded, mentally or physically challenged, as a friend, stranger, or enemy. But prior to any of those characterizations, every person breathes. That movement of taking air in and breathing it out is the sign that God’s Spirit dwells in them. This is why we cannot reject another person because that person is different, difficult, or ordinary. This is why any violence against another person, whether physical or verbal, it is an assault against the very life of God.
God has given the Spirit to every living person. It is the movement of taking air in and breathing it out that unites us as a single human family and gives us our dignity. Therefore, on this Pentecost Sunday, so that we may never forget our own value or reject the value of others, let us pause and—breathe God’s Spirit in.