Looking Forward to Pentecost

Week 4: The Spirit comes as God’s breath

Meditation Notes

How do you breathe air into someone else? It looks like a kiss. Humanity’s creation was a moment of incredible tenderness, incredible intimacy. Our life is a gift from a God who stoops to kiss his creation to life through his Spirit. Breath plays a role in the most important story of deliverance. Moses sings of the breath of God blowing a path through the Red Sea on to freedom’s shore. All this comes together in the story of the resurrected Christ appearing to and breathing on his disciples. The life of the flesh is one kind of life. But now through Christ we have been given the breath of the Spirit—a power for life that overcomes decay, sin, and death.

Song: Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God

 Holy Spirit, living breath of God,
 Breathe new life into my willing soul.
 Bring the presence of the risen Lord,
 To renew my heart and make me whole.
 Cause Your Word to come alive in me;
 Give me faith for what I cannot see,
 Give me passion for Your purity;
 Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.

 Holy Spirit, come abide within,
 May Your joy be seen in all I do.
 Love enough to cover every sin,
 In each thought and deed and attitude.
 Kindness to the greatest and the least,
 Gentleness that sows the path of peace.
 Turn my strivings into works of grace;
 Breath of God show Christ in all I do.

 Holy Spirit, from creation's birth,
 Giving life to all that God has made,
 Show Your power once again on earth,
 Cause Your church to hunger for your ways.
 Let the fragrance of our prayers arise;
 Lead us on the road of sacrifice,
 That in unity the face of Christ
 Will be clear for all the world to see.