"…AND I'LL BLOW YOUR HOUSE IN…"

Who hasn't heard the story of the “Three Little Pigs”? It begins with the title characters being sent out into the world by their mother, to "seek their fortune". The first little pig builds a house of straw, but a wolf blows it down and the pig runs away. The second little pig builds a house of sticks, which the wolf also blows down after he lets his brother in and before the pigs run away. The third pig builds a house of bricks and lets his brothers in. The wolf fails to blow down the house. He then attempts to trick the pigs out of the house by asking the pigs to meet him at various places, but the pigs outwit the wolf each time. Finally, the wolf decides to come down the chimney, but the clever little pigs catch the wolf in a cauldron of boiling water. The pigs slam the lid on, and cook and eat the wolf.

My favorite part of the story was the repeated verse:

"Little pig, little pig, let me come in."

"No, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin."

[then I’d say along]

"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blowwww your house in!”

The early followers of Jesus had built houses of grief and mourning. Their leader had been executed by the Romans. But then a new message came and blew their houses down: “Jesus is alive!” Over the course of 40 days Jesus continued to teach and to touch. But the time came for Jesus to leave. He went to be with God, but left instructions for God’s disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the gift of the Holy Spirit was given.

Pentecost was a Jewish feast, celebrated 50 days after Passover. It was one of 3 pilgrim festivals—that is, when all Jews were required to travel to Jerusalem with sacrifices and offerings.

The Bible says that those of us who follow Jesus are on a journey. Jesus, too, was and is on a journey to find us.

Here is the central truth of Pentecost. We don’t “come to God”; God comes to us.

The dominant impression the world has of the church is that it’s for good people who have stopped doing the things they call sin. Church is for people who have guilty consciences and need help with them. So they come to God for help. But that’s not what makes the church what it is. No, the church is about God coming to us.

Chris Glaser has written in his blog:

“Jesus loves me, this I know,” and not just because the Bible tells me so. Mere words could never convey the love I have felt from Jesus. It came from my mom and dad, from Christian friends, teachers, professors, clergy, guides, soul friends, and lovers. And it came from the Holy Spirit, opening scripture to me, opening my heart and mind, and releasing me from the whitewashed tombs of doctrines that no longer resonate.

If it were up to us to “come to God,” our faith would be a matter of earning things. Being good enough would matter. Being smart enough would matter. Getting our act together would matter. God would only be for the spiritual ones, the healthy ones, the good ones. You’d have to know something or have something or be something in order for you to come to God.

So the Christian tradition says that God made the first move. The Christian tradition tells us God gave the Son, so that we would realize that we are already forgiven of our misguided attempts to follow God. Then God gave the Spirit at Pentecost, so that we would have the power and the courage and the strength to begin and continue our journey.

When we draw near to God, it’s because God drew near first. When we reach out to God, it’s because God reached out first. When we love God, it’s only because God loved us first. The Holy Spirit, God’s continuing presence in us and among us, is proof that we don’t come to God without God’s first coming to us.

We need to understand that we’re harder to find than God is. We hide from God. We hide behind our image of having it all together. We hide behind criticism and condemnation, because we won’t forgive ourselves. We hide behind masks because we think God would be displeased if God really knew our thoughts. No, you don’t look for God. God’s not lost. You are.

Might I suggest that you simply let God love you. Rejoice in the fact that because of Pentecost, we have God’s Spirit living inside us, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead—resurrection power at our fingertips. Let’s let ourselves be found by God, but watch out! God will huff, and puff, and blow your house in”! Then God will help you build a whole new one.