What a glorious day! The temperature is in the low seventies, the humidity is a far cry from a wet weekend, and a delightful breeze is blowing through our open windows. I love days like this, especially in the fall and in the spring. After a long, hot summer when the air conditioner has been running 24/7 for days and weeks on end, or at t h e end of a cold winter when the house has been closed up with the furnace blowing warm air, what a treat to have the windows open and a fresh breeze blowing through.

Fifty years ago this month, when Angelo Roncalli was elected pope and took the name John XXIII, it was thought that he would simply be a caretaker pope. He was already in his seventies when elected, and no one thought he would change much of anything. What a surprise! Pope John XXIII is the one who declared that it was time "to open the windows," the windows of the church, and let the fresh winds of the Holy Spirit blow through.

As a result, there was new life breathed into the church. The Second Vatican Council was convened, and liturgy was put into the indigenous language of the people wherever they lived. New relationships were opened among Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, Protestants of all stripes including Lutherans, and even relationships with the Jewish community were given new life. The Spirit blew in and through and replaced the old and musty with what was fresh and alive.

In the biblical languages of both Hebrew and Greek, the word for Spirit also can be translated as "breath" or "wind." So in the Genesis account of creation, when we’re told that "the Spirit of God moved over the face of the waters," it could be translated as the breath of God or the wind of God moved over the waters.

In the same way, Jesus tells Nicodemus that the Spirit of God is like the wind itself. It blows where it will. You can’t see the wind, but you can feel the wind and you can see what the wind does. We can’t see the Spirit either. But we can see the results of the Spirit when our lives are transformed, when we become more and more like Christ Jesus himself.

This October, I want to encourage you to open the windows of your faith. Let the Spirit blow through and cleanse out old cobwebs. Join us for something new and different each Wednesday evening for a time of fellowship as we break bread together, for a time of deepening your faith through one of two Bible studies being offered, for a time of worship as we gather for Evening Prayer.

Or try this: let the Spirit blow through so that the old ways of understanding stewardship can be refreshed and replaced by stories about the saints of God. Let the Spirit blow through your soul as you join us each Sunday morning at 9:45 to grow in our relationship with God as we learn about real faith for real life.

The Spirit blows where it will and when it will. We Lutherans always celebrate the last Sunday in October as Reformation Sunday. We remember that the Spirit that blew over the abyss at creation also blew into the hearts of frightened disciples on Pentecost. And this same Spirit blew into the lives of the 16th-century reformers: Martin Luther, Philip Melancthon, John Calvin, and so many others. The Spirit continues to blow and refresh and stir things up yet today, even in 2008!

What will the Spirit stir up in you this October?