Pentecost TODAY!

Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17, 25-27

The Day of Pentecost, May 19, 2013

Pentecost. The third of the great festival days in the church year. Third in many ways…

There is no Pentecost Tree, no baby church lying in the manger. We don’t have a song of the 12 days of Pentecost. Of course this year there are exactly 200 days of Pentecost—and you thought “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” was a tedious song!

Yes, Christmas has a decorated tree, a jolly elf named Santa, eight tiny reindeer, and lots of presents.

Easter has lilies and bunnies and chocolate. Easter egg hunts and bonnets and pretty dresses.

If it’s lucky, Pentecost has the geranium. Kinda’ scraggly, smells like moth balls.

Pentecost is definitely third. But it shouldn’t be.

So how is your knowledge of Pentecost?

Did you know that the day of Pentecost is often noted as the birthday of the church? That on that day the Holy Spirit lit a fire inside not just those who were seen with tongues of flame over them but so many others present in the Judeo-Christian community that day?

You probably know the most famous line of the Pentecost story. It still makes me giggle when I hear that line, “We’re not drunk as you suppose.” But what a scene that must have been, to see those tongues of fire and hear the rushing of the wind. And it’s been said that to those people that day it was not a jumbled, cacophonous message, but rather very clear and easily understood.

So the day of Pentecost seems to be just another history lesson for us. But if we imagine Pentecost to take place on only that one day 2000 years ago, we are left scratching our heads and wondering what all the excitement is about.

Or in other words, when it comes to Pentecost, 

SO WHAT?

Good question.

Pentecost isn’t a one day, one-time only event. In the book of Acts there are numerous Pentecosts, many times when the Holy Spirit is poured out. 

There’s the time when Philip was sent by an angel down the wilderness road, then was sent by the Spirit to the eunuch to interpret scripture, and finally convinced by the eunuch to baptize him, Philip then snatched away by the Lord to another place, leaving the eunuch to proclaim the good news.

Or there’s the story of Saul, persecutor and murderer of many Christians, struck blind by the Lord only to have Ananias lay hands of him for the scales to fall from his eyes. Soon he was preaching the Christian gospel, the one he had fought against, now being known as Paul, the great missionary and epistle writer.

But pastor, it still sounds like a history lesson.

So then there are the great monasteries of the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the Great Awakenings!

Still history.

There’s the rebirth of the church in the form of the ELCA, getting ready to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the great coming together as people of God!

Well, closer, but not quite touching us personally.

It’s the taking of a chance. A small group meeting in a community center every Sunday dreaming of a future that reached out and touched many in Sherwood and other nearby areas.

It’s the people willing to take the risk of building a beacon on this very site 11 years ago calling out to the community the joy of the gospel of the Lord.

Still sounds like history?

It’s the faith of five young men named Louis, Conner, Zach, Hunter, and Andrew renewing the promises others made on their behalf in baptism now proclaiming the baptismal faith in their own words.

That’s so two weeks ago.

But Pentecost really isn’t just 2000 years ago. And it’s not just points in history. In fact, Pentecost is never over!

Because Jesus makes this amazing promise to his disciples: even if the disciples struggle with Jesus’ words, they can believe because of the works they have seen him do. And then he goes on to say, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these.”

Did you hear that? We who believe in Jesus will do greater works than he! Feeding, preaching, healing, giving life to the dead. 

Well, I know you all heard that, so maybe the real question is, “Do you believe that?” Let me confess here: I don’t always believe that. Often that sounds too far-fetched, impossible, beyond my understanding. And I’m guessing I’m not alone—you probably struggle in the same way.

But the Spirit is active in our lives. Active in the continuing ministry of Christ the King. And if we open our eyes we can see it all over.

We can see it in the bright eyes of our children as we tell them the story of Jesus, bringing the Spirit to life inside ourselves as well.

We rediscover it in the baptism of Ivy, a fresh reminder that the promises she heard today are promises for us as well.

We find it in the coming together to have some fun on the golf course in the process of feeding hungry children. In the camaraderie of a penny war with our sister church in Combined Locks (I hear they’re gaining on us!).

We hear it in the joyous music of the Gospel Singers, having a great deal of fun in the work of praising the Lord and leading us in our worship.

It comes through the ministry of Rez-a-Wreck, as another person gains access to transportation to be able to care for their family.

It’s amazing where you might find a new Pentecost. And it doesn’t have to be a big event! Chances are there won’t be tongues of flame (although the meat ministry might have a few!). It’s a pretty good bet there won’t be speaking in tongues, although one tongue (English) may help shine the light. You don’t even need a big crowd.

Many Pentecosts are quiet, simple, one to one activities. The sitting with someone when they’re in the midst of a horrible time in life. The praying with someone struggling with aches and pains, mental, emotional, and physical, bringing them just a little peace. A quiet moment in the midst of the busyness of this world.

So go ahead this week and email me (link to email) or write it down when you recognize the Spirit active in your lives. And really do this, keep your eyes open. That way, this message this morning isn’t coming to its end. Instead, it’s just at its beginning. I pray that I’m overwhelmed with your responses, or at the very least you’re overwhelmed by what you discover.

Just keep your eyes open.

Amen.

More than a Mother's Day gift

Luke 24:44-53, Acts 1:1-11

Ascension Sunday: May 12, 2013

Happy Mothers’ Day! I can’t really imagine how Mother’s Day and the Ascension go together. So we’ll stick with the Ascension for now.

We can only imagine as to what the Ascension of Jesus must have been like. I can imagine myself somehow trying to jump and pull him back down to earth. After all, I probably still have a few questions I would like answers to: “Where are you going Jesus?” “What do we do next?” “Could you explain your miracles just one more time?”

But he had to go. If he had stayed the Holy Spirit could not have done her work. The church would not have been able to grow, stunted by the physical presence of God. You see, faith is the belief in something that is not seen. So there would be no need for true faith if Jesus had simply stayed on earth. Without faith, the Holy Spirit is worthless as she brings the gift of faith to us.

Because Christ ascended to heaven the disciples—which includes us—are now empowered to do the work of God here on earth guided by the Holy Spirit. We have been gifted with the Holy Spirit so that we can aim toward obeying Jesus’ command to love God and to love one another. Through that same Holy Spirit we are then led to grow as people of faith, using the gifts and time God has given us to advance God’s kingdom here on earth.

So then Jesus leaves our midst so that we can grow.

Maybe there is a connection between Mothers’ Day and Ascension after all!

Jesus spent his last few years on earth teaching and showing the disciples what his love was all about. The lessons Jesus gave to them were to show them how to continue after they were no longer physically together. And the moms in our lives have done the same things. Teaching us the skills and traits we will need for a successful life as an adult away from home.

Jesus loved, taught lessons, even scolded when necessary. He used real life examples to show both the strengths and weaknesses of human life. And moms do that too… do your homework, clean your room, don’t tease your sister, or one of my personal favorites—if everyone was jumping off a bridge would you do that too?

But of course the Ascension does far more for us than just show us who we are. It also shows us who Jesus is, opening our eyes to the knowledge that Jesus is truly God. And even better, for the first time we now can see God as more than being   beyond time and space, something greater than all-powerful, majestic, sovereign, and eternal. As Jesus returns to the Father we can now realize a God who knows loneliness, betrayal, thirst, rejection, and even death.

No longer can God be portrayed as completely detached from the human experience. Jesus offers us a God who is vulnerable and even approachable. So that when we turn to God in distress, peril, or despair; we turn to a God who knows intimately the pain of the human condition. We have a God that assures us that affliction will not have the final word because the risen and ascended Christ will intercede for us; nothing can separate us from his love.

Today Jesus tells his followers—US!—that repentance and forgiveness are to be proclaimed in his name to all nations! This is not idle chit-chat, not a command, not even marching orders. It is a promise to us that now we have the power to do that. No longer is there only one voice on earth to proclaim good news to the people but now all who call upon his name are empowered and equipped with the power to proclaim God’s forgiveness for all who believe, to declare God’s mercy and goodness for the world, to share God’s love for all right where we are.

And to put the icing on the cake, the cherry on top, Jesus does one final act. He blesses the disciples. His very final act is to lift up his hands and bless us. And during his ascension the blessing continues, it’s the very last vision the world has of Jesus. And he continues to bless us right through this very moment and beyond. We continue in these blessings, they are all around us in the people and places God has placed in our midst. And so it goes.

When Jesus left the disciples didn’t hang their heads and feel woe for Jesus leaving them. Because they realized the promise that Jesus wasn’t leaving them alone. They fully understood their new sense of mission to be “little Christs” as Martin Luther would later write, recognizing that they are now servants of all, carrying a message far more precious than the most expensive jewels, far sweeter than the most splendid perfume, and far more satisfying than the richest of foods.

And we too, because of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, can rejoice in the very same way. WE know we aren’t left alone, WE are today’s little Christs with a message we can deliver in a multitude of ways that sounds sweeter than the most beautiful symphony. The Holy Spirit empowers us to share that marvelous message of Christ’s sacrifice for us. And by telling the story we then fulfill the proclamation to all nations, one friend, one family member, one neighbor at a time.

And so Christ really did have to return to the Father. Because then we receive a gift not just for moms but for all of us here today. It’s a gift tastier than the finest chocolate, more fragrant than the best perfume, more lovely than the most beautiful of roses. It’s the gift of the Holy Spirit. And for that gift and all the other gifts we receive daily from our Creator…

Thanks be to God!