Chidren of the Triune God

Trinity Sunday 2018

Based on Romans 8:12-17

Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr

            Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer. Even though summer doesn’t begin until June 21, we all are starting to transition into what I call “summer mode.” Those of us with kids in school are transitioning from the school schedule to the summer schedule. This means longer days filled with all kinds of different activities: a summer job, camps, vacations, festivals, weekend getaways.

            But the transition into summer mode isn’t the only transition that happens this time of year. High school graduates are transitioning into college life or vocational training. College graduates are transitioning into graduate school or into a career. June is the most popular month to get married, and marriage is one of the biggest transitions in life. In a few weeks at annual conference people will be commissioned or ordained. Churches across our conference are experiencing the transition of a change of appointment of their pastor. In many ways, this time of year is a time of transition.

            With this in mind, I am inviting us all to transition from “thinking about doing” and “talking about doing” to action. The time has come for all of us to find a place in our life together and dig in. Now, I’m not saying we haven’t been active already! Obviously, we all are busy people with busy lives. And we fill our days with lots of activity. Rather, what I am asking us to do is to increase our level of engagement with the church. For St. Luke’s to thrive, each of us has to do our part. And I believe that there is something each one of us can do. If you believe you are already doing all you can do, God bless you. If you have been sitting back and waiting to see how things turn out, my word to you is, grab an oar and start paddling. We are all in this together.

            We begin this season of transition from thinking about and talking about into action on a Sunday that is a transitional Sunday in the Christian year. We are moving into a period that is sometimes called “ordinary time.” That doesn’t mean this is a time of the year that is ordinary or plain. What it means is that liturgically we number each Sunday after Pentecost, ordinal being another word for number. This is the first Sunday after Pentecost. We keep numbering these Sundays all the way to the end of November, when we begin a new year with the start of Advent.

            This transitional Sunday, from the Easter season into ordinary time is called Trinity Sunday. This is the only Sunday of the year that is dedicated to a Christian doctrine. The Trinity, of course, is central to what we believe as Christians, that God is known as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three Persons in one God. We don’t believe in three gods. We believe in one God who is three Persons, co-equal, of the same essence, and so completely interrelated that the three act in total harmony. The doctrine of the trinity seeks to communicate how profoundly relational God is at God’s very core.

            Now the doctrine of the Trinity is a mystery that I’m not going to take time here to explain. It’s too difficult to explain how it is that one plus one plus one equals one. It’s a mind bender. And the attempted explanations across the centuries are more or less convincing. We claim it is true because in our tradition when we are talking about divine things we speak of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. When Jesus gave his great commission, he called on his apostles to baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So we know these three persons go together, but we don’t worship them as three gods. We only worship one. And how to make sense of this is a real puzzle and I’m not going to try to explain it now.

            Instead, I want to help us claim and celebrate that we live our life in a relationship with the Triune God. It makes all the difference that we relate to God as Father, as Son and as Holy Spirit. It makes a difference as we move into this time of transition into greater commitment to live our lives with God.

            I want to start by talking about the Holy Spirit, which is known by many names in our tradition. In the scripture passage read this morning, the spirit is named the spirit of adoption. As a person who was adopted, I am always attentive when the scripture speaks of adoption. Those of us who are adopted have the advantage of knowing more deeply what it means to be adopted. The first thing I want to say about this is that adopted children are in every way the children of their adoptive parents save genetics. I was adopted as a baby. My mom and dad are the only parents I’ve known. They are my parents like anyone else. The only difference is that I am not biologically related to them. The second thing about adoption is the fact that I was chosen by my adoptive parents. By their own free will they chose me to be their son. They didn’t have to be my parents. It was their decision to adopt me.

            So keep these two points in mind when we reflect on how we have received the spirit of adoption. Our relationship with God is marked by the spirit of adoption. First, we are in every way sons and daughters of God, save genetics. By that I mean that we don’t share the same essence as God. God is divine and we are not. Other than that, God is in every way our father/mother/parent and we are God’s children. Isn’t that amazing? I find this faith claim to be very moving and empowering. Second, it is by God’s own free will that we are children of God. God made the decision to claim us as God’s own children. Now I don’t want to push this too hard. God is love. So how could God have freely chosen anything other than to claim us as God’s children? How could God choose not to claim us? Still, I want to affirm that God was not coerced into choosing us. It is God’s deep desire to be in relation to us as our divine parent. God wants us as God’s children. That’s what is so moving to me. You and I are desperately wanted by God. This is what the spirit of adoption means in our relationship with God.

            But there’s one other person that is included in our adoption. Along with the Spirit and the Father is the Son, Jesus. If Jesus is God’s son, that means that Jesus is our brother. In fact, the only thing that makes us different from Jesus is that we don’t share the same genetics. Jesus is the natural son of God. That means they share the same genetics. They are both divine. Other than that, it is entirely appropriate to think of Jesus as our brother, and to love him as a brother. I can imagine that if my parents had a natural son or daughter they would have been my brother or sister in every way but genetics. It wouldn’t have made any difference if we were not biologically related to each other. We would still be family.

            And that’s the overall point here. You and I are a part of a global family. By God’s action, you and I are brothers and sisters to each other. We all share the same brother, whose name is Jesus. And we are all children of God. We are in truth one big family. Imagine how different the world would be if we identified every person on earth as our brother or sister. It would absolutely revolutionize the world.

            This is what is so awesome, and worth remembering as we continue to live out our days. We are all the adopted children of God. And because of this relationship, we share in the inheritance of our brother Jesus. Jesus has a promised inheritance as the king of kings and lord of lords. So if he is our brother, that puts us into a royal family. In fact, that’s what Peter wrote in one of his letters, that you and I are royalty. A royal priesthood is how Peter identified us.

            I can’t help but think of Meghan Markle, who entered St. George’s chapel as a commoner and came out as a princess, the duchess of Sussex. Her very identity changed, as well as the rest of her life. Kim saw a meme of Meghan looking blissfully into the eyes of Harry at the wedding and the meme said, “The look on your face when you realize you will never have to do laundry again.” But really, her life has changed in such a profound way. But her life is not going to be just sitting around being waited on hand and foot. She’s going to be busy, appearing everywhere, engaging in all kinds of events, fulfilling an exhausting set of responsibilities. You could say that she’s going to be too busy to do her laundry if she even wanted to.

            Now, obviously, when I talk about us being royalty, I’m not talking about how we need to understand ourselves to be just like Princess Meghan. It would be kind of sweet to live in a castle, ride around in a carriage and go to all those fancy parties. But, that’s not the nature of our royalty. The kingdom we are part of is not anywhere close to that of the British monarchy. It is so much greater and lasting. Our kingdom is the kingdom of God, whose reign is over the entire universe. So, yeah, it’s a whole different thing.

            Because of who we are, as children of God, we are to follow the leading of the Sprit. That’s what Paul wrote, “those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” And how does that work? It works when we ask ourselves, “What would a child of God do?” And then we listen to what our heart tells us. Why our heart and not our head? Because the Spirit lives in our heart, not in our heads. I’m not saying our heads aren’t important. Our heads help us figure out how to respond. But it is by listening to our heart that we get a sense of what we need to do. Our hearts guide us as to what to do and our heads guide us in how to do it.

            Because of who we are, as children of God, we live with gratitude to God for what God has done for us, that God has claimed us as God’s children. Paul wrote, “so then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors.” That is, we are in God’s debt. Have you heard of stories where someone saves somebody’s life? So often, when the one who was saved expresses gratitude to the person that saved them, they will say something like, “I am forever in your debt.” This person owes their very life to the person that saved them. In a similar way we owe our lives to God who saves us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, who has defeated the power of death and who has given us the promise of everlasting life. We truly owe our lives to God. That’s the kind of debt that we have toward God, a debt of gratitude, devotion, and service.

            Finally, because of who we are, as children of God, we endure the suffering that comes with living in this world knowing that we have a share in the glory of Jesus. Life is full of suffering of all different kinds, physical, emotional, even spiritual. Life is hard. And sometimes the suffering is nearly overwhelming. But what can keep us from being completely undone by the suffering we must endure is to remember to whom we belong. Each of us is a child of God. Each of us has a share in God’s everlasting kingdom. Each of us possesses dignity, even nobility, as princes and princesses of the king. And when we contemplate our status as sons and daughters of God, and the share we possess in the glory of Jesus our brother, we are able to rise above, to endure our suffering with dignity and grace, mindful of the suffering that Jesus endured, and the suffering that God endures as God experiences the suffering with us. We do not ever suffer alone. With this hope, we can endure. We can break out of that which seeks to bind us and sap the life out of us: the bondage of grief, the bondage of loss, the bondage of fear, the bondage of no longer caring. We can always remember who we are, breathe in deeply the spirt of life, remember that Jesus said he will never leave us or forsake us, and continue moving forward under the loving care of our divine parent.

            The decision is yours. There is so much that needs doing, not only in our life together as a church but the vast, immeasurable need all around us in our community. Are you weary? Place your burdens in the strong hands of our Father/Mother God. Are you uninspired? Imagine Jesus walking by your side, the same one who died on the cross for your sake and who rose from the dead. Be inspired by his way of life, the things he did, the things he taught. Are you lost and not sure what to do? Listen to your heart, where the Holy Spirit lives. Let your heart guide you to where you need to be and what you need to do. But most of all, remember who you are. Live your life as a child of God who is known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Spirt Removes Barriers

Based on Acts 2:1-21

Pentecost 2018

Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr

This message has a different ending. At the service where I delivered this talk, I led in to an invitation for people who had sensed a call from God to a particular form of ministry to come forward for a prayer of consecration. Seven people came forward!

            This is the day of Pentecost. It’s the day when we remember when the Spirit was poured out on the disciples of Jesus and the witness of the church began. Many consider Pentecost to mark the birth of the church. I have even heard of some churches who throw a birthday party for the church, complete with birthday cake. But Pentecost is not just a Christian holiday that marks the official end of the Easter season. This is also a festival kept by those who practice the Jewish faith, marking fifty days after the feast of Passover. It is called Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks. In the days of Jesus, this feast was a celebration of the first harvest of grain, which would be the wheat harvest. So this was a day to give thanks to God but also a reason to party. This day was also a remembrance of when Moses received the Ten Commandments, which took place fifty days after the Israelites fled from Egypt.

            Let’s take a minute and revisit how the giving of the Ten Commandments took place. The people had journeyed through the wilderness, making their way to the holy mountain, Mt. Sinai. As they approached, on the top of the mountain there was fire and smoke, lightening, the earth was shaking, it was if Mt. Sinai was an active volcano, like we have been watching in Hawaii the past few weeks. As you might imagine, nobody wanted to go up the mountain to meet with God. It was frightening! So Moses went up the mountain by himself.

            All that fire and smoke that signaled the presence of God was yet another of the many demonstrations of God’s deeds of power. We remember all the ways God demonstrated power through the process of getting Israel out of Egypt, with the sending of the various plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. God’s presence at the summit of Mt. Sinai with the fire and smoke was yet one more example. And as Moses was with God on the top of the mountain, God gave Moses the two tablets upon which was etched the Ten Commandments. The gift of these commandments helped to firm up a covenant between God and the children of Abraham. God had chosen them to be God’s people and had delivered them from slavery. How might they give their devotion and service to the God who had claimed them and saved them? The Commandments were given so the people would know what their God expects of them. The covenantal relationship between God and Israel was forged.

            Now we skip ahead a few thousand years, on the day of Pentecost, the first religious festival after the death of Jesus, although there were rumors that Jesus had come back to life. Jews from all across the world were in Jerusalem to celebrate Shavuot. And then, all of a sudden, God showed up in a powerful way. It wasn’t quite like a volcano eruption, but it was noisy, there was a mighty wind, and there were flames of fire. Before, God’s presence was way up on the top of the mountain and Moses alone had to hike up to the top. But this time the presence of God came down right into the midst of the apostles and all who were gathered with them in that house. The Spirit didn’t come down on one person, say, Peter. No, the Spirit descended upon all who were gathered inside.

            The noise, the wind, the fire, all of this must have gotten the attention of all those people in the area. They must have been perplexed about what was happening at that house, where there was wind and flame but the house wasn’t burning down. What is going on over there? And as people drew near, all those inside the house came bursting outside speaking of the mighty deeds of God in the native languages of all those Jews gathered around them. One hundred and twenty people streaming out into the streets declaring with boldness the mighty deeds of God. It was noisy! The streets of Jerusalem were already filled with noise and commotion, with all those people from out of town, all those people gathered for the religious ceremony and for the parties. It took a big splash to get the attention of the city. And so God acted in a way that captured the attention of everyone and filled the people with amazement and wonder as they saw Galileans speaking perfect Latin, Greek, Arabic, or whatever native language was yours. Absolutely bewildering.

            Peter then quiets the crowd gathered around them and, while still filled with the Spirit, Peter proclaims his first sermon. Using as his text the prophet Joel, Peter proclaims that the Spirit of God is descending on all people, men and women, boys and girls, from all walks and stations in life. All people means all, not some, not many, all. And Peter goes on to say that all who call on the name of the Lord, not some, not many, all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.  And on that day we are told that 3,000 were baptized and added to the number of believers.

            What an awesome act of power God displayed on that day of Pentecost in Jerusalem a few thousand years ago. It was an act of power that drove the disciples out of that building and on to the streets. It was a force that could not be contained within four walls. They had to go out as they spoke of the mighty deeds of God. They went to where the people were. But they didn’t speak in Hebrew, or even in Aramaic unless that was your native language. No, they spoke in whatever language was needed so that the person they spoke to understood what they were saying. No translating was required. Any communication barrier was broken down by an act of God. In fact, everything that happened on that Pentecost day was the breaking down of barriers: the barrier of where God would be present, not on a faraway mountain top but right in the middle of the room where all the disciples were gathered. The barrier of walls and doors were broken down as the disciples rushed out into the streets. The barrier of not knowing the language of others was removed so that people could understand each other. The proclamation was made that the Spirit comes down not on one or two, or some, or even many, but upon everyone. The proclamation was made that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved, Jew and Gentile. Yes, what happened that Pentecost in the city of Jerusalem was God’s action of removing all barriers, so that all can experience the power of God with joy and wonder.

            The outpouring of the Spirit continues to this day. Have you felt it? Have you ever sensed the presence of God in your midst? Sure, we don’t experience the presence of God in a mighty wind and flames of fire. It’s rarely that dramatic. But we experience that lump in the throat, a racing heart, the tightness of the stomach, the goosebumps, the catching of the breath, the shedding of a tear, when we find ourselves in the presence of holiness, of purity, of love. That is the Spirit of God manifesting herself to us. And sometimes that same Spirit fills us up, lifts us up, and gives us the power and courage to act in ways that manifest love in the world. Sometimes the Spirit prompts us to speak to others with the language that everyone understands, the language of love. Sometimes the Spirit prompts us to tell our God story, how we have experienced God in our lives, to give a witness.

            And sometimes the Spirit of God prompts us to do a particular kind of ministry, a specific way to express God’s love in the world. I want to invite those who have shared with me that God has placed a ministry on their heart, to come forward. And if you never got around to telling me, but you sense that God is calling you to do something, come forward so that we can pray for you, asking God’s blessing on you as you respond to the leading of God’s Spirit. You may have an idea of what that something is. But maybe it isn’t that clear. You know that there is something God wants you to do, but you can’t quite put it into words. Or maybe right now you just feel that nudge to come forward, please come so we can pray for you. All of you who come down, I invite you to share with us in just a sentence or two what you are being called to do. I will go first…

How to Discern God's Will

Based on Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr

            This book I have in my hand is the Methodist Discipline from 1948. Inside are the rules and regulations of how the Methodist church is to function. It also includes any resolutions adopted at that year’s general conference. Also inside are official orders of worship for Sunday morning, baptisms, weddings and funerals, and ordinations.

            Now I have the 2016 Book of Discipline…and the Book of Resolutions…and the most recent Book of Worship. Can you tell the difference? Between 1948 and 2016 a lot has changed. Of course, one is that there wasn’t a United Methodist Church until 1968. But, it’s obvious, our church has a lot more rules and lengthier processes. We adopt a lot more resolutions at General Conference. And our official worship resource has greatly expanded, although it’s a little dated. This recent book of worship came out in 1992. This is just one example of the common experience of institutions, whether it be churches, schools, government, any institution with a bureaucracy: over time their processes tend to get a lot more complicated.

            Part of this is due to the gain of experience. Problems come along that previous generations never dealt with, so a policy or process is developed or tweaked to deal with new problems. Lessons are learned and incorporated into the process. But also things get more complicated because it’s easier to add stuff in than to take a bunch of stuff out, or scrap the whole thing and start over. Radical revisions of policies and processes are time consuming, destabilizing and controversial. So things just get added on and we end up with what we have.

            Peter and the rest of the first church of Jerusalem didn’t really have a process. The community building around Jesus Christ was a new thing. They didn’t have manuals to refer back to. They had to work with what they had on hand and sort of figure it out and make it up as they went along. Right away they had a vacancy in the apostle position that needed filled. They had to figure out how to fill that position without any guidelines or rules to tell them how to do it. Where to begin?

            As we look at this first chapter of Acts, and how the process unfolded, we notice what the key issue is. It is not about putting just anyone in that role of apostle. The key issue is: how do we discern what God’s will is? It is assumed that God had in mind who that new apostle should be. The trick was getting a clue as to who that person is. When it comes to discerning God’s will, it isn’t simple or obvious. Don’t you wish it was? Don’t you wish sometime God would just call you up on the phone or send you an email with instructions on what God wants you to do? That would be nice. But it has never worked that way. God has never used typical forms of communication. Instead, God speaks through signs, through prophets, through friends, and through dreams. Sometimes it’s clear. The Ten Commandments are pretty straight forward. But oftentimes when God expresses God’s will for us it’s a little foggy and unclear. When it came time to pick Judas’ replacement, a big finger didn’t come down from heaven pointing to the one God wanted. It had to be revealed some other way. So what process did Peter offer up?

            First, Peter gives an account of how they got into the situation they are in. He talks about how Judas was one of them. He had a share in the ministry. Peter points out that what Judas did was necessary to the fulfillment of scripture. He played a role in God’s bigger picture. What strikes me is that in no way does Peter throw Judas under the bus. Judas’ betrayal was uniquely painful. But it was all part of a bigger plan. I find it very meaningful and grace-filled how Peter frames what Judas did. No condemnation or cursing. None of this “the one who shall not be named” talk. It makes me wonder that Peter didn’t go hard on Judas because, after all, Peter had denied knowing Jesus when the heat was on. Grace tends to manifest itself among people who know that their hands aren’t clean.

            So after Peter gives some context, he names the present need. First, he gave context. Second, he expressed the need and what the qualifications are to care for the need. There are supposed to be twelve apostles, reflecting symbolically the twelve tribes of Israel. So they have to figure out how to get that position filled. How will they go about it?

            Peter turns to scripture. In this case, he uses two verses from the Psalms, 69:25 and 109:8. They are interesting picks. You can see them quoted at verse 20. The first says, “Let his homestead become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it.” The second says, “Let another take his position as overseer.” So let me get this straight. The first verse says his place should be left empty. The second says another should take his place. That looks like a contradiction to me. What is Peter getting at?

            It’s a riddle; a riddle that Peter thankfully solves. Peter says the replacement should be someone who has been with them from the beginning to the end. It can’t be someone who is late to the party but someone who has always been around. Now, if you look again at Psalm 69:25 where it talks about his homestead being desolate, this suggests that no stranger can live there. But someone who has always been around is no stranger. That person would be able to take the position as overseer, as Psalm 109:8 says. I know; this solution that Peter offers may be a bit of a stretch. Whether you are convinced or not, what Peter is attempting to do is use scripture as a foundation for his proposal for what should be the qualifications of the one to take Judas’ place. The qualifications are based on scripture. That’s the main takeaway.

            These qualifications also dramatically narrow the potential pool of candidates. In fact, it appears there were only two who met the criteria. Two people we have never heard of : one named Joseph who also went by Sabbas’s son, a.k.a. Justus, and another guy named Matthias. Just imagine that you were one of these guys. From the time Jesus was baptized by John up to this moment, these two guys were there all along, the whole three years of Jesus’ public ministry. They were just hanging back. They didn’t have the profile as one of the twelve. But they just hung on, waiting in the wings so to speak, ready if needed. And sure enough, the time came. You could say that one of these bench warmers was being called in to the game. There is something to be said about the importance of showing up, just being around in case an opportunity comes along.

            First, Peter gives context. Second, Peter identifies the need and the qualifications for filling that need supported by scripture, at least that’s what he attempted to do. Third, he leads the people in prayer. They ask God to show them which of the two God has chosen. They pray with the conviction that this is not a popularity contest or anything like that, but that God has an intention for one of them to be the replacement. The prayer they offer implies that whoever ends up being the replacement is the one God chose, not them.

            I love the line they use in the prayer, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart.” That is so true. It’s a difficult thing, to know someone’s heart. And maybe it’s not possible that we can know the depths of another’s heart. But we confess that God knows us intimately. There’s a lyric in this punk rock song I used to listen to as a kid by a band called Altar Boys that goes, “He knows you better than you know yourself.” That line is half the chorus. The second line is “So you better take some time to think it out.”  Hey, not real deep. But over 30 years later I still remember it. Part of our own growth as individuals is to plumb the depths of our hearts, to know with more clarity who we really are deep down. If we have to work at discovering who we really are, how can we claim we know who other people really are, even those we love deeply? Even those we gave birth to? But we aren’t a mystery to God. God knows exactly who we are. That’s what Peter and the rest were claiming in their prayer. They knew that God knew which of these two guys had the right heart to be the next apostle.

            First, Peter gives the context. Second, he names the problem and gives the qualifications to care for the problem. Third, they pray for God to show them which to choose. And then last, they throw dice. What? They could have said to Justus and Matthias, “Pick a number between 1 and 12.” I mean from our perspective it’s totally random. But, you see, what they are thinking is that God is going to manipulate the outcome so that the result reveals God’s pick. It is out of their hands. They aren’t doing the picking; God is, through what appears to be randomness. I think that’s pretty genius. This is a completely joint venture between the people and God. Peter does his part to frame the situation and guide the process. It is done openly in front of everyone. Everyone participates through prayer. And God acts through the casting of lots to identify who is God’s pick. It’s not a bad model for just making it up as you go along.

            Trust me, that’s not the process we use to select candidates for ministry in the United Methodist Church. We do believe that God calls people into representative ministry. Now, every Christian is a minister. Baptism gives you all the authority you need to be a minister. Still, sometimes a person senses in their heart that God wants them to take the place of representative ministry in the church. But that sense of call has to be tested and affirmed by a lot of different groups of people throughout a multi-year process. There are education requirements. A psychological evaluation. Written examinations. Multiple interviews. A period of trial. A lot of prayer. It’s a long and somewhat cumbersome process. The collective wisdom of our church over the centuries has led us to the process we have for affirming that certain people have been called by God to representative ministry in the church. It’s not nearly as simple as the method Peter and the first church used to select Matthias.

            But let me bring us back to the key issue that this whole message is about. We all could use some help in figuring out what God’s will is for us. Like I said, God doesn’t call us up or send us an email with explicit instructions on what God wants us to do. We have to try to discern it by listening to our hearts, interpreting signs, considering the input others give us. I’ll admit it, trying to discern God’s will can be a guessing game.

            So when you are trying to figure out what God wants you to do, what we have talked about today could serve as a model. First, name the context. Where are you in your life? What is going on in your world? Second, name the problem. What breaks your heart? What is a need in the world that you are passionate about responding to? Consider what it might take to respond to that need. Maybe the scriptures give some insight on what is required. Third, pray for God to reveal to you if you are the one to respond to that need. And then, finally, take a chance. Roll the dice and go for it. Engage with the problem and see if you can make a difference.

            I have another set of guidelines for you that might be easier to work with. I got these from Richard Jenson. He has three guidelines when it comes to deciding what God wants you to do. The first is: whatever we are called to do must fit within the framework of loving God and loving neighbor. God would never direct us to do anything that does not manifest love. Second: God’s forgiving love will sustain us if we make poor choices. Let’s say you make a choice of what God is calling you to do and it ends up being a disaster. Or you thought you were doing a good thing when in fact it made a situation worse. It was a bad idea. It’s not the end of the world. God forgives us when we mess up. And then, third: nothing can separate us from the love of God. Whether or not we make a decision, whether or not we actually follow through with what we decide to do, God still loves us. No matter how things turn out, God still loves us. So when it comes to trying to figure out what God wants you to do, please don’t stress. This isn’t about trying to get God to be impressed so God will love you more. God loves us just as we are. So see this more as a way to express our love back to God because this is not about earning God’s love or justifying God’s love for us. Like the old saying goes, God loves you and there’s nothing you can do about it.

            I have invited you these past few weeks to consider what ministry God may be calling you to do. If you never got the discernment process I distributed, or you lost it, let me know and I will send it to you. Next Sunday, when we celebrate the day of Pentecost, I would like for as many of you as possible to come forward carrying with you the seed of an idea, something you want to try that would be a blessing to others and a blessing to God. I have two people so far who said they will come forward to receive a prayer of consecration. Will you join them? If next Sunday comes and you still are not sure, no worries. God doesn’t work on our timeline. Keep praying. Keep discerning. Use the guidelines I have shared with you this morning. What I’m urging all of us to do is to take discernment seriously. I am convinced that we are all here for a reason. And I believe that God does intend for each of us to love God and others in particular ways. Part of living life is to develop the capacity to be sensitive to the leading of God’s Spirit, to influence our decisions and to draw us into particular ways of active love. So whether you come up with something next Sunday or not, I urge you to keep developing your capacity to sense the movement of God’s Spirit on your life.

Crossing Barriers

Based on Acts 10:44-48

Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr

            A few days ago, the first Thursday in May, was the annual national day of prayer. Late last week, as I was going out to my car, someone had stuck a flyer on my windshield promoting a prayer event that would take place at the state house on that day. I looked at the sponsors of the event and didn’t recognize anyone. I decided to go, mainly to join others in prayer but also to go to a religious event that wasn’t a United Methodist thing.

            Well, it was different from a typical United Methodist gathering. As I went into the atrium of the state house I saw the flag of the nation of Israel up front. On the side was a woman dressed in a unique style holding a flag in front of her that blocked her face that had a drawing of what I assume was meant to portray Jesus hovering over a city skyline. When the prayer service began, someone who runs a Christian counseling service blew a shofar, which he also blew at the end of the service. Special music was provided by a spirited choir from Genoa Christian Center. There wasn’t a lot of religious diversity in the room. It appeared to be mostly Pentecostal or Charismatic Christians. But there was a lot of ethnic diversity, which was great to see. And there was a real sense of unity, which was the theme of this year’s official national day of prayer, to pray for unity in America.

            That prayer for unity was taken seriously by those who came up to pray. Early on, someone offered confession about how the church creates walls of division by the words we use, how we criticize others who don’t believe the same way, how we fail to love each other. It was a moving confession. Another got up to pray for unity among ethnicities and acknowledged the ongoing experience of racism. Another, a navy chaplain, in his prayer referred to the phrase e pluribus unum and talked about the blessing of living in a nation where many heritages, religions, cultures and ideas come together. It was a good experience of unity, an authentic expression of the desire through God’s help that the divisions in our nation would be bridged and we could come together with what unites us.

            And we need that, don’t we? We live in a time of great division and polarization. Our politics are toxic. The United Methodist church is straining to stay together as our differing views on human sexuality have been pulling us apart for decades. All that divides us, that fosters suspicion, harms relationships, prevents healthy community…it gets tiring. I don’t know about you but I am increasingly weary of all the divisiveness and those who feed into that divisiveness. I hunger and yearn for community, where there is a sense of belonging, of acknowledging that we are all in this together even though we don’t see eye to eye on everything. That prayer service at the state house was one of those times. I wasn’t comfortable with everything that was said at that event. I couldn’t always give a strong “amen.” But the Spirit was present, people’s hearts were sincere, we really were united in prayer in spite of our differences. And it was a good thing to experience.

            Last week and this week our scripture lesson talks about how God, through the Spirit, acts in ways to break down barriers so that people can come together. Last week it was Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Phillip was prompted by the Spirit to go to where the eunuch was and then Phillip took it from there, seeing past the ethnic and sexual barriers and instead focusing on the Ethiopian eunuch as a fellow God seeker. And today we hear of what happens when Peter crosses barriers so that he can go to the home of Gentiles to preach the gospel, following God’s prompting, and then all of a sudden the Spirit comes down and Peter responds in just the right way. Peter and the rest of his fellow Jews didn’t respond with dismay that these Gentiles also received the Spirit. Instead they were astounded as they took in the reality that the Spirit of God could be given even to Gentiles. Who would have thought that the God of Israel would also claim those who are not of Israel. As Peter said, God is no respecter of persons. God really does love everyone. There really is nothing that separates us from the love of God. Unfortunately, there is a lot that separates us from each other. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With the Spirit’s help, we can cross barriers too.

            Today, I’m not going to limit myself to talking only about the scripture that was read for today. I’m going to cross the barrier of today’s lectionary to talk about three ways the Spirit of God works to break down barriers. And the first one is that the Spirit breaks down the barrier of communication.

            Think back to what happened on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit came down upon the apostles in the form of flames of fire. They then went out into the streets proclaiming the gospel, but all the people, who were gathered from many different lands, heard the apostles speaking in their own native language. They wondered how this could be. The barrier of communication, the barrier of not speaking a common language, was removed by the Spirit so that everyone could hear and understand the gospel. How awesome!

            Of course, there were some nay-sayers, who blew them off by saying, “Look at these babblers, they must be drunk with new wine.” They were turned off by all this carrying on. But Peter responded, “We aren’t drunk, it’s only 9 in the morning!” He then launched into his first sermon which led to 3,000 people getting baptized at the altar call. Incredible. Through the Spirit, people not only heard the gospel in their own language, but they were cut to the heart and convicted by that same Spirit. And they all joined in, swelling the size of the community of faith. What a glorious thing the Spirit did, with the cooperation of the apostles and the open hearts of all those people in the streets of Jerusalem that Pentecost.

            The second barrier the Spirit breaks down is the barrier of hospitality. One day, Peter had a vision. He fell into a trance. And in the spirit he saw a sheet come down from the sky. On top of the sheet were a large number of unclean animals. The voice of God speaks to Peter saying, “Go, kill and eat.” And Peter was appalled. He said to God, “No, never have I eaten anything unclean in all my life. I have always kept kosher.” But God said to Peter, “Do not declare unclean what I have made clean.” That was the vision. And it didn’t just come to Peter one time. He had the same vision three times in a row. It reminds me of when Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me? Feed my sheep.” Jesus asked him the same question three times. God was really trying to make the point to Peter. Or get it through his thick head.

            So what happens next? Cornelius, a Roman centurion, approaches Peter. God had told Cornelius to go get Peter and bring him to his house so that he and his household could hear the gospel. Peter and his crew went with Cornelius. And so it was that Peter found himself eating with Gentiles. That was not allowed. Jews and Gentiles were not to break bread together. But the Spirit had already primed Peter with that vision. If the Spirit had brought Cornelius and Peter together, then the barrier of who is allowed to eat with whom, that needed to be brought down. But after all, Peter should have already gotten this. Jesus was accused all the time of eating with tax collectors and sinners. He already demonstrated that he would eat with anyone who invited him to dinner. God tears down barriers, God doesn’t raise barriers, certainly when it comes to building relationships, of breaking bread together.

            This is, by the way, one reason why we as United Methodists practice what is called an open table when it comes to communion. It is partly as a reflection of the practice of Jesus to break bread with anyone who would have him that we say that all are invited to receive communion, even if you aren’t a member or even a United Methodist. It is a scandal that who can take communion is a source of division in the church. We, as United Methodists, lean toward inclusion and seek to remove barriers to hospitality, on our good days. Still, there are barriers.

            At Annual Conference there are two events that take place, scheduled at different times, but hardly anyone attends both events. One event is sponsored by Methodists for Social Action, the group with which I most affiliate. The other is the Evangelical Fellowship. These two groups represent the polarization of the United Methodist church. Last year, I determined that I was going to cross the barrier and I went to that Evangelical Fellowship gathering. I won’t lie, it was a little awkward. I know there were some people in the room wondering, “What is Kevin doing here?” It did feel a little strange. The speaker said things that didn’t sit well with me. But, I broke bread with people who never go to the MFSA event. It was a small attempt to do some barrier crossing. I would do it again. And it would be great if some of the Evangelical Fellowship people would come over to the MFSA event. How I wish there was a lot more barrier crossing when it comes to breaking bread together. I am sure it is what the Spirit wants to have happen. And yet, maybe for fear of what others might think, or because we don’t like being around people whose ideas we find repugnant and even hurtful, we just can’t go there. It’s a struggle. It’s something a lot of us need to work through.

            The third barrier the Spirit breaks down is the barrier of exclusion. I have already hinted at this. When Jesus ascended, he gave the command that his apostles go from Jerusalem, to Samaria, to the ends of the earth proclaiming the gospel to all nations. They had preached in Jerusalem. Phillip preached in Samaria, and then witnessed to an Ethiopian, who represents the end of the earth. But up to this point they had only been preaching to Jews. No one was thinking that Gentiles were meant to be included. Jesus is the messiah that the Jews had been waiting for, so that Israel would be restored, reconciled with God. Gentiles are outside of this circle.

            But God prompted Cornelius to go find Peter. Peter came along with Cornelius. He preached the gospel to Gentiles. And then all of a sudden the Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles. Peter and his crew were astonished. The same Spirit that fell on the apostles has fallen on these Gentiles. The barrier between Jews and Gentiles was brought down. Gentiles were included in God’s salvation. Who knew? Amazing.

            So Peter asks the question, “What prevents the water for baptism being applied to these people?” The answer is, “Nothing.” Just like the eunuch, who asked, “Look! Here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” The answer: “Nothing.” It appears that anyone whose heart is open to the message of the gospel is included. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, you crack the door of your heart open and the Spirit comes rushing in. The Spirit has taken down the barrier of exclusion. Anyone willing to believe the gospel is accepted.

            The Spirit has taken down the barriers. But we are so good at raising them right back up. What barriers remain for you? I have already mentioned some common ones: race or ethnicity, sexual identity, theological position, politics. But what if another barrier is misunderstandings about God? I wonder if we sometimes put limits on what God can do or who God can associate with. We don’t think God could be doing anything good through the efforts of certain people. God could never be present and working healing in certain places. I wonder if God is doing amazing things, healing and transforming lives, lifting people up and empowering them to live full and meaningful lives, but we aren’t aware of it because we don’t run in those circles. We don’t cross the political, social, ethnic, or theological barriers to see what is happening over there. Or maybe sometimes we think the Spirit can’t work through us. We aren’t good enough, or holy enough, or smart enough, or qualified. How do we limit the movement of the Spirit in our lives? In this church?

            Especially in these polarizing times, it is critical for us to cross barriers, to mingle with people we don’t normally socialize with, to engage with people we avoid because of their politics or religious views. We need to push back our barriers a little. We may be surprised what we find, that the Spirit is at work in those places and among those people we avoid or distance ourselves from, for whatever reason. We may actually find there is more that unites us than divides us. We may find reason to rejoice and be in awe that God is not bound. God is unbound, free, constantly pushing and pulling down barriers so that there is a possibility for unity in love to manifest. That’s my challenge for us. Will we cooperate with God in the bringing down of barriers? What barriers do we have that we need to pull down?

Seeing Past the Boundaries

Based on Acts 8:26-40

            Over the past few weeks, we have been celebrating the power of faith in the name of Jesus. We looked at how Peter healed the man born crippled by using the name of Jesus. We talked about how Peter had been given faith by God to use the name of Jesus this way. We were encouraged to use the gift of faith that God has given us and to use the name of Jesus to manifest healing and salvation in the lives of others. We claimed the task shared by Peter to be witnesses of our experiences of God and to tell our stories.

            Today, and for the next few weeks, we will be challenged and supported to go out in ministry wherever the Spirit leads us. We will be encouraged to make connections with others, to give support, to be engaged in mission. We will be invited to discover and use the spiritual gifts given to us. This focus on claiming and using the gifts God has given to us will lead up to the day of Pentecost, when we will be consecrated to go forth into the adventure of following the Spirit into new forms of ministry. I am excited about what might be stirred up within us in the weeks ahead, and where it all might take us. So, let’s get started.

            Today we hear about the story of Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch. I want to begin our exploration of this event by identifying Phillip. Who was he? In those days, the church in Jerusalem was growing so fast that it was difficult to manage everything. Specifically, according to Acts 6:1, the Greeks were complaining to the Hebrews that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. So the apostles called the community together and said that they needed help in managing the affairs of the church. The community selected seven people to do this work, the work of a deacon. One of the seven was Stephen. You may remember that Stephen was brought up on false charges and ended up being stoned, the first Christian martyr. Phillip was also chosen to be a deacon. It is his story that we hear about after Stephen.

            We find Phillip in Samaria preaching the gospel. He was there because the church in Jerusalem was scattered due to persecution, led by a man named Saul, who one day would have his name changed to Paul. So Phillip was in Samaria and had a fruitful ministry. Many people came to belief and were healed of their diseases as God worked through Phillip. The church being well established in Samaria, the Spirit sends Phillip to this wilderness road where he encounters the eunuch. He then is sent by the Spirit to the Mediterranean coast to preach in the towns there until he arrived at Caesarea. Phillip was on the move. Those deacons didn’t limit themselves to waiting on tables! Whatever the Spirit led them to do, they went and did. They didn’t resist by saying, “That’s not my role, I can’t do that, I don’t want to go.” Well, maybe the other five deacons did, but not Stephen and certainly not Phillip.

            One day an angel came to Phillip telling him to go to the wilderness road that leads to Gaza. This was not Phillip’s idea. He was minding his own business. It was God that initiated this move. Later, as Phillip was walking down the road, he saw a chariot. The Spirit prompted Phillip to run after and catch up with that chariot. In these two instances, through an angel and through the Spirit, God prompted Phillip to go and do something. And see how Phillip quickly responded. When the angel told him to take the wilderness road to Gaza, he got up and went. When the Spirit prompted him to catch up to the chariot, he ran up to it. He didn’t ask any questions. He didn’t do any push back against what he was sensing God was calling him to do. Leaving Samaria and taking the wilderness road to Gaza was not a part of Phillip’s plan. There was no strategy involved. He didn’t ask questions like, “Why are you sending me out into the wilderness? Who will I find to minister to except maybe a band of robbers who will beat me up? You want me to go by myself? Too dangerous.” No, Phillip just went where he felt the Spirit was leading him and trusted that God knew what God was doing. He didn’t understand the rationale, but Phillip believed that God can open doors for ministry in the unlikeliest of places sometimes.

            Now when Phillip catches up to the chariot he hears the person sitting in the chariot reading from the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit didn’t say to Phillip, “Ask him what he’s reading.” Phillip wasn’t a robot who couldn’t think and act without being told what to do. God set up the meeting but then Phillip took over from there, responding to the situation he found himself in. Phillip asked a question that is not unusual when reading from the Bible. “Do you understand what you are reading?” The Bible has always been a confusing collection of writings. It has always been hard to understand. So Phillip wasn’t being conceited or arrogant, like “Look at this rube trying to read this stuff. He doesn’t have a clue. I need to help this poor guy.” No, that is a perfectly legitimate question.

            The eunuch’s answer said a lot about his character. He didn’t say, “No, I got this. Why, you think you’re an expert?” He wasn’t defensive in the slightest. It was with humility and a good dose of wisdom that the eunuch responds by saying, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” I love that question. The eunuch wasn’t looking for a teacher, someone who would spoon feed him the answers. No, he wanted a guide who could help him learn for himself. There is a difference between a teacher and a guide. A teacher is an expert in a particular field of knowledge. The teacher is capable of passing that knowledge on to those who want to gain that knowledge. Teachers are critical to the passing on of knowledge. They deserve the highest respect. But guides are not experts necessarily. A guide is someone who has some experience and who can walk alongside you, to point to the better direction and to warn you of potential hazards. If you are going into uncharted territory, it’s one thing to be taught about the territory. It’s another thing to have someone who has been there and who can guide you into the uncharted territory. Guides walk with you. Someone once said that the church needs a lot less teachers and a lot more guides. Teachers are important. They give us knowledge. But guides help us get from point A to point B in life. They can help us get through the uncharted territory of scripture, helping us discover the treasures buried in its pages.

            So after a while, as Phillip guided the eunuch through the scroll of Isaiah, showing him how Jesus fulfills the prophecies found there, they saw that they were approaching a small stream in this desolate wasteland of desert. And the eunuch shouts, “Look, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” How does Phillip respond? If you had a Bible open in front of you, you might notice a footnote after that question. You might also see in the version you are looking at that the verse numbers go from 36 to 38. Vs. 37 would be in the footnote. Why is that? The earliest copies of Acts do not include vs. 37. But there are also a number of excellent copies that are still pretty old that have it. People who study all the different copies of the Bible that have been made over the centuries are confident that vs. 37 was added in. But since it appears in so many copies it ought to at least be in there as a footnote. The verse in question goes as follows, “And Phillip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he replied, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’” So, what was the barrier that prevented the eunuch from being baptized? If you include verse 37, all that was needed was belief in your heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. No class, no trial period to prove your holiness. It’s a pretty low bar. But if you don’t include vs. 37, it appears there is no barrier at all.

            Now let’s just stop and consider who Phillip is about to baptize. How should we identify this man who was riding in the chariot? So far, I have identified him as a eunuch. Whether he was born a eunuch or was castrated, we don’t know. But his sexuality is ambiguous. He could be identified as an Ethiopian. Ethiopia is south of Egypt. It may have been the common view in those days that Ethiopia was at the edge of the earth. And everyone from Ethiopia has black skin. He could be identified as a high level government official. He was in charge of the queen’s treasures. This is a high level of responsibility that requires a great deal of trust. We can’t identify him by his name, an irritating omission. So, this man could be identified by his ethnicity, by his sexuality, by his social status. But how did Phillip identify him?

            Patrick Johnson suggests that this man should be identified as a God seeker whom God is seeking. His ethnicity, status, and sexuality were secondary to his core identity: God seeker. And guess what? Phillip was a God seeker as well. They both shared a love for God and a desire to understand the scriptures. All the other potential barriers of race, status, and sexual identity were overcome by a common identity as seekers of God. Phillip saw in this man a fellow God seeker. All other barriers were lowered. They could make that common connection. There were no barriers to overcome for this Ethiopian eunuch to be baptized and be a part of the community. I love that.

            So what can we learn about doing ministry? Just a quick review to end this talk: first, we see that God initiates and leads ministry. Our responsibility is to listen for God, to sense the prodding of God’s Spirit, and then to follow that prompting with trust and courage. Doing ministry from this perspective is like going on an adventure into uncharted territory with the Spirit of God as our guide. How cool is that? Second, doing ministry is more about being a guide than being an expert. Yes, some people are given the gift of teaching. I believe that is one of my gifts. It has a critical function in ministry. But what is needed is not more experts, but more guides. In fact, all of us, even those of us who teach, need to be guides for others, to come alongside to talk about our experiences of life lived under God’s direction, to suggest ways of moving forward and dangers to avoid. We have to do life together. We can be guides for each other as well as those who are new to this God thing. And the third and final thing we learn about doing ministry is to sit with the question, “How do we see others?” It’s a question of identity. How we see others can put up obstacles to connection. When I see you, I see someone with black skin, brown skin, white skin. When I see you, I see a rich person, a poor person. When I see you, I see a professional, a factory worker, a day laborer, a beggar. When I see you, I see a straight person, a gay person, a queer person. When I see you, I see a conservative, a progressive, a Republican, a Democrat, a fan of Fox News, a fan of MSNBC. I could go on and on with this, you get the idea. How we see people can set up barriers that prevent a connection from taking place. These are barriers that we raise simply by how we identify other people. But what if we saw people as seekers of God? That’s what you and I are. Sure, not every person in the world seeks after God. But I think it’s safe to say that everyone seeks after meaning, seeks purpose, seeks belonging, seeks love. What if we could notice the differences, appreciate the differences, even celebrate the differences, but focus on our common identity? It seems to me that if ministry is about making connections with others, as Phillip made a connection with the Ethiopian eunuch, then it is going to take looking for a source of connection rather than being sidetracked by all that tries to divide us and that aborts connection from even having a chance.