Reflections on Mark 5:21-43
There is nothing like desperation to give a person motivation to act and some focus. I don’t know how the term “deadline” came to be, but it’s a term I’m familiar with. How about you? It’s a great term. If you cross the line marked on the calendar without the assignment complete, you are figuratively dead. And it is amazing how focused and motivated one can be when faced with the potential of losing one’s life. And when time is running out, and your back is against the wall, this generates the state of desperation. And in the state of desperation, life can get really interesting.
In the scripture passage read this morning, we have accounts of two people who are desperate. They are at their wits end and are struggling to make things right. They find their options limited and filled with risk. But out of desperation, they must act, and act with swiftness, with firmness, and without concern of what the ramifications may be for themselves or others.
Jairus was the leader of a synagogue. Being so, he was looked upon to be the guardian of the tradition. Those who guard the tradition tend to be those who are most vociferous of their denunciation of renegades and rebels, those who break off from the tradition or push back against it, people like Jesus. Yes, Jesus was a miracle worker. But he did things and said things that did not conform to the tradition. Not only that, there was word that he perhaps was making claims about his relationship with the Almighty that bordered on blasphemy. Yet, he was drawing a crowd. And people were being healed.
Jairus knew his position. He knew what he was putting at risk as the leader of the synagogue if he ran to this renegade Jesus to get help for his young daughter who was dying. But in this state of desperation, with the life of his daughter on the line, concerns about his own standing with the people, concerns about being a guardian of the tradition, concerns about maintaining his own integrity as a faithful Jew, all of that was laid aside by putting his hope in Jesus, the man who could heal, and, hope against hope, would be willing to heal the daughter of one who opposed Jesus and even denounced him to the people. What an act of humility. What an act of self-sacrifice out of love for his daughter. What an act of desperation. And Jesus knows Jairus’ heart. Although he had somewhere else to go, Jesus responded to this need expressed by a loving father who cared only for his daughter. After all, Jesus knew something about humility and self-sacrifice for the sake of love and the hope to bring healing. Jesus saw in Jairus something of himself.
As they hurry to Jairus’ house, crowd in tow, we are introduced to another person who was in a state of desperation. This unnamed woman with the blood flow has a story and is desperate in a way that is common in these days. How many of us can relate or can sympathize with her story? She has had this medical condition for twelve years, spent all she had on doctors, following their prescriptions for health. And she has gotten worse rather than better. Her hope and faith in doctors has failed her and she is bankrupt as a result. Suddenly, an opportunity falls into her lap. Jesus the miracle worker is coming by. The woman can’t believe her luck. And out of desperation, she hatches a plan of stealth, but also of sensitivity. She wants to get healed, but she is hoping that in doing so, she won’t be noticed, and that will save Jesus from the hassle. The hassle would be causing Jesus to become declared ritually impure. Since she had this hemorrhage, she was ritually impure and anyone who touched her would be the same. She had hope that Jesus would be able to heal her if she but touched the hem of his garment. And, hopefully, if she did it without being noticed, then neither Jesus or anyone else would be the wiser, and, although Jesus would be technically unclean, he wouldn’t know and would not be inconvenienced. So, out of desperation, grateful for her luck, and acting in a way that seemed most responsible, she slips through the crowd to touch Jesus with the hope of being healed.
To be in a state of desperation is not a state we long for. To be desperate drains us. Daily life becomes distorted as we obsess over what we need or long for and the odds that stand in our way. Desperation and fear go hand in hand. The sense of powerlessness can be overwhelming. Anger lurks underneath the surface, occasionally exploding, lashing out at those we love or turning it inward on ourselves. In times of desperation, there is a thin line between desperation and despair. The temptation to give up, to surrender to fate, can loom large. Whatever our hopes were for something better, or for a better day, drifts away like mist. Doom is certain. To continue to hope would be a fool’s hope.
However, it can’t be denied that there is something powerful about being in the state of desperation. This is when miracles happen. In all the great stories of heroes, it is desperation that drives them. It is in a state of desperation that life becomes most basic. In this state, we discover a lot about ourselves. We discover where our moral and ethical limits are. We discover how courageous we can be. We find inner resources, an inner strength and durability we did not know we had. It can call forth humility and self-sacrifice. Desperation can call forth the hero in us.
And what prevents desperation from leading into despair is faith, hope, and love. Jairus and the unnamed woman put their hope, perhaps a fool’s hope, in Jesus. They hoped against hope that this miracle worker would work for them, to whom they had nothing to offer in return. They put their faith in the miracle worker. And Jairus demonstrated the love he had for his daughter by publicly begging, in spite of how it looked, for the sake of his daughter. Despair could have won the day in both of their lives. Jairus, not allowing himself to ask for help from the renegade, could have passed it up and succumbed to the fate that his daughter would die. The woman, had she not had just a little more strength to try one last thing, to reach out to Jesus, would have succumbed to her illness and died, having spent the last twelve years of her life having not been physically touched. But, no. In them faith and hope remained. Love for his daughter was strong enough. And these two people, out of desperation, responded as heroes.
Do we live in desperate times? In degrees, yes, we do. Some of us are experiencing desperation more than others. And it could well be that in the years ahead, desperation will become a greater reality for more of us. Denial, of course, is a wonderful defense mechanism and an excuse not to act. But denial will only go so far and all of us, in our sober moments, will look around us, look at our own situations, and that gnawing sensation of desperation may begin to surface.
Well, when we acknowledge the desperation that we are in, if Jesus were here, you know what he would say. “Do not be afraid.” Times of desperation are also times of renewed commitment to what we value, times of self-sacrifice, times of serving a greater cause than one’s self interest, for when everything is on the line, personal self-interest can become secondary to the greater cause of mutual survival. Times of desperation are times when new partnerships are forged, or broken partnerships are mended. Times of desperation are times of heroics. Times of desperation are the times of miracles, times when stories are written, legends are born, and the virtues of faith, hope, and love have the greatest potential to shine like bright lights in the gathering clouds of doom: faith in God who holds our lives in His hands, hope for better times, and love that will not allow us to give up.
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Monday, June 29, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Fear or Faith?
Reflection on Mark 4:35-41
Several people have asked me, “How was Annual Conference?” I’m going to put together a report soon to give all of you a general sense of what happened there. But what is really neat is that you can see for yourself what annual conference was like. We have a web site. The address is www.2009annualconference.org. Those of you that are receiving a weekly email from me got the link. If there are any of you with email that have not been receiving emails from me, call the church office and let Bridget know what your email address is so that you can get them.
At this website, the best part is a collection of videos. There are the ministry moment video clips, which share different ways that we are in ministry. You will find the bishop’s address, the worship services, and the teaching times, including the one given by Mike Slaughter of Ginghamsburg church. It was his teaching where he shared the story about how their church is responding to Darfur that I had mentioned last week. I encourage you to hear the story for yourself. But I also encourage all of you who are able to watch the last video in the collection. It is the report of the District Superintendents. But really it was a testimony shared by Duane Anders, who is going off this year as the District Superintendent of the Miami Valley district. He shares about an experience he had jumping off a bridge in South Africa, sitting on a bungee swing.
To give you a condensed version of his story: A couple years back, Duane lived through the deaths of several people close to his life, beginning with his brother. It was a wave of grief that he had never experienced. To get away from it all, the family went to Africa to visit mission partners and friends. Something that he had always wanted to do was bungee jump off a bridge. But he knew that if he survived the jump, his wife would kill him. Well, near the end of the trip, they were in South Africa. They were made aware of an outfit that does bungee jumping. Duane wanted to do it and, surprising to all, his wife said, “If you want to jump, jump.” His 8 year old son said, “I’ll jump with you, dad!” He looked at his wife and said, “Really?” And she said, “If he wants to jump, let him jump.” So they went up there and Duane asked which of the three options were the scariest. They told him it would be the bungee swing. So that’s what they did.
Getting ready for the jump seemed like hours. After receiving their instructions by the 18 year old “expert,” then they had to get on all the safety gear and then wait their turn. Finally, it was time for Duane and his son to take their position on the edge of the bridge, having been firmly attached to a swing from which they would plunge hundreds of feet down and then swing high into the air. Duane’s son was getting nervous and Duane tried to laugh it off. Before they jumped, by the way, the jump is video taped and you can watch it on the web site. Before they jumped, they were asked if there was anything they wanted to say to the camera. Duane looked at the camera and said, “I love you all.” His son didn’t want to say anything. They are led into the position. They are instructed to step off the bridge left foot first. The gate is lifted, they count down, “three…two…one…” and then they are lightly pushed off the bridge, Duane screaming all the way down as they plunge toward the river. Within feet of the river the swing lifts them high in the air. Back and forth they swing for at least a minute, suspended in the air. Then, slowly the swing stops and they are led over to the side of the river, where someone is there to gently place them back down on the ground. They are unhooked and look up toward the bridge waving their arms in victory.
Duane said he wanted to jump off the bridge, even though it was scary, because he wanted to know he was still alive. Life had been so full of grief and loss and confusion, that he needed to exercise a heavy dose of courage, of acting in spite of his fear. He said that sometimes you have to stop being the one sitting on the sidelines watching others have all the fun. The line that really stuck with me throughout this presentation, however, was what his wife told him after he joined her back at the top of the bridge. He asked her what she thought, and she said, “It was scarier watching from the bridge.”
That is true. Fear is at its greatest intensity when you are anticipating something will happen, but you don’t know what or you don’t know when. The fear was standing at the edge of the bridge looking down, more than the jump itself. When the jump happened, you just get carried along, enveloped in the adrenalin rush of the experience. I imagine it’s the same with jumping out of an airplane. The fear must most definitely be waiting to jump out, but, I’ve been told that the exhilaration of free falling simply cannot be put into words. Of course, there is one little thing about this bungee jumping and parachuting out of planes that makes the actual experience a rush, and not one of sheer terror. You are trained. You are prepared with all kinds of safety harnesses or a parachute. And you know that someone will be there to meet you when you get to the ground. Yes, there is some risk. Duane says that before the jump they had to sign their life away. But you know that people have done it before and lived to tell the story. So, even though its scary, you have faith that it’s all going to end well.
The fear is completely understandable, however. Duane thought to himself, while his anxiety level increased, “What we are doing right now is stupid!” It’s not natural, it’s not second nature, to jump off of bridges. It’s counter-intuitive, if you will. Fear is one way our brain tells us that our bodies are in danger. Fear is a good thing, so that you don’t go off and do something rash.
Yet, we have this phrase repeatedly in the gospel. Either Jesus or an angel says “Do not be afraid.” There are several instances in the gospels where people are afraid. They are faced with something beyond their control or understanding, and the natural response of fear kicks in. Yet, they are told, “do not be afraid.” On hearing this, a tension is established. Try as you might, it’s really hard to will away fear. But fear can be overcome. The paralyzing nature of fear can be overcome by acting in spite of your fear, and this is what courage is. And we find our courage if we have hope that things will work out somehow, that we will survive. Duane could have the courage to jump because he knew he was prepared, every safety concern was addressed, and there would be someone at the bottom to meet him. As Christians, we can act even though we are afraid because we know that God is with us and wills good things for us, and that although our lives and everything in this world pass away, that our souls will be with God for an eternity. So although we are afraid at times, we have a deep faith and abiding hope in God who holds our lives in His hands. We know this, but the disciples were not so sure.
Isn’t it strange that these seaworthy disciples were afraid? The Mediterranean Sea is known for storm squalls to come out of nowhere, and surely these fisherman disciples had faced their share of storms. They knew what to do. They knew how to bail water. And yet, this time, they are afraid, thinking their going to die even. They run to wake up Jesus who amazingly is sleeping through all of this. Instead of asking him to give them a hand in bailing water, they accuse him of not caring that they’re all going to die. What a strange accusation. Why would they draw the rash conclusion that Jesus didn’t care? Clearly, they had no idea who Jesus was.
The disciples lacked faith in Jesus, because they did not understand who Jesus is. They did not understand that this man, Jesus, was also God. They did not know that God was with them in the flesh. If they had known, they would have had no fear. Well, yes, they would have been afraid. If you were on a boat being battered by wind and waves, taking on water and appearing to sink, would you not have been afraid even if Jesus was with you and you knew you would be o.k.? I think I would. Fear is natural. But you and I wouldn’t accuse Jesus of not caring. Maybe we would have asked Jesus to give us a hand in bailing water or asking Jesus what we should do to survive this storm.
What storms are we in these days? We are all in a storm. We are in a financial storm. Some of us are facing storms of failing health or of trying to take care of parents or strained family relationships. We as a society as well as Christians, are going through a stormy period of history. A great transformation is happening, not only socially but also in how Christianity is expressed. We are going through a time of transformation equivalent to the days of the Great Reformation of the 15th-16th centuries. Our children and grandchildren will live in a world and will be in a church that will look profoundly different from what we know. When the storm settles, and Christianity adjusts, it will look different. For right now, we are fated to be faithful in the midst of a storm, and our boat is taking on water.
But God is with us. God is still the master of all. Sometimes God will still the wind and the waves, and we experience moments of peace. But for us, we must ride through the storm, bailing water as we go, watching parts of our boat fall away while we hold on to the parts of the boat that are most firm, most “seaworthy.” And we hold on, having faith and hope, that God, the master of all, will see us safely to the other side, a place where we have no knowledge, but a place that we all need to be, for as God has said before in past ages, God is saying again, not just to us Christians, but to the whole world, “Let us go to the other side.”
Several people have asked me, “How was Annual Conference?” I’m going to put together a report soon to give all of you a general sense of what happened there. But what is really neat is that you can see for yourself what annual conference was like. We have a web site. The address is www.2009annualconference.org. Those of you that are receiving a weekly email from me got the link. If there are any of you with email that have not been receiving emails from me, call the church office and let Bridget know what your email address is so that you can get them.
At this website, the best part is a collection of videos. There are the ministry moment video clips, which share different ways that we are in ministry. You will find the bishop’s address, the worship services, and the teaching times, including the one given by Mike Slaughter of Ginghamsburg church. It was his teaching where he shared the story about how their church is responding to Darfur that I had mentioned last week. I encourage you to hear the story for yourself. But I also encourage all of you who are able to watch the last video in the collection. It is the report of the District Superintendents. But really it was a testimony shared by Duane Anders, who is going off this year as the District Superintendent of the Miami Valley district. He shares about an experience he had jumping off a bridge in South Africa, sitting on a bungee swing.
To give you a condensed version of his story: A couple years back, Duane lived through the deaths of several people close to his life, beginning with his brother. It was a wave of grief that he had never experienced. To get away from it all, the family went to Africa to visit mission partners and friends. Something that he had always wanted to do was bungee jump off a bridge. But he knew that if he survived the jump, his wife would kill him. Well, near the end of the trip, they were in South Africa. They were made aware of an outfit that does bungee jumping. Duane wanted to do it and, surprising to all, his wife said, “If you want to jump, jump.” His 8 year old son said, “I’ll jump with you, dad!” He looked at his wife and said, “Really?” And she said, “If he wants to jump, let him jump.” So they went up there and Duane asked which of the three options were the scariest. They told him it would be the bungee swing. So that’s what they did.
Getting ready for the jump seemed like hours. After receiving their instructions by the 18 year old “expert,” then they had to get on all the safety gear and then wait their turn. Finally, it was time for Duane and his son to take their position on the edge of the bridge, having been firmly attached to a swing from which they would plunge hundreds of feet down and then swing high into the air. Duane’s son was getting nervous and Duane tried to laugh it off. Before they jumped, by the way, the jump is video taped and you can watch it on the web site. Before they jumped, they were asked if there was anything they wanted to say to the camera. Duane looked at the camera and said, “I love you all.” His son didn’t want to say anything. They are led into the position. They are instructed to step off the bridge left foot first. The gate is lifted, they count down, “three…two…one…” and then they are lightly pushed off the bridge, Duane screaming all the way down as they plunge toward the river. Within feet of the river the swing lifts them high in the air. Back and forth they swing for at least a minute, suspended in the air. Then, slowly the swing stops and they are led over to the side of the river, where someone is there to gently place them back down on the ground. They are unhooked and look up toward the bridge waving their arms in victory.
Duane said he wanted to jump off the bridge, even though it was scary, because he wanted to know he was still alive. Life had been so full of grief and loss and confusion, that he needed to exercise a heavy dose of courage, of acting in spite of his fear. He said that sometimes you have to stop being the one sitting on the sidelines watching others have all the fun. The line that really stuck with me throughout this presentation, however, was what his wife told him after he joined her back at the top of the bridge. He asked her what she thought, and she said, “It was scarier watching from the bridge.”
That is true. Fear is at its greatest intensity when you are anticipating something will happen, but you don’t know what or you don’t know when. The fear was standing at the edge of the bridge looking down, more than the jump itself. When the jump happened, you just get carried along, enveloped in the adrenalin rush of the experience. I imagine it’s the same with jumping out of an airplane. The fear must most definitely be waiting to jump out, but, I’ve been told that the exhilaration of free falling simply cannot be put into words. Of course, there is one little thing about this bungee jumping and parachuting out of planes that makes the actual experience a rush, and not one of sheer terror. You are trained. You are prepared with all kinds of safety harnesses or a parachute. And you know that someone will be there to meet you when you get to the ground. Yes, there is some risk. Duane says that before the jump they had to sign their life away. But you know that people have done it before and lived to tell the story. So, even though its scary, you have faith that it’s all going to end well.
The fear is completely understandable, however. Duane thought to himself, while his anxiety level increased, “What we are doing right now is stupid!” It’s not natural, it’s not second nature, to jump off of bridges. It’s counter-intuitive, if you will. Fear is one way our brain tells us that our bodies are in danger. Fear is a good thing, so that you don’t go off and do something rash.
Yet, we have this phrase repeatedly in the gospel. Either Jesus or an angel says “Do not be afraid.” There are several instances in the gospels where people are afraid. They are faced with something beyond their control or understanding, and the natural response of fear kicks in. Yet, they are told, “do not be afraid.” On hearing this, a tension is established. Try as you might, it’s really hard to will away fear. But fear can be overcome. The paralyzing nature of fear can be overcome by acting in spite of your fear, and this is what courage is. And we find our courage if we have hope that things will work out somehow, that we will survive. Duane could have the courage to jump because he knew he was prepared, every safety concern was addressed, and there would be someone at the bottom to meet him. As Christians, we can act even though we are afraid because we know that God is with us and wills good things for us, and that although our lives and everything in this world pass away, that our souls will be with God for an eternity. So although we are afraid at times, we have a deep faith and abiding hope in God who holds our lives in His hands. We know this, but the disciples were not so sure.
Isn’t it strange that these seaworthy disciples were afraid? The Mediterranean Sea is known for storm squalls to come out of nowhere, and surely these fisherman disciples had faced their share of storms. They knew what to do. They knew how to bail water. And yet, this time, they are afraid, thinking their going to die even. They run to wake up Jesus who amazingly is sleeping through all of this. Instead of asking him to give them a hand in bailing water, they accuse him of not caring that they’re all going to die. What a strange accusation. Why would they draw the rash conclusion that Jesus didn’t care? Clearly, they had no idea who Jesus was.
The disciples lacked faith in Jesus, because they did not understand who Jesus is. They did not understand that this man, Jesus, was also God. They did not know that God was with them in the flesh. If they had known, they would have had no fear. Well, yes, they would have been afraid. If you were on a boat being battered by wind and waves, taking on water and appearing to sink, would you not have been afraid even if Jesus was with you and you knew you would be o.k.? I think I would. Fear is natural. But you and I wouldn’t accuse Jesus of not caring. Maybe we would have asked Jesus to give us a hand in bailing water or asking Jesus what we should do to survive this storm.
What storms are we in these days? We are all in a storm. We are in a financial storm. Some of us are facing storms of failing health or of trying to take care of parents or strained family relationships. We as a society as well as Christians, are going through a stormy period of history. A great transformation is happening, not only socially but also in how Christianity is expressed. We are going through a time of transformation equivalent to the days of the Great Reformation of the 15th-16th centuries. Our children and grandchildren will live in a world and will be in a church that will look profoundly different from what we know. When the storm settles, and Christianity adjusts, it will look different. For right now, we are fated to be faithful in the midst of a storm, and our boat is taking on water.
But God is with us. God is still the master of all. Sometimes God will still the wind and the waves, and we experience moments of peace. But for us, we must ride through the storm, bailing water as we go, watching parts of our boat fall away while we hold on to the parts of the boat that are most firm, most “seaworthy.” And we hold on, having faith and hope, that God, the master of all, will see us safely to the other side, a place where we have no knowledge, but a place that we all need to be, for as God has said before in past ages, God is saying again, not just to us Christians, but to the whole world, “Let us go to the other side.”
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Power of Small Things
Mark 4:26-32
Great movements are launched by a single idea. “All men are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” That’s the idea that undergirds our nation. John Wesley, when he put together his society of Christians who were desiring to become disciples, came up with three simple rules: do no harm, do good, and keep the ordinances of God. When the time was right for God to save us, He sent Jesus. And the seed of the gospel is this: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” When Jesus was asked to summarize the Law of God by giving the greatest commandment, Jesus gave two: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength; and you shall love your neighbor as your self.”
All these movements, as well as the Law of God, and the gospel message, have at its heart an idea, a seed, that is easy to say, easy to remember, easy to understand, yet very powerful; powerful enough to change the world, to transform a life. This is why Jesus says the kingdom of God is like a seed.
An ancient disciple wrote about this parable of Jesus by saying the seed that is planted is the simple doctrine of the gospel, that by believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, one is saved. Yet, the branches that grow from this seed, all the other doctrines, the understanding of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that Jesus was fully human and fully divine, two natures in one person, that Mary gave birth to God, victory over death and sin by grace, the church as the body of Christ, and all the others, these branches become like a great tree, where wise disciples of Christ can build nests in and find comfort in its shade. The small seed of the gospel grows to such a size that the believer can live in and find shelter under this gospel. This is the kingdom of God, a single idea that has the power to transform the world, that has the power to transform a life.
Great people, great projects, great nations, a great church, all start with a small seed, proper tending, some luck, and time. This congregation began as a small seed, a group of German Methodists who believed this community needed a Methodist church. But just thinking it wasn’t enough. This small group had to invite others to join them. There had to be a lot of prayer. There had to be great sacrifice and calls for help in order to have the money and resources necessary to construct the building and pay the preacher. There had to be a long term commitment to the vision of having a Methodist church in Mt. Healthy. And we are heirs to that vision, that seed, that was planted and nurtured, some 140 years ago. It is this same vision that we are stewards of. We are charged with nurturing this tree, the United Methodist church of Mt. Healthy. We share the vision that has been nurtured all these years, the simple idea that Mt. Healthy needs a Methodist church. It is an idea that is true. Mt. Healthy needs us, and God needs us, to be a witness of the gospel and to provide hope and healing for the brokenhearted of this community. For the sake of those who started this congregation, for the sake of the people who live here, and for God’s sake, who gave the vision and provided the resources that made it happen and continues to make it happen, we support this church, by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service.
One of the great things about Annual Conference is that you get to hear some great stories. One of the stories shared was by Mike Slaughter, who is the pastor of Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church. It is a congregation located just north of Dayton, near Tipp City, and is a leading congregation, not just for United Methodists, but for evangelical Protestant churches across the nation. And it all began when Mike, who served as a youth director in North College Hill by the way, was appointed to Ginghamsburg 31 years ago. That’s right; a United Methodist pastor beginning his 31st year at the same appointment. When he got to Ginghamsburg, there were 90 worshippers. By the next year, there were 60. But that was part of the price that was paid for the vision he received of a church that would have 2000 in worship on a given Sunday and would be multi-cultural in an area that had the Ku Klux Clan burning crosses when he first came. It was a huge vision, crazy even, considering his present reality of less than 100 in a lily-white, racist community. But the vision God gave him 30 years ago has come to pass.
Mike shared another story with us. One day, back in 1998, he was reading the paper and saw an ad for a BMW Sedan. On the other page of the paper was an article about the genocide going on in the Sudan. And it hit him. He knew more about the sedan than he knew about the Sudan. And as he learned more about the Sudan, and the humanitarian crisis taking place there as the result of yet another genocide, just like Bosnia, just like the Holocaust, just like so many other campaigns of slaughter, this Slaughter, Mike Slaughter, did not want his kids to know that this genocide took place and their dad did nothing about it.
So, Mike was convicted that the church needed to respond to what was happening in Darfur. Six years after his initial conviction about Darfur, Ginghamsburg church launched a campaign centered around a simple idea: Christmas is not your birthday. Mike challenged the members of the church to give as much as spent on their families for Christmas to the church for Darfur. So, if a family spent $1000.00 on themselves for Christmas, they were to give $1,000.00 to the Darfur campaign. The church responded, having raised around 4 million dollars over the past four years. This is an amount that, through United Methodist Committee on Relief, has built over 100 schools and provided education for thousands of children that otherwise would not have gotten any education at all. It is an amazing testimony to the power of a single idea, properly nurtured over time.
What seed, what idea, what vision, is being planted in you? What simple idea do you possess that, if nurtured and given time, could change the world? We all can be blessed with these visions. Scripture tells us that in these days, the days of the Lord’s reign, the Holy Spirit will come down on all people, and young people will have visions, and old people will dream dreams. Have you received a vision? What have you dreamed lately?
These seeds of faith, these visions and dreams, they don’t grow and bear fruit all on their own. The conditions have to be favorable. The seedling has to be taken care of. But if we set the stage, then the Spirit will cause things to happen, the vision to grow. This is synergy, the co-operation between us and God to make God’s dream and our dream come to pass. The vision that Mike received about responding to Darfur did not come to fruition on its own. A partnership had to be established with UMCOR so that the work could be done on the ground. A campaign had to be organized and resourced, along with promotional pieces and video clips, in order to communicate in a compelling way the simple idea that Christmas is not your birthday. The leadership team had to buy in to this plan. There was a lot of work that had to be done before the campaign could even be launched. And then, as the money came rolling in, it had to get into the hands of the right people in order to actually construct all those schools. And who would teach the kids? How would the books and lessons get there? So, we see that a vision alone, although critical, is not sufficient. It is just like the gospel message. The gospel, to be effective, must be received and nurtured; there must be repentance, complete surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ, dying to self-will, transformation of the heart, holiness in living, all these things. However, we see again and again, that if the seed is received, and the hard work is done in order to cultivate and nurture that divine seed, God will make the seed grow, and it could produce fruit beyond our wildest imaginations. But it cannot be underestimated, the truth that for the seed to grow there must be planning and perseverance. This is true for big projects like the Sudan project. This is true for planting and growing a church, like our forebears did here in Mt. Healthy. It is true for the growth of a movement that the Wesleys launched 250 years ago. It is true for the experience of the kingdom of God within you. You have received the seed of the gospel, the pearl of great price. What is your plan to nurture that seedling? Are you paying the price? Are you persevering?
The truth is that our lives are mostly made up of small choices, small acts, repeated over and over, that accrue over time, shaping a life. Each day, we make a hundred choices. We perform a hundred small acts. Only occasionally do we find ourselves having to make a big decision or perform a major act. Most of our days, though, are comprised of small choices and small acts, that are like the drip-drip of water that, over time, has the power to carve stone. Our small choices, our small acts, can contribute or hinder the growth of that seed, whether it be a vision for your life, a vision for a community or a church, or the world, or the vision that is the kingdom of God within you; small choices and small acts that, over time, make a difference. And each day is a new day. As you look over the state of the garden that is your life, where should you begin? What choice do you need to make today? What action can you take that can contribute to what God wants to do in your life, to manifest the kingdom of God, to be the body of Christ in this world that God loves so much?
Great movements are launched by a single idea. “All men are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” That’s the idea that undergirds our nation. John Wesley, when he put together his society of Christians who were desiring to become disciples, came up with three simple rules: do no harm, do good, and keep the ordinances of God. When the time was right for God to save us, He sent Jesus. And the seed of the gospel is this: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” When Jesus was asked to summarize the Law of God by giving the greatest commandment, Jesus gave two: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength; and you shall love your neighbor as your self.”
All these movements, as well as the Law of God, and the gospel message, have at its heart an idea, a seed, that is easy to say, easy to remember, easy to understand, yet very powerful; powerful enough to change the world, to transform a life. This is why Jesus says the kingdom of God is like a seed.
An ancient disciple wrote about this parable of Jesus by saying the seed that is planted is the simple doctrine of the gospel, that by believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, one is saved. Yet, the branches that grow from this seed, all the other doctrines, the understanding of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that Jesus was fully human and fully divine, two natures in one person, that Mary gave birth to God, victory over death and sin by grace, the church as the body of Christ, and all the others, these branches become like a great tree, where wise disciples of Christ can build nests in and find comfort in its shade. The small seed of the gospel grows to such a size that the believer can live in and find shelter under this gospel. This is the kingdom of God, a single idea that has the power to transform the world, that has the power to transform a life.
Great people, great projects, great nations, a great church, all start with a small seed, proper tending, some luck, and time. This congregation began as a small seed, a group of German Methodists who believed this community needed a Methodist church. But just thinking it wasn’t enough. This small group had to invite others to join them. There had to be a lot of prayer. There had to be great sacrifice and calls for help in order to have the money and resources necessary to construct the building and pay the preacher. There had to be a long term commitment to the vision of having a Methodist church in Mt. Healthy. And we are heirs to that vision, that seed, that was planted and nurtured, some 140 years ago. It is this same vision that we are stewards of. We are charged with nurturing this tree, the United Methodist church of Mt. Healthy. We share the vision that has been nurtured all these years, the simple idea that Mt. Healthy needs a Methodist church. It is an idea that is true. Mt. Healthy needs us, and God needs us, to be a witness of the gospel and to provide hope and healing for the brokenhearted of this community. For the sake of those who started this congregation, for the sake of the people who live here, and for God’s sake, who gave the vision and provided the resources that made it happen and continues to make it happen, we support this church, by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service.
One of the great things about Annual Conference is that you get to hear some great stories. One of the stories shared was by Mike Slaughter, who is the pastor of Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church. It is a congregation located just north of Dayton, near Tipp City, and is a leading congregation, not just for United Methodists, but for evangelical Protestant churches across the nation. And it all began when Mike, who served as a youth director in North College Hill by the way, was appointed to Ginghamsburg 31 years ago. That’s right; a United Methodist pastor beginning his 31st year at the same appointment. When he got to Ginghamsburg, there were 90 worshippers. By the next year, there were 60. But that was part of the price that was paid for the vision he received of a church that would have 2000 in worship on a given Sunday and would be multi-cultural in an area that had the Ku Klux Clan burning crosses when he first came. It was a huge vision, crazy even, considering his present reality of less than 100 in a lily-white, racist community. But the vision God gave him 30 years ago has come to pass.
Mike shared another story with us. One day, back in 1998, he was reading the paper and saw an ad for a BMW Sedan. On the other page of the paper was an article about the genocide going on in the Sudan. And it hit him. He knew more about the sedan than he knew about the Sudan. And as he learned more about the Sudan, and the humanitarian crisis taking place there as the result of yet another genocide, just like Bosnia, just like the Holocaust, just like so many other campaigns of slaughter, this Slaughter, Mike Slaughter, did not want his kids to know that this genocide took place and their dad did nothing about it.
So, Mike was convicted that the church needed to respond to what was happening in Darfur. Six years after his initial conviction about Darfur, Ginghamsburg church launched a campaign centered around a simple idea: Christmas is not your birthday. Mike challenged the members of the church to give as much as spent on their families for Christmas to the church for Darfur. So, if a family spent $1000.00 on themselves for Christmas, they were to give $1,000.00 to the Darfur campaign. The church responded, having raised around 4 million dollars over the past four years. This is an amount that, through United Methodist Committee on Relief, has built over 100 schools and provided education for thousands of children that otherwise would not have gotten any education at all. It is an amazing testimony to the power of a single idea, properly nurtured over time.
What seed, what idea, what vision, is being planted in you? What simple idea do you possess that, if nurtured and given time, could change the world? We all can be blessed with these visions. Scripture tells us that in these days, the days of the Lord’s reign, the Holy Spirit will come down on all people, and young people will have visions, and old people will dream dreams. Have you received a vision? What have you dreamed lately?
These seeds of faith, these visions and dreams, they don’t grow and bear fruit all on their own. The conditions have to be favorable. The seedling has to be taken care of. But if we set the stage, then the Spirit will cause things to happen, the vision to grow. This is synergy, the co-operation between us and God to make God’s dream and our dream come to pass. The vision that Mike received about responding to Darfur did not come to fruition on its own. A partnership had to be established with UMCOR so that the work could be done on the ground. A campaign had to be organized and resourced, along with promotional pieces and video clips, in order to communicate in a compelling way the simple idea that Christmas is not your birthday. The leadership team had to buy in to this plan. There was a lot of work that had to be done before the campaign could even be launched. And then, as the money came rolling in, it had to get into the hands of the right people in order to actually construct all those schools. And who would teach the kids? How would the books and lessons get there? So, we see that a vision alone, although critical, is not sufficient. It is just like the gospel message. The gospel, to be effective, must be received and nurtured; there must be repentance, complete surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ, dying to self-will, transformation of the heart, holiness in living, all these things. However, we see again and again, that if the seed is received, and the hard work is done in order to cultivate and nurture that divine seed, God will make the seed grow, and it could produce fruit beyond our wildest imaginations. But it cannot be underestimated, the truth that for the seed to grow there must be planning and perseverance. This is true for big projects like the Sudan project. This is true for planting and growing a church, like our forebears did here in Mt. Healthy. It is true for the growth of a movement that the Wesleys launched 250 years ago. It is true for the experience of the kingdom of God within you. You have received the seed of the gospel, the pearl of great price. What is your plan to nurture that seedling? Are you paying the price? Are you persevering?
The truth is that our lives are mostly made up of small choices, small acts, repeated over and over, that accrue over time, shaping a life. Each day, we make a hundred choices. We perform a hundred small acts. Only occasionally do we find ourselves having to make a big decision or perform a major act. Most of our days, though, are comprised of small choices and small acts, that are like the drip-drip of water that, over time, has the power to carve stone. Our small choices, our small acts, can contribute or hinder the growth of that seed, whether it be a vision for your life, a vision for a community or a church, or the world, or the vision that is the kingdom of God within you; small choices and small acts that, over time, make a difference. And each day is a new day. As you look over the state of the garden that is your life, where should you begin? What choice do you need to make today? What action can you take that can contribute to what God wants to do in your life, to manifest the kingdom of God, to be the body of Christ in this world that God loves so much?
Monday, June 1, 2009
Pentecost Sermon
Have you experienced feeling the presence of those who have gone before you? What I mean is, when you enter the house of your parents who have long passed, do you sense their presence? Or if you enter an old church, do you sense a feeling that this is a place that is still filled with faithful saints of the past? How about in this space, especially for those of you who have been members of this church for many years? As you look around, whose faces come to mind who are no longer with us? Do you perhaps, even now, sense their presence with us?
An experience I have had that probably many of you share: as I have told you all before, my parents passed away when I was in college. So, when I graduated from college, and then from seminary, when I got married, and when I got ordained, at all those milestones in my life, I felt the presence of my mom and dad. I am convinced they were looking down on me and were fully present at these moments, in spirit.
Maybe I was being sentimental. But I want to believe that it was not sentimentality, but truth, that my mom and dad were present in a spiritual sense. I want to believe that even though those we love have gone from us through death, that they remain with us, certainly in our memory, but also they are present with us in spirit, looking on us, praying for us, grieving with us, and celebrating with us. As Christians, we confess our belief in the communion of the saints, which means that those who die in the Lord are at home with God, join with us in worship, and pray for us. And sometimes we can even feel their presence among us, which can be very comforting and encouraging, even empowering.
I share this with you as a way to get at what Jesus is teaching us about the Holy Spirit, on this day when we celebrate the empowering of the church as the church began its ministry in Jerusalem to be a witness for Christ. The Holy Spirit is the spiritual presence of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit serves as a link for us. Jesus is not with us physically, and He was soon to leave His disciples. But He remains present in Spirit, with them and also with us. Christ remains with us, through the Holy Spirit that is in our midst and fills us.
We have been looking at this “Farewell speech” from Jesus for the past few weeks. As a reminder, Jesus is about to finish His work on earth, to suffer, die, be buried, then rise from the dead and ascend to heaven, to be seated at the right hand of the Father until the time comes for Him to return to judge the heavens and the earth. As He prepares to physically leave His disciples, His friends, He is preparing them for His departure. He knows that they will grieve, they will be confused and uncertain. So He wants to assure them now that everything will be fine. In fact, in the passage this morning, He tells them it is for their benefit that He goes. But, as we all can relate to, when the emotion of the moment hits, it is hard to respond to what the one you love is telling you. The disciples, in spite of these encouraging words from their friend, are so sad they can’t even speak. Can any of you relate to that, to a time when your sorrow was so great all you could do was sit silently, hanging your head? That’s how the disciples were.
But, they had enough presence of mind to hear enough of what Jesus said in order to reconstruct it later. For, after Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples did as instructed. They returned to Jerusalem to wait for the Holy Spirit. And they talked about all they had experienced after the resurrection. They shared favorite memories and stories. They recalled some of his greatest parables and sayings. And they reminded each other of the various things He said in that upper room before He was betrayed by Judas. They reminded each other what Jesus had said about the Holy Spirit.
So, what did Jesus teach His disciples about the Holy Spirit?
First, Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ advocate. In other words, the Holy Spirit speaks for Jesus. That’s what an advocate does. In a court, for children that are not able to speak for themselves, they may be assigned a court appointed special advocate. The role of the CASA is to advocate, or speak on behalf of, the child, to make sure that the child’s best interests are addressed. Advocates speak on behalf of those who can’t speak. The Holy Spirit speaks on behalf of Jesus, who cannot speak for Himself because He is presently seated at the right hand of the Father.
Now this is of great benefit for the disciples. Do you know what it’s like when someone you have depended on is gone, and a sticky situation comes up, and you wish you could ask that person, “What am I supposed to do now?” When I went to college, one of my friends gave me a book that was entitled, “What To Do Now That Dad is Gone,” filled with all kinds of instructions and tips on things people need to know how to do once their living on their own. The book came in handy from time to time. The disciples were bound to come up on some sticky situations and would have wanted to ask Jesus for advice on how to handle the problem. Well, guess what. Jesus wouldn’t be around to ask. But there would be the Holy Spirit to speak on His behalf. The disciples would not be on their own when thorny and confusing issues came up. The Holy Spirit would be with them to guide them and help them know what is best. They are not on their own to figure things out as they go along. The Spirit would guide them.
This is what Jesus teaches about the Holy Spirit, the one who is co-equal with the Father and the Son in trinity. Jesus taught that He only did what His Father wanted Him to do, and taught them everything that the Father had revealed to Him. So it is with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit says only what He hears from the Father. The Spirit is in perfect unity with the Father and Son, both in mind and heart. This is our basic understanding of the trinity. The Spirit speaks what the Father and Son speak. Where the Holy Spirit is present, there is the Father and the Son. When the Spirit acts, the Father and Son act with Him. The Holy Spirit does not speak for Himself, but for the Father, from which He proceeds.
Second, Jesus teaches that the Holy Spirit convinces the world of the truth. It is the Spirit that prompts, woos, cajoles, illuminates. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to lead people to faith in Christ and grow in that faith. This also is of benefit for the disciples, and a word of encouragement. They are not responsible to change the hearts of anyone. That is the Spirit’s job, to convince. All they have to do is witness to what they know and be open to be used by the Spirit, to be, as Paul imaged it, jars of clay, cracked containers of the Holy Spirit. Another image that Paul uses to get at the good news of this understanding of the Spirit is when he says that he plants the gospel, others water it in the life of a community, but the Holy Spirit is what makes a community grow. Or, it can be said that we as disciples point others to the living water, even lead them to the water. It is the Holy Spirit that takes it from there, leading the person to make that move to drink from the water. We can’t make people drink from the fountain of life. Truth be told, the Spirit doesn’t make people drink either. It is always an action of free will. But it is the Spirit that pushes one to do it. Can you all relate to that? Do you know of a time where the inner drive to do something was so strong, so relentless, that you just had to do it? Perhaps it was at the closing worship of church camp, or an altar call at a revival. Perhaps it was that nudging to change careers. Or it was the conviction that this was the woman you are meant to marry, and you resolved to get an engagement ring. That inner drive, this is the realm of God’s influence on us, the working of the Holy Spirit to convince us of the truth of the gospel. It was the working of the Holy Spirit in your life that brought you to Christ, to baptism, to public confession of your faith, your decision to join this church. That is what Jesus says is the function of the Holy Spirit, to convince others of the truth about Himself, as truly the Word made flesh, the incarnate God.
Third, Jesus teaches that the Holy Spirit is what guides us into all truth. Now, perceptive Bible readers might note an apparent contradiction in the scriptures. At one point, Jesus told His disciples that everything the Father had told Him, He had told the disciples. But then here Jesus says there is more He wishes to tell them, but they can’t handle it now. If there is more to be told, what does it mean that Jesus already told them all He needed to tell them? This is where the Holy Spirit comes into play.
The truth is that Jesus had told them everything that needed to be told. But that did not mean they understood the implications fully. It’s just like how Jesus taught in parables. The story has a meaning beyond itself. The story is not just about a farmer scattering seeds. It’s about preaching the gospel and the spiritual receptivity of those who receive the gospel. The gospel of Jesus is so simple that even a child can understand it. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. But the implications of that love, the meaning of such a simple phrase, the depths of it, the challenge of it, this is what the Holy Spirit leads us to. The gospel is simple, and at the same time immensely profound. In particular, it is the implications of the gospel where the Spirit continues to lead the disciples, and us.
For example, Acts 15 is the first church council, when the church had to address the issue of what to do about Gentiles, who were coming to faith in Christ and receiving signs that they too had received the Holy Spirit. Did they have to be circumcised and conform to purity laws and maintain a kosher diet as part of being a Christian? How Jewish did they need to be in order to be a Christian? That was the issue. And after all the discussion, James, the brother of our Lord, who was the bishop of the church in Jerusalem announced the consensus of the council by saying to those Gentile Christians, “It seems good to us, and the Holy Spirit.” Here is an example of the Holy Spirit at work in their discussion, leading them to all truth.
Another example was the vision that Peter had, of the canopy coming down from heaven filled with food that was not kosher, and God telling him to sit down and eat. Peter said, “Lord, you know that no impure thing has passed my lips. How is it you ask me to eat these unclean foods?” And the Lord responded, “What I have declared clean is clean.” Again, the Spirit was leading Peter to understand that the gospel included Gentiles. Jesus didn’t come just to save the Jews, but everyone. Even Gentiles could become his brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Spirit continues to lead us into all truth. Our tradition is a living tradition. The apostles didn’t know everything. But they did know some things, and it was handed down to the next generation. And in that generation, they received the apostolic tradition. And facing a new context, with new situations, the Spirit helped that generation understand the tradition more fully. Then they passed that down to the next generation. The process continues into our own. We have received a tradition that is thousands of years old. And the Spirit continues to lead us into truth, to see how the tradition remains true and valid in our time, a time that in some ways is the same but in other ways is profoundly different from the time of the apostles, who believed the world was flat, heaven was up, hell was down, and the earth was the center of the universe.
Again, this function of the Holy Spirit is a benefit to the disciples, and to us. We don’t have to understand it all to share the gospel. Nor do we have to be cleaver. Paul said all he did was preach Christ crucified. All we need to do is share what we know of Christ in our own words. We can keep it simple. The Holy Spirit will lead us, and those who are exposed to the gospel, into all truth. When we are ready, we will hear the simple gospel in a way that becomes ever more profound and challenging. We hear it differently when we are 12 and then again when we are 80. We comprehend, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so,” based on our life experience and spiritual sensitivity. Again, the good news for the disciples, and for us, is that we don’t have to be theologians to be witnesses of the gospel. We don’t have to have it all figured out. We will never have it all figured out, because the mystery of God is beyond comprehension. But the Spirit has revealed some things to us, and that we share, with the confidence that the same Spirit that is opening our eyes will open the eyes of those to whom we share what we do know.
So, where can the presence of Christ be experienced? All over. Jesus taught that the Spirit is like the wind which blows where it will. Jesus prefigured this after his resurrection, when He could appear and disappear, entering rooms with locked doors. The Spirit of God is present everywhere. We can be surprised where the Spirit of God might show. There is one place where we can be assured that the presence of Jesus, the Spirit of God, is present. That place is the church. The Spirit of God is found here, among us, who are gathered in the name of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is the breath of God that enlivens the body of Christ, which is the Church. The Holy Spirit is what has held the church together these 2000 years. When we gather here, in this place, we can sense the presence of the faithful saints who have gone before us. And we can sense the presence of Christ, who has sent us the Holy Spirit, so that we can know that we are connected to God. And we can witness to the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those among us. And especially today, as we witness and celebrate how the Holy Spirit is working in the life of Brittney Williams, who comes before the altar this morning to be baptized, to publicly confess her faith in Jesus Christ, and to become a professing member of this church. How great, how awesome, to know that the Spirit of God that moved over the primordial waters, the Spirit that inspired the prophets, the Spirit that empowered the apostles to be witnesses of Christ in Jerusalem, the Spirit that strengthened the martyrs of the faith, that inspired and convicted our ancestors, is with us now, in this place, in this time! We praise the Lord, the Father, the Son, and today especially, the Holy Spirit! Amen!
An experience I have had that probably many of you share: as I have told you all before, my parents passed away when I was in college. So, when I graduated from college, and then from seminary, when I got married, and when I got ordained, at all those milestones in my life, I felt the presence of my mom and dad. I am convinced they were looking down on me and were fully present at these moments, in spirit.
Maybe I was being sentimental. But I want to believe that it was not sentimentality, but truth, that my mom and dad were present in a spiritual sense. I want to believe that even though those we love have gone from us through death, that they remain with us, certainly in our memory, but also they are present with us in spirit, looking on us, praying for us, grieving with us, and celebrating with us. As Christians, we confess our belief in the communion of the saints, which means that those who die in the Lord are at home with God, join with us in worship, and pray for us. And sometimes we can even feel their presence among us, which can be very comforting and encouraging, even empowering.
I share this with you as a way to get at what Jesus is teaching us about the Holy Spirit, on this day when we celebrate the empowering of the church as the church began its ministry in Jerusalem to be a witness for Christ. The Holy Spirit is the spiritual presence of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit serves as a link for us. Jesus is not with us physically, and He was soon to leave His disciples. But He remains present in Spirit, with them and also with us. Christ remains with us, through the Holy Spirit that is in our midst and fills us.
We have been looking at this “Farewell speech” from Jesus for the past few weeks. As a reminder, Jesus is about to finish His work on earth, to suffer, die, be buried, then rise from the dead and ascend to heaven, to be seated at the right hand of the Father until the time comes for Him to return to judge the heavens and the earth. As He prepares to physically leave His disciples, His friends, He is preparing them for His departure. He knows that they will grieve, they will be confused and uncertain. So He wants to assure them now that everything will be fine. In fact, in the passage this morning, He tells them it is for their benefit that He goes. But, as we all can relate to, when the emotion of the moment hits, it is hard to respond to what the one you love is telling you. The disciples, in spite of these encouraging words from their friend, are so sad they can’t even speak. Can any of you relate to that, to a time when your sorrow was so great all you could do was sit silently, hanging your head? That’s how the disciples were.
But, they had enough presence of mind to hear enough of what Jesus said in order to reconstruct it later. For, after Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples did as instructed. They returned to Jerusalem to wait for the Holy Spirit. And they talked about all they had experienced after the resurrection. They shared favorite memories and stories. They recalled some of his greatest parables and sayings. And they reminded each other of the various things He said in that upper room before He was betrayed by Judas. They reminded each other what Jesus had said about the Holy Spirit.
So, what did Jesus teach His disciples about the Holy Spirit?
First, Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ advocate. In other words, the Holy Spirit speaks for Jesus. That’s what an advocate does. In a court, for children that are not able to speak for themselves, they may be assigned a court appointed special advocate. The role of the CASA is to advocate, or speak on behalf of, the child, to make sure that the child’s best interests are addressed. Advocates speak on behalf of those who can’t speak. The Holy Spirit speaks on behalf of Jesus, who cannot speak for Himself because He is presently seated at the right hand of the Father.
Now this is of great benefit for the disciples. Do you know what it’s like when someone you have depended on is gone, and a sticky situation comes up, and you wish you could ask that person, “What am I supposed to do now?” When I went to college, one of my friends gave me a book that was entitled, “What To Do Now That Dad is Gone,” filled with all kinds of instructions and tips on things people need to know how to do once their living on their own. The book came in handy from time to time. The disciples were bound to come up on some sticky situations and would have wanted to ask Jesus for advice on how to handle the problem. Well, guess what. Jesus wouldn’t be around to ask. But there would be the Holy Spirit to speak on His behalf. The disciples would not be on their own when thorny and confusing issues came up. The Holy Spirit would be with them to guide them and help them know what is best. They are not on their own to figure things out as they go along. The Spirit would guide them.
This is what Jesus teaches about the Holy Spirit, the one who is co-equal with the Father and the Son in trinity. Jesus taught that He only did what His Father wanted Him to do, and taught them everything that the Father had revealed to Him. So it is with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit says only what He hears from the Father. The Spirit is in perfect unity with the Father and Son, both in mind and heart. This is our basic understanding of the trinity. The Spirit speaks what the Father and Son speak. Where the Holy Spirit is present, there is the Father and the Son. When the Spirit acts, the Father and Son act with Him. The Holy Spirit does not speak for Himself, but for the Father, from which He proceeds.
Second, Jesus teaches that the Holy Spirit convinces the world of the truth. It is the Spirit that prompts, woos, cajoles, illuminates. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to lead people to faith in Christ and grow in that faith. This also is of benefit for the disciples, and a word of encouragement. They are not responsible to change the hearts of anyone. That is the Spirit’s job, to convince. All they have to do is witness to what they know and be open to be used by the Spirit, to be, as Paul imaged it, jars of clay, cracked containers of the Holy Spirit. Another image that Paul uses to get at the good news of this understanding of the Spirit is when he says that he plants the gospel, others water it in the life of a community, but the Holy Spirit is what makes a community grow. Or, it can be said that we as disciples point others to the living water, even lead them to the water. It is the Holy Spirit that takes it from there, leading the person to make that move to drink from the water. We can’t make people drink from the fountain of life. Truth be told, the Spirit doesn’t make people drink either. It is always an action of free will. But it is the Spirit that pushes one to do it. Can you all relate to that? Do you know of a time where the inner drive to do something was so strong, so relentless, that you just had to do it? Perhaps it was at the closing worship of church camp, or an altar call at a revival. Perhaps it was that nudging to change careers. Or it was the conviction that this was the woman you are meant to marry, and you resolved to get an engagement ring. That inner drive, this is the realm of God’s influence on us, the working of the Holy Spirit to convince us of the truth of the gospel. It was the working of the Holy Spirit in your life that brought you to Christ, to baptism, to public confession of your faith, your decision to join this church. That is what Jesus says is the function of the Holy Spirit, to convince others of the truth about Himself, as truly the Word made flesh, the incarnate God.
Third, Jesus teaches that the Holy Spirit is what guides us into all truth. Now, perceptive Bible readers might note an apparent contradiction in the scriptures. At one point, Jesus told His disciples that everything the Father had told Him, He had told the disciples. But then here Jesus says there is more He wishes to tell them, but they can’t handle it now. If there is more to be told, what does it mean that Jesus already told them all He needed to tell them? This is where the Holy Spirit comes into play.
The truth is that Jesus had told them everything that needed to be told. But that did not mean they understood the implications fully. It’s just like how Jesus taught in parables. The story has a meaning beyond itself. The story is not just about a farmer scattering seeds. It’s about preaching the gospel and the spiritual receptivity of those who receive the gospel. The gospel of Jesus is so simple that even a child can understand it. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. But the implications of that love, the meaning of such a simple phrase, the depths of it, the challenge of it, this is what the Holy Spirit leads us to. The gospel is simple, and at the same time immensely profound. In particular, it is the implications of the gospel where the Spirit continues to lead the disciples, and us.
For example, Acts 15 is the first church council, when the church had to address the issue of what to do about Gentiles, who were coming to faith in Christ and receiving signs that they too had received the Holy Spirit. Did they have to be circumcised and conform to purity laws and maintain a kosher diet as part of being a Christian? How Jewish did they need to be in order to be a Christian? That was the issue. And after all the discussion, James, the brother of our Lord, who was the bishop of the church in Jerusalem announced the consensus of the council by saying to those Gentile Christians, “It seems good to us, and the Holy Spirit.” Here is an example of the Holy Spirit at work in their discussion, leading them to all truth.
Another example was the vision that Peter had, of the canopy coming down from heaven filled with food that was not kosher, and God telling him to sit down and eat. Peter said, “Lord, you know that no impure thing has passed my lips. How is it you ask me to eat these unclean foods?” And the Lord responded, “What I have declared clean is clean.” Again, the Spirit was leading Peter to understand that the gospel included Gentiles. Jesus didn’t come just to save the Jews, but everyone. Even Gentiles could become his brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Spirit continues to lead us into all truth. Our tradition is a living tradition. The apostles didn’t know everything. But they did know some things, and it was handed down to the next generation. And in that generation, they received the apostolic tradition. And facing a new context, with new situations, the Spirit helped that generation understand the tradition more fully. Then they passed that down to the next generation. The process continues into our own. We have received a tradition that is thousands of years old. And the Spirit continues to lead us into truth, to see how the tradition remains true and valid in our time, a time that in some ways is the same but in other ways is profoundly different from the time of the apostles, who believed the world was flat, heaven was up, hell was down, and the earth was the center of the universe.
Again, this function of the Holy Spirit is a benefit to the disciples, and to us. We don’t have to understand it all to share the gospel. Nor do we have to be cleaver. Paul said all he did was preach Christ crucified. All we need to do is share what we know of Christ in our own words. We can keep it simple. The Holy Spirit will lead us, and those who are exposed to the gospel, into all truth. When we are ready, we will hear the simple gospel in a way that becomes ever more profound and challenging. We hear it differently when we are 12 and then again when we are 80. We comprehend, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so,” based on our life experience and spiritual sensitivity. Again, the good news for the disciples, and for us, is that we don’t have to be theologians to be witnesses of the gospel. We don’t have to have it all figured out. We will never have it all figured out, because the mystery of God is beyond comprehension. But the Spirit has revealed some things to us, and that we share, with the confidence that the same Spirit that is opening our eyes will open the eyes of those to whom we share what we do know.
So, where can the presence of Christ be experienced? All over. Jesus taught that the Spirit is like the wind which blows where it will. Jesus prefigured this after his resurrection, when He could appear and disappear, entering rooms with locked doors. The Spirit of God is present everywhere. We can be surprised where the Spirit of God might show. There is one place where we can be assured that the presence of Jesus, the Spirit of God, is present. That place is the church. The Spirit of God is found here, among us, who are gathered in the name of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is the breath of God that enlivens the body of Christ, which is the Church. The Holy Spirit is what has held the church together these 2000 years. When we gather here, in this place, we can sense the presence of the faithful saints who have gone before us. And we can sense the presence of Christ, who has sent us the Holy Spirit, so that we can know that we are connected to God. And we can witness to the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those among us. And especially today, as we witness and celebrate how the Holy Spirit is working in the life of Brittney Williams, who comes before the altar this morning to be baptized, to publicly confess her faith in Jesus Christ, and to become a professing member of this church. How great, how awesome, to know that the Spirit of God that moved over the primordial waters, the Spirit that inspired the prophets, the Spirit that empowered the apostles to be witnesses of Christ in Jerusalem, the Spirit that strengthened the martyrs of the faith, that inspired and convicted our ancestors, is with us now, in this place, in this time! We praise the Lord, the Father, the Son, and today especially, the Holy Spirit! Amen!
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