|
|
"The Spirit is upon me"
Acts 2:1-21
A Sermon Preached by The Rev. Douglas M. Donley
May 19, 2002
University Baptist Church
Minneapolis, MN
This is Pentecost.
This is the day that we wear red and celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit.
This is the day that we light candles to remind us of the fire in our hearts, or even perhaps to ignite the fire in our hearts.
This is the day that we look at that odd scripture with the Spirit of God leaping like tongues of flame.
But really, how is this Sunday any different than any other Sunday?
How are we changed because Pentecost has arrived?
How does the Spirit manifest itself here today in a way that it has not manifested itself before?
How do we witness to the light of the Spirit?
How do we reflect the light so that others will see it and catch the fire?
I have to admit, I get real skeptical when I hear people talking about the Holy Spirit. My mind is initially flooded with images of people losing themselves in a religious frenzy. I think of people who do acts of violence and say, the "Spirit of God told me to do it."
I think of people who talk about having the Holy Ghost. And if you only have the Holy Ghost (an old way of saying the Holy Spirit) then you will believe in all of the doctrines put forth by whatever party or preacher that person believes in.
I have seen people use the Holy Spirit as a way for them not to think--as an escape from the real problems of this world. Too many people confuse the Holy Spirit with our own smugness.
So, I get skeptical when people talk about the Holy Spirit: skeptical, or maybe jealous. You see, I want that kind of passion, that kind of clarity of vision.
I have seen people so moved by the Holy Spirit that they have done remarkable things for the world's needy people. That, to me, is the real spirit of God active in people’s lives.
About 14 years ago, the Holy Spirit did its work on my friends Tom and Patti Burkett. They are members of First Baptist, Granville and very active members of the Baptist Peace Fellowship. At one of the summer conferences, they heard someone talking about Habitat for Humanity. They started talking about it. They thought about the severely depressed town of Newark, Ohio just down the road which was in bad need of affordable housing. They began talking to members of the church about it. Their pillow talk into the wee hours of the morning was all about how great it would be to build a habitat house. When you can’t sleep, there’s a good chance the Spirit of God might want you to pay attention.
Well, they put together a board of church members, got the church to reluctantly loan them some money, got a parcel of land for one dollar and Licking County Habitat for Humanity was born. Many thought this organization would not live to see its first house built. They thought the money lent them from the church's endowment was a bad investment. But the Holy Spirit was present. They have completed over 25 houses now, including one that First Baptist Granville built by themselves, in one weekend in the form of an old-fashioned barn-raising. There is no stopping people when the Holy Spirit has caught them on fire.
This church has been moved by the Holy Spirit to open its doors to homeless people through Families Moving Forward.
This church has been moved by the Holy Spirit to serve meals through Loaves and Fishes and Meal on Wheels.
This church has been moved by the Holy Spirit to adopt grandchildren and an entire church in Leon, Nicaragua.
This church has been moved by the Holy Spirit to be a place that welcomes and affirms people regardless of their sexual orientation.
This church has been moved by the Holy Spirit to be a voice for justice and mercy.
Who knows what will be next.
The Holy Spirit has been and is at work here among us. That’s what we celebrate on Pentecost.
Pentecost is all about people moving beyond their own narrow confines of life and trying something new, something challenging that grants hope, life and breaks down previous barriers. Only then is the church truly born.
The story we have recorded for us today from the book of Acts recounts a new day for the life of the early church. Actually it records the first day of the early church. The setting is the feast of Pentecost. This is the final day of seven weeks of praying since passover when Jews are said to have received the law of Moses. Seven weeks (49 days) and today is the 50th "Pentecost" as in "pentagon," the 50th day.
Like all first century Jews, the people were gathered in Jerusalem. People came from all over the known world and brought with them their own colorful garments and their colorful dialects of their respective cultures.
For the followers of Jesus, they were awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit. They had been promised this a week earlier when Jesus had ascended to heaven. What that Holy Spirit might look like, they did not know. All they knew was that they had to go to Jerusalem to find it.
Perhaps they were thinking it would be like Sophia Wisdom of the book of Proverbs, uttering profundities and giving lessons on life.
Perhaps they thought it was going to be like the Spirit of Elijah which would cause them to do miraculous things, including the slaughter of their enemies.
Perhaps they though it was going to be the second coming of Christ.
Maybe some of them though it would be the Spirit of Isaiah which Jesus invoked in his first Sermon when he said, "The Spirit of God is upon me because God has send me to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of God."
You know what happened. The Holy Spirit came upon the people and they were never the same again. The Spirit broke down all of the barriers of class, of race, of language and called the people, in a moment of prophetic frenzy, to claim the unity of the mission of God among the people in the most need. 3000 people joined the movement that day.
The very first thing that the people did in forming their movement, which later became known as the church, was to bring everything they owned into a common storehouse, sell all they had in excess and give the proceeds to those in the deepest need.
That's what happens when the Spirit of God is upon us.
I have to admit, now that I think about this out loud with you, there really is something to all of that dancing and moving and carrying on that happens when people feel the Spirit. It is a celebration, a liberation, a freeing of inhibitions, a risk. It is a time to feel that Spirit moving in our hearts and moving forward with new hope and tongues of flame.
Jesus started his ministry, only when the Spirit was upon him. And it was the same Spirit recorded in Isaiah 61: "The Spirit of God is upon me because God has send me to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of God." This is the Spirit that started the Jesus movement, later known as the church.
The Spirit is God's presence which enables us to see a snapshot of God's plan. But it's more than that. It's also what unlocks our passion. It's what fills us with excitement and exuberance. It’s presence is what is reflected in our very lives.
Robert Fulghum tells a story about being at a great peace and justice center in Greece a number of years ago. It was on a site where the Greeks and Cretans had fought for many years, culminating in the brutality of the second world war. Alexander Papaderos, a Doctor of Philosophy, teacher, politician and native son, created the institute which has inspired people for years in ways of surpassing violence in their quest for dignity. Fulghum, being Fulghum mused about asking Papaderos a staggering question. You know how lecturers ask just before the end of the hour if there are any questions, not really expecting any and knowing there is no time to fully answer. It’s an easy and safe way to appear magnanimous. Papaderos asked just as people were packing up to leave, "Are there any final questions?" Fulghum looked around and said, "what’s the meaning of life?" I’ll let his words tell the rest of the story:
"The usual laughter followed, and people stirred to go. Papderos held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at me for a long time, asking with his eyes if I was serious and seeing from my eyes that I was.
"I will answer your question."
Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into a leather billfold and brought out a very small round mirror, about the size of a quarter. And what he said went like this:
"When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.
I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it on a stone I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine—in deep holes and crevices and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find.
I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child’s game, but a metaphor for what I do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light. But light—truth, understanding, knowledge—is there, and it will only shine in dark places if I reflect it.
I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light in to the dark places of this world—into the (bleak) places in the hearts of (people)—and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see me and do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life. And then he took his small mirror and, holding it carefully, caught the bright rays of daylight streaming through the window and reflected them onto my face and onto my hands folded at my desk." (from It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It, 1988 pp.171-175)
Sisters and brothers the Spirit is like that. It is how we reflect the light that comes from Christ Jesus. When the spirit is alive in our lives, we passionately feel the need to reflect that light to others. The Spirit at Pentecost shone on all people regardless of culture, race, language, even theology. And for a brief moment, the reign of God was at hand. The church has been trying ever since to recapture the Spirit which made the former strangers into friends on Pentecost.
There are lights here, flames lit on this table to show us the presence of the Spirit. I want you to take a candle home with you today. Pick it up during the closing hymn. These candles area ones we have burned here in this place over the years. Some were burned during Advent, others are nubs from altar candles, still others were lit on September 11th during our prayer vigil. Take one that speaks to you and burn it. Don’t put it away in a drawer. Burn it someplace where you will remember your passion. You might even want to put a mirror behind it. Burn it to reconnect with the spirit’s presence.
That Spirit will inspire you in the good times and sustain you in the trying times. When we are cognizant of the Spirit moving in our hearts and our minds, then we are really on fire. And who knows what miraculous thing we might do; what profound truth we might have the courage to tell, what clarity we might find as that light is reflected onto us and onto another.
Jesus said that the Spirit of God is upon me. What he was saying was, the Spirit is within me therefore I reflect God’s purposes. When we reflect the spirit we set it free and we reconnect with God’s incredible and audacious power.
May we experience and live the Spirit’s presence among us all.
May we keep the fire of our passion lit.
May we reflect that light to all of the places and people in need of that light.
When we do all of that, then the Jesus movement, the church made up of each of us individually and all of us together is really born.
Amen..