Come, Holy Spirit

Pentecost

Sunday May 27, 2012 Sermon
Acts 2:1-21, Jn. 15:26 – 16:5-15

One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Andrew standing in the foyer of the church staring up at a large plaque.  It was covered with names and small American flags mounted on either side of it.  The seven-year old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside the little boy, and said quietly, "Good morning Andrew."  "Good morning Pastor," he replied, still focused on the plaque.  "Pastor, what is this?"  The pastor said, "Well son, it's a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service."  Soberly, they just stood together, staring at the large plaque. Finally, little Andrew's voice, barely audible and trembling with fear asked, "Which service...the 9:00 or the 11:00?"

Prayer:

A couple of things about holidays…

#1.  Today we celebrate Memorial Day weekend… and not only that… it’s a church holiday or if you’re into that a Holy Day as well. Today is the church holy day of Pentecost. The difference with this holiday is that people find ways to stay away unlike Christmas or Easter when many come.

Well… if you haven’t yet noticed… I’m being a little cynical… well… maybe a lot. Memorial Day weekend, the first summer holiday… the 2^nd summer holiday is the 4^th of July, and we will celebrate the 4^th this year on two weekends because the 4^th falls on Wednesday. And the last summer holiday is Labor Day where we celebrate by not doing labor.

All of these summer holidays will be celebrated away from the church by many people. My point isn’t to make all of you sitting here this morning more righteous and those away more sinful, but to point out that many Christians are absent… and I understand… I use to be one of them… gone on the summer holidays. I looked at the summer holidays as a way to get away from it all. To get away from work, home chores, church, and mostly people. The irony of it is the people I was trying to distance myself from were all where I was. Then I thought… if I want to be away from people… why not be in church?

#2. The other thing about holidays or Holy Days like today… Pentecost

The issue is almost inevitably the same as previous years. we use the same bible stories year after year, and it becomes a what can you say that hasn’t already been said? So it’s tough trying to put a different spin on the same story only to end up in the same place as you did the year before, and before that, and before that. For the pastor it becomes a challenging endeavor.  A couple of years ago I took a vacation over Memorial weekend and went to Chicago… yes I went to church… the interesting thing about this worship experience was there was no sermon… just an experiential liturgy… I liked it. I thought I need to try this, but I have not tried it where I’ve been. Maybe next year!!

Today our bible readings reflect the coming of the Holy Spirit as we celebrate Pentecost or more commonly known as the birth of the church, at least the church as we understand it. I don’t believe the early Jesus followers would have thought of it that way. But, what about Pentecost? Pentecost is 50 days after the resurrection. In Jewish quarters, Pentecost was the celebration of the Festival of Weeks which commemorates God giving the 10 Commandments on Mt Sinai. For us in the church we celebrate Pentecost as God sending the Holy Spirit upon Jesus’ friends providing the beginning of something new.

Jesus’ friends would have been reminded of Isa. 43:18… it’s my favorite bible passage… “Forget about the past, I’m going to do something new, there it is… do you see it.” Pentecost is the time when the Spirit of God takes hold of us to do something new.

For Ezekiel… the Spirit breathed on dry bones and they came alive.

For Peter… the Spirit blew upon him giving him confidence to preach Jesus Christ and some 3000 people were baptized.

For Jesus… he breathed His Spirit on his friends and promises to send an advocate to guide them.

For us… the Holy Spirit comes to us and empowers us to be creative, innovative, and to take risks for the gospel.

Lutheran theologian David Lose says, “The Spirit’s presence is as disruptive as it is comforting.” Lose continues, “This is really about death to life. Is this really what we want? I mean, while I’ve never heard anyone actually pray, “Come Holy Spirit that we might remain exactly the same as we are, that’s often how we act.”

The Holy Spirit is not about a matter of comfort or personal taste. The Holy Spirit… if were honest is about meta-noia… making change or turning back to God and in some ways this brings instability. Look at Jesus’ friends… before the Spirit; they were locked up in a room afraid to venture out. After the Spirit… preaching boldly.  After the Spirit… being stoned to death. After the Spirit… being beaten & imprisoned… this is not very comfortable and is defiantly not to secure.

The Holy Spirit is sent to change us… to encourage us… to empower us… perhaps boldly so. The Holy Spirit helps us be creative and innovative and gives us opportunities to experiment… to risk for the gospel.

The Spirit helps us be willing to poke the “IS” and to see “What Might Be” of pour lives and the life of the faith community.

This doesn’t mean we change for changes sake or that we disregard our traditions… but it does mean we need to look thru the lens of our Christian heritage and honor those elements of faith so that they can be passed along to our children.

Closing:

In 1997, Pope John Paul…. In 1997 pope John Paul took the opportunity to "put Bob Dylan right" when the two megastars headlined a gig together in Bologna. Dylan met His Holiness on stage during a Catholic youth event before playing three of his best-known songs. After the two men had shaken hands and exchanged a few words, the pope stepped up to the microphone.

"You say the answer is blowing in the wind, my friend," he observed. "So it is. But it is not the wind that blows things away, it is the wind that is the breath and life of the Holy Spirit, the voice that calls and says, 'Come!'"

Clearly enjoying the thunderous applause that greeted these words, the pope continued: "You ask me, how many roads must a man walk down before he becomes a man? I answer: One! There is only one road for man, and it is the road of Jesus Christ, who said I am the Way and the Life."

Unsurprisingly, Dylan was not seen to be taking notes for revised lyrics to his song.
Ship of Fools Magazine Online, September 29, 1997.

When was the last time something totally unexpected?

When was the last time that something totally unexpected happened during Sunday morning worship at church? How long has it been since you completely lost track of time because you were so "caught up" in the spirit of a prayer, a song, a speaker or even a vision? Is church the last place you expect to find something new, fun and exciting going on? Maybe this is the time for you to raise the roof, to do something totally unexpected, even "off-the-wall," to get people to open some Holy Spirit holes in their lives.

I leave you with this question…Do we dare pray… Come Holy Spirit?