Come, Holy Spirit

The Scripture reading this week tells the story of Pentecost.

Alright. You know the game where you have to see what’s the same about a bunch of things in a group? Usually you get two or three…sometimes four if you’re playing that new app—I forget what it’s called. Well, today we get five things to figure out what the common bond is.

Marie or Madame Curie, the wheel, the printing press, Albert Einstein, and the telephone.

Any guesses?

They are all game changers. Each one of these items or people pushed the history of humanity down a significantly different path than it had been on before.

Madame Curie had the first major discoveries with radioactivity: suddenly a whole new kind of energy and elements can be used and developed. The wheel: humanity is more mobile than before; they can travel further. Einstein: e = mc2, redefining how we think of time and space. The printing press: widespread publications and therefore expanded literacy. The telephone: long distance communications. Now we don’t have to travel so far to communicate.

In our lessons today—actually throughout our whole year—we hear about a huge game-changer: God. God the parent, creator, father/mother of all heaven and earth. God the Son, Jesus Christ, who died for the sin of the world that humanity may have eternal life. God the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, who continues to inspire, create and work in the world. 

In the gospel lesson, Jesus calls this person, this Holy Spirit, the Advocate. At Pentecost, which we celebrate today, we read about the effects of this Spirit, coming down like tongues of fire. This Spirit speaks not only to the chosen, but also sweeps over everyone gathered there, reaching out through the voices of the disciples on this day to tell the story of Jesus.

It’s good that we set aside a day to talk specifically about the Holy Spirit. From what I’ve been told—and what I’ve seen myself--we talk a lot about the first two persons of the trinity—the parent and the son, but the Holy Spirit is somehow missed, just sort of tacked on to the end.

That’s odd because it is the Holy Spirit who is our Advocate in today’s world—our inspiration and source of faith really. It’s the Holy Spirit that unites us to Christ in baptism. Maybe we don’t know how to talk about God in this way because it’s the piece that’s still moving and working in us. The Holy Spirit is a huge game changer, and that can be intimidating to talk about.

But guess what? We do talk about the Holy Spirit—almost every single week—at least in worship.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Amen. There it is--the third article of the Apostles' Creed.

That whole sentence or article is about the Holy Spirit. 

What? No! It’s about the church and communion of saints and a bunch of other stuff besides the Holy Spirit.

That’s what I thought for years. Then I started wondering. The first article or section of the creed is about God the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. The second article is all about God’s son, Jesus, and his life, death, resurrection and future promise. Logically, the third article should be about…. 

So I looked it up in this handy dandy little thing Martin Luther wrote called the Small Catechism and there it was!! Right in front of me for over 400--almost 500--years. The third article of the Apostles' Creed is all about the Holy Spirit.

I believe in the Holy Spirit. Self explanatory. The holy catholic church—small c. Church everywhere…

Do me a favor. Imagine the place you call home—whatever and wherever that may be. You can even pause and close your eyes for a moment if you need to get a better picture. Fill that place up with light. Look around. Think of every detail in that place. Notice the edges, the textures, the patterns of the place. Think of the smells, the sounds. 

Now picture church. Think of entering through the doors. See the people who meet you. Smell the fresh spring air, the coffee, the fellowship hour treats. Have it? Hold those two pictures in your mind. Home and church. Church and home.

These are the places that are there for you—no matter what. No matter how soon or long or how far or near, you can return. You don’t need to wait for an invitation, just come. Take that familiar path, walk through the door. You already belong. Church doesn’t even have to be this or that particular building or congregation--though it can be. Remember what we said—little “c”—church universal. It’s everywhere. Look for it.

Okay, next line: the communion of saints…here Luther states that the Holy Spirit “calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ.” We’re all connected throughout time and space by the faith given to us by the Holy Spirit.

The forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. The Holy Spirit does this, too. The Holy Spirit “forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.” That’s how Luther’s small catechism closes this section. "This is most certainly true."

This is the Holy Spirit that came to the disciples on Pentecost—enabling faith in Christ.

Forgiving sins, speaking to everyone in the world in his or her own language, lighting a fire in the hearts of the disciples. This story doesn't end on Pentecost, though. The Holy Spirit is still working, still inspiring, still forgiving, enlightening, calling. Pushing all of us out of our comfort zones to serve God’s world while always telling us that we belong.

Truth be told, one Sunday is not enough to talk about the Holy Spirit and the gift given to humanity at Pentecost. We have to keep the conversation going—all year, all week. Because when the Holy Spirit descends in something like tongues of fire and rushing wind, it’s going to spread. 

The disciples immediately started talking to whomever they could. Whoever was there, whoever would listen, heard the gospel that very day. The disciples immediately started sharing and working. Because when that fire lights up in you, you can’t be still, at least not for long.

And the question isn’t "if," it’s "what."

So…What is the Holy Spirit working in you? 

Where is that fire, that wind, that breath, spreading? 

How can you join in?

Confirmation Sunday

Six students were confirmed at church last Sunday. The readings for the day can be found here.

Our confirmation curriculum this year was focused on “Faith in Life.”

 

Since confirmation is about confirming the faith and the promises given to you in baptism, this theme is particularly relevant. Really, confirmation is preparing to be an adult, a grown-up, in the church. Confirmation--at this church, anyway--takes three years to focus on faith and what that really means for us. It’s intentional, guided time to learn about our faith. It's about taking on that faith and making it your own.

 

We do things in confirmation to get ready for this event. We learn the books and story of the Bible, understand the basic statements of faith—the creed, Lord’s Prayer, and 10 Commandments. We do active listening exercises in worship by taking sermon notes. We take a week during the summer and get to go to camp to experience the world that God created while we learn about our faith and one another.

 

And now we've arrived. This is the day when our confirmation students say—I’ve really taken the time to learn about my faith. I’ve worked with the church and met the expectations that were set for me, and now I’ve shown through my words and actions that I am ready to set my own expectations. There has been work to do, and there is still work to do. These students are saying I’m ready, I have taken the time to mature in my faith, and I am going to continue my life journey in the church.

 

After all, the main part of confirmation isn’t the “ation,” like graduation where you meet certain requirements and are done forever; it's the

“Confirm.”

 

On our last exam for this year, we asked the students what they felt God was calling them to do, and how they would stay connected to church after confirmation. I’d like to share these students’ answers with you now.

 

What do you feel God is calling you to do?

 

To behave and follow the rules and to be happy.

I feel God is calling me to help people and support them just like my family and God does for me.

God is calling me to be a nice person to all others. God wants me to contribute positively to the church and our communities.

 

How will you stay connected to church after your confirmation?

 

I plan to join a music choir of some sort. I also plan to go on a mission trip.

I will stay connected to the church after confirmation by going to church and volunteering.

I will still come to church and pray, and I will obey all God’s rules.

 

It's a pretty big thing to be able to articulate a sense of call and plan for future faith at the time of confirmation. Hopefully, these plans and callings will strengthen and grow as our students move through this milestone today.

 

In closing, we hear again the words of promise spoken by Jesus in today’s gospel lesson:

“…the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all I have said to you.” Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us, the community of faith to strengthen us, and his own words to teach us.

 

To our confirmation students, congratulations on this day as you confirm that the path you are taking is the path of faith. As we learned this year, there will be ups and downs, but God will be walking with you through it all. Blessings to you as you take this next step of your faith journey. Amen.

Peter and Paul: The Wake-Up Calls

This sermon is based on the commissioning/call stories of Peter and Paul, found in the Revised Common Lectionary for April 14.

So today we get to talk about Peter and Paul. These two essentially start the very earliest Christian church—they’re the founders, so to speak. Peter was head of the apostles and worked within the Jewish community and Jerusalem, while Paul traveled to the Gentiles in the rest of the world, and people reading these stories would already know that. They’d know of Peter, and would have maybe even read one of Paul’s original letters. Coming across these stories, their reaction would be more like ours would be to the pope. We maybe know who he is now, but not really who he was before that. 

“Oh yeah, Paul, I know him, how’d he get his start? Where did he come from?”

 

Here we go. Here are their call stories—when they were called and commissioned by Jesus to minister to the world. Their stories are actually quite similar, and they hold pretty big implications for us as well.

 

Both Peter and Paul are great Christian evangelists—they help start the Christian church and care for Jesus’ first followers. But both of them start by failing. Peter denies that he knows Jesus—not once or twice, but three times—while Jesus is hanging on the cross. Paul, well, Paul is actually persecuting those who dared to believe in Jesus.

 

Both Peter and Paul fail. They exhibit their humanness—their sinful side. How often do we fail, do we sin? More often than we can think of, I’d guess. We bring that with us each week—our fallenness, our humanness. We confess and pray that in the Lord’s prayer each week—forgive us our sin—or we say those words, anyway. Do we hear the words we ourselves say, or is it just a line we recite? Are we aware of our sinfulness?

 

We also are forgiven. Do we hear those words and take them in when we realize the reality of our sinful nature?  Forgive us our sins. In the name of Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven. What does it take for us to understand the impact of these words?

 

Peter and Paul have a major wake up call. They encounter the risen Christ, and see their sinfulness. They repent. They are forgiven. This changes their lives forever. For Paul, it’s conversion—he completely rejects the person that he was, and becomes the opposite: a champion of the early church. For Peter, it’s permission to come back from a mistake and try again.

 

How do we react to forgiveness? To realizing how much we have failed—really failed—and there’s nothing we can do to fix it, then hearing that we are given permission to change, to move on, to try again? We are given the chance to keep living without the burden of our pasts because Jesus knows them, has heard our confessions, and has forgiven us.

 

Peter and Paul help start the Christian church. We get to continue it. This community of followers that Jesus inspired. What does it look like? Jesus tells Peter to “feed his sheep,” he chooses Paul to spread the good news of the gospel to the world. This is an active, moving, vibrant community that takes chances because of their faith and the message they are entrusted with.

 

Peter and Paul are great role models—but where do we see ourselves in this story?

 

Where are the Peters and Pauls today?

 

The church is not a country club, where people pay dues and expect certain status or favor based on their payment—to enjoy certain select company (often people like them) and have it for their personal use and/or agenda. We have actual country clubs for that.

 

Church is different. Whether there’s two hundred dollars in the plate or twenty, whether you’ve been through a life-altering experience, or you’ve just been baptized, or have just walked in the door for the first time, you belong here. Whether you have a past or are looking to the mysteries of the future. You are called to give what you can and are welcomed as you are.

 

Why?

Because Jesus died for all, not just me or you, but all of us.

 

The church is a community. It’s a place where we can come to support one another, share with one another, and work together to continue ministering to one another and the world. Because this is still the church, and there is still much to be done. We are called to give of ourselves, to take chances, to serve one another in the world God made.

 

The Peters and Pauls of today are all around us—they are us.

 

Whenever we reach out and extend ourselves to someone who needs some grace and good news, that's church. When we give of ourselves—volunteering our time, sharing our interests and talents, donating our money and resources--that's church. When we hear those words of forgiveness from God and take them to heart and when we respond to those words by going out into this messy and colorful world and sharing the love and grace we’ve been given, that's church.

 

We give what we can—if it’s time, or talents, or resources. Because we’ve been forgiven, been saved, by Jesus, we are free to live like it. To participate in the life of the living. To share that life with the world around us.

Palm Sunday: Leave it all on the field

Luke 19: 28-48

 

We’ve just heard the story of what we have come to call Palm Sunday. Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusalem, cloaks and coats are spread to ease his journey as the crowds cheer. It’s an exciting, joyful day. We echo this tone of celebration as we wave palms, sing “All Glory, Laud, and Honor,” and shout “Hosanna!” We hear that nothing could hold back this praise—the stones and rocks themselves would cry out if the people could be silenced. All the earth joins together in praise of Jesus.

 

Yet, even on this day, we have to know what’s coming. This is the beginning of Holy Week, and before the Easter Resurrection, there is much that happens. Jesus’ Last Supper, Betrayal, Crucifixion, Death. It would be great if our reading for the day simply ended with the excitement and praise of the crowds as Jesus entered, but the day doesn’t end there. Jesus knows what’s about to happen, and he laments for Jerusalem.

 

“If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

 

There’s a saying—it’s maybe a little cliché, but it captures what’s happening today. Leave it all on the field. Some might say leave it on the court or stage or some other applicable scenario, but let’s stick with the football metaphor. Leave it all on the field.

 

Jesus knows what’s going to happen, but he doesn’t back down, retreat, or play it safe. He goes all in and leaves it all on the field. Our gospel text describes him teaching and challenging and continuing his ministry after entering Jerusalem.

 

We’ve been talking about discipleship (following Jesus) for six weeks now—all of Lent. Now, we won’t be walking up a hill to be crucified—that’s Jesus. Saved the world from sin, joined in eternal life. That’s Jesus. We’re not him.

 

We are called to follow him, his example. To leave it all on the field. To really put ourselves out there to serve God’s world. Realistically speaking, what would it look like for us to lift someone from poverty, to make sure someone entering here knows that he or she is really welcome—already part of the “us.” What would we do to pass on the faith that we’ve inherited to the children  and youth in our church—so that the ones who are waving palms this morning have a faith to claim when they are 25/30 years old?

 

Are we changed by Jesus’ presence in our lives, or was that all just talk?

 

When we hold back and make this place a place of convenience and comfort for ourselves, we are just talk. When we’d like to have programs here but do nothing to help implement them, we are just talk.

 

When we step on to the field, we live it. When we reach out to welcome friends and strangers, we are something more than talk. When we bring ourselves and our children to worship, we are more than just talk. When we go for the endzone rather than the comfort zone, we are living like Jesus has changed our lives and that matters.

 

In our gospel readings, Jesus weeps over what’s to come, but he doesn’t run to the sidelines of a comfort zone, either. He stays on the field—leading, teaching, serving. This week, we follow his journey to the cross. There won’t be a dismissal today after the Sending Song, because our worship isn’t over—it continues through the rest of Holy Week.

 

We will meet again here on Thursday to remember the story of the Last Supper, and again we will not hear the dismissal, because our worship isn’t over. It continues out of this building and back into the world of our daily lives this week.

 

As we live through this week, remembering Jesus’ final days on earth, we are called to think about how his life impacts ours. How Jesus’ presence in this world makes a difference for our lives. How we live as those who follow him.

 

Leaving it all on the field isn’t a punishment or obligation—it’s an opportunity. To know that however it turns out, every step was taken with a purpose and a hope. Hope that we can affect the world around us for the better and purpose to try to make that hope a reality. To work with our teammates, with that support, as we move forward.  

 

We wave Palm branches and celebrate. We shout Hosanna and sing All Glory, Laud and Honor. We go all out and rejoice in the moments that we have to rejoice, we grieve in the times that we have to grieve, and we don’t hold back. We ask that here on earth God’s will be done—that we may live for others and serve the world God made.

 

We leave it all out on the field. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we continue in this Holy Week, following Jesus on this journey we call life.

Look! I am doing a new thing! Wake up and See it!

Readings for the sermon come from the Revised Common Lectionary, found here.

Okay, I need a few volunteers. Take some seeds. Okay, now, would you please turn them into flowers? Go ahead, I’ll give you a minute or two…

 

Okay, who changed their seed to a flower? No? Why not? What do you need to make it grow? So once it grows and buds, could you pull apart the petals and make it bloom?

 

 

There are some things that we can’t do. We can't physically pull a flower from the seed. We can help, we can prepare the conditions, but ultimately no work can directly do what God does. Can you tell by looking at it what will grow from it? Probably not. Once in a while, we can see the potential, maybe we do recognize some seeds, and know it’s there, but not necessarily what exact form it will take. Height, color, etc.

 

In Isaiah, we hear that God is doing a new thing, making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. God sees the potential and the exact form of the seeds that are there. God creates it and makes it grow. Our Psalmist echoes this sentiment by stating that God does the great things, and we simply rejoice.

 

We can tend the soil, prepare ourselves and get the right elements to feed the plant, but ultimately, we can’t make it grow. When we think we’re making it happen, we become like the people Paul warns us about—those justified by the law and by flesh. Paul tells us that we can’t live that way anymore, because justification with God for us, comes by grace through faith. We live not in pursuit of that truth, but in response to it, because Christ Jesus has made us his own.

 

These new things are God’s doing. We can only tend the soil, make preparations and offer these new things space to happen.

 

What does tending the soil look like? Well, to begin with, we have identified ourselves as part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Evangelical. To share the Good News. Believe it or not, this is a two-way street. We can’t just talk at people, telling others about our experiences with God…though that’s part of it. We also have to ask and listen to others about where God is seen. Where the Holy Spirit is at work in everyone’s life, not just ours.

 

When we do that, we truly share our experience of God, and maybe, just maybe, by asking others where they see God, we might invite those around us to begin thinking about where God is really at work in their life as well. In short, we offer a bigger picture and understanding to ourselves and those around us. We tend the soil and make an opportunity for the hidden seeds to grow.

 

If we get overly self-righteous, only think of ourselves, we miss what’s going on right in front of our nose. Just look at Judas in our gospel lesson. They are professing that Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one, but until this reading, John doesn’t report that anyone has actually anointed him. Judas gets so worried about the extravagance of the perfume that he misses something hugely important. Mary has just anointed Jesus’ feet.

 

Hold on.

Back up.

Stop the presses.

 

Jesus is the Messiah—the Anointed One—and the first person reported by John to actually anoint him is Lazarus’ sister Mary? A female? This second-class citizen? She is then lifted up as a model of discipleship—talk about something new going on.

 

 

Do we see it when it happens? If we take time to look at it, we might catch a glimpse of what’s going on. However, when we box ourselves into our own models and modes and ways we’ve always only ever known, we miss the new stuff. Paul got rattled out of that set pattern, Judas didn’t. There’s probably a reason these Scripture readings have been put together for today. There are common themes running through, complimenting and completing each other.

 

Another thing about soil, though is that it’s not thrown out entirely. We might add to it, water it, weed it out, but we can’t get rid of it. We have to strike a balance. The thing about soil is, it is old…literally as old as dirt. We care for tradition, but allow that tradition to speak in new ways, create new traditions, grow something beautiful.

 

God shows up in unexpected ways and places. In Isaiah, it’s in the wilderness, where the ostriches and jackals praise God, and a wandering people are the chosen ones of God. In our Psalm, God shows up with those who suffer and sow with tears. For Paul, God shows up through Christ, which throws everything that used to be important out the window. His Pharisaic status, his righteousness through the law, his persecution of the church in the name of that righteousness are overturned. In the gospel, God shows up through the extravagance of a second-class citizen, the woman Mary of Bethany, sister to Lazarus. The mere fact that she is defined by her male relative shows her status in society. Yet that is where God is.

 

Where is God today—for us? Are we watching for those new ways and places God is working, are we caring for the soil so something beautiful can grow? Or are we getting stuck in an old pattern—so stuck that we can’t see the new life and growth?

 

We care for the soil and watch for the life that springs from it, because the soil isn’t the end all be all in this metaphor. The soil isn’t the goal, the new life is. That new life is where God is creating, doing, and working.

 

We can tell others where we see God and ask where they do, too. We can find meaning for our current lives in ancient words like Scripture and Creed. We can follow Jesus’ teachings and listen to God’s commands. And we can look for the new things God is doing right now today. We can watch for the movement of the Holy Spirit in our world, our community, and our lives.

 

We have the chance to evangelize, or share God, to preserve tradition, and to live faithfully—to care for the soil. And we can rejoice when we see where the Holy Spirit is infusing and inspiring new life in our faith. Amen.

A Mother Hen--Images of Jesus

This reflection is based on the gospel lesson for February 24, 2013, in the Revised Common Lectionary, Luke 13:31-35.

The Good Shepherd, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the Holy Lamb, the Bread of Life, the Light of the World. We have so many images for Jesus, and today we get yet another one, the mother hen.

 

It’s hard to imagine something so helpless as an infant—how about an infant animal? Like a baby chick? Without some instruction, some survival skills, some protection from the elements and predators, I really can’t see them surviving for long. That’s what the mother hen is there for. She gathers and protects them at night, teaches them to hunt and peck, to scratch the dirt for seeds, to survive. This is what Jesus says he wants to be to the world.

 

The world has another power in play, however. Did you catch it? Caesar is there, too. We don’t necessarily know why the Pharisees want to warn Jesus about Caesar, but they do. Maybe they’re playing some sort of power game; maybe they honestly want to help Jesus by giving him a heads-up. In actuality, it doesn’t really matter.

 

Caesar is out to win. He’s going to kill Jesus—at least that’s the threat from the Pharisees. They say that Jesus should stop preaching and healing and go away because Caesar will kill him if he doesn’t. It’s a threat.

 

How often do we encounter that sort of sentiment in our world—do or don’t do that, even if it’s the right thing to do. Give up, walk away, or else. Go back to your lives the way the world says to—buy commercial products, keep your head down, show up for this and that, stick with your life station. Don’t change. Status quo. Or else.

 

Sometimes it might even feel like we have to choose between who we are and what we learn in here and who we are and what we act like out there. Faith vs. The World.

 

So what’s our answer? Who wins? What would Jesus do?

 

Actually, let’s not speculate on what Jesus would do. Let’s look at what he did do. Jesus isn’t going to play their game. He says that he knows Caesar has a function, but that he does, too. So he isn’t going to stop. Jesus is going to continue his work—continue healing and teaching and saving and forgiving.

 

He’s even going to die for our sin. Jesus looks at Jerusalem, and we get a hint that he knows what is to come, yet he doesn’t back away from it. He looks with compassion at that place, and says that he only wishes that the people would let him embrace them, gather them in like a hen to her chicks. The chicks won't get it, though—they won’t see what’s going on until much later.

 

Do we hear this message? There are places and people in the world that are good for us—offer us a place of kindness, compassion and healing. This life—we can’t live it alone. We can’t get through the day to day challenges let alone the really big things on our own. Do we let ourselves be helped and healed when we need it?

 

And then do we turn around and offer that same kindness, compassion, and forgiveness to others? Do we bring the challenge and compassion our faith gives us to the world, or do we leave it in here?

 

Who wins? Neither side is giving up. Caesar is still strong and Jesus is still going. And us? We’re human. Like it or not, we have to live in the world. So the question is, how do we reject the game, like Jesus did?

 

How do we go from seeing faith vs. the world to living faith in the world?

 

We can’t. Not by ourselves, anyway. We need the power and grace of the Holy Spirit to give us something to hang on to what’s important—to be clear on what that even is. Last week we learned about prayer—the toolbelt that goes everywhere with us—that holds all the rest of the tools of discipleship. This week, it’s worship, the tool of discipleship that helps us maintain our grip on what’s important. Like pliers, worship helps us hang on to what’s important—it reminds us of that. We refresh our grip every week—sometimes even more often than that.

 

Without this tool that helps us hold on to what's important, we could be looking for anything in this world, maybe easier things. With the pliers, we look for the little things—things that seem so small to the world. So small—like a single person—a carpenter along the Jordan River at the turn of the era. But those are the important things, even if the world can’t always see it.

 

A carpenter--a rabbi--who would end up giving his life for the sake of the whole world, who gathers us all in together, who embraces and forgives us even when we can’t possibly think we could be loved. Who encourages us to extend that embrace as well. These are the important things to hang on to.

 

In these next weeks, we will hear about Jesus making the turn from ministry to the cross. He knows that Jerusalem won’t see him for who he is or what he is doing, but he embraces them anyway. We, too, need to see and share, receive and give, that compassion—to help and heal as well as let ourselves be helped and be healed.

This week, we welcomed new members in the congregation. We open ourselves to their gifts while sharing our own.

We lead as well as follow. We learn as well as teach. We serve as well as receive.

 

None of that can stop once we cross the threshold to the church or close the browser window. We go to be refreshed in worship, fellowship, and community so that we can have the energy to show Christ to the world through word and action.