Pentecost Year C The Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan The Rev. Taylor W. Dinsmore May 19, 2013 Amazed and confused, they kept asking each other. What is going on here? But others made fun of the believers saying, They have been drinking too much wine. + Come Holy Spirit our souls inspire and fill us with celestial fire. Amen! So, what do you think is going on here today? Were you all wondering if we had all been drinking too much wine when the bulletins were put together? (This is in reference to the fact that a portion of the lesson from Acts was intentionally scrambled. Three different versions of the bulletin were printed so that for part of the reading people would be reading words that were different from the person sitting next to them letting everyone understand a bit of what the crowds must have experienced.) Actually, we were hoping to experience what is going on in our reading from Acts this morning.feeling what it must have been like for those who were witnessing such a strange occurrence. These people who are talking are all Galileans! How is it that each of us hears them talking in our own native language We are from many different countries, yet in our own languages we hear them speaking about God s deeds of power. Try to imagine the scene The town of Jerusalem was bustling with people from all over who had come to celebrate the festival of Pentecost. At that time, Pentecost was simply an ancient festival that was rooted in celebrating the harvest and then later in the giving of the law. The sad and mournful band of eleven who had walked with Jesus during his earthly ministry had gathered in the home of one of the disciples. This is the group of people who had lived every day with Jesus and had walked with him through his days of ministry. They had seen him face crucifixion, die, and then, be resurrected from the dead. 1
He had appeared to them a few times in secret, then left them once again as he was lifted up into heaven right before their eyes. And now, they remembered his parting promise. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you." So, they were gathered together, waiting. Suddenly, they heard a sound. There was a wind in the room, a strong, and violent wind that filled the space. Then there was fire, and flames resting on each one without burn or harm. And they all began to speak in different languages. The crowd outside couldn't help but notice the commotion and began to gather around the house where all this was happening, listening to languages they recognized from their own lands, hearing the wind, and seeing the fire. Amazed and bewildered, (probably not unlike those of us this morning), they wondered what on earth, or under heaven, this might mean. Though some would say it was simply the drunken disciples, Peter and others knew that this could only be the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus who had left them not so long ago. In a breath-taking reversal of the story of the Tower of Babel, when proud humanity was divided by the plurality of languages, Pentecost represents the in-breaking of God s purposes for ALL of humanity, bringing God s people together despite their differences. And typical of the church.not everyone, even on the day of Pentecost, was convinced that a good thing was happening among those who were caught up in the Spirit of God. Imagine that! Today, once again, we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost...and the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is the day in the church year when we celebrate the Birthday of the church when the Holy Spirit, God s first gift to those who believe, came to dwell among us. It is the time when we as followers of Christ can claim the promise that Jesus made when he said he would be with us always even to the end of the ages. To me personally, it is one of the most important of all feast days because the Holy Spirit is the essence of our lives as Christians. It is God who lives within us, around us and moves through us, giving us the power to change our own lives the lives of others and even the power to change the world. 2
This past week, Jennifer Dunn and I attended the Festival of Homiletics in Nashville. It is a preaching conference where more than 1, 500 people of all denominations came from all over the country for worship, prayer and lectures to learn from some of the most important people in the preaching world today. One priest s husband called it the Bonaroo of preaching, but for most of us church nerd types, it was a little bit of heaven. The take-aways from this time were tremendous and one of the most interesting was the fact that all of the heavy hitter speakers at this conference were all associated with the Episcopal Church. Barbara Brown Taylor, my own personal favorite, Walter Brueggamann, Phyllis Tickle, Diana Butler Bass, Lauren Winner, and Bishop Michael Curry of the Diocese of North Carolina.are all in the Episcopal Church.and they were the ones everyone was there to see! People who probably have no real knowledge of the Episcopal Church were lined up to hear our people talk. Now what does that say about the fire that burns within the Episcopal Church and the Hope and Holy Spirit that breathes through our people and our denomination? I think it says a lot. Now, if you want a treat, you need to google, Bishop Michael Curry, Crazy Christians, It is the sermon he gave at General Convention last summer.and it is amazing. Bishop Curry is the African American Bishop of North Carolina, and he is such a good preacher, he was able to rock the world of a church full of stuffy, protestant clergy types In one of the lectures, Lauren Winner who is the author of the Mudhouse Sabbath that Caroline is using in her Sunday School Class, said that if your church is not declining in money or in membership, then you are lucky and you are the exception to the rule. She then challenged anyone preaching on Pentecost to ask the question Where is the fire where is the Holy Spirit. in your congregation? Now, I have always known that Good Samaritan IS the exception, and that we are not JUST lucky, but I decided to take her up on that challenge Where does the fire of the Holy Spirit burn in Good Sam? First of all, I have to say the Holy Spirit continues to burn in the hearts of our founding and early members. 3
They were the ones who followed the urgings of the Spirit risked Change to do a new thing. Their Spirit continues to ground us as we approach the 50 th Anniversary of the founding of Good Samaritan. ++++ Certainly the Fire of Pentecost is seen in our Newcomer Ministry. There is energy, enthusiasm, and thirst for knowledge in all of our newcomers and especially the 28 individuals and families who will be recognized here this morning. People whose presence in this community is a gift to us and their participation is already a blessing. There is NEW FIRE in the lives who are being welcomed here today. There is fire in our Outreach Program. Last year, we accomplished a lot.and intend to do more this year. We fed the homeless at VMC, we delivered food to the hungry through FISH, we helped build a Habitat House, we mentored homeless women, we provided Hope Buckets for those living with HIV, Stuffed Stockings for the elderly and gathered food and towels for our four legged friends at the animal shelter. Though the agency, Food for the Poor, our outreach monies provided a well that now serves an entire village of people in a third world country. The desire to care for others is the fire of the Spirit! There is fire in our Tuesday morning Bible Study whose ladies have seen each other through triumph and tragedy. There is fire in the lectionary class that is committed and serious about their Bible Study. There is certainly Fire in our Music Program, in our Choir and in our Music Director as we are weekly called higher and higher in our love for church music. There is fire in our baptisms, in our children and in our young people.and the teachers and leaders who genuinely love them. We saw that last week as the graduates spoke so eloquently about growing up in this community. 4
There is fire in the way we care for each other, the way we tend to the sick, and the way we care for the dying.in the way we worship, the way we fellowship, the way we celebrate and in the way we grieve. We are a family of God and the fire of the Spirit is central to who we are and whose we are On this day of Pentecost, we are here to name the Spirit who empowers us to do these things but this is not a time to pat ourselves on the back for all the good we have done because it is not about us We are just getting started there is work to do in this weary world. It is about the gift of Spirit of God being poured out upon us so that we, in turn, can pour it out upon one another especially those who so desperately need it. In his sermon, Bishop Curry said that we have reached a point where we have no choice but to evangelize, because the church bearing the Spirit of God is all the Hope left for this hurting world. As the Birthday of the Church Pentecost is a day that we celebrate and take time to name those places where we can feel the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us. But, like any Birthday party, when the celebration is over, the gifts are opened, and the cake is gone.. it is time to take the gifts we have received and put them to use. The Holy Spirit is God s gift to us that we are meant to re-gift to others. It is not meant to be a secret, hidden away in a drawer and saved for later it is meant to be used. The Power of God in the form of the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the people on the day of Pentecost and it is poured out upon us this morning. We have accomplished a lot, but there is so much more to do. Pentecost is a time to remember that God s spirit is still present in a mighty way. While it is true that the Holy Spirit blows where it He wills, it is clearly in the direction of overcoming divisions, and removing the barriers that separate people and bringing them together. Wherever acceptance and community exists, the Holy Spirit is present. Pentecost also means that a new wind of mission is let lose upon the earth. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit shoves the church from the safety of locked doors in the Upper Room into the struggles and realities of the world's needs. 5
May we feel the fire of the Holy Spirit in our souls.and have the courage to follow where that leads. Let us pray. Lord, as on the day of that first Pentecost, we ask you to let your Holy Spirit so fill us as individuals and churches that we may be empowered anew to become your instruments of healing and hope and transformation in a world of desperate need. So bind our faith and works together in a new wholeness that we may begin to: Grow in Faith Live in Hope and Share God s Love. AMEN.. 6