Sermon Pentecost 2015B: Knowing and Speaking of God Through God s Power Introduction: Good Chooses Anyone Today marks the beginning of a new season in the church year, Pentecost, The season of the Holy Spirit dwelling with us. It also marks the beginning of a new phase in our life together As we turn our hearts and minds and souls To the power of the Spirit at work in our lives So that we may know God and make God known. Sometimes it s difficult to know what this Christian life is all about. Hard to comprehend how we re able to know God And to be empowered to live our lives as Christians in the world. Some of us imagine that being a Christian means being at church 24/7 Or being in worship all day and all night; While others of us focus on being a Christian with our families, In our school or work, in the broader community, but with church as an afterthought; Or we focus on our approach to the Christian life as the right one. There seem to be as many different approaches to following Jesus, As there are personalities and experiences of life And so we re often left with a sense of confusion About how it is that we, as individuals, can come to know God And how we can make God known to others. And even when we do hear something clearly, when we think we understand, Even when we re given glimpses of God at work in our lives or in the lives of others, Or when we feel moved to act or to speak or to stand for the Gospel of Christ, Where is the power or the ability or the talent going to come from That will allow us to know Christ and to make Christ known? The power to act, to stand, to speak, to live for the Gospel? 1
Vision of God s Power At Work in Different Kinds of People I am consistently amazed by the differences among individual Christians, Their experiences and knowledge of God and of the Christian life And how they use their differing gifts to make God known to others; There seems to be more than one way. Over the past couple of weeks, we clergy have been meeting with the Confirmands; With the 8 th graders who we have been raising up to be adult Christians Here at St. David s and out there in the world. We ve been meeting with each of them, one on one, to talk about a rule of life; To listen and talk with them about they are going to be a Christian; What it means to be a Christian and how they re going to live it out. We have some amazing young people in our church; And they all approach their rule of life slightly differently; And that s normal and a good thing because the Body needs different parts; And we all need to remember and give thanks for the differences. I didn t always feel that way; Somehow in my little, sometimes prideful mind, I kind of thought that my way Was the right way and other s practice of Christianity needed some work. But like many things in my life with God, God impressed a very different reality on my heart and mind The reality of the huge variety of Christian expression and life Came home to me in a powerful way for me while I was in Seminary A vision, something that is rare in my life. We were in our second week of school in my first of three years of study; I can remember looking around the room during a pause in a lecture 2
At all the different kinds of people God was supposedly calling To the ordained ministry in the Church. There were people fresh out of college, who had never worked a day in the real world; Classmates, who had reached retirement age or had served their 20 years in the military People who had left their careers in business and medicine and education To pursue a call in the Church. There were women and men, young and old, black and white and brown; Married and single, rich and poor, wise and naïve, gentle and strong; And in my arrogance and short-sightedness I thought to myself that none of them was like me, The ideal person or at least my ideal person for ordained ministry. As I looked around at this motley crew of people, I had or thought I had a vision of all of them wearing black shirts and white collars, In the blink of an eye, in a flash, I saw all these different people serving God. People different from me and from my experience of life and of God. And then it hit me. God could use all of these different kinds and types and abilities and ages To make the love of Christ known in the world Because it was the power of God that was at work in them and in me And not the power or abilities of any single person or group of persons. God could use them and God could use me, too. Not for my abilities or experience; not for my gifts and talents, Certainly not because I m a better person than anyone else Or because I wear a collar God could use me because God loves me and has a purpose for my life; And can fill me with a power that comes from God alone. 3
I never had that vision again, but it s being lived out through my classmates And through people like you and me all over the world. Each of us distinct in our ministries, All of us ministering through the power of the Holy Spirit. The First Pentecost: A Motley Group Under God s Power Those men and women gathered together in one place on the day of Pentecost Were a pretty different bunch of people themselves; And may have experienced the same sense of confusion About what God expected of them And how they were going to know God and make God known to others. And though we don t know much about them, We know that at least eleven of them had been called by Jesus personally: Called to follow Jesus and to go into all the world to preach the Gospel. Some of them were fishermen; one had been a tax collector, One had been a political activist, working to overthrow the power of Rome And the others were people who were interested in a life of faith And found power and knowledge in Jesus teaching. No one of them had any special gifts for this task of proclaiming the Gospel. In fact, they weren t exactly the brightest apples in the barrel. All of them had deserted Jesus in His hour of need; Had denied Jesus and left Him, when He was taken to the cross to be crucified. But that hadn t mattered to Jesus, that hadn t mattered to God, Because it wasn t the gifts or the experience or the talents or the abilities Or their personal strength and fortitude to stand with Him in a dark place That God was choosing to speak through and to act through. 4
God was choosing people who were willing to follow, that s all; People who were willing to be moved by the love of God for their lives; People who were willing to surrender control of their lives for God s purposes So that they could show and tell others of God s great love That was in them and available to everyone. And if you were to read in the book of Acts just before the verses we read this morning, You d find out that there were more like 120 persons gathered in that room. Men and women who had known of Jesus death and resurrection And who had seen and spent time with the resurrected Lord of life. Men and women with no special pedigree or ability Except for the desire to follow Jesus and to surrender control of their lives So that they could know the love and power of God for their lives firsthand And make that love and power known to others. And on that first Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, the very power of God, Came upon those gathered in a rush of wind, in tongues of flame, In the gift of languages; So that by the power of God at work in them They would know God s gracious deeds and love And have the ability to make that love known to others. It is not by their power that the church came into being that day Not by their power that these disciples understood what it means to follow Christ And to make Christ known, But by the power of God at work in them and through them. Pentecost in Our Lives Today: God s Power at Work in Us St. David s is a gifted and gracious community, just look around sometime; Brimful of experience and talent and abilities That may be used to make Christ known, 5
But there s not a person in this community Who has the ability to know and experience God on their own Much less the ability to make that knowledge and love of God known to others; Apart from the presence and power of God at work in us. You see, you and I need no special gifts or talents or abilities, But merely the willingness, like those 120 men and women, to follow, Merely the intention of letting our lives be turned to God We need only the desire for God to work in us personally and through us to others A willingness to open ourselves to God. And when we open our lives to God Then the Holy Spirit comes upon us in power like it did on the day of Pentecost. There may not be a rush of wind or tongues of flame or special languages But God will make Himself known to you and me And we ll know it s God somehow And you and I will be empowered by the Holy Spirit. We are moving into a year of lifting up the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives And in the life of this community of St. David s and so I invite you to get ready. Invite the Holy Spirit into your life. Surrender your life to God. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and upon this community And God will make Himself known to us Will make known His presence and gracious deeds of love In a hundred different ways through a hundred different people And we will be changed by the love and power of God at work in our lives To know God and to make God known to others. Amen. 6