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The Sleep Deprived Pastor

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A Sermon For Pentecost Sunday


Marcus Aurelius

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Sermon 5/20/18 Acts 2: 1-21 Pentecost Year B “Proclaim Jubilee!”

     If you’re from Ohio, I think it’s pretty much a given that you’re going to complain about the weather. Now a good part of the time, I think that’s pretty warranted, isn’t it? Most recently….it was the winter that….refused….to…..just end.You know, it’s funny…back in February my In-Laws were talking about how they couldn’t wait for Spring….and I told them….half-jokingly….half-seriously….I don’t call it spring until May. They’d talk about it warming up in April and I’d say….don’t count on it….we might have a blizzard. 

     And we would laugh. But then April comes….and it turns out….maybe I do have the gift of prophecy. Snow. Cold. Freezing rain. It was all there.

     I think we’re always complaining about the weather because it really does seem like you can experience all four seasons inone week in Ohio. There’s some pretty good memes out there that make fun of this. My favorite one has the Most Interesting Man in the World from the Dos Equis commercials and it says “I don’t always have my air conditioner and heat running in the same week....but when I do….it’s because I live in Ohio.” Spot on, right?

     Still, I can’t help but wonder if we’re a bit too hard on our weather here sometimes. Maybe we ought to give our Ohio weather some more love. I’ve lived in Ohio pretty much my whole life, and yeah, while the weather is terrible sometimes….other than your occasional Polar Vortexes, blizzards, and flooding….the weather isn’t extreme. I mean we don’t have all the crazy stuff you’d see on the Weather Channel if you watched it 24 hours a day…so in some ways, you could say we’re blessed.

     In fact, I don’t think I’d ever experienced any kind of extreme weather until we went to Hong Kong in 2013 with the family. Hurricanes or typhoons as they call them in Asia are sadly frequent there. And one was quite literally bearing down on Hong Kong the first couple of days we were there.

     So I’ll never forget that first night in Hong Kong because that was my first real experience of extreme and frightening weather. 

     They have a warning level system for typhoons…and that particular one was a Signal 8 typhoon….which means that “gale force or stronger winds are imminent.” Everything closes: schools, offices, tours, public transport, taxis, shops, restaurants, ferries, trains, flights.

     Now in the past, my Mom….was my weather channel App. I’m not kidding. She was always watching the News and the Weather Channel. So she would always call me with weather updates. If I didn’t answer for whatever reason, she’d leave a message. 

     You should bring an umbrella to class, it’s going to rain today. Drive carefully, it’s going to snow and they’re saying the roads are going to be slick for the morning commute. I never had to watch the weather or look at an app because I could pretty much count on my Mom to call me with any important updates. Looking back….it’s amazing how you really miss those trivial and even funny things like that when they’re gone…you know….what I wouldn’t give for an update on tomorrow’s forecast from Mom.

     But so there we are in Hong Kong and I had a Facebook message from my Cousin…asking about the typhoon and asking if we were all right. 

     Please call your Mom and Dad. Of course my Mom knew about the weather clear on the other side of the world….and of course she was worried, because, well, that’s where we were…..so we called her. 

     Now I kept trying to reassure her that everything was okay. It’s not that bad. It’s not even raining here right now. But as I’m saying all this….I’m not so sure myself. I’ve never experienced anything like this. I’m from Ohio. We don’t do typhoons. I’m out of my depth. And even though we’re in this massively tall high rise hotel….the wind is just….pounding the hotel. I can hear it howling and howling through that ultra-thick glass. 

     You can feel it reverberating against the building. So I’m telling my mom….yeah….everything’s okay….and I’m looking at them like….is everything okay? The hotel isn’t going to blow over is it?

     And then the next day….well, it was just bizarre. We went out so we could get to my brother-in-law’s apartment and the Signal 8 warning was still in effect. Now even though it wasn’t really doing much of anything….the streets of Hong Kong were absolutely deserted. Not soul. It was suddenly like we were on the Walking Dead or something.They take that warning level seriously. 

     That alone was pretty scary for this Ohio boy….are we waiting for something bad to happen? Is this the calm before the storm? This whole trip that we’d planned down to every last detail….was now suddenly all up in the air and totally unpredictable. 

     Unpredictable weather…you know….that’s a lot like what the early church experienced on the Day of Pentecost. 

     There was a vague promise from Jesus….that He was going to send the Paraclete….the Comforter, the Advocate….the Holy Spirit…and that things were about to change. 

     Now I can’t help but wonder…if we sanitize this a bit in the church. I’m not sure if we really know what to do with Pentecost…so we turn it in to this big celebration. I’ve seen a few things over the years. Children processing while waving these big red streamers. Or maybe everybody in the church wears red that day. And well…here I am…wearing red today. And make no mistake…it is a celebration. 

     But maybe it’s not this cookie-cutter thing….because maybe…just maybe the coming of the Pentecost….is more like a Signal 8 Typhoon Warning. 

     Out of this seeming chaos and disorder….out of the gale force winds and rain and thunder and lightning…something new emerges….a new beginning….a new order….a new way of being and a new way of doing. Its unpredictable like Ohio weather and so we’re confused. So let me put forth a theory to you guys….you can tell me what you think later…maybe we don’t know what to do with Pentecost….because we don’t know what to do with the Holy Spirit. For us mainline Protestants….the Holy Spirit’s like the guy…that you know is at the party….but you don’t actually see Him there. 

     You find His name on the guest list, you go looking for Him, but you miss him. And then maybe you hear about himafterwards….oh, He was the life of the party. But you missed it. We missed it. I swear, that’s where we are with the Holy Spirit. 

     And so here we are in 2018….and maybe we’re clueless about Pentecost…and maybe we’re clueless about the Holy Spirit. And I say all these things….when I know we need His power and His presence the most. 

     I’m so happy to be celebrating my first Pentecost and Heritage Sunday as a head pastor…and yet…and yet….a part of me feels like I’m back at that weird and bizarre day on the streets of Hong Kong. These thick and gray storm clouds seem to be rolling in everywhere we look. The typhoon sirens are ringing out in the distance. 

     The streets are deserted….everyone seems to be hunkering down. Everyone seems to be giving us an ominous forecast. If you're United Methodist, you know we’re in danger of a split and schism starting at our special General Conference in 2019. And the catholic church, meaning the church universal is losing members and influence….the sky is falling and what are we going to do? Well, maybe we need to take a deep breath for starters…because that’s where everything begins….with breath.

     We consider creation. Genesis tells us that God made human beings from dust…from the mud and dirt of the earth. God shapes us out of this clay like a kid building a sand castle on the beach. But then God breathes into this earthen mannequin God’s own breath and the human being is suddenly alive….a creature of both matter and spirit. So it’s God’s own breath that animates us, that makes us live. And our Psalter reading for the day interprets this breath of God….as none other than the very Spirit of God. We see there that the Spirit of God breathes life in to all of creation…and the Spirit of God sustains the lives of all things in creations. In short, it’s the breath of the Spirit that gives us the breath of life.

     But most of us, we know the story. We break our first covenant with God and death enters in to the picture…our breath becomes a fragile, temporary, and fleeting thing that passes away. Time itself begins….and thus….each of us….we breathe a first breath and we breathe a last breath. And so God does something miraculous to restore our breath. He comes down in Christ and becomes the very mud and dirt of creation that we are. 

     He experiences his first breath as a human being and He experiences His last breath on the Cross at Golgotha. And yet, this isn’t the end of the story. That same breath of God, that same Spirit of God that creates and sustains all life….it comes on Christ and raises Him from the dead as the first fruits of a new creation. 

     And so this is where we find the Disciples as our narrative begins. They’ve experienced the risen Christ. They’ve met Him. They’ve broken bread with Him and touched the wound in His side. Then they saw Him ascend into Heaven….leaving them only with that vague promise that the Paraclete….the breath of God, the Spirit of God….the author and sustainer of all life and the One who raised Christ from the dead….would soon come upon them….and through them fill and renew the whole creation. 

     But before all that….there was the waiting period. And this wasn’t the kind of anticipation when, God forbid, your Amazon package is a day late. No, this was like when you’re at urgent care because you’re feeling awful but the place is packed. It’s that agonizing waiting…that take a number and have a seat waiting.

     One of my favorite living Christian thinkers, Father Richard Rohr, explains this waiting period in a profound way. He calls it the “First Novena” or a time of Holy Waiting and prayer for nine days. Like fasting. Like Lent. He says that we can’t truly appreciate presence unless we first appreciate absence. In other words, he says we have to experience emptiness and voids to create the space to be filled. And so that’s exactly what happens. 

     The disciples were like me in that hotel room in Hong Kong….pacing up and down the floor, looking out the window….wondering what’s going to happen next. Are we going to be okay?

     And so all their heads were bowed in prayer when a breeze suddenly began to move among them, just enough to make their hair stand up on end. Then it was more than a breeze. Literally, “an echoing sound as of a mighty wind borne violently” just roared through the whole house like the whir of a tornado. Their robes were flapping wildly and things were crashing and hitting the ground. The Spirit of God had come upon them! This fiery presence suddenly appeared in their midst and then it divided into separate flame-like tongues that danced over every single head. John the Baptist had promised a baptism of fire…and now it was here! The Holy Spirit blows in through the windows and doors. The Holy Spirit blows in to each one of them this breath of new life….and then….and then….the Holy Spirit blows them out the door. 

     They were filled with the Holy Spirit and as they spoke, each person in the crowd could hear them in their own language. This wasn’t Google Translator….this was the breath and the power of God! That my friends….is what happened at Pentecost.

     We fast forward to today….and we’re like…okay…so what? I’ll wear my party hat for the service. I’ll have my cake….and then I’ll go home for a nap. Sure there may have been a time for all that enthusiasm, wind and fire, but we civilized Christians know better now and we have to be careful…not to get carried away, right? I mean…that door is closed, isn’t it? We don’t experience stuff like that now do we?  I think that’s the case in a lot of churches today. 

     We want just enough religion and spirituality to feel good about ourselves….but not so much that it shakes up our routines and changes our way of living. We don’t really know if He really is present inside each one of us and we really don’t want to get blown out the door. Speaking of Father Richard Rohr again, he calls this a “cosmetic piety”…one that’s intended to look good on the surface, but lacks any real depth or complexity. And the truth is, most of us probably fall in to that category at one time or another. 

     But once again, my brothers and sisters, all we have to do…is take a deep breath. 

     The Book of Ezekiel says “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord…I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.” God’s Spirit….breath and wind….can put flesh on a skeleton and call it life….whether it’s a nation or a church…or whether it’s you and me. 

     Some of us, we’re coming in to this sanctuary today and we may have never even heard of Pentecost before. Some of us, we’re coming in to this sanctuary today and we’ve never felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives before. We’re not even sure if it’s real. Some of us, we’re coming in to this sanctuary today and we’re just feeling spiritually dead. Maybe you’ve felt the Spirit before, but right now you’re just running on fumes. If any of these things describe how you feel today….I want you to say these words out loud “Breathe on me, breath of God.” “Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.” On this Pentecost Sunday, let these words be a prayer for revival and new life in each and every one of us.

     There’s this great story and parable from the tradition of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. This one monk asks an elder monk how he can really live into his faith with his whole being and in answer the elder monk stands up all dramatically. He raises his hands to the heavens…there’s a woosh….and all ten of his fingers become lamps of flame. And he says…..”if you will it, all your life can become as of fire.” If you will it, all your life can become as of fire. As I said earlier…to be empty…is to create the space to be filled. 

     If you came in to this sanctuary feeling empty and ambivalent….running on spiritual fumes…this is right where God wants you. Pentecost isn’t this single and static moment in time…it’s right here, right now. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.

     But just know that if you open those windows, if you open those doors…it’s going to be a Signal 8 typhoon roaring in to your life and it’s going to blow you right out the door.

     It’s going to send all our prejudices, biases, and misconceptions toppling down in a violent rush of wind.

     I say this because Pentecost shows us that people who didn’t share the same language, people who were violently at odds with one another….began hearing from one another the Good News of Jesus Christ and they were united in a way that transcended geography and politics. 

    Indeed, on Pentecost Sunday…the reversal of the Tower of Babel had begun….and it continues on to this day. When we recite the Apostle's Creed in worship here every week, we say we “believe in the holy catholic church.” Every time we say those words we are united with the whole church both visible and invisible. We move from beyond our local parish and we’re connected with every congregation, every denomination and every cultural tradition. This is what it means to live in to the reality of the Pentecost. Indeed, every Sunday can and should be...a little Pentecost.

     Like I was saying earlier, these are difficult times in the life of our denomination and in our culture. 

     The winds of change are shaking us and rattling us. We’re afraid we’re losing our relevance. 

     We’re afraid we’re going to end up broken and divided, just like our fragmented world around us. But we have to take heart. The Wind of the Spirit is always blowing in the direction of the reality of the empty tomb and Easter Sunday as the exact remedy that our ailing world needs. 

     The wind of the Spirit is always blowing us in the direction of community building…..of overcoming divisions and removing the barriers that separate people…to bring them together in new life. To be empty is to be filled….every challenge…is a new opportunity. 

     On United Methodist Heritage Sunday, we are especially reminded of all this…from within the history of our own tradition. John Wesley was a failed missionary and a failed Anglican priest…a depressed and bitter man who’d strived for holiness…but ended up with barely any faith at all. But then one day he joined in prayer with some Moravians and a signal 8 typhoon suddenly came roaring in to his life. As he put it, “my heart was strangely warmed.” If you will it, all your life can become as of fire. His faith and imagination for the Gospel were ignited for the beginning of a new ministry….a ministry of teaching and preaching….of proclaiming the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit and it swept through the English countryside…to rich and poor alike and it brought about a great spiritual awakening in England and in the American Colonies. 

     And this same fire that was there for the Disciples and there for John Wesley and the people called Methodists…it’s alive and active in you and me….guiding, inspiring, directing, renewing, advocating, and remaking us in to the very likeness of God. So let’s put aside our earthly cares and fears. Let’s all take a deep breath….and say it out loud, let your words be a prayer….“Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.” In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. 

 

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A little history

John Wesley preached in a field beside Mantua Creek at the ancestral farm of my Quaker grandmother next to a log cabin (just a cellar hole now) that once belonged to one of the first Swedish settlers in New Jersey. He split her family (The Haines) in half and the New Jersey Haines have been half Quaker and half Methodist ever since. 

:)

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Marcus Aurelius

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Wow, Piney, that is fantastic. I love church history and (naturally) it's always fascinating hearing stories about the days of early Methodism. I wonder what year that would have been? I'm assuming it was when he and Charles were here on their....not so successful....missionary trip. That's also really interesting about your Quaker roots, too. I've actually studied the writings of the Quakers quite a bit....deep spirituality and practice. They belong right up there with the great mystics and contemplatives of our tradition, to be sure.

Peace be with you,

MA

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