Zapped By The Spirit: No Post-Easter Slump
Sermon
No Post-Easter Slump
Gospel Sermons For Sundays After Pentecost (First Third)
Pentecost -- the "religious holiday" ignored by the mass media. Thank God! Pentecost -- the Christian holy day neglected by much of the church. Good grief! "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you were baptized?" "Receive it? I've never even heard of it!" That's still true of some church members. Others reflect on Peter's remark following Jesus' death. "Okay, boys. It's all over. No point sticking around here. Let's go home and go fishing." Still others shy away from Pentecost because they have bizarre images about strange languages which embarrass them.
Indeed, on a Sunday morning long ago, the disciples expected no sun to rise. Their dreams and plans had come to a screeching halt. Shattered by Jesus' arrest and death, they dropped out one by one: Judas, Peter, Thomas, all but John and a few women; and even they expected never to see him alive again. They would wrap his body in burial clothes, shed a few confused tears, and return to the same old way of life. Perhaps, occasionally, they would think of that pied piper of Bethlehem who had hypnotized them for a time, but who finally met the fate of all who double-cross the politicians and clergy. For centuries, God had promised the Messiah. Surely, the Messiah should have claimed a better fate than a cross. And besides, as those discombobulated disciples angrily mused,"What had he done for them?" The Romans and the clergy still stood guard over their future. A fine Messiah! And now, he was "crucified, dead, and buried." They would pay their last respects, and go home to their families, friends, and fishing boats.
I
Then, the unexpected happened, not magically as some David Copperfield illusion. The unexpected happened because, for some "strange" reason, they decided not to act on Peter's urging. They stayed in Jerusalem. They dug into the Apostles' teaching; they shared the sacrament; they prayed fervently; they continued celebrating together.That's how they, in Christ's Spirit, began the revolution. And, wonder of wonders, Jesus appeared, stood in their presence, and spoke those life-changing words, "Peace be with you ... Receive the Holy Spirit!" When they saw the risen Christ, when they heard those dynamite words, no longer would they drag along in the same old ruts. No longer would they merely shuffle through their daily routines of getting up, dressing, eating breakfast, going to work, returning home, reading the paper, eating supper, going to bed, getting up ... Christ's healing power and dunamis (our word for TNT/dynamite) restored them to wholeness from their "barbed-wire" sickness, that "sickness unto death" described by Søren Kierkegaard; that sickness which hemmed them in, tied them down, isolated them from that Eternal Personality who alone brings purpose to life and life to purpose. When receiving Holy Spirit, the Presence and the Power of the living Christ, they finally internalized the objective events of Good Friday and Easter. They moved out into a world dying to hear the Good News. No Pentecost! No Easter!
II
Thank God for Pentecost, the birthday of the church, when the Holy Spirit transformed the disciples from kittens to tigers, setting them on fire, as people convicted, converted, consecrated to set about setting the world right side up. They became victors, rather than remaining victims. They became revolutionaries, rather than rejects. The Christ who died for them became the Christ who lived in and with and through them.
III
God makes the same promise to us. "Peace be with you. Receive the Spirit." T. A. Kantonen, in his book, A Theology of Christian Stewardship, says "No one can be a Christian ... until the Holy Spirit has led him and her into the presence of the living Christ, and a genuine personal commitment to Christ has taken place." So, the question for us today, and for every day, is both simple and profound, "Do we really want Holy Spirit convicting, convincing, converting, changing, challenging us?"
One day, a man asked his pastor, "Why can't I receive power, as did the early disciples, and do the same things as Paul, Steven, the disciples, and multitudes of people since?" The pastor responded, "You shall receive power when Holy Spirit has come upon you. How did they prepare to receive the Spirit? How do you?" That parishioner had the same hesitation as many of us. M. G. Kyle once said that "all of us pray for Holy Spirit; but as soon as the tongues of flame appear, we run for the fire department."
Holy Spirit that takes root in our lives upsets everything. Christ's presence leaves us dissatisfied with the way we are. No longer can we look for scapegoats, refuse to show mercy to others, play the church game.
We receive Holy Spirit no differently from the disciples. They prayed; they participated in worship; they studied the Scriptures; they received the sacraments. And the Spirit began to transform them into new people, not perfect, but new people, with new attitudes, motives,behaviors. They obeyed. One day, a young woman who had frequented taverns, asked her pastor if he knew the dirtiest word used in such places. Reluctantly, he said, "No." Without a moment's hesitation, she said, "Commitment!"
Obedience, discipline, commitment -- that is our response to our receiving the Good News. Of course, we would rather have meetings, talk about prayer, avoid forgiving our enemies, expect worship to comfort us, and focus on the nonessentials. Charles Schulz, in his book Teenager Is No Disease, has one of the characters ask, "Do you think that anyone is interested in the number of hot dishes the church has served since the Day of Pentecost?" It's possible that we spend more time talking about potlucks after worship than we spend sharing our experience of Christ at any time.
IV
How do we avoid the potluck syndrome? How do we receive Holy Spirit? No differently from the disciples. Too simple? Too scary? Too demanding? Too demeaning for us sophisticated "modern" folks? The disciples put themselves in a position where Holy Spirit could change them. They worshiped. Worship was top priority, not something they did in their spare time when they had nothing better to do. In the Pacific Northwest, church members, on the average, attend worship once a month. The disciples prayed. They put God to the test. They spoke honestly, and sometimes bluntly, knowing that God could handle any complaint or request. They recognized and accepted their oneness in Christ despite their incredible diversity. They knew that "only the disciplined change the world." They discovered, beyond a shadow of a doubt, "that before God sent the church into the world, God sent the Spirit into the church." (John Stott)
The nitty-gritty of Christianity, Paul summarized in these words: "If you want the Spirit, build the church" (1 Corinthians 14:12). "Get in and give it a hand. Criticize it, yes ... in love. Build it up. Stop tearing it down, either by outright antagonism or by deadly apathy."
Someone has said that "evangelism occurs when people are so kindled with the central fire of Christ that they, in turn, set others on fire." So what the church needs, and what we need if we want the Spirit, are people who allow God to overpower them, who admit that they don't have all the answers, who recognize a need for each other, who share both their strengths and weaknesses, who show their humanity and vulnerability. In that spirit, no post-Easter slump for them!
How about us? How will you/we be in the Spirit today, this week?How will we reveal ourselves as the presence and power of the Christ in this world now?
Hallelujah! The Christ is alive! Your life and mine, from this day forward, will never be the same. And now, to remember this Pentecost event, the ushers will hand out to each of you an invitation to the Birthday Party which began long ago, and which comes today and every day.
Indeed, on a Sunday morning long ago, the disciples expected no sun to rise. Their dreams and plans had come to a screeching halt. Shattered by Jesus' arrest and death, they dropped out one by one: Judas, Peter, Thomas, all but John and a few women; and even they expected never to see him alive again. They would wrap his body in burial clothes, shed a few confused tears, and return to the same old way of life. Perhaps, occasionally, they would think of that pied piper of Bethlehem who had hypnotized them for a time, but who finally met the fate of all who double-cross the politicians and clergy. For centuries, God had promised the Messiah. Surely, the Messiah should have claimed a better fate than a cross. And besides, as those discombobulated disciples angrily mused,"What had he done for them?" The Romans and the clergy still stood guard over their future. A fine Messiah! And now, he was "crucified, dead, and buried." They would pay their last respects, and go home to their families, friends, and fishing boats.
I
Then, the unexpected happened, not magically as some David Copperfield illusion. The unexpected happened because, for some "strange" reason, they decided not to act on Peter's urging. They stayed in Jerusalem. They dug into the Apostles' teaching; they shared the sacrament; they prayed fervently; they continued celebrating together.That's how they, in Christ's Spirit, began the revolution. And, wonder of wonders, Jesus appeared, stood in their presence, and spoke those life-changing words, "Peace be with you ... Receive the Holy Spirit!" When they saw the risen Christ, when they heard those dynamite words, no longer would they drag along in the same old ruts. No longer would they merely shuffle through their daily routines of getting up, dressing, eating breakfast, going to work, returning home, reading the paper, eating supper, going to bed, getting up ... Christ's healing power and dunamis (our word for TNT/dynamite) restored them to wholeness from their "barbed-wire" sickness, that "sickness unto death" described by Søren Kierkegaard; that sickness which hemmed them in, tied them down, isolated them from that Eternal Personality who alone brings purpose to life and life to purpose. When receiving Holy Spirit, the Presence and the Power of the living Christ, they finally internalized the objective events of Good Friday and Easter. They moved out into a world dying to hear the Good News. No Pentecost! No Easter!
II
Thank God for Pentecost, the birthday of the church, when the Holy Spirit transformed the disciples from kittens to tigers, setting them on fire, as people convicted, converted, consecrated to set about setting the world right side up. They became victors, rather than remaining victims. They became revolutionaries, rather than rejects. The Christ who died for them became the Christ who lived in and with and through them.
III
God makes the same promise to us. "Peace be with you. Receive the Spirit." T. A. Kantonen, in his book, A Theology of Christian Stewardship, says "No one can be a Christian ... until the Holy Spirit has led him and her into the presence of the living Christ, and a genuine personal commitment to Christ has taken place." So, the question for us today, and for every day, is both simple and profound, "Do we really want Holy Spirit convicting, convincing, converting, changing, challenging us?"
One day, a man asked his pastor, "Why can't I receive power, as did the early disciples, and do the same things as Paul, Steven, the disciples, and multitudes of people since?" The pastor responded, "You shall receive power when Holy Spirit has come upon you. How did they prepare to receive the Spirit? How do you?" That parishioner had the same hesitation as many of us. M. G. Kyle once said that "all of us pray for Holy Spirit; but as soon as the tongues of flame appear, we run for the fire department."
Holy Spirit that takes root in our lives upsets everything. Christ's presence leaves us dissatisfied with the way we are. No longer can we look for scapegoats, refuse to show mercy to others, play the church game.
We receive Holy Spirit no differently from the disciples. They prayed; they participated in worship; they studied the Scriptures; they received the sacraments. And the Spirit began to transform them into new people, not perfect, but new people, with new attitudes, motives,behaviors. They obeyed. One day, a young woman who had frequented taverns, asked her pastor if he knew the dirtiest word used in such places. Reluctantly, he said, "No." Without a moment's hesitation, she said, "Commitment!"
Obedience, discipline, commitment -- that is our response to our receiving the Good News. Of course, we would rather have meetings, talk about prayer, avoid forgiving our enemies, expect worship to comfort us, and focus on the nonessentials. Charles Schulz, in his book Teenager Is No Disease, has one of the characters ask, "Do you think that anyone is interested in the number of hot dishes the church has served since the Day of Pentecost?" It's possible that we spend more time talking about potlucks after worship than we spend sharing our experience of Christ at any time.
IV
How do we avoid the potluck syndrome? How do we receive Holy Spirit? No differently from the disciples. Too simple? Too scary? Too demanding? Too demeaning for us sophisticated "modern" folks? The disciples put themselves in a position where Holy Spirit could change them. They worshiped. Worship was top priority, not something they did in their spare time when they had nothing better to do. In the Pacific Northwest, church members, on the average, attend worship once a month. The disciples prayed. They put God to the test. They spoke honestly, and sometimes bluntly, knowing that God could handle any complaint or request. They recognized and accepted their oneness in Christ despite their incredible diversity. They knew that "only the disciplined change the world." They discovered, beyond a shadow of a doubt, "that before God sent the church into the world, God sent the Spirit into the church." (John Stott)
The nitty-gritty of Christianity, Paul summarized in these words: "If you want the Spirit, build the church" (1 Corinthians 14:12). "Get in and give it a hand. Criticize it, yes ... in love. Build it up. Stop tearing it down, either by outright antagonism or by deadly apathy."
Someone has said that "evangelism occurs when people are so kindled with the central fire of Christ that they, in turn, set others on fire." So what the church needs, and what we need if we want the Spirit, are people who allow God to overpower them, who admit that they don't have all the answers, who recognize a need for each other, who share both their strengths and weaknesses, who show their humanity and vulnerability. In that spirit, no post-Easter slump for them!
How about us? How will you/we be in the Spirit today, this week?How will we reveal ourselves as the presence and power of the Christ in this world now?
Hallelujah! The Christ is alive! Your life and mine, from this day forward, will never be the same. And now, to remember this Pentecost event, the ushers will hand out to each of you an invitation to the Birthday Party which began long ago, and which comes today and every day.
