Please see new prayer concerns for 7/18

http://keep-praying.blogspot.com/

connect to Christ #2: through scripture

Connect to Christ: scripture

Four brothers left home for college, and they became successful doctors and lawyers and prospered. Some years later, they chatted after having dinner together. They discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother who lived far away in another city.

The first said, "I had a big house built for Mama."

The second said, "I had a hundred thousand dollar theater built in the house."

The third said, "I had my Mercedes dealer deliver an SL600 to her."

The fourth said, "You know how Mama loved reading the Bible and you know she can't read anymore because she can't see very well. I met a preacher who told me about a parrot that can recite the entire Bible. It took twenty preachers 12 years to teach him. I had to pledge to contribute $100,000 a year for twenty years to the church, but it was worth it. Mama just has to name the chapter and verse and the parrot will recite it."

The other brothers were impressed. After the holidays, Mom sent out her thank you notes.

"She wrote: "Milton, the house you built is so huge. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house. Thanks anyway."

"Marvin, I am too old to travel. I stay home; I have my groceries delivered, so I never use the Mercedes. The thought was good. Thanks."

"Michael, you gave me an expensive theater with Dolby sound, it could hold 50 people, but all my friends are dead, I've lost my hearing and I'm nearly blind. I'll never use it. Thank you for the gesture just the same."

"Dearest Melvin, you were the only son to have the good sense to give little thought to your gift. The chicken was delicious. Thank you."

Perhaps she took Jeremiah 15:16 a little too literally “When your words came, I ate them; ((they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name,))) O Lord God Almighty."

Unfortunately, there are many people today who would rather eat the bird than hear the word.  However, there is no better way to connect to God- no better way to connect to Christ than (figuratively speaking) filling ourselves with scripture.

In Colossians, Paul writes, “I became its servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the WORD OF GOD fully known.  Warning everyone, teaching everyone,” so that he “may present everyone mature in Christ.”

First, Paul says, “warning everyone”- many translations say, “telling everyone” but the Greek word is really stronger than that.  It is warning, admonishing, cautioning.  Paul is saying that scripture puts a big flashing yellow light in our minds.  It is a guardrail warning us that if we continue to live in the direction we are going, we will be lost, stuck, or we’ll crash and burn. 

You can see that.  You know the Bible says things like do not murder, do not steal, and do not let the sun go down on your anger and more.  For Christians and non-Christians alike the Bible is a moral compass, an ethical GPS.  We are talking about behavior and repentance here.  We can’t do it by ourselves, however.  Paul says, “I do the things I know I should not.  I do not do the things I know I should.”  Every single one of us can relate to what Paul is saying.  Our only chance to keep from veering over the cliff of sin into destruction is by connecting to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Bible is the best picture of that Gospel that we have.

Second Paul says scripture is for “teaching everyone.”  Teaching happens in many different ways.  You might say the simplest teaching is rote memorization.  Though memorizing scripture certainly won’t hurt us, that is not what I think Paul is talking about.  The true teachings in scripture are life-changing lessons. 

When I officiated at my brother’s wedding the bride’s grandma spoke virtually no English.  They had emigrated from Romania when my sister in law was five.  Grandma spoke only Romanian and Cris had an unusual request.  She asked if I could announce that they are husband and wife in Romanian for Grandma.  She spelled it out phonetically for me, I practiced, and Grandma just beamed when I got to that place in the service. To tell you the truth, though, I understand Romanian even less than most people understand the Bible.  I learned it by  rote - reading the cues off the script.  Too often that is the same way we read scripture.  In one eye and out the other. A direct route without even passing through the heart.  Too often even if it does pass through the heart— it just passes through --  without taking up residence.

Scripture when properly read and digested-- though not in the same way the lady digested the scripture reading parrot-- is life changing.  It reshapes and reforms who we are, how we think, and how we behave.  Scripture is critical to our growth in faith because it is by living with scripture- the stories of God’s mighty acts in history and especially in Jesus Christ -- by living a life marinated in scripture-- by infusing our life with scripture-- that we come closer to being the people God wants us to be.

We come to  Paul’s third point, so that we may be presented mature in Christ.  It is by  Warning and teaching.  Guiding and marinating.  Repentance and sanctification  that we are made mature in faith and mature in  Jesus Christ.

  So I invite you on a journey. A journey into the heart of God, the heart of Christ and a journey your own hearts as you mature in Christ.

Look, here are Adam and Eve as they struggle with shame and guilt.  You remember the time you were caught in a lie, caught with your hand in the cookie jar, caught saying, or doing something when you thought no one was paying any attention?  Notice how well they hid just like you wanted to crawl under a rock and die.   God calls “Adam Where are you”  God knew perfectly  where they were?  God did not destroy them.  He could have wadded them up like old play dough,  put them back in the can and started over with  a new color.    But he didn’t.  What a story.  What a God.

Look here is Abraham with a knife.  What is that under the bush.  It looks like--- it is- It is Isaac.  Abraham has tears running down his cheeks, his lips move continuously in prayer as he seeks to be faithful to God’s call.  What is the hardest thing God has ever asked you to do .  I’ll be it wasn’t as hard as sacrificing your son.  I am ashamed to say my line in the sand falls quite a bit short of killing my child.

Just then, God steps in and offers his own sacrifice.  Later it would be his son, but this time it is a goat.  Abraham gives God a glimpse of how far he will go in faith.  God gives Abraham a view of the full panorama of God’s grace and love.   What a story, what a God.

Look, here is little David with Goliath.  You know the story.  What a story.  What a God.

Look here is Hosea and Gomer.  The respected preacher and  the town whore turned pastor’s wife.  Is God’s love and acceptance really that complete?  God used Gomer to teach the people and shape their hearts!  What a story What a God.

Look here is Jesus in Cana.  The bridegroom has run out of wine.  He is about to be humiliated as a failure and a fraud.  In one moment of genius mixed with compassion Jesus turns water into the best wine they ever tasted and makes the bridegroom look like a hero.  What a story- what a Christ.

Look, here is a woman who is a five time looser at marriage-- and even worse- a Samaritan.  Jesus shatters all social convention to be seen with her- then he goes the extra mile to talk to her-- and the extra 10 miles drinking from her cup.  But in the process, he shares with her the greatest truth ever revealed. . .  the life giving grace of God  bubbling up even for her.  What a story- what a Christ.

Look, here are the disciples  terrified and ready to meet their maker.  They are tossed and battered somewhere on the Sea of Galilee.  A storm rages and threatens to swamp the boat and kill them all.  Jesus sleeps like a baby in the bow of the boat.  Like us asking him for help is almost an afterthought.  But when they finally do,  he tells the sea to be quiet and it is.  What a story, what a Christ.

Look back here is the young man from the little village in Galilee who “went about doing good and healing every kind of disease.”  The artisan who called himself of all things the son of man.  Watch as he is arrested, drug through the streets, mocked, beaten, whipped to within an inch of his life, spat upon,  wrongly convicted- tormented, spiked to the most  gruesome form of torture that was ever invented

Watch as he hangs on the stake- bloody, naked, mocked and cursed.  Watch as he cries out, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”  What a story. What a Christ.

Look here, sin is broken.  Death lays empty as the grave cloths that could not contain him.  Love triumphs once and for all.  It was not just a resurrected rabbi that walked out of that tomb but hope incarnate.   It was a hope that had never been known.  A joy that had never been experienced.  It was long forgotten promise fulfilled that day.   And for all people all the days to come.  What a Story.  What a Christ.

Look way back here.  He is coming again with the clouds.  Sin defeated under one foot.  Death broken under the other.  And he shall reign forever and ever.  And he shall reign forever and ever.  Alleluia.  AMEN  What a story.  What a Christ.

Look, if you will.  Look in this treasure chest. . .

You feel broken and forgotten by those who are supposed to love you and care for you?  Your story is in here.  What a story.  What a Christ.

You can’t seem to do the things you know are right.  Your story is already in here.  What a Story.  What a Christ.

You keep getting distracted by shiny things in the best buy ad or pretty things in the store window.  You have trouble keeping your priorities straight?    There is a story in here for you.  What a story.  What a God. 

Is there  a guilt that is eating you from the inside out?  You can’t seem to let go and forgive yourself, let alone ask God for forgiveness.  Your story is already in here.  Read it and find peace.  What a story!  What a God.

Friends.  This is not just history.  This is God’s story.  It is Christ’s story.    Make it your story.  Use it often, and the more you make the Bible story, your story; the more connected you will be to Christ. The more connected you are to Christ, the more your story will reflect his glory.AMEN

Connect to Christ #1 7/11/2010

Connect to Christ#1

RUMC July 11, 2010

Tell me what would my arm be if it were not connected to my head?  <>

Tell me what would an engine be if it were not connected to a gas tank?  <>

Tell me, what would a computer or TV be if it were not connected to electricity?  <>

Listen to this.  “He is the head of the body, the church.”  Christ is the head of the body.  So what does that make those who are not connected to Christ?  I don’t think I would be unkind enough to call them spiritual Junk, but spiritually speaking they are not much different from any of the other creatures God created.  Those who are not connected to Christ cannot be living up to the image of God in which they were created.

They are like a surgeon’s scalpel with no hand to guide it.

They are like a violin with no musician to bring it to life.

They are like a book with no words, or a cell phone with no signal.

Be careful.  I don’t want you to get all proud that you are connected to Christ because you come to church, or because you belong to the church.  Sitting next to the brain does not make the piece of meat an arm, nor does being sprinkled with gasoline make the hunk of metal into an engine, and being in the same room with the maestro does not make the violin sing.

In this series that I am starting today, I want use Paul’s letter to the Colossians to help us understand what it means to be connected to Christ and to see how we can be better connected to Christ in our lives. 

Paul was writing to a church he did not start.  He had never visited them.  He had never met most of them.  A man named Epaphras brought the gospel to the people in Colossae, which was located in what is now Turkey.  Paul is writing them because there are people among them who are teaching things contrary to the Gospel message taught my Epaphras and Paul.  They are teaching for instance that Jesus was just human and therefore could not bring salvation.  They were teaching that to be truly spiritual one needed to be circumcised, and worship at certain moon festivals, worship angels, and to deny the importance of (and even care for) one’s body.

After thoroughly kissing up to the Colossians in the early part of Chapter 1 Paul launches into one of the 2 or 3 most beautifully soaring descriptions of Christ in the Bible.  Paul says,

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

In these lofty words, Paul is establishing that Christ is really all there is.  There is nothing greater, nothing more important, and nothing more fundamental in all of creation than Christ.  It is impossible to exaggerate the glory or wonder or power of Christ.

He is the source of all that is: all things were created by him and for him.

He is the glue or network that holds the fabric of creation together: ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

He is the goal of all history: ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven,

Christ is all that was, all that is, and all that will be.  Christ is the first, the middle and the last.  What more is there?  Christ is all there is and he is all we need.  

·         In Christ, there is new life for creatures that have failed to be what they were created to be.

·         In Christ, there is love for those who deserve nothing but judgment.

·         In Christ, there is hope for the weakest, the ugliest, the filthiest, and the most sinful among us.

·         In Christ, there is life- a life that saves us from eternal death.

To know Christ means that we know, that we know, that we know that Christ is indeed the image of the invisible God.  It means that we know it is from Christ that we came and to Christ we shall return.  Christ is the very source of life and the only source of salvation.  And Christ wants us to be part of that.  We CAN be part of the wonderful and glorious life. . . IF.

If. . .  if we connect to him.  Paul says:  23if  you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. 

 In other words if . . .  if we get connected to Christ, and stay connected to Christ.

Being connected to Christ is more than showing up once in a while, or even every Sunday.

 Being connected to Christ is more than memorizing Bible verses or owning the biggest Bible you can find.

Being connected to Christ is more than doing good deeds or treating others well.

Being connected to Christ is more than praying to God and not cussing at the person that cuts you off.

We must know in our heads all the things I just said about Christ being all there is.  But then we must connect to Christ by faith by relying on him fully as our lifeline.

When I was a carpenter, I led a scaffolding crew.  That’s all we did is assemble and disassemble scaffolding at a 3M plant.  Like most government rules, OSHA’s rules for scaffold building are probably overkill.  If you are 3 feet off the ground for instance, you have to be tied off with a lifeline.  And if you are more than 10 feet off the ground you have to practice 100% tie off which means you have to wear two Lanyards so one is connected to something at all times.  We always considered it a pretty big nuisance, but I have to admit there was a certain amount of comfort there: knowing that if I became overconfident, or if one of my scaffold knuckles wasn’t tight that I would not go crashing onto the decking below.

Knowing these rules, though, didn’t keep us one iota safer.  It only worked when we connected one end the lanyard to our harnesses and the other to a secure object.

Knowing about Christ is one thing.  That’s easy.  But salvation is offered only to those who by faith connect their lives to the only sure and certain savior God has ever offered.  Being connected to Christ is even better than 100% tie off.  To live connected to Christ is to have a 1000% guarantee that we are safe and secure in the hands of the one creator and savior Jesus Christ.

The remainder of this series we will talk about how we stay connected to Christ.  We’ll talk about study, repentance, community, worship, prayer, and serving.  Traditionally these are referred to as means of grace. 

But for today, I want you to know that Baptism for infants (or profession of faith and Baptism for adults) is that first connection.  Our Baptism is often the very first connection to Christ.  Even before Brenner is aware.  Even before he can express it.  He is connected.  Connected to Christ so securely that he is absolutely safe in the arms of Jesus.

It seemed especially appropriate to me that I introduce this series about connecting to Christ on Brenner’s baptism Sunday.  For baptism is all about connecting to Christ.  In bringing Brenner for baptism, Nathan and Lisa are taking the first step- the first of many steps- in helping him to connect to Christ.  They and we are promising to help him learn about Christ and connect with Christ as he grows.

 The Greek word Baptisimo is used to describe the action of a sinking ship.  That made me think of this story.

You may have heard about a devout Christian on a sinking ship.  Everyone was in a panic getting to lifeboats but he sat confidently on the highest point of the ship.  The captain said, here you go take this life jacket and get into the lifeboat there is a seat for you right there.  The man said, "No thank you God will save me."  The captain got in the lifeboat and rowed away.

The man sat there waiting for God, and a helicopter came by.  The helicopter sent down a rope and the man replied, no thanks, God will save me.

Finally, a rescue ship came by and threw him a life preserver.  Here grab this and we will pull you to safety.  "No thanks" the man said, "God will save me."

Pretty quick, the ship sank the man drowned and he went to heaven.

When he got to heaven, he asked God.  I had faith in you, why didn’t you save me?

Why didn’t I save you?  God asked incredulously, "I sent a life boat, a helicopter and a rescue ship, what more did you want?"

My friends, we are on a sinking ship.  Without Christ, we are as doomed as the titanic.  Get connected to Christ.  Grab on- Grab and hold on as if your life depends on it, because quite honestly, it does. 

Rev. Terry Plocher

Pastoral prayer 7/11

I kind of like the prayer I wrote for tomorrow.  May it lift you.

Invisible God.  How do we know you if you are invisible?  You are invisible to those who would not see, but we see you everywhere.  Through the eyes of faith and the heart of openness, we see you in the mountains, animals, streams, and lakes we see on vacation.  We see you in the joy of friends faces upon our return.  We see you in the support of our church and the joy of ministering together.  We see you in the growing crops and maturing gardens.  We see you in children and families.  We see you everywhere we look, if we just look.

Open our eyes of faith, Lord.  Open our Heat of faithfulness.  You have called us to a great mission.  A mission which reaches deep in the hearts of your people, deep into the lives of those around us, and spreads out to all the world.  We pray for those whose hearts are broken by grief or broken relationships, or other losses.  We pray for those whose hearts ache because of the troubles of those they love, the sickness in our families, or mental illness.  We pray for those who sit vigil beside the beds of loved ones and those who await the celebration of a new child or grandchild.  We pray for those who take our ministry to Nashville on the work camp this week.  We pray for those who will carry your love in hammers and nails to the Habitat project.  We thank you for all the ways your ministry works through our church and your people.

Lord work in us.  Extend your love through us.  Let your grace flow through us.  Let your word be made real in our lives that we too will be an image of God to those to whom you are otherwise invisible. 

We offer your lives and our church.  Take us.  Use us. Connect us to your purpose and your kingdom.  Hear our Prayer O Lord. 

R&R

Annual conference was fairly uneventful this year with four notable exceptions.

• Though we had to fund a $1million pension shortfall the Council on Finance and Administration did as excellent job of holding every one's feet to the fire and actually decreasing the budget for 2011 which means apportionments will remain about the same.
• Bishop Reuben Job who ordained me was present and I was able to speak to him personally.
• Mathew German, who is one of my former youth was certified as a candidate for ministry.
• Pastor Dave Retired.

My retreat started at the Soul of the prairie retreat center. Was my home for a week.

• I did a tremendous amount of reading there
• I used a labyrinth regularly
• I spent a lot of time in prayer and reflection
• I practiced the discipline of "Holy Rest"

My second week of retreat was spent at this cabin in Fort Collins.  

• I went out to the Pudre Canyon to read and pray
• I spent a day at a lake in prayer and reflection
• I roughed out an essay describing my insights on prayer
• I enjoyed walking a lot

Vacation started with a visit to Cheyenne Wy, before we made our way to Jackson.

We are pretty easy to entertain  we:

• We accidentally  happened upon a pow wow on our way and got to see the grand entrance with all the tribes in full traditional regalia.  it was beautiful.
• Enjoyed the views of the Tetons and Yellowstone
• Loved seeing animals.  Grizzly and Black bear were the most exciting, but also moose, hundreds of elk and hundreds of buffalo,  eagles, pelicans,  prong horn, and much more.
• I loved the geothermal features like Old Faithful.  Just fascinating!
• A production of Annie Get Your Gun
• Snake river float trip.
• A visit with former professors and friends from Westmar at their South Dakota church and lunch with them at "Crazy Horse" (the sculpture) where we were privy to see 16 tons of granite blasted away from the mountain on the 4th of July.

All in all it was wonderful- the weather, the views,  unexpected opportunities around every corner and very refreshing.  See you soon.

tp

Father, Son and Holy spirit May 30, 2010

“Father, son and Holy spirit.”

RUMC Trinity Sunday (Rylan Cole Fogt’s baptism)

May 30, 2010

 The English preacher, Colin Morris, has said that any preacher with good sense will call in sick on Trinity Sunday.   Well maybe I don’t have enough good sense to make change for a nickle, because this is Trinity Sunday and I am here.

The problem for preachers is that doctrine of the trinity- “Father, Son and holy spirit,” three in one // One in three: is frankly a little hard to grasp, a little hard to express.  It has been passionately debated for 2000 years and the debate has not always been polite.  It has led to divisions in the church, excommunications, even name calling; Unitarians (people who don’t believe in the trinity) accusing Trinitarians of worshipping three gods. The Trinitarians accuse the Unitarians of not being Christian.  Therefore, the debate goes on even today.

Let me say I am Trinitarian and I know that most of you are too.  We believe in one God known in three equally divine and eternal persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

If I were to get into all the debates and name calling today, there is a pretty good chance that by time I was done you would wish that I had called in sick today. 

So let me tell you two stories: and try to pull a couple of things together. 

In the beginning was the word.  And the word was with God and the word was God.  And God spoke forth that word saying “let there be”- and all that is came into being.  The air, the sky the clouds, and all the birds and butterflies and bumble bees of the air.   The word went forth and the waters of the seas and rivers were created along with the fish and whales, and choral, and platypuses and starfish of the sea.  Everything that swims was created by God sending forth the word.  And then the land and hills and valleys and mountains and canyons and caves.  And soon came by that same word the cows, and rhinoceros, the snakes and the deer, the bear and the buffalo.  All these things came into being and lived in the world created by the word that was with God and was God.

But God wanted more.  God said, let US make man in our own image.  (US is the Bible’s word, not mine)  So, THEY went to where the dry creation and the wet creation  and the airy creation all met and found mud.  They created Man,  but man was kind of lame.  He was just like all of the other creatures.  He ate and moved and talked, but something was still missing.  God wanted a creature with whom they could have relationship. So THEY  (the creator and the word)  gently picked him up I imagine by the scruff of the neck his arms and legs flailing and yelling put me down, put me down.  They cradled him gently in the palm of their hand and puffed into him-  They breathed into him the breath of life; the spirit of life.  The Ruach or breath of God.    The spirit that made him not just a creature, but a being just a little lower than angels because he was indeed the image of the one God known in creation as creator, word and breath.  The God we know as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  And God again spoke saying, this is very good.

Something was still missing though.  It is not good that man would be alone.  Man needed a partner so God created woman and so in doing created family and community and relationship.   Community was created.  Relationship was created.  Man is incomplete without community.  Outside of relationship to God and others man is not complete.

We are Made in the image of the God’s very essence is community, We are made in the image of God who seeks relationship; We are made in the image of God who is in his very being is found in the relationship between Father, son and Holy Spirit. One God three persons, blessed trinity,

Jump forward to Jesus time.

That same word that was in the beginning with God and was God- that same Word became flesh and dwelt among us as Jesus the Christ.  Sent by the creator, conceived by the Holy spirit, Mary sang, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me,” and she bore a son.  A real live flesh and bone human son who was not just in God’s image, but was God himself.  

When he was about 30 human years old, the eternal word went to the river; again where the land and water and air all meet.  John baptized him in the Jordan River.   When the word arose from the watery tomb the breath -- or spirit-- of God blew the breath of life into his lungs and alighted on him light a dove.  While simultaneously the voice of the divine creator was herd to say “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”

Finally the perfection of creation was in the world.  The word spoken by God,  into the flesh of creation, filled by the spirit of God to be more alive than any being before or since.   Jesus was not just made in the image of God he was and is God.  Jesus was not just the fruit of the Word of God, he was himself the word.  Jesus was not just filled with the spirit; he was at his deepest core the spirit of God. -- Father, son and Holy Spirit. One God three persons, blessed trinity.

Flash ahead 2000 years. 

From the love of family and the miracle of creation comes Rylan Cole Fogt  for Christian baptism. 

What are we doing today?

I think there is a clue in the very words of baptism that we use as given to us by Jesus- “You are baptized in the name of the father, the son and the Holy Spirit.”    Do you recognize the trinity from the previous stories?  “You are baptized in the name of the father, of the  Son and of the Holy spirit. “

I have trouble wrapping my mind around everything that this means.  Baptism  is more than a miracle of God. Baptism is a Mystery of God.  I have come to see this week that the mystery may lie not in the definition of trinity, not in the technical details of the essence and the homousis, not in the distinction between essential and economic trinity but in the smallest word in Jesus’ Command. “IN”  As in “Baptize them IN the name of “

That “in” is the greek word eis.  Eis is also commonly translated  “INTO.”   I think that sheds a whole different light on baptism.  “Go and baptize them INTO the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit.”  “You are baptized into the name of the father and the son and the Holy spirit.”  Not just baptized by the authority of God.  Not just baptized in response to the command of God.  But actually baptized into the holy mystery of God himelf.  Baptized into the Holy mystery of the God who is one in three and three in one.  The God who is at one and the same time the Father who spoke Rylan into existence, the Word or son who  is the creative and recreative power of God’s love in flesh, and the spirit that leads us forward from baptism In new life as part of the new creation.

In baptism we don’t just join the church, we don’t just dedicate a baby, we don’t just go through a ceremony.  In baptism we are taken into the mystery.  In baptism we become part of the mystery.  In baptism the mystery of God’s love and God’s salvation become part of us.

The mystery is this

¹Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^[a]have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. … because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

The holy spirit: who's in charge? May 23, 2010

 “The Holy Spirit: Who’s In Control?”

RUMC- Pentecost 2010

May 23, 2010

Surprise!  Happy Pentecost.  ((Handing our balloons)   Surprise- happy Pentecost.

When you left home this morning, did you realize this was one of the three most important days in the Christian year?  Today we celebrate Pentecost!  We celebrate it with balloons and streamers.  It’s one of the three major feasts of the Christian church, Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost.  

Just think you might have missed it because it is the only one not yet captured by the mass market.  I doubt that any of you sent Pentecost cards.  I didn’t see any Pentecost sales going on.  I don’t think there was a Pentecost egg hunt today.  And as far as I know, no one gets a three-day weekend for Pentecost.  But that’s OK

The Bible describes the power of the Spirit of God coming to us like an earthquake, like a hurricane, like a firestorm, wind, flames, and bringing surprising gifts like people  from different countries each hearing the disciples in their own mother tongue.  It is not the destructive nature of the earthquake or the wind that is important here, but their ability to shake us up.  We cannot control any of these things.  The Holy Spirit is the wild and crazy part of God’s personality.  Pentecost should remind us that we serve a wild and craaaaazy God.

Actually, I’m glad the merchants and our society have not picked up and packaged Pentecost because Pentecost is a celebration of the God who cannot be tamed.  It is a celebration of the God who cannot be contained in a 3-day weekend.  It is a celebration of the God who cannot be put on sale for three for a dollar.  Our God is never content to be quiet, sedate, or well mannered.  Pentecost really should be more like a surprise party than a Federal Holiday.

That first Pentecost we read about this morning should not have been that big of a surprise.  Jesus spent what we see as two chapters in John as well as other places teaching about the Holy Spirit and promising the Holy Spirit would come.

The Disciples were together for Pentecost.  Now that might seem strange to you since Pentecost, as we think of it, had not happened.  But it reminds us that Pentecost is the Greek name for the Jewish Holiday called Shavuot.  Shavuot was the festival of the giving of the torah- including the 10 commandments to Moses on the mountain.  It became a harvest festival because it coincided with the end of the grain harvest and beginning of the fruit harvest in Israel.  It was also called the festival of the first fruits.

So the disciples were gathered in one place for Shavuot.  They may have been praying or worshipping, or studying.  It was nine in the morning so maybe they were waiting to join the parade of farmers taking their first fruits to the temple.

Whatever they were doing, they were minding their own business.  Innocently sitting together studying or talking and all of a sudden, this wild and crazy God came rushing in like a violent wind.  The house must have shaken as if a freight train was going through the living room.  The windows rattled, the dishes clanged as if they were having an earthquake.  Except it was just that house. 

It was not just the disciple’s imagination either, because others must have heard.  They gathered from all kinds of nations.  You heard that in the scripture reading.  They too had been minding their own business celebrating Shavuot when our wild and crazy God disrupted their day.  But the day hadn’t even started to get weird yet.

As they all stood talking, each one heard the disciples speaking in their own language.  This was not speaking in tongues.  This was not a gift given to the disciples.  This was a gift of the Holy Spirit given to the hearers so they could to understand these men, even with their thick Galilean accents.

And what they heard really rattled their world.  Peter preached about the promise of the Holy Spirit from the prophet Joel.  Each heard the sermon in a way that they understood it.  And he went on to teach about how this wild and crazy God actually came to us himself as Jesus Christ and how that didn’t work out so well because we killed him.  In the end, however, God had one more trick up his sleeve.  He threw the biggest surprise party ever by raising Jesus from the dead- unsealing the tomb and letting him loose on those 11 men from Galilee to shout “surprise!”

Now, 50 days later, those men who had lived in fear- those men who had been living on the down low- those men were keeping pretty much to themselves, were filled with the wild and crazy Spirit of God, and became what some thought were blubbering fools- drunk at nine in the morning.  Actually, they were not blubbering fools, they were the first Christian evangelists, and that day their church grew from 11 to 3011.  For those of you keeping score that is a 27,372 percent increase!

If that is not the doing of a wild and crazy God- I don’t know what it is?

1.    I gave you balloons a few minutes ago.  I want you to blow those balloons up but not tie them.  We will tie them later.  But I want to point something out first.  If we tie them, we have a fixed amount of air contained in a discrete space bounded on every side by uniformly colored Latex.  That is a pretty safe toy.  Let’s not do that yet.  Hold your balloon up high.  The wind came and filled those people with the Holy Spirit.  It was a wild and crazy time.  No one could have predicted what would happen next.  Now aim your balloon right for the ceiling - straight up so you don’t poke anyone’s eye out.  Let go of your balloon and see where it goes.

Did any of them go straight for the ceiling?  Probably not.  Like our balloons-, we are filled with the spirit of a wild and crazy God and there is no telling where that spirit is going to propel us.

2.    Now retrieve your balloon.  Blow it up again and do not tie it.  Do you all know how to hold the neck so it squeaks at it deflates?  OK Get ready.  We are going to play “I’m goanna sing when the spirit says sing.”  (squeak balloons)

Oh, not very pretty was it.  That is the second thing about being filled with the Spirit of the wild and crazy God.  It is not always neat or pretty.

3.    Now blow it up one last time and tie it off.  Now bounce them around back and forth. . .  Hear the laughter and see the smiles?  That is the third thing about being filled with the Spirit of the wild and crazy God.  It makes us wild and crazy happy.

In February we started a study entitled “If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of your boat.”  We were innocently and happily minding our own business working our way through that book and the sermon series.  It was about that same time that the taskforce on family and youth ministry was meeting.  They had a wild a crazy idea that just “seemed right.”  No one knew if it would work.  I have to admit I was a little skeptical too.  The idea was for LIGHT on Wednesday night.

As the idea grew (blow) and grew (blow) and grew (blow) it seemed more right.  As the time got closer and closer, the vision got bigger and bigger and 8 weeks ago, it took off.  It has been one wild ride! 

·       An average of 80 people every week.

·       Classes filled to overflowing.

·       Scrambling for more teachers.

·       Trying to learn names.

·       What do we do with 17 children under the age of seven in a 10x16 classroom?

·       How do I preach to 50 elementary age students and adults, some new and some mature Christians?

·       What do we do with 19 new families?

·       What do we do with six families who started coming when we haven’t seen for a year or more?

It has been a wild ride and the spirit has propelled us into a tremendous ministry.

(Blow it up again)

It has not always been pretty.  (Start letting it squeak) 

·       There have been children crying.

·       We may have lost some to overcrowding.

·       My confirmation class went from being a morgue to being a zoo.

·       We are more than a little nervous about starting up next fall.

·       We have to find ways to use our space a little more efficiently- and that may or may not cost us some money.

·       We have seen an effect on Sunday morning worship.  Fewer children.  A slight decline in attendance but a 60% increase in total attendance.  We will have to respond to those changes.

·       We have to wonder how we will staff this in the fall.

·       We have to reckon with making dinner for 80 people every week.

·       I have to learn to preach to this new service.

·       Maybe you haven’t seen some of your friends lately.

It has not always been pretty but our wild and crazy God has put a song in our heart every week.

(Blow it up again.  Tie it off)

But look where we have come!  Look at the joy we have experienced!

·       We have 19 more families in our church than we had 8 weeks ago.

·       We have doubled our Sunday school attendance in the last 8 weeks.

·       We have reactivated some families

·       We have done something that I am convinced we could have never done on our own.

·       We stepped out of the boat- and holy cow!  We’re walking on water people!!

·       We have moved from a congregation of boat potatoes to a congregation of water walkers.  Even if you don’t feel like you have had a lot to do with this. 

o   Your prayers have made all the difference in the world.

o   If you showed up even one week in support of LIGHT you made all the difference in the world

o   If you bit your tongue even once to keep yourself from saying something negative about this crazy idea.  You have contributed more than you know.

o   If you are sitting here today, I guarantee you that you had more to do with LIGHT than you know.    

I thank you for that and so do the families from Wednesday night.

Finally, I make two observations in the form of guarantees.

·       I guarantee you (whether it continues for another year or 5 years or 50 years) LIGHT has changed lives.  You may or may not ever know the difference it made, but it is changing lives by the power of the wild and crazy God and the reckless love of Jesus Christ.

·       Finally, I guarantee you, that this church will never be the same.

o   You have seen what you can do and you can never doubt the abilities of our “little old church” again

o   You have seen what God can do and you can never again doubt the ability of our wild and crazy God to raise the dead, forgive your sins, bring people through the doors, or put people in the pew.

Challenge you, from now on- from now on every time you feel that wild and crazy spirit knocking on the door to your life.  Every time you hear the rap, rap, rap, or that pound, pound, pound of the Holy Spirit in our church.  Every time you feel your heart quicken and your eyes tear up with awe and inspiration.  Recognize who it is.  Recognize him and jump right up out of your boat to be part of whatever unpredictable, uncontrollable, unstoppable ride he may have in mind for you.

You serve a wild a crazy God and he seeks some wild and crazy disciples.

AMEN