We had a great time in church last Sunday, the festival of Pentecost. We celebrated the Holy Spirit coming to Jesus' disciples by tossing out bulletins, asking the music and worship people to contribute whatever way the Spirit moved them, and doing some of our favorite parts of our worship service while stopping to remember the inspiration behind each. It was a nice day.
We want to continue discussing the Spirit throughout the summer. I don't feel like I can do this alone, so I'm going to ask you to help. Each Sunday I'd like to take a couple minutes for people to share how they saw the Spirit working in the past week. Maybe the sermon gives you a new way to look at God's work among us, you look for it during the week, and share what you saw on Sunday.
We're not talking about huge, life-changing testimonials here. We'd schedule those too if somebody wants to share, but this process is simpler and more inclusive. All you have to do is watch for the Spirit in your week and tell us what you saw!
Nobody has to do this every Sunday. Hopefully different people will have neat stories each week. Start watching now so you can get ahead of the game!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Showing posts with label Holy Spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holy Spirit. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Monday Morning Sermon: Church and the Spirit
We continued our two-week mini-session on the work of the Holy Spirit--this time in conjunction with Father and Son--on Holy Trinity Sunday this week. Our text was John 3: 1-17.
But for all the things Nic had going for him, he lacked one: he didn't understand the connection between God and the faith he was pursuing, even when he pursued that faith in God's name. This was quite the serious oversight! We likened it to the guy who sold his beloved heirloom set of baseball cards to buy an engagement ring for his girl. He got plenty of money for his treasure. The problem was, the girl didn't want to marry him. He had the ritual right. He had the necessary equipment. He had the right concept of love and togetherness. He just didn't understand his girlfriend. As it turned out, that was the only thing that mattered. Without her, none of the rest meant anything.
It's perfectly possible to do church well--at least to outward appearances--while leaving out the actual "God" part. Most people will look at churches with reasonably full pews, good music, a charismatic preacher, and money in the offering plate and say, "That church is successful!" Sadly, some of the most unfaithful churches I've ever had the displeasure to experience have had all four of those qualities in spades. Love, welcome, acceptance, grace, and Spirit? Not so much.
We run into serious trouble when we start defining church by tasks to be accomplished instead of people to be served and loved. God works through relationships: forgiveness, passion, affection, patience, togetherness. He doesn't reside in things or places, but in people, through their connections. Pretty religion practiced by ugly people doesn't cut it. People who use tasks to mow over people are like flesh giving birth to flesh in the gospel above. The trappings are right, the exterior looks good, but the spirit isn't there. These people can't even see the Spirit. It blows where it will, not being confined to their self-important rituals and restrictions. Never looking for it in the right places, not willing to follow if it means changing what they're doing, these folks just can't find it. And without it, all the rest is nothing.
But those who do trust that Jesus came to love the world, that he died for our sins, that he's reaching out to every one of his children...they see his work every day. The Spirit leads and the flesh follows. Life isn't a finite series of tasks, it's a beautiful strain of music played between all of us that never ends. The Spirit makes us anew, or "born again", and opens our eyes to possibilities and people we'd never see on our own.
The job of our church community, then, is simple: open our eyes, follow the Spirit, rejoice as God leads us. On the way we gather and serve, uplift and nourish, let people know how good love is and how precious a gift we've all been given. Whatever we need to do inside or outside church to make that happen, we do it cheerfully. With God at the center, the world opens up into so much more than it was before, just as it did for Nicodemus walking out of that dusty temple and seeing the light in the middle of the night.
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”The main character in this text (aside from Jesus, of course) is Nicodemus, a member of the religious establishment. Old Nic had plenty of things going for him. He was one of the few among the religious peerage who was willing to give Jesus credit, proclaiming him "from God" because of the signs he had seen. He bothered to come to Jesus--albeit by night--in order to talk to him. He was willing to listen to the things Jesus said. At some point he took them to heart too, as this same Nicodemus would later tend to Jesus' body after the crucifixion...openly and by day this time.
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven —the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him."
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
But for all the things Nic had going for him, he lacked one: he didn't understand the connection between God and the faith he was pursuing, even when he pursued that faith in God's name. This was quite the serious oversight! We likened it to the guy who sold his beloved heirloom set of baseball cards to buy an engagement ring for his girl. He got plenty of money for his treasure. The problem was, the girl didn't want to marry him. He had the ritual right. He had the necessary equipment. He had the right concept of love and togetherness. He just didn't understand his girlfriend. As it turned out, that was the only thing that mattered. Without her, none of the rest meant anything.
It's perfectly possible to do church well--at least to outward appearances--while leaving out the actual "God" part. Most people will look at churches with reasonably full pews, good music, a charismatic preacher, and money in the offering plate and say, "That church is successful!" Sadly, some of the most unfaithful churches I've ever had the displeasure to experience have had all four of those qualities in spades. Love, welcome, acceptance, grace, and Spirit? Not so much.
We run into serious trouble when we start defining church by tasks to be accomplished instead of people to be served and loved. God works through relationships: forgiveness, passion, affection, patience, togetherness. He doesn't reside in things or places, but in people, through their connections. Pretty religion practiced by ugly people doesn't cut it. People who use tasks to mow over people are like flesh giving birth to flesh in the gospel above. The trappings are right, the exterior looks good, but the spirit isn't there. These people can't even see the Spirit. It blows where it will, not being confined to their self-important rituals and restrictions. Never looking for it in the right places, not willing to follow if it means changing what they're doing, these folks just can't find it. And without it, all the rest is nothing.
But those who do trust that Jesus came to love the world, that he died for our sins, that he's reaching out to every one of his children...they see his work every day. The Spirit leads and the flesh follows. Life isn't a finite series of tasks, it's a beautiful strain of music played between all of us that never ends. The Spirit makes us anew, or "born again", and opens our eyes to possibilities and people we'd never see on our own.
The job of our church community, then, is simple: open our eyes, follow the Spirit, rejoice as God leads us. On the way we gather and serve, uplift and nourish, let people know how good love is and how precious a gift we've all been given. Whatever we need to do inside or outside church to make that happen, we do it cheerfully. With God at the center, the world opens up into so much more than it was before, just as it did for Nicodemus walking out of that dusty temple and seeing the light in the middle of the night.
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Monday, May 28, 2012
Monday Morning Sermon (Tuesday Version): The Holy Spirit
Sunday was the Day of Pentecost, commemorating the Holy Spirit coming upon Christ's disciples following his resurrection and the beginning of their public ministry. All of the day's readings talked about the Spirit one way or another. They included Acts 2: 1-21, Romans 8: 22-27, and John 15: 26-27 and 16: 4b-15.
The Hebrew word for spirit from the Old Testament is "Ruach", meaning "breath" or "wind". In the New Testament the Greek renders it "Pneuma", with the same connotations. ("Pneuma", by the way, is where we get the word "pneumatic", as in "pneumatic tools". Those accomplish plenty of nifty things using moving air...a powerful force indeed!) These translations give us a whole new purchase on the person and work of God.
We're all familiar with images of God the Father and Jesus Christ, the first two persons of the Trinity. We're familiar with their works as well: earth created, people guided, Law given, sermons preached, healing bestowed, life redeemed on the cross. All of these witnesses, though, happened in the past. When we consider God's actions we're liable to think of cold, harsh laws inscribed on a page or the historical acts of Jesus 2000 years ago. They're beautiful, powerful, but also remote. We're tempted, therefore, to consider God academic, detached, distant, and solely "other".
The Holy Spirit, though, reminds us that God's being and God's work are as real, present, and intimate as our last breath.
Ever tried to hold you breath? Of course! Everyone has! How long can you accomplish it? A minute, maybe two? Consider this: that's about how long you can force yourself to live without God's Spirit. You can run. You can protest. You can wrestle and rant, believe as you wish, debate and worry. But you know what? Through all of that stuff, just wait. A couple seconds later: inhale...exhale...there He is. It didn't matter what you believe, what you were worrying about, how hard you were running. He is life, He is here, and He is yours.
The Holy Spirit brings life not only to our bodies, but to the Word, translating Jesus' actions into our every moment. The Spirit keeps God from being that dead, remote, academic word on a page in your dresser drawer. The Spirit shows us God is alive and working even today!
As we breath in the Spirit, as the Spirit sustains us, our moments are made holy. The smallest child and the most doddering elder have this in common: they are inspired by God. They have grace and love to share, opportunities to show God's presence. They are infused with God stuff and sustained every second of their lives. If you watch through eyes of faith, you can see the Spirit's work in places and people you wouldn't believe. People breathing? Is there life? Then God is tending to it.
Some of us finished our day by heading outside to fly kites. It was funny...when I left the house the wind gauge registered zero. I thought, "Oh great. Of all the days to have NO WIND on the Palouse!" But we had asked people to bring kites and they did. So after the service folks dutifully trotted them out there. No sooner had they gotten to the north side of the church than...WHOOSH! Up soared kite after kite.
It was the most amazing thing. You normally wouldn't expect to see kites flying outside a church. Even less would you expect to see kites flying above a cemetery, on Memorial Day weekend no less! But somehow when the wind took those kites and you looked at that precious plot of land with memorials at our feet, the Spirit blowing above us, and living, laughing children in between...it was just right. It was a reminder that God is still at work! The whole yard was full of life in that moment and, dare I say...Spirit.
Don't miss the work of the Spirit in your life! Start with breathing, give thanks for that, welcome in God, and then cast your gaze farther. The Spirit is blowing all around you. Watch and see!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
The Hebrew word for spirit from the Old Testament is "Ruach", meaning "breath" or "wind". In the New Testament the Greek renders it "Pneuma", with the same connotations. ("Pneuma", by the way, is where we get the word "pneumatic", as in "pneumatic tools". Those accomplish plenty of nifty things using moving air...a powerful force indeed!) These translations give us a whole new purchase on the person and work of God.
We're all familiar with images of God the Father and Jesus Christ, the first two persons of the Trinity. We're familiar with their works as well: earth created, people guided, Law given, sermons preached, healing bestowed, life redeemed on the cross. All of these witnesses, though, happened in the past. When we consider God's actions we're liable to think of cold, harsh laws inscribed on a page or the historical acts of Jesus 2000 years ago. They're beautiful, powerful, but also remote. We're tempted, therefore, to consider God academic, detached, distant, and solely "other".
The Holy Spirit, though, reminds us that God's being and God's work are as real, present, and intimate as our last breath.
Ever tried to hold you breath? Of course! Everyone has! How long can you accomplish it? A minute, maybe two? Consider this: that's about how long you can force yourself to live without God's Spirit. You can run. You can protest. You can wrestle and rant, believe as you wish, debate and worry. But you know what? Through all of that stuff, just wait. A couple seconds later: inhale...exhale...there He is. It didn't matter what you believe, what you were worrying about, how hard you were running. He is life, He is here, and He is yours.
The Holy Spirit brings life not only to our bodies, but to the Word, translating Jesus' actions into our every moment. The Spirit keeps God from being that dead, remote, academic word on a page in your dresser drawer. The Spirit shows us God is alive and working even today!
As we breath in the Spirit, as the Spirit sustains us, our moments are made holy. The smallest child and the most doddering elder have this in common: they are inspired by God. They have grace and love to share, opportunities to show God's presence. They are infused with God stuff and sustained every second of their lives. If you watch through eyes of faith, you can see the Spirit's work in places and people you wouldn't believe. People breathing? Is there life? Then God is tending to it.
Some of us finished our day by heading outside to fly kites. It was funny...when I left the house the wind gauge registered zero. I thought, "Oh great. Of all the days to have NO WIND on the Palouse!" But we had asked people to bring kites and they did. So after the service folks dutifully trotted them out there. No sooner had they gotten to the north side of the church than...WHOOSH! Up soared kite after kite.
It was the most amazing thing. You normally wouldn't expect to see kites flying outside a church. Even less would you expect to see kites flying above a cemetery, on Memorial Day weekend no less! But somehow when the wind took those kites and you looked at that precious plot of land with memorials at our feet, the Spirit blowing above us, and living, laughing children in between...it was just right. It was a reminder that God is still at work! The whole yard was full of life in that moment and, dare I say...Spirit.
Don't miss the work of the Spirit in your life! Start with breathing, give thanks for that, welcome in God, and then cast your gaze farther. The Spirit is blowing all around you. Watch and see!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
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