Pentecost Sunday
When the day of Pentecost had come
They were all together in one place.
Suddenly, a Sound came from heaven
like the rush of a mighty wind
There appeared to them tongues, as of fire
distributed and resting on each of them
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began speaking in other tongues
All were amazed and perplexed,
asking, “what does this mean?”
It shall be on that great and manifest day
that all who call on God shall be saved.
Those who welcomed the message were baptized,
and three thousand were added to the church.
Prayers of the People
(sung response: Lord Send Out Your Spirit)
God our Father and Mother,
let your Spirit surprise us
with fire and vigor,
and make us young and new again
as for the young Church.
Let your Spirit renew our days,
our loves and our lives,
bring us tenderness and joy
as well as openness to one another
and the courage to stand up
for all that is right and just.
(Lord, send out your spirit, and renew the face of the earth…”)
God of all the earth’s peoples, we pray for peace, and for hope.
Fill us with the courage to reach out in love to those who are hurting,
those who are dying,
those who need your healing touch--both those whose names we have called out,
and those we recall now in silence
(Lord, send out your spirit, and renew the face of the earth…”)
Be with those in power, especially our Governor John, our Senator Kris, and our Representative Jay, that they will know your wisdom and mercy,
(Lord, send out your spirit, and renew the face of the earth…”)
We bring these spirit-filled prayers to you in the name of Jesus, the one who breathed that spirit on his first disciples, and pray that he will do so again. Amen,
1 Corinthians 12.3-13
3…no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. 4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.13For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
“Many Gifts, One Spirit”
Anybody here ever had trouble with your shoulders? Some people have bursitis--I know at least one of our members who is suffering with that. Some have arthritis, others have tendon problems. About 15 years ago, I was having trouble with my shoulders--especially the right one, and I went to see a doctor about it.
He asked me a lot of questions, like how used my arms, and how I put on my jacket, and what did I do for a living.
I told him that I was a minister, and he asked if my work ever called for me to raise my hand over my head.
I answered, “we’re not that kind of church.”
He didn’t get it. I thought I was being hilarious.
Around the same time, I was in the church office and answered the phone--always a dangerous thing. A woman on the other end wanted to know what kind of church we were.
She asked, “Are you a
“Yes we are,” I answered, wanting to have a little fun. “We believe in the Holy Spirit which ignited the church on Pentecost so long ago and still ignites and enlivens the church today.
“But,” she continued, “are you a
“Well,” I went on, “the word charisma means “gift” in Greek, and we believe that God, through his Spirit, gives each Christian gifts for the common good of the church. There are gifts of service, teaching, administration, music--everybody’s got gifts...”
The woman was really getting frustrated at that point and finally asked, “do you speak in tongues?”
“No, “ I said. “We’re not that kind of church.”
Click.
Twenty years ago, my friend, professor, and mentor Michael Kinnamon was a candidate for the office of the General Minister and President of the Disciples of Christ. The biggest controversy of the day is whether or not Gay & Lesbian folk belonged in the church. Michael said quite frankly that everyone belongs in the church, and if you’re going to bar the door against folks you think of as sinners, then he’d take his place outside the door with them.
He got a lot of mail during that time. He told me that much of the correspondence began this way:
“Dear Dr. Kinnamon, the Holy Spirit has told me that I am to oppose your election as General Minister and President because of your welcoming stance toward gays…”
But some were also positive:
Dear Dr. Kinnamon, the Holy Spirit has told me that I must give you my whole hearted support in your candidacy…”
To Michael’s credit, he never gave any credence to either kind of letter, because of his understanding of how the Spirit works. He pointed out several things about the Spirit of God and its operation that I want to work with for a few minutes here. I can’t find any of his addresses from that year, but I remember a few things he pointed out which have stayed with me for all these years.
First. The Spirit of God always comes to the church as a body. Whether you’re taking about the way that the Gospel of John tells it or the way Luke tells it in Acts 2, the spirit’s operation is always in community. In John 20, the Disciples receive the Spirit when Jesus appears to them in the upper room and breathes upon them--all of them-plural.
In Acts 2, which we read a bit of this morning, the Spirit of God comes upon the Disciples--also in the Upper Room--en masse, filling them with the gift to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. And, that’s exactly what they did! There were people from all over the known world there to hear--in their own language--the Good News.
Second. The Spirit, while giving diverse gifts to the people of God, only does so for the common good. Our lesson today from Paul’s first Corinthian letter makes that clear. Gifts may be given in different manifestations--wisdom, discernment, teaching, and even faith itself--but all are given so that the body can breathe in that one Spirit of God and work together.
There are churches in the world who maintain that you have to speak in tongues in order to be a Christian. Paul would say that’s absurd! We don’t all get the same gifts because we are not the same.
IN the section that follows this lesson, Paul writes about the diversity of the human body--noses are not feet, and eyes are not hands. If our body parts were all the same, we could do nothing. It’s the same with the body of Christ. We work together because we are different--but we work together. If we claim a gift that divides the church, then that gift becomes suspect, which is the third point.
Third. Spirits and gifts must be tested for the ultimate criterion, which is love. Kinnamon pointed out 20 years ago that there are two great teachings on the Spirit and gifts--this one in 1 Cortinhians, and again in 1 John, where the church is taught to test Spirits to make sure they are from God.
Each of those passages are followed by the two great teachings in the New Testament on love. 1 Corinthians 13 is sometimes called the love chapter, in which Paul describes the nature of the gift of love, and that of the three great gifts of the Spirit, the greatest is love (the other two are faith and hope). Love doesn’t insist on its own way, love forgives, believes, endures. The other gifts mean nothing without love.
1 John 4 begins by admonishing the church to test every spirit, and then goes on with the wonderful lesson which begins, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is known by God and loves God.”
It’s no mistake that spiritual gifts and love go hand in hand.
So, what does that mean for us?
First, we must be open to the leading of God’s Spirit. We should enter these doors every Sunday by praying, “Come, Spirit, Come, and open my mind and my heart to your leading.” And we should leave here praying, “what would you have me do for your kingdom, now, Lord? Whose life do you want me to touch with your love, today? What gift have you given me that can change the life of another of your children?”
And secondly, all that we do and say needs to fit under the umbrella of love. We are beginning our Home and Away team processes, and this is so important. If you signed on to one of the teams, then you probably have a passion for the direction think we should go. But that’s knot what these teams are about. These teams are about the wind of God’s spirit--looking for the doors that God will open--for the Common Good of the church. And when these teams come back to us, we need to greet them with love, and be open to God’s stirrings in our hearts.
Years ago, when Kate and I were members of South Elkhorn Christian Church in
That’s the kind of church we are. May we all be so open to the Spirit with great love. What do you think?
Offering Invitation
Giving is itself a gift. We all have been given much by God, let us return a small portion of our treasure to the work of his realm.
Offertory Prayer
Giver of all, We return to you a portion of what you have given us for the common good. Change us so that we may open to your service with all that we are. Amen.
Benediction
In our worship
God has poured out on us again
the fire and the storm-wind of the Spirit.
May the Spirit move us
to take the risk of committing ourselves fully
to God and to each other.
May God give us the courage to change
ourselves and the Church we love,
that we may be living signs to all the world
of God's goodness and presence.
May almighty God bless you:
the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit
Go, and let the Spirit
keep your hearts afire with God's love.
