We arrived at like 4:00 in the morning...and there were already hundreds of people there. Cars were parked literally bumper to bumper; once you were there, you were going to stay for the launch. There were so many different people...from many different places and backgrounds...with a wide variety of interests and motivations for being there. There were families, with little kids snoozing on blankets...there were older people, dozing in lawn chairs. There were teenagers laughing, goofing around. There was even a kind of strange looking Suy...juggling torches. I'm not sure why, exactly...just because he COULD, I guess!
Everyone was pretty much absorbed in their own little circle of interest. But when the final countdown started, peoples' attention shifted. And as the shuttle lifted off, with incredible fire and smoke and roaring engines, everyone together in that place focused in on that event.
Now get that mental picture: a large, diverse group gathered in one place, focusing on one amazing experience. NOW...SHIFT THAT MENTAL IMAGE TO FIRST CENTURY JERUSALEM.
The day of Pentecost...when Jews from all over are gathered for the traditional Feast of Harvest. The disciples of Jesus are all together when the Holy Spirit of God comes down upon them...appearing as fire and sounding like a roaring wind. Suddenly they are able to speak about the great works of God in foreign languages they have never learned...and people gathered in Jerusalem from all over the world hear this message, each in their own language.
That's the PENTECOST EXPERIENCE. When a large, diverse group came together and, because the Holy Spirit worked through the disciples, everyone "heard" the Gospel in his or her own language. ON THAT DAY, THE CHURCH WAS GIVEN THE POWER TO REACH A DIVERSITY OF PEOPLE.
WE, THE CHURCH, STILL HAVE THAT POWER TODAY! In us...in this church...the PENTECOST EXPERIENCE CONTINUES. We still have within us...and available to us...the power of the Holy Spirit with which we can bring the good news of Christ to a wide diversity of people.
As we think about the continuing Pentecost experience this morning, we need to be mindful of the Holy Spirit's power which we, as a church, possess. We need to: 1. Celebrate the many ways we're already using that power and using it well. 2. Contemplate how we might use that power to reach people even more effectively. 3. Cooperate with the Holy Spirit so that we can be used in the most effective way possible.
First, we should CELEBRATE the ways we already use the power of the Spirit in being the church we are called to be. How 'bout that choir?! And there's much more wonderful, spirit-filled music to come with tonight's Promised Light Productions concert. We are, still unofficially but most likely, the top money raising group for the recent AIDS Walk! Look around. More and more people are hearing about the positive experience this worshiping body offers.
In fact, do you realize what an amazing feat this church and all M.C.C. churches accomplish every week? We bring people of widely diverse backgrounds, conflicting viewpoints, very different levels of Christian growth and maturity to worship and share Communion together. Theologically, many say...this should not be happening! But here we are! That's the work of the Holy Spirit...and it's cause to celebrate! >P? While we celebrate what's working, though, we must also CONTEMPLATE the ways in which we may fall short or may need to change in order to be more effective at using the power of the Holy Spirit to reach people for Christ. On a church-wide level, that requires constant evaluation of how we do ministry, the tools we're using, the results we're experiencing.>P? Look around again. Why do we not have more people of color? Where are all our heterosexual friends? Where is the youth of our community...the very young adults who so need a place to belong and be themselves? We have so much work ahead of us.
And as we do that work, as a church, we also need to constantly contemplate and reassess our personal discipleship, as well. Are we each utilizing the Spirit within us as well as we could be? Are we putting out the right efforts to touch others and bring them to a relationship with Christ...or do we just talk a good game?
Consider these thoughts... expressed in a letter to the "good believers" in a large, "thriving" church: "I was naked, and you questioned the lack of modesty in my appearance. I was imprisoned, and you debated the legal aspects of interference. I was penniless, and you discussed tax-deductible donations from your wealth. I was sick, and you thanked the Lord for the blessings of your health. I was hungry, and you formed a club to study malnutrition. I was homeless, and you said God's love was shelter under any condition. I was lonely, and you left me by myself while you and your friends prayed. You seem so holy and close to God. Yet I'm still sick and alone and afraid!"
We need to ask ourselves. am I doing all I can? Am I really serving and sharing in the way Christ wants me to? Or am I resisting the Holy Spirit within me?
That's the other crucial element, you see. While we allow ourselves to celebrate and remind ourselves to contemplate, we must be ever willing to COOPERATE with the Spirit.
It's not unusual for folks to want their church to be successful...without their having to make it happen! We, as Christians, can easily become like the joke a little boy told his Dad. The kid said, "Dad, how can you eat an egg without cracking the shell?" His father said, "I give up...how can you eat an egg without cracking the shell?" "Get someone else to crack it for you !"
Do we ever want the benefits of the church without accepting the responsibilities to BE the church? I think it's no coincidence that there is a COST in "PENTECOST." Continuing the Pentecost experience of reaching a diversity of people for Christ does not come without some effort and sacrifice on our parts.
The greatest thing we need to give in order to keep the experience of Pentecost going in the church today is OUR SELVES. You may remember those AT&T commercials that talked about "your true voice?" We all need to preach the Gospel using our true voice. Ifwe would be disciples ofaesus, it's ourjob to express Christ and share Christ through our real selves...to use our natural personalities, our God-given gifts and our own faith experiences to serve others...and touch others...and enable others to come to know Christ as Savior and Sovereign in their lives.
Now "preach the Gospel" doesn't necessarily mean doing what I'm doing this morning. It means using who you are and the way you live and share your life to communicate the presence of Christ to others. St. Francis said, "Preach the Gospel everywhere you So. Use words if necessary."
As we consider how the Pentecost experience can continue through us in this church today, we need to look around and realize that there's still plenty of room here...for a diversity of people. It's up to all of us to bring them in.
Several years ago, a famous conductor was leading a great symphony orchestra before a "standing room only" audience. The concert hall was unusual in that it was used for cultural events on 6 days a week but for religious services on Sundays. On this particular Saturday evening, one of the patrons of the orchestra noticed that the pastor who was to preach there the next day was in the audience. The person leaned over and said, cynically, "When are you going to fill this hall on Sunday the way this conductor has tonight?" The pastor looked the antagonist straight in the eye and said with a steady voice, "I will fill this hall on Sunday morning when you give to me, as you gave to this conductor tonight, 200 talented, disciplined men and women to be with and work with."
A pastor and a few staff can't grow any church to its full potential. We need all of you to join in the effort. And it takes the diversity we have in here...to reach the diversity that exists "out there."
Now, we're all very different, in many ways. Some of us listen to classical music...some of us listen to classic rock! Some of us are into fine dining...some of us love a good cheeseburger! And we hold different perspectives within the same culture. I'm sure that, a couple of years ago, some of us thought "Hootie and the Blowfish" was a children's book about an owl lost at sea. For myself, I'm still adjusting geographically; I was surprised to learn that the Johnson Shut-ins is not a convalescent home!
The language of our tastes and personalities and perceptions and experiences will speak to different people in different ways. One voice cannot spread the Gospel to the multitudes. It takes a multitude of voices - speaking different languages but empowered by the same Spirit and speaking the same message: the good news oflife and love that comes to us through Jesus Christ!
Power can be used in two ways: it can be unleashed in an explosive reaction...and it can be harnessed in a steady, controlled action. When the space shuttle "Endeavor" took off on that early Sunday morning 3 years ago, it needed an explosion of power to get it off the ground...but it took a steady, controlled, harnessed power to keep it moving upward through the atmosphere.
On the day of Pentecost that we remember today, the Holy Spirit exploded on the scene to get the church "off the ground." But now, the Spirit calls us to be the vessels of a steady, controlled and constant release of power that can speak the Gospel to the diverse multitudes ofthis community in languages and ways that they can understand!
Through us, CHURCH, the Pentecost experience continues!
Amen