The Season of the Spirit

Pentecost year B 09 Sermon

It’s the season of the Spirit. Totally dependable and utterly… unpredictable…gentle… and wild…challenging and comforting …

No one can fully describe or contain…

the Spirit of God…which blows where it will…and can be found… in silence…or the deafening roar of a mighty wind… or in the fury of fire.

How else besides the incarnation of Christ…
is God to communicate… and work…in the dimension of time and space. How else… is the creator of vast galaxies… to live within us. [pause]

The ancient Hebrew people… understood God’s Spirit to be in the fire glowing in the burning bush... and in God’s message…to Moses… that came from it...calling him to lead the people out of slavery… empowering him to challenge the authorities…in the face of oppression and injustice.

Moses allows himself… to get close to that fire…close enough to feel the heat and hear the message…close enough to know he’s in the presence of God.

The ancient Hebrew people would use the word Shekhinah…שכינה which means the dwelling or settling of the presence of God in the created dimension.

The Jewish Talmud reports…that the Shekhinah of God…is what caused prophets to prophesy…‘The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power…and you will prophesy with them; and you’ll be changed…' 1 Samuel 10:5-6

And fifteen hundred years later…that same Spirit…that same fire… falls among Jews…as they celebrate the feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem…when ‘Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them… and a tongue rests on’ the followers of the crucified rabbi…Jesus of Nazareth

Today the bush… that burns yet is not consumed…is our banner…the symbol for the Presbyterian Church wherever it’s found on earth…

We hold fast to the understanding… that the Holy Spirit is humanity’s …unity with God and the enabling of our communication with God…all made possible by the Word made flesh…in the incarnation of Jesus Christ… and it is the guarantee... that we are God’s children. Paul reminds us

'For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage to fear…but you received the Spirit of adoption… by whom we cry out…"Abba, Father." [Romans 8:23]

And Paul tells us the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of love. ‘And hope doesn't disappoint us, because God has poured out his love… into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,whom he’s given us.’ [Romans 5:5]

And the one Paul follows… the one we follow…Jesus tells us…imperfect as we are…that the Holy Spirit is promised… to everyone who asks. ‘if you, being sinners… know how to give good gifts to your children…how much more will your heavenly Father… give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!’ Luke 11:13

Jesus suggests the only limitation… |to God's Holy Spirit working in us…is us.. is you. ‘For the one God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.’ John 3:3

How close… will you allow yourself to get…How close will you let the Spirit come? Oh there are many ways we defend ourselves…in the freedom God’s given us…there are many ways we close ourselves off… to ‘the whisper and the fire’ of God’s Spirit…

One way is to refuse to give our consent…I encountered this for real last week…at the South Island Minister’s Conference at East Taieri…I was privileged…to be asked …to provide spiritual direction for anyone who felt the need…

One person who came along…after telling me about their stress and anxiety and paranoia and exhaustion… … finally admitted… their biggest problem with God was that they were afraid… to get too close …too close… in their words … ‘to God’s consuming fire.’

This person… was crippled… in body mind and spirit… and ruled… by their fears…among them …the fear of getting too close to God… lest the fire of God consume them.

But hang on a minute…while the ancient Hebrew people did speak of God …from time to time… as a consuming fire…their intention was metaphorical… not literal…they were saying… the presence and working of God’s Spirit… completely fills us…thoroughly changes us …totally consumes us …with the fire…of God’s refining love …remember Paul?

‘God’s poured out his love…into our hearts by the Holy Spirit…’

And remember Moses’ burning bush… is enveloped in flames… yet is not consumed…

I think… a lack of theological logic… is at the core of this man’s trouble with God. A diabolical lack of logic… caused by fear or perhaps ignorance…

This minister holds on to two… illogical… and biblically unsustainable assumptions about God…

One…that if he allows himself to get too close to God…he will… involuntarily lose control .

And two that it’s actually possible… to move out…of the presence of God.

Remember Psalm 139? ‘Where can I go from your Spirit where can I hide from your presence?’

Love never forces its will… Love honours the beloved… …love is about freedom from control and exploitation …and enslavement. God is love and …

^‘Love is patient, and kind. doesn’t envy, doesn’t boast, isn’t proud…isn’t rude…isn’t self-seeking, isn’t easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs. Love doesn’t delight in evil… but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres…

Love never fails.

God’s given us freedom God … in love...so for God to fill us with the Holy Spirit… we have to consent… not only once…but over and over again…because God’s work in us… is a process not an event… a process of sanctification as we are conformed… more and more… to the likeness of the one we follow.

Did you notice the difference… between what happens… on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem… and the work of the Spirit described in Paul’s letter to early church in Rome?

Yes the early Christian’s received the Holy Spirit… yes they spoke in tongues… and all those around them understood what they said… but this didn’t mean they were anywhere near their full potential…as followers of the Way of Jesus Christ…why they’d only received …what Paul calls the ‘first fruits’ of the Spirit…

yet this is…the fulfillment of prophesy…as God’s Spirit is poured out on all flesh… it’s the birth of the church…a new people for God’s redeeming work …but her members are still fragile…immature seedlings ...unable to bear the full fruit of the Spirit

So Paul explains…‘the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we don’t know how to pray as we ought’

So the Spirit… with our consent…speaks from within us…speaks with the creator of the universe on our behalf … with sighs too deep for words and only ever in harmony with the will of God. [pause]

Paul is warning us… not to get ahead of ourselves…even if we’ve experience the first fruits of the Spirit…God has a great deal of work to do… with our consent and cooperation in …in sanctifying us…in growing us …before we’re fully capable of bearing the full fruits of the Spirit.

That’s why there are so few … whose lives consistently model the way of Christ. The way… of the fruits of the Spirit…The way of love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control.

You can tell those in whom the Spirit of God is working… as their thoughts and actions… conform more and more with the anointed one of God.

We see this manifested in some faith communities… like our brothers and sisters who are Quakers…they talk about God's presence or God’s Spirit…within a person, they witness to a direct and personal experience of God.

Quakers believe that God speaks to everyone, yet in order to hear God's voice, it helps to be still and actively listen for it.

They believe… not only individuals can be guided by the Inward Light of the Spirit…but that we can meet together to receive collective guidance from God… by sharing the concerns and insights God gives to individuals.

In a faith community marked by humility people feel free to say what they sense God is saying to them without fear of ridicule.

But these prophetic moments aren’t the goal of their faith…I think it’s safe to say that in the past two hundred years the Quakers have publically born the full gifts of the spirit …in their strong witness is to peace and equality.

In their conscientious objection to war and in giving up their lives to end slavery and oppression.

And I believe that every follower of Jesus…every Christian family…every Christian community… that manifests love and joy and peace with patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control…is witnessing to Christ through the fruits of the spirit.

Oh yes we seek an experience of God’s presence in our lives and in our worship. We long for it…but not so we can turn away from the world… but so we can be Christ’s instruments of reconciliation and peace…in the world…empowered by the Holy Spirit burning within us.

I leave you with this prayer based on our reading from Acts

When the day of Pentecost came there was a noise … like a strong wind blowing.

God bring your wind to blow away the cobwebs that blind us. Freshen our faces and awaken us to the challenges of today. Fill the sails if this faith community and send us on a voyage of spiritual discovery. Blow strongly through your Church and enliven us with your Spirit.

They saw … tongues of fire …

God bring the first of your Spirit to burn away the rubbish in our lives. Your heat to ‘strangely warm’ our hearts.Fire to light a beacon of hope for our community. Blaze away in our Church and set us on fire for the Gospel.

They heard the believers speaking in their own languages.

God help us to speak in a way people can understand. Give us wisdom to speak to real needs,

Courage to speak on real issues, to speak so those we serve will want to listen. Lord, give us the words of the Spirit,speak… to us and through us, that we might witness to your living Word in Jesus.

But others said: ‘These people are drunk!’

Beloved God…Perhaps they were: Drunk on the new wine of your kingdom come. High on the taste of the Holy Spirit –celebrating the birth of your Church.

Holy Spirit of God, inspire and excite us as we consent to your Spirit, celebrate in worship. In Jesus’ name Amen

A time of silence as we consent to the pouring out of the Spirit into our into hearts

Honour your father and your mother

Easter 5 year B 09 Sermon Mother's Day

On Mother’s Day…I thought what better…

than to explore the divine decree…
which opens the second half of the Ten Commandments.

‘Honour your father and your mother’

Of course, the first five commandments… instruct us… how to live in relationship with God…

and the last five teach us…
how to live with one another on this earth.

 

And the very first rule we’re given…
for our relationships with other human beings……
ahead of the rules against murder… adultery…stealing, lying and desiring what isn’t ours…
the very first rule we’re given is to honour…
our father and our mother.

In February…my brother and I made… 

a very brief pilgrimage… to honour our parents…
we thought this might be the last time…
our little nuclear family…could be together on its own… without husbands and wives and grandchildren.

 It was a precious week of love and laughter and delight.

At the end of which… we said good-by…

hoping to come back in November…
to celebrate my father’s 90^th with the whole family.

Today we’re so glad to have honoured him in life… because only two months later…
we’d have to honour him in death.

On the 23^rd of April…supported by your prayers…

I flew back… this time with my daughter Jessica…
to honour my father by taking his funeral… and organising the tributes… from his colleagues at NASA and his friends in the community.

 

As well…I honoured him with tears…

as I sat in his favourite chair…and later…as I said my final farewell to his earthly body. [pause]

I left New Zealand thinking my poor 87 year old mother wouldn’t cope… physically or emotionally…

and that we have to quickly sell the house…
bundle her up… and whisk her out to Colorado…
to live near my brother……

 

But I was so wrong.

I discovered my mother… was as strong and stubbornly independent… as she’s always been…even in her grief… She told everyone who wanted to flap around her with concern…that it’s best to wait a year or so…before making any big changes…and besides… she’d been at home there for 42 years. [pause]

And so I stuffed my anxiety…
and the internal pressure to do something… and…
I chose to honour my mother… by respecting her competence and strength…and her right to make her own decisions… in her own time.

 As her daughter I was relieved and blessed. And in this family mixing bowl…I found myself blessed again…not only as a daughter…but as a mother as well

…because for the first time I truly saw my own daughter … as a strong… competent… woman…as an adult…who at twenty eight… honours me as her mother. [pause]

Now all this sounds very lovely doesn’t it… 

especially to me… but if it were always this easy…to honour our parents…we wouldn’t need a commandment… would we?  

And I suspect God knew we’d need a rule about it…
because at some stages of our lives…
we simply don’t want to honour our parents…do we?

As teenagers especially…when Mum and Dad are restricting our freedom…or refusing to give us what we want.

As young adults… when we don’t need them anymore for our survival…Or around the age of forty…

as we finally get in touch with our anger…at how we think our parents have failed us…in some way or other.

And even later in life…sometimes our parent’s frailty and dependency in old age…make us shrink from honouring them…because we… just don’t know…
how to handle it….

And of course for some people…at whatever stage of life…it’s hard to honour someone who’s hurt us…or abandoned…neglected or abused us.

In the powerful Christian novel The Shack … Mackenzie Philips finds the honouring too hard…

the narrator tells us…[Read from book]

It’s not until the age of fifty six…in this story…that Mack encounters the overwhelming love and grace of God’s triune presence…in the shack…

When he tells God he can’t love or forgive his father… or the man who killed his daughter…God says…but Mack ‘I do love them…not for what they became but for the broken children they were…who were twisted by their pain…

And God tells Mack ‘I want to help you take on that nature that finds more power in love and forgiveness than in hate.’

until this encounter with God…Mack never even considers his father…to be someone God loves too …in spite of his anger and his brokenness

Only when Mack views his father in this light…can his relationship with him be healed…

only then… with God’s help… is Mack free…
not to excuse his father’s behavior…but to forgive…
as he’s been forgiven…

 

only then… does Mack really begin to live…

It’s interesting the commandment to honour our father and mother…is the only one with a promise attached… a promise the apostle Paul repeats…in his letter to the church in Ephesus.

"Honour your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, so your days may be long and it may go well with you…in the land the LORD…your God… is giving you." [pause]

I don’t need a commandment to honour my mother and father now, but my oath… there have been times in my life… when I failed to honour them…

One thing I’ve learned through the hard way…is that in life or in death…when we learn to see our parents… as children of a loving God…when we learn to accept our parents…for who they are or were…not who we’d like them to be.

When we can forgive our parents for their sins against us…just as we have been forgiven…

Well maybe then…we won’t need a commandment from God… to honour them. [pause]

Ultimately our faith teaches us… our real parent…is God after all…father, son and Holy Spirit the one who creates us…reconciles and perfects us in love

 …and…as Mackenzie Philips found…with God’s help in the Shack…only when we accept God’s love and forgiveness … can we truly honour others… [pause]

So whether you’re sixteen or sixty or ninety six …whether you’ve been loved all your life or neglected

may you realise in the last analysis…that you are a child of the living God…and may you honour your true parent…as you come to see all others… as God’s children too.