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Acts 2:1-21 • June 12, 2011

Brothers and sisters in Christ grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus. Amen.

The day of Pentecost. A day that I’m not sure we will ever fully understand or know why we celebrate. Pentecost occurs fifty days after Passover. Historically Jews kept the Pentecost festival, which originally celebrated the wheat harvest but had become the commemoration of the giving of the law on Mount Sinai by the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. As the fiftieth day of Easter, Christians maintained the festival, altering its focus to a celebration of the Spirit of the risen Christ in the church.

The Day of Pentecost begins the longest season of the church year. A season where Christians explore very deeply what it means to be the church in the world today. Even though our focus will be centered in being church in the world, Pentecost seems to remain one of the least understood days and maybe entire seasons in the life of the church.

The Pentecost text in the second chapter of Acts is challenging. There are all kinds of things happening in this text. References to the Hebrew Bible, a quote from the prophets, a geography lesson, an account of miracles, an accusation of the disciples being drunk.

At its core, however, Pentecost is a crowning moment in Jesus’ mission and ministry. This is a day when we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit that has been breathed into us through Jesus. As we receive this breathe, we are sent to be witnesses to God’s love in and for the world.

I’m guessing that all of us have an experience of a communication breakdown. Miscommunication about one thing or another is one of the most common challenges that many of us experience in relationships. Clear communication is difficult.
I was taking an MBA class several years ago. The professor would break us into small study groups and give us case studies from different companies. We would study a variety of situations that these companies faced and offer possible solutions that may have been pursued. Often the challenges that these companies faced was the result of some misunderstood communication that had taken place.

Most of our case studies where similar to a story like this one about a homeowner who took great pride in his home. He insisted that only the best materials and products be used to care for it. So much so that he once wrote a letter to the manufacture of the cast iron pipes he had used in his plumbing, letting them know that he had found pouring hydrochloric acid down his drain was a fantastic way to clean the grease from his clogged pipes. He wrote to the manufacturer to make sure that there was no way using this acid was going to be harmful to the pipes.

The manufacturer quickly wrote him back saying, “Thank you for your letter. The effect of such acid upon ferrous-constructed materials is certain to be deleterious. We therefore strongly urge you to cease such activity in the interest of the future of your plumbing.”

He read their letter and responded, thanking them for their letter and telling them that he was relieved that he was doing the right thing in using the acid on the pipes.

Another letter came from the manufacturer. “We fear that there may have been some miscommunication in our correspondence. Acid, of that density, applied to cast iron pipe, is certain to have dubious results. Therefore, please desist from your current practices.”

The homeowner read the letter, wrote back, again thanking the company for its response and telling them once again that he was delighted that he was doing nothing that might harm the pipes.

Finally, the frustrated manufacturer sent a final letter by overnight express delivery. In big bold capital letters on the manufacturer’s letterhead, they wrote, “DON’T USE ACID. IT RUSTS AND DESTROYS THE PIPES!”

That might be similar to what happened when the breathe of the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on that first Pentecost day. In the roaring wind and tongues of fire, something extraordinary happened. Something that changed the world and all followers of the risen Christ forever. Something in big bold capital letters from God that said, “I am giving you the breathe of the Holy Spirit. This is a good thing!!” Did they understand it? Did they know what had just happened?

There’s a wonderful old children’s story about a shark and a whale who were good friends. They were swimming along one day in the sea when the shark asked the whale, “You are so much older than I, and wiser too. Could you tell me where the ocean is?” The whale smiled gently and said, “The ocean is what you are in now.” The shark couldn’t possibly believe that. “Come on, tell me where the ocean is so I can find it!” The whale repeated, “The ocean is here, now; you are in it.” Still unbelieving, the shark swam away disgusted, still searching for the ocean.

Brothers and sisters in Christ – don’t spend too much time looking for God, the spirit of God is here, now, all around you in the now of your life, dwelling within you, within me, and within this community of faith called Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. On that first Pentecost day, the breathe of the Holy Spirit was given to all who believe in the risen savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

Luther Seminary Professor David Lose wrote this about Pentecost this week, “In the cross of Christ, we see God’s strength mediated through suffering, God’s victory achieved through defeat, and new life pledged and provided through death. The crucified and resurrected God we meet in Jesus is a God of paradox, and so we should look for no less in God’s Holy Spirit.”

Receiving the breathe of the Holy Spirit – a gift that you and I are given in the water and word of Holy Baptism – is a communication from God that we must not receive lightly. This communication is the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, in big bold capital letters on God’s letterhead, that sends us into a broken world to be witnesses of God’s love using language that every broken heart can hear and understand.

Because we know what it is like to be broken by hatred and judgment, you and I can share with others the healing love of Christ’s sacrifice.

Because we know what it is like to be broken by despair, you and I can share with others the healing hope of Christ’s forgiveness.

Because we know what it is like to be broken by doubt, you and I can share with others the healing faith of Christ’s promises.

Because we know what it is like to be broken by illness, you and I can share with others the healing wholeness of Christ’s resurrection.

Because the Holy Spirit continues to breathe through us today, you and I can share with others the healing presence of God’s love for all people in everything that we say and do.

May God richly bless and keep you this week as you live and serve with the breath of the Holy Spirit rushing through you that changes the world each and every day.

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John 14:15-31 • May 29, 2011

Brothers and sisters in Christ grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus. Amen.

My family and I just returned home after spending some time at seminary for graduation in Berkeley and a little vacation in the San Francisco bay area. It was nice to be away and it’s good to be home. The sermon I had prepared prior to leaving for this trip was much different than the one that I felt God calling me to offer in the midst of the events in our community and around the world.

Just a short time ago, about six weeks to be exact, Christian communities gathered in worship around the world with shouts Hosanna! Alleluia! and Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Do we still have the same passion and intensity on our hearts and minds today? That Jesus really is risen and with us?

Today, when every person who calls Bismarck or Mandan their home is experiencing or should be experiencing a bit of anxiety as we look toward an uncertain future. In the coming weeks, the community that we love may face more significant flooding that we haven’t seen in generations.

Today, as we ask questions like “why did this happen?” or “how can this happen?” following the incredible destruction that our brothers and sisters in Missouri are recovering from after a catastrophic tornado.

Today, when we celebrate and remember veterans who have served or are currently serving our country on Memorial Day. We remember and celebrate, knowing that the hell of war and unspeakable violence still exists in our world.

It’s good that we are together. We need to be together today. When life delivers bad news about how far apart we are from one another or why there aren’t simple answers to our questions during extreme events like natural disasters or how will the broken relationships that bring violence and war into our world ever be healed. We need to hear Jesus speak to us in these times saying, “I will not leave you orphaned.” Jesus is our assurance from God that we are never alone.

Ann Landers was a newspaper advice columnist for 56 years with the Chicago Sun Times. On average she would receive about 10,000 letters a month from people seeking advice through her column. Ann was often asked what was the most common theme of these letters. With little hesitation she would say that most people seem to be afraid of something. They are afraid of losing their health, their job, or their family. They are afraid of upsetting their neighbor, alienating a friend, or committing a social faux pas. Many are even afraid when there is no reason to be afraid.

C.S. Lewis had an interesting perspective that he called the “Christianity and Syndrome.” Lewis said that one of the biggest issues followers of Jesus have is their never ending quest to link their faith to some other cause to which we are partial and say “this is the center of our faith.” And so we hear things like, our main focus must be “Christianity and Social Action, or Christianity and a Twelve Step Program, or Christianity and the Republican or Democratic Platform, or Christianity and your social or economic status, or Christianity and anything else you want to insert.

Lewis’ insight is this. As soon as you add an “and” to Christianity you have lost the focus. A Christian speaks to all of the issues I just offered and many more, but every one of them is peripheral to who we are. We are not Christians and something else; we are Christians.

The promise that we receive today in John’s gospel reminds us once again who we are. You and I are Christian – followers of the risen Jesus Christ. Not one of us sitting here in worship or assisting with any concern or issue that we are facing is ever separated in any way.

We are not Christian and people who live in North Dakota that are removed from the devastation in Joplin, Missouri or the war torn regions of the world. We are not Christian and people who live in areas of Bismarck or Mandan not affected by flooding situations that we face. We are Christian.

Jesus only gives us one commandment in John’s gospel – to love. In the chapter right before today’s text Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

In John, chapter 15 Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

And in our gospel today, we hear Jesus say, “If you love me, your will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.” The Advocate that Jesus is speaking of is a name for the Holy Spirit that is unique to John’s gospel. It means “one who is called alongside.” This Advocate comes to give us the strength and energy to do what we have to do, to live in the love poured out for us in Christ, and to be witnesses of this love to everyone we encounter.

To be witnesses of this love, a Christian does not stop shouting for joy in the resurrection as soon as the ham from Easter Sunday is gone. To be witnesses of this love, a Christian may experience fear at times, but is never alone in those times. To be witnesses of this love, a Christian does not exist in the ands of the world.
At the end of the day, and really every moment of every day, to be witnesses of this love, how will you and I, as Christians, answer this question “How did I or did I not love today?”

As you leave worship today, you’ll notice that I’ve placed a couple of mirrors at the exits. I hope that as you look in these mirrors, you will see who you are. You are a Christian, a follower of the risen Jesus Christ. And because of who you are, you are never alone. May the reflection of God’s love for you that you see in these mirrors walk with you this week as you become a reflection of God’s love to everyone you meet, whether you are sandbagging or building a levee; celebrating a graduation or Memorial Day event; or actively holding your brothers and sisters in need in prayer. You are a witness of God’s love in the world. Amen.