After having not posted sermons in some time, I return with last Sunday's Pentecost Sermon.
God Bless You,
Pastor Thomas Keeley
Pentecost
2012
Very few people living in this part of the world will not
have had the experience of
spending some time in the airport. A precious few will never have had
stood at a bus stop. These places—airports and bus stops-- are not destinations
for most people. In fact, those who simply hang around bus stops are often
considered loiterers. And while
airport amenities have improved drastically over the last few years with
the inclusion of Tim Hortons and Starbucks, I would guess that most people
would prefer the coffee shop on the corner to the YVR version of their favorite
coffee hang-out. When we are at
the bus-stop we are usually going from somewhere we’ve been, to somewhere we
are going Bus stops and airports and train stations are transitional places.
It
is harder for us to think of this
world we live in as being a transitional place. We live with a sense of
permanence, with a solid ground beneath us—most of the time—laws of nature,
regularities we can count on. But even just by looking out into the world,
looking at ourselves in the mirror, and those people closest to us, we know
that change is a reality. The world is constantly changing, constantly in flux.
Even ten years ago, people never heard of things like texting, Facebook,
Twitter. Yet, these, what are now called social media, are coming to define the
way people interact. Nothing stays the same, we are told. I believe that Socrates said that the
only constant is change. Most scientists agree that the sun which makes life on
this planet possible is slowly moving toward the day when it will burnout and
life will cease to exist on this planet.
But
the Bible has a different answer—that change will not ultimately lead to the
end of life in creation, but new life. And that we live within a period where a great transformation will
occur—a great transitional point in history. It was as if the world were
collectively waiting at a bus stop or airport.
Last
week we celebrated ascension Sunday—the day Christ ascended into heaven to
claim his throne as Lord. The day Christians anticipate is the day when he will
exercise his rule in its totality. When that happens there will no longer be
any seperation between heaven and earth, between God and reality, between God
and humans, God and Creation. There will longer be any separation between what
is and what ought to be. This is foundational Christian belief which is
confessed in the Nicene Creed: “He is coming again in glory to judge the living
and the dead. There will be no end
to his kingdom.”
But
that day has not arrived yet—we still anticipate it. Along with the world we
wait for that day when all will be in all. The Apostle Paul likens this
anticipation to the groaning of labour pains. The whole creation waits—waits in
this transitional space where we can look back at what God has done through
Christ, and to what he will ultimately do through Christ. We live at that point
where two great circles intersect. The one circle is the Old Age, the Old
creation, defined by sin and death, and suffering and separation. The second
great circle is the New Age, the New
Creation, defined by peace, eternal life, love, and union between God
and humanity. Christians live in both realities. But it is the reality of the
New Creation which defines us. Christians have received “ the first fruits” of
this new creation.
What nourishes the fruit? Where does the
spiritual food come from? it comes from God. It comes from the Spirit of God.
It comes from the Holy Spirit.
Today
we celebrate that incredible day, the day when Jesus Christ, seated at the
right hand of his heavenly Father sent the Holy Spirit upon his assembled
disciples, those disciples living in the great “in between time”, the very same
time we live in.
That
sounds strange doesn’t it? The idea that we live in the same age as those
gathered disciples—those disciples who were gifted with the Holy Spirit almost
two thousand years ago. But we
do.
You see, the
Bible doesn’t divide history into nice little slices, but into giant swaths. We live in the same age, they lived in,
which is the age of the church. Jesus
Christ sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples on that day, and in so doing
formed his church. We live in the age of the church—and the church has a great
role to play in the unfolding story of God’s redemption of humanity and creation. The church is
the community of believers, the body of Christ, entrusted by Christ to proclaim
the good news, the gospel, to all people, and in fact to creation itself.
Christians
are those who have received and trust in the good news of Jesus, and who,
following his example of love, share in word and deed, the good news with
others, the good news that God has forgiven sin through his son, and through
that forgiveness has and is making all things new. The Holy Spirit has
communicated the truth about God, and has called all who trust in this truth to
proclaim it—proclaim in this great “in between time” world we find ourselves
in. More than that the Holy Spirit guides and directs the proclamation of this
truth. The Holy Spirit gifts people, and helps us in our weakness.
These
days are a challenging time for the church in this part of the world. Some have
even expressed the view that the Christian church is on its way out. It’s no
longer relevant. It is true that
particular institutional structures s, organizations, even denominations, these
yes, these may die, and there is a lot of anxiety and fear and sadness around
those realities.
But
the Christian church which exists across denominations—this will not die. We read in Article 7 of the Augsburg Confession,
in the Lutheran Confessions, “ It is also taught that all times there must be
and remain one holy, Christian church. It is the assembly of all; believers
among whom the gospel is purely preached and the holy sacraments are
administered according to the gospel.” From that day of Holy Pentecost, when
Christ created the church, until today, the church has existed. It has come
through worse times and faced worse challenges than cultural indifference. It has never ceased to exist. Even
beneath the corruption and darkness of the medieval papacy, the light of the gospel
continued to shine. Even within
vile regimes and against incessant
harrassment, Christ has oriented people to the truth.
The Holy
Spirit is at work wherever Christ is confessed and obeyed. In the face of
heresy, of the contentious debates, of corruption, there has been and is one holy catholic and apostolic
church. Catholic means, “universal”, and apostolic means that the church’s
proclamation has been handed down to us by those ambassadors, the apostles,
commissioned to declare to the world
what God has done through Jesus.
Today
is an important day in the life of this congregation, as members vote on the
future direction of pastoral ministry here at Dunbar Lutheran This kind of
discernment cannot be made without the guidance of the spirit, remembering that the Spirit leads us, and not the other way around.
There
is a great temptation in any congregation to pin one’s hopes on the pastor. If
only we get the right pastor all things will be good. If only we got a new,
different, younger, better
looking, more dynamic pastor the church will be filled to the rafters. This is
often thought while few might admit thinking it.
But I use an anology
from sports to challenge this thinking. Do
coaches win Stanley Cups? Do coaches win Grey cups or super-bowls? If only
we get the right coach! How many times
have Canucks fans thought that? Coaches are important, there is no doubt
about it, but the players do the playing. The analogy isn’t perfect. Pastor’s
are players too—kind of like playing coaches, like any Christian the pastor is
called to proclaim the gospel in his or her life.
But the specific call of the pastor is to preach to the mainly
converted, to help people along in their faith journey, to lead and help the
body of Christ discern what the Lord is calling it to. Pastor’s are not priests
because they are pastors, they are pastor’s because
they are priests.
Every
Christian is a priest. You may have heard the term—Priesthood of all believers. Luther
never used it, but it is present throughout his theology.
The call of the pastor is not to do the priestly work of proclamation and witnessing so that other Christians do not have to
do the witnessing which every Christian is called to, which every congregation
is called to. Every member in the body of Christ is like a player in a sports
arena, with a position to play, and is called to play that position to the best
of his or her ability. Imagine if
hockey teams in the NHL mainly sent out the coaches to do the playing? What
would that look like? That’s what happened in the middle ages. The people
called to be the coaches, the first estate, were doing all the playing while
most of the players sat on the bench, and were told that they were unfit—unfit
to even read the Bible for themselves, and that they needed human
intermediaries to have a relationship with God.
That
understanding changed in the reformation, but the unfortunate perception that clergy are uniquely holy,
and the only folks fit for ministry, has persisted. Yes, the office of Pastor
is Hholy and unique, but it is because of what the pastor is called to do; not because of
who the pastor is. The pastor is elected and trained to carry out a very
important ministry of Word and Sacrament, but it is not the only important
ministry.
God
has, through the Holy Spirit, gifted us, invested all Christians, with
different abilities and talents and has done so within the context of our
unique personalities. And I invite
you to reflect for a moment on the gifts you’ve seen manifested in this
congregation. Every Christian is called to ministry, and that ministry is often
exercised within the church building, it is not confined to or limited to the
building. And it is tempting to
downgrade gifts and abilities, and to draw this hard line between the spiritual
and seemingly profane. Some draw
conclusions like this, “ Well, I’ve done some plumbing work around the
church—not very religious or spiritual stuff,” or” I work with finances—the
non-Christian aspect of the operation.” To me, these kinds of statements sound something like, “
I play football. I’m a kicker, not
a real player.” Every position is
vital.
There should be no
benchwarmers in the body of Christ. There is no dividing line which separate
the holy from the seemingly mundane. The question “ How do I be a good Christian?” should not be separated from “ How do I be a
good plummer?” The question rather is
“How do I be a good Christian plummer?’ “ How do I be a good Christian
physician?” “ How do I be a good Christian accountant?” “ All of these
questions ask, “ How do I exercise my God given Christian vocation ? For we are
called to different vocations—husband, wife, mother, father, son, daughter
grandparent, friend. How am I to be a
good Christian priest in any of these areas How
am I to proclaim and witness in this great “ in-between time”, which is the age
of the church. How does this congregation, with all of its gifts and talents
proclaim the gospel and witness to Christ, and his Kingdom come, in words and
deeds?
To
discern these questions we must rely upon the Holy Spirit, which moves in and
through us, guiding us, directing us, and calling us—in ways which might
sometimes be surprising to us.
We
are here for a reason. This little congregation on the hill has a role to play
in a great over-arching cosmic story of God’s redemption of creation. We are
called by the Holy Spirit to be
the presence of Christ in this community in the age of the church, this great
in between time.. We have heard
and will continue to hear the good news, and we must share it
This is why we are here--to hear and to share. The Gospel is our fundamental orientation,
it is our collective spiritual
compass.
It
has been made known to us by the Holy Spirit, which is here and present in this
place, moving through our worship and through our hearts.
Now
may the peace which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus. Amen.
