Sermon Notes May 31st, 2009
(Pentecost) Testify!
(Acts 2:1-21 )
Pentecost is the birth of the
church. After his resurrection Jesus appeared to his disciples and instructed
them for 40 days. Then he ascended into heaven. Jesus had told the disciples
not to leave Jerusalem and to wait for the gift
God had promised: While staying with
them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem,
but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is
what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”(Acts 1:4=5)
The newly formed Christian
community was all gathered together in one place for the feast of Pentecost.
Pentecost was originally a festival marking the first harvest of the growing
season. And the Christian community wasn’t church yet. But on that festival
they became church because they received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And now for the Christian
community worldwide Pentecost isn’t marking the first harvest of the season anymore,
but it is marking the birthday of the church.
We are church when filled with
the Holy Spirit. There is no church without the Holy Spirit. There is no church
without this fire that lights the darkness. This fire burns in us. We receive
this fire of the Holy Spirit in our baptism. But we are not meant to keep this
fire for ourselves. We are not meant to keep God’s light for ourselves. This
light of God needs to be spread – wants to be spread. God’s light wants to
shine through us. We are meant to radiate this light of God. We are meant to
let everyone see that the fire of the Holy Spirit is burning in us.
And that is the second item
that makes the church church: Spreading the light of God, spreading the fire of
the Holy Spirit. Because Pentecost didn’t end with: All of them were filled with
the Holy Spirit. The sentence continues: All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak! Even in other
languages.
Church is the
community of people who are filled with the Holy Spirit AND who tell the story
of God’s unconditional love. Church is the community of people who go out –
driven by this burning fire within them – and SHARE the Good News.
We as Lutherans are
very tempted to keep this little light of ours to ourselves. We are tempted to
keep our faith to ourselves. We are tempted to keep to ourselves what God does
in our lives, how he changes us. But we must begin to speak.
And there is no
wiggling out of this. There is no detour. This is something we have to do as children of the light.
This makes many of us very uncomfortable. But we need to get over it. We need
to tell our story with God. We need to tell others how God impacts our lives.
We need to tell others about the God-moments in our lives.
So think a few
minutes about God-moments your life. Ask yourself: How does God impact my life?
Was there a moment in my life when I was filled with joy? Was there a
conversation that gave me an insight? Think of a moment when you thought: Wow,
this did something to me!
Take some time to
remember these God-moments in your life, and then tell someone about it!
I very recently had
a Go-moment myself. A few weeks ago I received the sad news that a friend of
mine in Germany
had passed away. I was so sad and full of self pity that I could not call her
anymore to chat with her on the phone for hours. I was sad that I had lost
something: a loving and caring friend. I had the feeling that something had
been taken away from me. And yes, even as a pastor the thought crossed my mind:
“How can God do this to me?”
And then, a two
days after I had received that message, I was driving in my car and listening
to a country song (I am usually not too much into Country). It was “Sissy’s
Song” by Alan Jackson and the refrain really struck me:
She
flew up to Heaven on the wings of angels
By the clouds and stars and passed where no one sees
And she walks with Jesus and her loved ones waiting
And I know she's smiling saying
Don't worry 'bout me
Although the woman Alan
Jacksons sings about was much younger when she died, these words exactly
described my friend. I could picture her flying into heaven on the wings of
angels. And even more important: I KNEW from the bottom of my heart that she
walks with Jesus. (Although it would be more like her to go camping with
Jesus.) And I knew at that moment that she is smiling and saying: don’t worry
’bout me. Because this is who she is.
This knowledge deep in my heart
gave me comfort. This knowledge pulled me out of my self pity and filled me
with peace. These few minutes in the car were a few minutes of experiencing
God’s unconditional love.
And now it’s your turn: Let
your light so shine before others!
Amen
