Sermon: Spirit Poured Out

 

Sermon for Pentecost XXIII, Proper 25C

St. Philip’s In The Hills Parish, Tucson, AZ

The Rev. Vicki K. Hesse, October 27, 2013

Lectionary readings for the day, click here.

Sermon based on Joel 2:23-32

“O Children of God, rejoice and be glad,

for God will pour out God’s spirit upon all flesh.”

Amen

Good morning.  It is good to be with you today and

always a joy to share in a baptism!

Our readings today are so rich. 

The Hebrew Scripture from the prophet Joel is the same text

that Peter used on Pentecost when

“suddenly from heaven there came the sound

like the rush of a violent wind…

and all of them gathered were filled with the Holy Spirit.” 

This scene appears in the book of Acts and

recalls Joel’s prophetic news that

God would pour out God’s spirit upon all flesh. 

Bishop Gene Robinson[1] tells the story of a time when

"…A priest in a large church in Florida…

decided to dramatize the Holy Spirit coming like wind

in a spectacular way.

The priest got [an] engine out of

one of the boats used in the Everglades—

an airplane propeller attached to a big gasoline engine—

and mounted it in the choir loft high

in the back of the church.

{The idea was that} wind from the propeller

would blow out across the congregation

when the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit was read.

It seemed like a great idea.

The priest and an usher gave it a dry run

on Saturday afternoon, and although it was incredibly noisy,

it worked just fine, and promised

a spectacular effect for Sunday morning. 

So when the great moment arrived,

and the lector read,

"And suddenly from heaven there came a sound

like the rush of a violent wind and it filled the entire house,"

well, at that moment, the engine coughed once and

then howled into life. 

But the effect was a little different

than it had been at rehearsal. 

The sudden screaming gust of wind sent sheet music

and bulletins flying out over the congregation. 

Coiffures came undone and hair streamed out from faces. 

The preacher's sermon notes were gone with the wind…

Everything was messy, and noisy, and

absolutely unpredictable.

And that's just the way it is with the Spirit. 

It's that part of God that

refuses to be contained in the little boxes we create

for God to live in,

safely confined to the careful boundaries

we set for God's Spirit. 

The problem is--and the possibility is—

God just won't stay put. 

And God won't let you and me stay put,

content to believe what we've always believed,

what we've always been taught,

what we've always assumed…” 

.

Today, in Joel, we read about God’s offer of plenty, of promise, of possibility. 

But it wasn’t all good news in the book of Joel. 

See, in a nutshell,

the book tells how swarms of locusts came

as a punishment to the people.

Joel called the people of Israel

to repent by worship and fasting.

(In fact, we use verses from chapter 2 in our

Ash Wednesday service to guide us

in worship and fasting before Lent.)

Joel says that if Israel repents and returns to the Lord,

that army of locusts will leave and never return. 

Not only that, Joel announces,

God will respond to those lamentations in a kindly way.

Joel’s initial message of woe is replaced by

a message of hope. 

Joel’s message of trouble is replaced by

a message of possibility.

“O children of God,

be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God…”

for God has given early rain, full threshing floors,

overflowing vats, satisfying banquets and inspiring worship.

Joel tells the people to rejoice

not only over restoring the fertility of the ground,  

but even more importantly over

restoring the covenant relationship with God.

The restoration of the covenant with God.

Joel’s message for the people was all about

restoring relationship with God

and with each other. 

And, the God who promised, in free grace,

to restore abundant life to Joel’s people

is the same God who offers us salvation;

the same God who pours out God’s spirit onto all flesh;

the same God who will pour out the Spirit onto

today in her baptism.

During the liturgy of the Baptism,

take note that we invoke God’s Spirit

more than a dozen times. 

By this initiation into the Church,

into Christ’s Body,

a holy and life-giving spirit will again be poured out

and our relationship with God will be restored and refreshed.

As we renew our own Baptismal Covenant, recall for yourself: how and when God first poured God’s spirit into your heart, how and when you felt that new exhalation of divine breath, how and when you felt God’s love and forgiveness deep in your bones. 

*pause*

“Then afterward,

I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy…

On everyone,

God says,

I will pour out my spirit…”

With vibrant, inclusive language,

we hear one of the few times in the Hebrew Scripture

of women who prophesy.

, we have big plans for you!

And God has big plans for us. 

Just as Joel called the people to be glad and rejoice in plenty,

Joel calls us to retrain our vision away from trouble and lack,

toward possibility, and

toward the promise of God’s Love.

Who are we to know what God is about to reveal?

What if God is about to do something good

and we miss it because we are too scared to look? 

How is God calling us, this day,

to use our plenty, our possibilities,

to work for the coming of God’s justice in the world?

·        Perhaps God is calling you to take part in

the cleanup effort of schools in the budget-weary TUSD through the Adopt-a-School program or

by helping build homes in partnership with community members and low-income families through

Habitat for Humanity.

·        Perhaps God is calling you to teach or

offer homework tutoring with the ASMP, or serve on Altar Guild, or pray in fellowship with the DOK.

·        Perhaps God is nudging you to use your well-educated

voice towards immigration reform or for the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger.

·        Perhaps God is guiding you to pledge a tithe this year

in connection to a deepening of your faith and

an awareness of God’s love in your heart?

God has big plans for us and pours God’s spirit on us,

giving us the strength and hope

for the coming of God’s reign here on earth. 

Joel proclaimed God’s promise,

“You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,

and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.” 

We hear this echoed in John’s Gospel that

“the word became flesh and dwelt among us and

we have seen his glory, the glory as of the father’s only son.”

God is in the mist of us, here!

Today, God is calling us to use our gifts, our plenty, to work for the coming of God’s reign. 

Today we are called to imagine what Joel’s vision of salvation

means in our day – to imagine the possibilities.

Today, God promises that everyone who calls on

the name of the Lord will be saved.

May we, this day, respond to God’s plenty,

God’s promise and God’s possibility – and

become re-enchanted with the world that God has made. 

God has big plans for us to make it even better.

Rejoice! Be glad!

Amen.

---

[1] The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, In The Eye of the Storm: Swept To The Center By God (Seabury Books, 2008) 9-10

Sermon: Teresa of Avila

Sermon for October 15, 2013 ~ 10:00 Healing Service

Feast Day of Teresa of Avila, Nun

St. Philip’s In The Hills Parish, Tucson, AZ

The Rev. Vicki K. Hesse

For online access to the readings click here. Matthew 5:13-16

I speak to you in the name of One God, Father Son and Holy Ghost. Amen

Today is the feast day of Teresa of Avila. 

She is well-known as a Spanish mystic and some of you may know of her already?

I am curious what you know about Teresa?

You may have heard some of these quotes?

Born in 1515 in Avila, Spain, she was formed at the time

of “the Renaissance” –

of the “discovery” of America

of the realization that the earth was round

Old and sacred certainties were less certain.

May things were doubted, questioned, researched, discovered.

Humans were becoming aware of their “interiority.”

Sounds like she could inform us today!

Teresa became

          A mystic

a religious reformer,

founder of convents,

author of four books,

the first woman to be raised as Doctor of the Catholic Church and

considered one of the great masters of Christian prayer.

Her biography includes these snippets:

·        Include from Holy Women Holy Men

o       Close spiritual friend of St. John of the Cross

o       Took pleasure in the study of the saints’ lives and “used to delight in spending times of contemplation, repeating, “for ever, for ever, for ever, for ever, they shall see God.”[1]

·        Born into nobility, her mother died when she was 14

·        Nearly died when she was 24 but attributed her cure to St. Joseph’s intercession

·        Experienced profound conversion when she was 44

·        Performed a miracle when she was 46, bringing her nephew back to life

·        Finished her book The Life…a collection of her works and memoir at age 52, followed by The Way of Perfection and her Meditations on the Song of Songs

·        At age 56 she founded seven convents

·        She was denounced in the Inquisition at Seville and ordered to retire at age 60, but she did not.  She wrote The Interior Castle and continued directing the convents, experiencing declining health due to an accident falling down stairs.

·        Despite the demands of her administrative and missionary work, Teresa found time to write numerous letters.

·        She proved to be gifted with practical organizing skills, warm friendship, and a lover of and beloved of God.

·        She dies on October 4, 1582, but that was the year the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, so the date became October 15.

If I was to introduce you to her at a party,

I would remark about her commitment to the interior life.

This commitment was very ordinary and very accessible for us,

mere humans who are not saints. 

She followed the St. Ignatius of Loyola “exercises”

for discernment and prayer. 

I recently found this little book in the library,

“15 Days of Prayer with Saint Teresa of Avila,”

by Jean Abiven a devoted student of Carmelite spirituality.

The book opens with,

“You are going to spend fifteen days, dear reader friend,

in the company of Teresa of Avila, or more precisely,

you will spend fifteen days in the company of the Lord

with Teresa’s help…”[2]

The introduction continues to reveal that

Teresa’s writings inform these prayer periods. 

“…[here,]…we find the progression of a soul,

which…asks itself fundamental questions,

battles against sin,

gives itself to Christ with all of its spark,

a soul which must continue to discern

how to read him in daily life and

how to recognize him through the [blessings] received…” 

Indeed, the author relays,

“…the actions of her whole life serve as witnesses

to a constant prayerful union with the Lord.”

Here are the stages that Jean Abiven proposes

for his “15 days of Prayer”

·        Days 1 and 2: Getting onto the road: How do we pray? Who am I in the eyes of God?

·        Days 3 and 4: The merciful benevolence of the Savior to the sinner that I am.

·        Days 5, 6, and 7: Jesus presents himself to me, asking, “Do you want to follow me?”

·        Days 8 and 9: What do I do, Lord, to join you?

·        Days 10, 11, and 12: Discerning the Lord’s initiatives.

·        Days 13, 14, and 15: Remaining united to him in our daily lives through service to the Church.

In each of these daily reflections,

Teresa provides a kind of spiritual banquet,

with include scriptures and poetic writings

For example, The Business of Friendship (p. 1)

It seems to me that these reflections

bring Teresa into our midst, this day.

Today’s Gospel reading from the Sermon on the Mount, connects us to Teresa’s devotion to the interior life.

In today’s passage about being the salt of the earth

and the light of the world,

we can imagine Teresa meditated and prayed about this. 

Her commitment to interiority is what kept her soul “salty” and her light shining.

I found that The Message provides a fresh interpretation, in our own vernacular:

¹³ “Let me tell you why you are here.

You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out

the God-flavors of this earth.

If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness?

You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

^14-16 “Here’s another way to put it:

You’re here to be light,

bringing out the God-colors in the world.

God is not a secret to be kept. …

If I make you light-bearers,

you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand.

Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop,

on a light stand—shine!

Keep open house; be generous with your lives.

By opening up to others,

you’ll prompt people to open up with God,

this generous Father in heaven.

And so, this day, as we commemorate Teresa of Avila,

may we find ourselves committed anew to our interior life. 

May we be the salt-seasoning that

brings out the God-flavors of the earth in all our relationships

– family, friends, co-workers, and even our enemies. 

With God’s grace fresh in our lives,

may we be generous with our lives,

opening our interior life with others and

sharing the God-colors in the world. 

May we know that God loves us all, generously, freely, faithfully. 

Amen.

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[1] Holy Women, Holy Men, p. 638

[2] Jean Abiven, 15 Days of Prayer with Saint Teresa of Avila