Sermon: Pentecost Promises

Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay

Pentecost Sunday, Year C

The Rev. Vicki K. Hesse,

Director of the Whitaker Institute,

Episcopal Diocese of Michigan

St. James Episcopal Church, Dexter, MI

Sermon Preached on June 9, 2019

May the words of my mouth 

and the meditation of all our hearts

be acceptable to you, O Lord, 

our strength and our redeemer. Amen

Good morning, St. James! What joy to be with you again.

My name is The Rev. Vicki Hesse and I serve as

the Director of the Whitaker Institute,

the educational arm of the Diocese. 

As you may know, Mother Carol is on Sabbatical,

so it is my honor to be with you today on this special feast day,

Pentecost! 

At 8:15am – ask who knows what Pentecost means?

In the early church, “Pentecost” happened

when the Holy Spirit entered the community

after Jesus ascended to heaven.

Jesus promised to send “The Advocate” – the Holy Spirit –

to teach the gathered community and

to remind them of all that Jesus had done. 

Literally, Pentecost translates to “the fiftieth day.”

-         in both the Hebrew and Christian tradition. 

The day marks a Jewish feast seven weeks after Passover

and marks a Christian feast 50 days after Easter, when Jesus died, was resurrected and then ascended – that’s when

the Holy Spirit arrived (as we read infrom Acts).

At 8:15am – ask for us, what is the meaning of Pentecost? 

Pentecost, the arrival of the Holy Spirit,

annually points us to God’s power of Love.

We say we are “filled with the Holy Spirit” when we are:

inspired, creative, argumentative yet persuadable,

or when we are:

broken at the suffering in the world

or moved to pity at the sight of loss and grief.

The Holy Spirit works through the mystery of sitting in prayer and the power of inviting God’s unpredictable presence

to transform us as a community – like we did at the Bishop election last Saturday. (Who was there?)

…. That is Pentecost –the birth // day of the Church!

The reading in Acts today describes Peter’s Pentecost, that day

standing among the disciples,

in the midst of that rush of violent wind,

among all the devout people

hearing in their own languages

the testimony of God’s power. Can you imagine?

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 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.”

P1 – they were bewildered and asked what does this mean

Peter’s first Pentecost must have been like that,

when the disciples heard a sound like the rush

of a violent wind, filling the entire house

 and all began to speak in the native language of each.

That Holy Spirit shook things up;

just like Jesus did in his testimony to the truth –

which, of course, got him in trouble. 

That Holy Spirit prompted the disciples

“…to make disturbing, disruptive,

and world-changing testimony

and call into question the values of the world.”[2]

That Holy Spirit bewildered those present,

arriving like a violent wind,

with tongues of flame and

voices speaking in many languages –

this was a totally new moment for everyone!

That Holy Spirit!

So of course, they were bewildered, perplexed,

And asked, “what does this mean?”

P2 – we are bewildered and ask what does this mean

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

[The Spirit is] 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…”[3] 

See, in Greek, the word for Holy Spirit is “Paraclete,” which means one who “comes alongside another.”[4]

So it is, today, when *that Holy Spirit or Paraclete

comes alongside to strengthen us or

to rile us up for the work ahead or

to prompt or invigorate us into action.

*That Holy Spirit equips us

for the work of ministry

with a bewildering conviction.

*That Holy Spirit pushes us

beyond what we imagined and stirs things up.

*That Holy Spirit reminds us that

God’s way is different than the World’s way.

*That Holy Spirit comes alongside

our visceral anger at other’s incivility.

*That Holy Spirit activates our hearts

with compassionate grief

when someone innocent suffers for no reason.

So of course, we are bewildered, perplexed,

And ask, “what does this mean?”

P3. God surprised them with visions and dreams of what is possible

For those disciples, that day,

*the Holy Spirit promoted new visions and dreams

of what could be possible

when the Spirit moved in their hearts

and fueled them forward.

God surprised them with enormous possibility

through the Holy Spirit.

P4. God surprises us with visions and reams of what is possible

Nd, God surprises us, today, with possibilities too!

The Holy Spirit comes alongside us with newness:

new stories to tell,

new mercies to share,

new love to spread,

new anger to be fueled

new voice to get us out of our box. 

Are you bewildered by your life or this world? 

Great! Because this Pentecost,

God promises to surprise you and to mix things up! 

Perhaps the Holy Spirit might guide you to

·        Begin your meal by holding hands and

saying to the person on your right,

“You are the temple of God

and the Holy Spirit dwells within you.”

OR

·        Find someone who “speaks” another “language” –

(literally or metaphorically) and you take time

to listen with the ear of your heart,

even (or especially) when you disagree.

·        Invite family and friends to your special

to a Pentecost birth day party for the church!  

Standing in a circle you can share Holy Spirit bewilderments or blessings!

The younger people may want to share visions,

and the older people, dreams.

Then, raise your goblets and toast "To the Holy Spirit"!

This Pentecost, the good news is that

the Holy Spirit wants you to experience the power of Love

the possibility of Hope and the promise of Faith.

Happy Birth Day, Church!

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

[2] David Lose, “Come Alongside” sermon notes sides here on June 7, 2019.

[3] Ibid. Robinson

[4] Ibid. Lose

Sermon: Human Need Knows No Law

Sermon Preached on June 3, 2018

Proper 4B RCL

The Rev. Vicki K. Hesse

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Clinton

Video found here.

Good morning.   

Thank you for the invitation to be with you today. 

My name is Rev. Vicki Hesse and

I serve the Diocese as the Director of the Whitaker Institute.

Who here has taken a class from the Whitaker Institute? 

The Whitaker Institute is the educational arm of the Diocese.

Our overall purpose is (slowly)

to form disciples to carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ.

(that’s a big mission but we have a big God!)

We do this forming in three ways:

by educating, equipping and empowering

members of our faith community with lifelong formation.

Three programs you may know include Safe Church courses,

“Exploring Your Spiritual Journey” for anyone (lay or called to ordination) and

“Academy for Vocational Leadership,” a local school for ordained ministry.

These are only three of several programs.

Perhaps there will be time at coffee hour

to learn more about learning and working together

for mutual transformation.

So thank you Rev. Susie, for your invitation to be here today. 

Now, we take a deep breath and remember

we are always in God’s loving presence.

May the words of my mouth

and the mediation of all our hearts be acceptable to you,

O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

Sabbath.  Our first reading offered an exposition

on this 4^th of the ten commandments,

“Observe the sabbath day and keep in holy.”

The gospel text, set on the Sabbath,

challenges us with a message

of love and compassion in the face of human need.

Sabbath.  What is the Sabbath?

The dictionary says,

“A day of religious observance and abstinence from work,

kept by Jews from Friday evening to Saturday evening,

and by most Christians on Sunday.”

In his book, The Sabbath[1],

Rabbi Abraham Heschel defines Sabbath

– that portion of Torah “Law” as,

“…a Divine paradigm of understanding time.” (show book)

In the prologue, Rabbi Heschel’s daughter

describes the “anticipatory delight” of preparing for Sabbath as a child.

She writes:

When my father raised his Kiddush cup on Friday evenings,

closed his eyes and chanted the prayer sanctifying the wine,

I always felt a rush of emotion. 

As he chanted with an old, sacred family melody,

he blessed the wine and the Sabbath with his prayer,

and I also felt he was blessing my life and that of everyone at the table….

I felt transformed, emotionally and physically. 

The sense of peace that came upon us

as we kindled the candle lights

was created, in part, by the hectic tension of Fridays. 

Preparation for a holy day,

my father often said, was as important as the day itself. 

When suddenly it was time, twenty minutes before sunset,

whatever hadn’t been finished in the kitchen we simply left behind

as we lit the candles and blessed the arrival of the Sabbath. 

My father wrote,

“The Sabbath comes like a caress, wiping away fear, sorrow and somber memories.”[2]

Rabbi Heschel teaches about this spiritual practice of sanctifying time.

Perhaps a book study for your next group?

In our Christian tradition, certain practices evolved from Judaism,

such as confession, worship, and adoration

– all of which mark time as holy.

You know, of course, that in the book of Genesis,

at the end of the creation story, “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.”

Heschel, “…for six days a week

we live under the tyranny of space:

on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. 

It is day we are called to share what is eternal –

from “the world of creation” to the “creation of the world.”

This sacred time invites you

to hear the soft whisper of God’s voice,

“ye shall not kindle any fire.”

No fire, not in my heart, or for my needs, or with others.

For many years, my Sabbath agenda

has been rest and renewal, soft and gentle.

So there we have context

why the gospel today made me squirm:

a confrontation between holy law-keeping and holy people-saving.

The clue for me was Jesus’ anger.

The Gospel begins with the Pharisees confrontation.

They valued that law-to-keep-Sabbath over human need.

With a little exploration, it turns out that

“unlawful eating of food on the sabbath” was fake news.

Jesus didn’t break a sabbath law.

The law about which the Pharisees had a problem

was one that forbids harvesting a neighbor’s crop

(Deut 23: 24-25 if you are interested).

Jesus explains that what David did

(eating the bread of the presence when they were hungry)

was far worse than just rubbing kernels of grain together for a snack.

And although the Pharisees mixed up the details of their complaint,

Jesus knew their intentions.

Then, real trouble began.

He blew their socks off with this new paradigm:

“the sabbath was made for humankind,

not humankind for the sabbath.”

Jesus’ offered a new idea: human need knows no Law. 

Mercy and compassion overruled compliance with the 4^th commandment. 

Jesus turned the Law upside-down.

Then, Jesus did it again. He provoked them:

“Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath?”

But they were silent.

Jesus then conveyed his humanity

– looking at them with anger.

Time stopped. Jesus kindled a fire in his heart!

He was grieved at their hardness of heart.

The bubble over Jesus’ head was surely written in all caps:

“HUMAN NEED KNOWS NO LAW!”

and afterwards, the man stretched out his hand, it was restored.

And… Jesus’ upside-down gospel tests us.

Sometimes, our society, our institutions, or our government,

also value the law over human need.

See, the validity of any institution

lies outside of itself. 

Just as

“the sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the sabbath,”

The Church was made for humankind, not humankind for the church.

So, the church’s true and only authority lies in its service to humankind.

The holiness of the church arises, surprisingly,

from the church’s own power

(from a faith community’s ability)

to adjust to changing times,

through ministries that respond

to the community’s human needs.

When we, in the church, ask, “Does this ministry fit into our tradition?”

– that is when Jesus asks us to turn the question upside down with,

“Does this ministry do good to humankind?”

Sometimes, we wonder how can we keep Sabbath

with all the need in the world? 

How can we serve others

when we are aging and less able? 

Jesus turns the question upside down when human needs are at stake.

Because in human-serving ministries,

the Holy Spirit invigorates participants

and provides the will and courage

to become the beloved community.

To be concrete, a little research on “human need” in Lenawee county

revealed that the “meal gap” is large.

The Meal Gap is the difference between

those who actually receive meal assistance

(~11% of county residents who are on SNAP, or WIC, or free lunch at school)

and

those whose income level qualifies them to receive assistance

but they do not pursue it, for many reasons

          (~75% of county residents[3])

The human need right here is for nearly 65,000 people

who live in this Meal Gap zone.

These people can use assistance to meet their hunger. 

You, the congregation of St. John’s in Clinton,

can make a difference with this potential “freezer meal ministry”

or by partnering with an organization like “Neighbors of Hope.”

Our gospel text today offers a timeless perspective:

God prioritizes human need over human law.

So what if…

What if the sanctity of keeping sabbath law in Jesus’ day

is like the sanctity of our national anthem on Memorial day? [4] 

I wonder if Jesus would take a knee while everyone else remains standing.

What if the sanctity of keeping sabbath law in Jesus’ day

is like the sanctity of our national immigration law,

which punishes people who “break the law” seek refuge at the US border

by separating them from their children?

I wonder if Jesus would welcome them with hospitality and offer an abundant life.

Today’s Gospel message to prioritize human need over human law

might trigger anger to arise in us. 

That anger – grounded in the yearning for God’s justice –

might fuel us to respond to the human need. 

That anger – fueled by our feeling out of control

might invite us to discover how our personal power might be threatened. 

That anger – manifest in our own atrophied hands

might be just the boost we need to respond to human need.

And turn our world upside down.

The good news today is that Jesus stretches out his hands to us. 

He is with us in the holiness of this time,

empowering us to offer our whole lives

to serve human need above human law. 

So today, during communion,

I invite you to come forward,

to stretch out your hand,

to be blessed and empowered in the name of Jesus

to join with him in the business of

serving human need over human law. 

Stretch our your hands. 

Become the beloved community

that makes God’s love real in the world. 

Come, stretch out your hands

so that Jesus can meet you in eternity of Sabbath

and delight in your presence with all of God’s creation.

Come, be restored!

---

[1] Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath: its meaning for modern man, (New York, Farrar Straus and Giroux, 1951)

[2] Heschel, vii-viii

[3] According to the 2017 Mind The Meal Gap by Feeding America, downloaded on May 28, 2018.

[4] Facebook posting by friend and pastoral mentor, Tommy Airey author for Radical Discipleship, following his work in the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival in Lansing, MI on May 31, 2018.