Finding Faith ... in the Holy Spirit

EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2017 I began a new venture as a synodically authorized minister at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. The ride over the past 3 years has been an amazing journey of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on May 26, 2020. This was the 11th digital service we performed after our church was shuttered because of the COVID pandemic.

So Pentecost Sunday. ... For those of you who have heard me preach for some time over these last two and a halfish years ... some of you will remember that I love the Holy Spirit. And I love preaching about the Holy Spirit because as Lutherans, I think it is the one member of the Holy Trinity that we are often so shy about.

As I was preparing for this service tonight, as I was thinking about the message, I thought to myself, "When was the last time that I saw the Spirit?" And, as silly as it sounds, it was today, right after work, and I had just picked up our dog from the puppy daycare where he goes during the day. I was coming home, and I got to a certain intersection near my place, and many of you are probably familiar with in Moorhead that petroleum depot that is there in central Moorhead. And they have a water runoff lagoon. So every spring there are a bunch of geese that come and they lay their eggs there, and they raise their young. For several weeks they, going on six or eight weeks, we get to watch these gooselings grow up. And they're fairly tame because of the fact that there is no one there to bother them. There is a chain-link fence, and there's no predators.

And today, as I came to this intersection, I looked one way, and there was this line of cars. It was about 10 cars going that way, and 10 cars lined that way. And I was trying to figure out what the hold up was. And there in the middle of the road were two parent geese, and their four gooselings, crossing the road, as slow as they pleased. Out on a Sunday stroll on a Tuesday evening. And remarkably, there sat both lines of cars. No one in a hurry. No one honking their horns. And quite frankly, there were many of the motorists who had giant smiles on their faces. And in my rush to pick up the dog, and drop him off at home, and get here to prepare for service, it was one glorious moment on a summery afternoon where me and 20 other drivers sat and watched two parent geese walk across the road with their four gooselings.

And it was beautiful.

When was the last time you saw the Spirit? ... When was the last time you saw the Spirit move here on earth as God's active hand or Christ's feet?

What I find so fascinating about the Holy Spirit is that it IS the active hand of God here and amongst us . And so when we know that God has moved the axis here on earth. ... When you just absolutely know that there was something holy that happened in your life, or that you witnessed something divine, we know that it was the Spirit that made that action happen.

All of tonight's readings tell us that. It gives us a little more insight into this third member of the Trinity that we aren't that familiar with. But today there are two particular texts that give me goose bumps when I think about them. And the first one, of course, is Acts. ... I was talking with Deb, before she came up to read, that that reading in itself might be a third of the service because it is long, and there are lots of names. But it makes a very poignant point. And what's so cool to me about that story is that in this Bible that is full of remarkable stories, there's two in tonight's readings that stand out for different reasons to me.

Imagine that day of Pentecost that we are told about in Acts where Jews from all over Europe, and all over Asia, and Northern Africa are gathered together for this festival of the Passover. And they happen to be meeting in this house, as our text calls it tonight, but I'm sure it was much more probably like a synagogue, but I don't know for sure. But you have all of these various people who come from different walks of line. And we're told they didn't even speak the same languages. And yet they were there to worship together. They were there to celebrate Passover.

And all of a sudden, "Whooosh!" This violent rush of wind comes into the room, and that is the Spirit ushering itself in. And all throughout the room, as these people, these faithful believers turned and looked at each other, the saw little flames, these little licks of fire that were dancing above the heads of people. It'd be like me now, looking out and seeing that lick of fire sprouting from Austin's head, and Debi's head and Veronica's and Mike's and from paper Barney, and from paper Louie and from paper Rose, and all of the kids who are in the congregation.

I think in that moment how wonderful that sight would have been. And how wonderful that all of a sudden, all of these different Jews, from all these different backgrounds that may have believed slightly different things and spoke different languages and had different ethnicities ... all understood each other.

We're told that in the first reading tonight, where Peter tells us that, "Listen, this is the Spirit. This isn't just some drunkards. This is the Spirit at work, and it has infested each of you." Just as it infests each of us tonight. ... What a beautiful thought!

I think to myself, "Have you ever witnessed that same sight here in this church?" And I know of one particular instance that sticks out for me, and it goes back early in our relationship, during that very first Lenten period that we were together. And I suggested we do this crazy thing called "talking circles." For six weeks, we gathered on Wednesday nights, and had food, and broke bread together, and then we came to the sanctuary. And in the first couple of weeks, although reluctantly, people began to buy into the thought of talking about what was special about service here at Faith Lutheran, and what they wanted to continue, and where they saw our future.

And by the end of those six weeks, I can tell you Faith Family, there were nights on those Wednesdays that I would stand up here, and I, without a doubt, saw those licks of fire above each of your heads. And our congregation coming together, from different generations, and different understandings about what "worship" meant. And that Spirit was so alive in this room on those nights! And that's what this story in Acts reminds me of today.

But there's also the story of our gospel, which was a very short gospel, as Debi reminds me. ... But what a short gospel! ... What a magnificent story about the Spirit ... the Holy Spirit!

In this story, it's essentially taking place about the same time as the first story in Acts. It's about that time during Passover. As you may know, Passover occurs in that timeframe in which Jesus had went to Jerusalem and then later was crucified and then we have Easter. And in this story, in this gospel, our disciples are locked in that room. We all this story very well because this story is told very often. But after Jesus dies, and he goes away, and even after he rises, the disciples lock themselves in that room. And they fear to go out because they fear what might happen to them. Their leader has been crucified. They do not know how it is that the rest of the world will embrace them.

Remember, this is the first century, and these are in the days just after Jesus' death. And Christianity isn't the world religion that it is today that we recognize. So there amongst their fear, Jesus materializes. The gospel goes so far to remind us that there was a locked door, and they were hidden behind this locked door in fear. And Jesus appears in the room, and to prove to his disciples it is he, we're also told that he shows them his hands and his side. Of course, we know that those are where his wounds appeared.

But Jesus talks to them and says, "Be not afraid. I bring my peace to you." ... Fact, he says it twice. And even as the disciples are rejoicing, Jesus reminds them that he's not just there to give them their peace, not just there to make them feel better. ... Jesus reminds the disciples that he is there because God has sent him to give them his peace. ... God's peace!

But Jesus reminds them again that it doesn't even end there! ... After he has given them his peace, Jesus says it's that peace that will send them out into the world.

Faith Family, that is a stark story to me this Tuesday night, this Pentecost Sunday. As we celebrate that Spirit that unifies us and brings us together as a Faith Family, and as a larger church, across the globe. It strikes me that our gospel tells us tonight, that in our fears, and in our anxiety, and in our unknown times, Jesus is going to walk mysteriously in. And he's just going to appear to all of us behind those locked doors. And he's going to, "Whoosh," breath the Spirit into us.

Now if that doesn't give you chills tonight, I don't know what will.

Jesus brings his peace so that we can go out into the world with that Spirit that is manifest in us, and show the world our light. And so tonight, as we wonder about whether our future weeks entail for us, I look to this gospel, and it reminds me that we are still sent to give Christ's light and to take God's light out into the world even though today we may be hiding behind that locked door.

We're reminded that each of us is bestowed upon us by this Spirit different gifts. We go through the list, and if you look in your bulletin, in the second reading, as Deb so eloquently read, that our gifts come to us. Some of us will be wise. And others will have knowledge. And some will be lead by the Spirit. And others will be healers. And some will perform miracles. Others will prophesy. ... Others will speak tongues.

We're reminded that all of these activities, and all of these services, and all of these gifts come to us through that Spirit that Jesus breathes into us. But we aren't to stay behind those locked doors for fear of what that outside world has in store for us. We're to take these gifts bestowed to us by the Spirit, and we are to go out there. And we are to use them to shine Christ's light.

Each of us, Faith Family, is in need of the other because Paul tells us, we are unified in the Spirit so that we can be one body of Christ. ... And tonight, this Sunday ... Pentecost Sunday, Faith Family, as we celebrate the Holy Spirit, the one that dwells in us so that we can shine Christ's light in the world, I remind you that we are bestowed our gifts for a reason. And it is our job, even now during these uncertain times, to take those gift out into the greater world and shine on God's behalf.

And that is the Good News this Pentecost Sunday. ... Amen.