Are You Ready to Follow Jesus?

Rev. Debbie Cato
Fairfield Community Church
Luke 9:51-62
June 26, 2022 

Gracious God.  Quiet our minds and our hearts that we may be open to your Word and what you have for us today.  Help us to hear your Holy Spirit speaking to us through the Words of your humble servant.  In Jesus name, Amen.

 

Are You Ready to Follow Jesus?

 

Have you ever started something and not finished it?  Maybe something sounded like a good idea, and you did it for a while and then you slowly forgot about it, or other things became more important. 

I love refinishing furniture and if you’ve been in my house you would know that most of my furniture is old stuff I’ve found at vintage stores or Goodwill that I have stripped and repainted and reupholstered.  Well, I need a couple more chairs for my dining room table and I found a couple at Goodwill for less than $10 back in late November/early December.  I sanded them down, removed the seats and seat covers and primed them. I bought paint and new fabric for the seats.  They have been sitting in my basement waiting to be painted and the seats recovered ever since. Every time I do laundry, I see them sitting there, waiting to be finished.  I’ll do them this weekend, I think.  And the weekend comes and goes.  Do you have anything like that? Or am I the only one?

In today’s scripture, we are told that the journey through Galilee is coming to an end, and Jesus is headed to Jerusalem.  He is preparing his disciples for what lies ahead.  The tone is sober.  Jesus has already begun to warn the disciples that he will be betrayed and put to death.  Partnership with Jesus and his mission requires ruggged commitment.  The disciples must learn how to respond to rejection and persecution.  To be a Christ-follower requires walking the way of Jesus regardless of the outcome.[1] You can’t do it part-way.

Jesus is met along the way with people who want to follow him but have things they need to do first.  Jesus’ answers feel extreme.  They sound harsh.  They don’t sound like the compassionate Jesus we know. 

To the first man who wants to follow, Jesus basically tells him that he has to be willing to be homeless.  “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”  Can you really follow me?  It’s harder than you think.  Jesus depends on the hospitality of others to meet his needs.  He is detached from material possessions.  Can his followers do the same? Can following Jesus be more important than stuff?

The second man wants to follow Jesus but needs to bury his father.  That sounds very reasonable doesn’t it!  “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God,” is Jesus response.  That sounds harsh.  Of course, we don’t know all the circumstances.  Had his father already died and the burial was very soon?  Was he saying he would follow Jesus once his father died – whenever that might be?  So was it an excuse that well, I want to follow you but I have to wait …..?  We don’t know.

The third man says, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me say good-bye to my family at my home.”  Again, Jesus responds, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”  Bidding farewell to family hardly seems extreme.  It seems reasonable. Yet does Jesus see this as an excuse to postpone following him?  Are priorities confused? 

Jesus’ point is that when other loyalties to family, community, and tradition claim first place, disciples will compromise the call on their lives – a call we all have on our lives.  The Christian journey does not demand that we reject our responsibilities to family and vocation, but rather, encourages us to see those needs in the light of our faith and through the lens of our deepening commitment to Christ.  It’s when we put conditions on our willingness to follow Jesus that we need to reassess if our commitment to following Christ is there.

Early in our faith development, we are often focused on learning more about Scripture, the church, and what it means to be a child of God.  We rejoice in the knowledge that we are loved fully and completely by a wonderful, caring Savior.  We share together in the marvelous fellowship that is the body of Christ.  We feel renewed, nurtured, and marvelously fulfilled.  As our faith grows and matures, our life in Christ slowly merges with our life in the world.  We come to realize that living by the Way is more than just a private endeavor, no  matter how meaningful.  To have true meaning and integrity, it must be our identity; we must recognize and live it in every part of our being.  No matter what our gifts or imperfections, the mature Christian must willingly walk alongside Jesus, even if that journey compels us to make difficult choices that a more secular existence might otherwise avoid.[2]  Our life with Christ should merge so intently with our lives that they are one and the same.  They cannot be separated.

That can mean our life in Christ impacts the way we engage in conversations, the way we vote, how we spend our money; how we allocate our budgets, how we spend our time. For a mature Christian, following Jesus - the call to discipleship is a call to open hands, a practice the saints and mystics call “detachment.”  It’s not clinging to possessions too tightly and faithfully following Christ.[3]  We should live simple lives so we can give back to God from what He has so generously given to us.

Following Jesus is not something we can start and not follow through like a New Year’s resolution. Or like my chair project.  We can’t put it on hold while we do other things. It’s serious business.  Christ requires a commitment. 

Where are you in your walk with Jesus?  If you are at the beginning of your walk, that’s a wonderful place to be.  I challenge you to be inquisitive.  Read Scripture.  If you don’t have a Bible, I’ve got one for you.  Get to know what Scripture teaches about God and what Jesus taught and did during his life and ministry.  Ask questions.  I love to talk about my faith. 

If you’ve been a Christian for a while, ask yourself if you have grown.  Are you are growing?  You should not be in the same place you were 5 years ago. Two years ago. Last year.  How is your relationship with Christ? 

Does your faith encompass your life?  Does it impact your relationships?  Your family life?  Do you think about your faith when you vote?  When you respond to issues in the world?  In the community?  Do you pray?  Do you consider your life a life of service; no matter your vocation?  Do you consider your faith a priority in your life?

These are questions we should ask ourselves.  Following Christ is a journey, it’s not a destination.  We should always be growing and changing and learning and it’s something that we can do together.  That’s what a community of faith is all about.  Let’s be a church that grows together while we reach out into our community and serve together.  I think that’s what Christ asks of us.  Amen.

---

[1] Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and Season After Pentecost 1. Proper 8.  Luke 9:51-62.  Theological Perspective.  Elaine A. Heath.  P. 190.
[2] Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and Season After Pentecost 1. Proper 8.  Luke 9:51-62.  Pastoral Perspective.  Richard J. Shaffer Jr. P. 192.
[3] Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and Season After Pentecost 1. Proper 8.  Luke 9:51-62.  Theological Perspective.  Elaine A. Heath.  P. 192.

Forgetting Your Identity & Values

 Rev. Debbie Cato
Fairfield Community Church
Luke 8:26-39
June 19, 2022

Holy God, Open us that we may hear you. Silence any voice in us but your own so that we may clearly hear you and what you are calling us to do.  In Jesus name, Amen.

 

Forgetting Your Identity & Values

 

Jesus crossed boundaries when he arrived at the country of Gerasene, opposite Galilee.  He was no longer in Jewish territory but rather in the land of the Gentiles.  Jesus showed that God’s healing and love and teaching was for everyone.

 Immediately as Jesus stepped out of the boat,  a man who had demons, ran toward him shouting at the top of his voice.  He had broken through the chains that bound him for his strength could not be contained.  He was naked and commanded Jesus’ attention.  Jesus said to him,  “What is your name?”  The man did not answer, but the demon answered for him, “Legion.”  Legion meaning, 6,000 demons.  A Roman legion had 6,000 soldiers.  The man was so traumatized that he forgot who he was.  He no longer had an identity of his own.  He forgot who he was.  The demons had taken over. 

That can happen to any of us.  To a kid who is bullied and begins to think they are stupid or ugly or worthless.  To a young woman who is assaulted and thinks it’s her fault and her shame takes over her identity.  To someone who is the victim of domestic violence and begins to believe that indeed they are worthless, incapable of anything good, that everything is their fault, they are unworthy of love. To a child who is raised in an environment of abuse. To someone who has lost their job and remains unemployed for a long period of time.  They come to believe they have nothing to offer.  They are worthless.  It happens as we get older. We can’t do the things we used to do and we feel useless; unneeded.  That sense of worthlessness sets in.

Trauma creates depths of self-doubt.  It erases our personhood.  It clouds our sense of belovedness as a child of God.

Jesus’ asks the man’s name and one of the demon’s answers.  He’s named by what keeps him bound.  We aren’t that different.  We define ourselves by our setbacks, our “lacks.”  Society seeks to define activities that are insufficient.  All of this is compounded by the isolation of Covid.  Especially in young people.  Add this to the toxic political climate, lies spued so easily through social media that are believed because it’s on the internet.   Pretty soon our true selves are lost.  Who are we?

 But Jesus knows that Legion is not the man’s true identity, just as he knows that our brokenness is not our identity.  Jesus heals and transforms the man back into a human being and a beloved child of God.  Jesus is still healing and transforming us today.  He wants us to be wholly who we are designed to be, not the false images we have taken on of other people and circumstances that have been put on us.  We must allow Jesus healing love and grace to pour over us just like it did the man filled with 6,000 demons.

 What’s interesting about this story is the reaction of the people when they see the man has been healed. You would think they w0uld be happy that their crazy, naked homeless man was healed.  But, they are afraid.  They are not happy for him.  They are not amazed at the miraculous healing. They are afraid.

 The people in Gerasene had lived with the man possessed by demons, and even though they said they wanted to help him, when he finally was helped, they did not know what to do with the man who had the power of God.   They were used to him they way he was. It was even more frightening to them that he was whole.  That he was healed.  Int they would have to change their ways.  The community was different now.  Change is hard.  Even good change.  Positive change.

This same sense of loss of identity can happen to a church after years of decline.  You see yourself as “dying”.  As “small” – as if that’s a bad thing.  You feel hopeless and lose your sense of identity and value.  You get tired.  You become afraid to  hope.  Sometimes we are burned out to the point we cannot try something new.  We’d rather stick with the old patterns even though they lead to dead ends because we are afraid that something new will fail us or be more trouble. 

 Sometimes in the church it is more frightening to listen to where God may be calling us to be something new, than to stick with the old ways, even though they haven’t worked as well, but because we know them.  Even though we will just continue the pattern of burnout unless we are willing to embrace the transformation God intends for us. 

 Even Peter, having experienced the resurrected Jesus, still went back to  his old ways around others because of the social loss he would experience if he embraced the Greek believers in the same way he embraced his fellow Jewish believers.  Paul called him out for this and knew that the church had to be something new if it was truly to be the church of Jesus.[1]

 We are at a crossroads.  We have an identity.  We are a church “Creating a welcoming community for all ages to love and serve God, each other, and our neighbors.”  Do you believe that?  I saw it last Saturday at Flag Day as we made and served and sold Kettle Corn and talked with people.  The hugs, the laughter, the conversation.  The preschool children and families that came up to our booth.  We are a welcoming place.

 We’ve identified values that define our church.  We are about community.  We are about the children and youth in this community.  We are welcoming and accepting.  We are all about relationships.  We had 5 tables of people working out values and the consistency between the tables was amazing.  This is what we are about, church!  Community, children & youth, welcoming and accepting, and relationships. 

 When we finished, someone – I’m sorry, I don’t remember who, said, look – it fits with our mission statement.  We know who we are!

 In September we will figure out the action steps to go with the values.  We will do it as a congregation.  They will not be the same things we have done in the past.  They will not be things we do inside this church.  They don’t work anymore.  They will be things we do outside these walls.  They will look different because church looks different now. 

You may feel afraid, even sad because things are changing.  That’s O.K.  It’s normal.  But the Holy Spirit is with us breathing new life into our church, our congregation, our community. 

 Take our values home and put them somewhere that you will see them on a regular basis.  Mull them over this summer.  Pray over them.  Write down thought that come to you about actions we can take to live out our values and bring them to our September meeting.  Plan to do more than just come to church on Sunday mornings.  We need to be the church in the community and that will take a commitment.  But if Pancakes in the Park and Flag Day Kettle Corn are any indication – it will be a lot of fun.  This is a great community we are planted int.  The Holy Spirit will guide us.  We are in this together. 

Unlike the demon possessed man, we know our identity.  We are a church “Creating a welcoming community for all ages to love and serve God, each other, and our neighbors.”  We care about community.  We care about the children and youth in this community.  We are welcoming and accepting.  We care  about relationships.  This is who we are.  This is who God is calling us to be.  Thanks Be to God!  Amen.

---

[1] http://rev-o-lution.org/ June 19, 2022

What is this “Trinity”?

Rev. Debbie Cato
Fairfield Community Church
John 16:12-15
June 12, 2022 

Soften us, God, so that we may approach your word without pride or rigidity. Show us, Jesus, what it means to belong to each other and to you. Stir us up, Spirit, that these words may be made incarnate in our lives. Amen.

What is this “Trinity”?

 

Today is Trinity Sunday. When we recite the Apostle’s Creed, we say we believe in a Triune God –God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  One God but Three Persons.  It’s hard to explain.  In fact, there were religious wars fought over the understanding of the Trinity.  The Orthodox Church split over the doctrine of the Trinity in 1054!  The Western Orthodox Church, which became known as the Roman Catholic Church, believed one thing and the Eastern Orthodox church another.  This is an example of what happens when men get a hold of Scripture and try to make it complicated!

When we recite the Apostle’s Creed, we say that we believe in God, the Father Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth. We believe that God existed before anything else existed.  He spoke everything into being.  He parted the water and created land.  He created every bird and beast.  He created humans and breathed his own breath into them.  We believe that God is sovereign over all the world. We have given God many names – Counselor, Redeemer, All-Loving, All-Powerful.  I could go on, and on.

We say that we believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate.  We proclaim that He was crucified, died, and was buried.  That he descended to the dead.* We believe that on the third day he rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven,

 As Eugene Peterson frames it in The Message Bible, “The Word became flesh and blood,  and moved into the neighborhood.”

Jesus is our example of how we are to live and be.  At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus stood in the temple and read from the scroll of Isaiah:

 

The spirit of the Lord is upon me,
          because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Throughout  his ministry, Jesus fed people, he healed the sick, exorcised demons from the possessed, he ate with the despised, and taught anyone who would listen.  Perhaps most importantly he loved.  He loved the unlove-able of society.  He is our example.  When we follow Jesus. This is what we follow.  This is our call. 

John T. Robinson, a New Testament Scholar says, “There Jesus was, forgiving people of their sins, healing the outcasts, raising the dead, passing divine judgment upon the obstinate, and revealing the Kingdom of Heaven as if he knew it personally. As those around Jesus soaked up these experiences, they began to find themselves thinking, “Wow, so that is what God is like.” It wasn’t enough to be grateful to this man for his compassion or admonitions. The way in which Jesus gave himself for others graciously led his disciples to marvel, “Here was more than just a man: here was a window into God at work””. The disciples came to believe that watching Jesus at work wasn’t like watching God at work — it was watching God at work! [1] 

As Robinson writes elsewhere, “We see not simply a man living close to God; we see God exposed, God in action as sheer grace, accepting the unacceptable, reconciling the world to himself.”[2]

 There is much that Jesus said that the disciples did not understand or could not   bear – including the truth about his suffering and death.  What the disciples do not understand until Pentecost, when the Spirit of truth guided them into all the truth, is the revelation that is Jesus himself.

We all know what it’s like not to be able to understand or not to be able to bear the truth.  Parents have things to tell younger children that they can’t yet understand.  Adolescents have things to say that adults, especially parents, can’t bear to hear. There are things to be said about suffering, or terminal illness, or grief, or natural disasters, or  mass shootings of children, that we cannot bear to hear or bear to understand. There are things we cannot understand unless we have experienced them.   So too with every Christian community since the disciples; Jesus has said more than we can bear, more than we can understand – the full meaning of his words, his ministry, his life, death, and resurrection, we are still far from grasping the full “truth”.[3]

Last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost Sunday, the giving of the Holy Spirit to the disciples and the birth of what we call the church and in the Apostle’s Creed, we say that we believe in the Holy Spirit.  Pentecost began the activity of the Spirit in advancing the teaching ministry of Jesus, specifically in facilitating within the Christian community a mature appreciation of the revelation brought by Jesus.  It is within the community that the Spirit works.  It is within the community that the Spirit’s activity leads to the truth; the ”Truth” which is Jesus.  The Spirit provides greater clarity about all that Jesus said and deeper conviction regarding who Jesus was.  Jesus was all about the works of the Father.  Jesus represented the Father and the Spirit functions as

The New Testament goes still further. The “Spirit” of this same God is

discovered living in the community of Christ, both in us as a community

and within each of us as individuals. Just as the first disciples looked at

Jesus and found God at work, so we can look at each other and find God at

work. Not, of course, that we are God, but simply to say, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2.20). All of Christ lives within us; all of God was in Jesus the Christ; and all of God lies beyond this world ushering it forth.

To put it succinctly, God is without us, with us, and within us.  the presence of Jesus for the community after his death and resurrection.  Everything we understand is because the Spirit brings us that understanding.  We can even go further and say that we have faith because the Spirit gives us that faith.

 

John A. T. Robinson writes, “One can say that for the Christian the deepest awareness of ultimate reality, of what for  them is most truly and finally real, can only be described at one and the same time in terms of the love of God and of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.”[4]

 

Although God is one, this one God is fully met in three distinct ways. We Christians have called this “Threeness” the Trinity. It’s not some abstract

doctrine with no bearing on daily life; it expresses a very simple Christian idea, which the Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer captures neatly: “Wherever God is, God is wholly there.” If God is in Christ, then God is wholly there. If Christ is in us, then Christ is wholly there. There are no half-measures for God! God is not multi-tasking, trying to juggle being in you and in me; if Christ’s Spirit lives within us, Christ is wholly there in each of us.[5]

The Spirit provides an openness to fresh encounters with the revelation of Jesus.  It is not that there will be new “truths” beyond that of “the Word made flesh”.  But the message of Jesus and the meaning of Jesus requires ongoing interpretation.  There are changing circumstances in our world and the emergence of new questions that require the Christian community to think in new ways.  New things that need interpretation based on conformity with the life and teaching of Christ.  The Spirit provides that openness and knowledge.  We can rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us where we need to go.

God desires to be known.  And he manifests himself into three-persons yet one to make that possible.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.  Do we have to totally understand to believe?  I don’t think so.  But praise be to God for giving us His Son and His Spirit to be with us forever and always.  Let us pray an old Irish blessing: 

 

St. Patrick's Breastplate

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every person who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.  Amen.

---

[1] Journey With Jesus.  https://www.journeywithjesus.net/lectionary-essays/current-essay?id=3397.  God in 3-D 
By Michael Fitzpatrick. Posted 05 June 2022.
[2] Journey With Jesus.  https://www.journeywithjesus.net/lectionary-essays/current-essay?id=3397.  God in 3-D
By Michael Fitzpatrick. Posted 05 June 2022
[3] Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Volume 3.  Pentecost and Season After Pentecost.  John 16:12-15.  Pastoral Perspective.  Eugene C. Bay.  P. 46.[4] Journey With Jesus.  https://www.journeywithjesus.net/lectionary-essays/current-essay?id=3397.  God in 3-D
By Michael Fitzpatrick. Posted 05 June 2022
[5] Journey With Jesus.  https://www.journeywithjesus.net/lectionary-essays/current-essay?id=3397.  God in 3-D 
By Michael Fitzpatrick. Posted 05 June 2022

 

A Rich History

 Rev. Debbie Cato
Fairfield Community Church
Acts 2:1-21
June 5, 2022

A Rich History

 

I love this passage in Acts.  The awesome power of God is revealed seven weeks after the death and resurrection of Jesus.  The eleven remaining disciples are gathered together.  They had lived intimately with Jesus for three years.  They finally understood that he had a supernatural connection with the God of their ancestors Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, as well as Isaac and Rebecca.  They believed that he was Emmanuel – the living Christ, God with us. 

 

They gathered early that morning to worship and pray and support one another.  They were a religious minority and lived a faith that few in Galilee did.  There were other believers with them.  Men and women.  About 120 in all. 

 

But it was no ordinary morning of worship and prayer.  As they worshiped, there was a noise so loud that it could not be ignored.  They were so startled that their sensory systems were flooded with adrenaline and their whole minds and whole bodies intensely processed the sound, the energy, and the feeling of the coming of the Holy Spirit.  She had come just as Jesus had promised, and it was an all-body experience.[1] All the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit.  None was excluded. 

 

Luke wrote Acts and he tells us that a “sound like the rush of a violent wind filled the entire house where they were sitting.”  And then,  and then as if that were not enough, “divided tongue, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.”  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

 

In Jerusalem that day were Jews who came from distance places to celebrate Shavuot, a joyful festival in which the first fruits of the harvest were given to God.  More importantly, Shavuot is the celebration of the giving of the Torah, in particular the Ten Commandments from Sinai. I don’t think it was a coincidence that God chose to send His Spirit that day. 

 

Those who watched could not explain rationally what was taking place.  It was absurd to hear eleven people from Galilee speaking the local languages of Asia Minor, Egypt, Libya, Rome, and other places.  Visitors to Jerusalem who heard their languages spoken were hearing about the mighty miracles of the God of Jesus Christ.[2]

 

This passage tells the story of what we consider the birth of the church. Weary and mournful, the disciples gathered early in the morning for worship. A religious minority at the time, they were easily persecuted for their strange beliefs. They gathered for support, comfort and accountability. They would remain faithful, they promised each other during worship. They would not let the good news go unproclaimed.[3] And unproclaimed it wasn’t!

 

Pentecost Sunday is our chance to pause and celebrate the faithful who still gather, week after week, month after month, in this church here in Fairfield to meet the Spirit of Christ. Ronald Byars, in his book The Future of Protestant Worship: Beyond the Worship Wars, tells a story about a couple who have a son with developmental disabilities. “The family is active in the church,” Byars writes. “They seldom miss worship. One winter Sunday morning they awakened late, and breakfast took longer than usual, and everything seemed a little off-balance. The parents decided, for this one Sunday, to stay home from church. They told their son, who seemed to accept their decision. But after pondering this news, he asked his father, ‘Won’t Jesus miss us?’”[4]

 

Jesus meets us when we gather in Christian community. We experience the risen Christ through our gatherings and through our spiritual rituals – baptisms, communion, communal prayer, singing of hymns – these hold the bulk of a tradition passed on from generation to generation. As the pandemic forced us into isolation, we have recognized now, more than ever, how good it is to gather as Christian community.

 

People have been gathering in this space right here for a long time.  The Holy Spirit has been present here for many, many years as well as present in the people who have gathered – including all of you.  I visited with Eleanor Thromahlen at Touchmark on Tuesday.  She said she can’t wait for her 100^th birthday in January!  Eleanor is sharper than I am.  We had a wonderful visit.  Her daughter Diane was there. and she brought me Eleanor’s wedding picture.  There was Eleanor, absolutely beautiful in her flowing wedding gown and veil, her handsome husband in his army uniform next to her. There were beautiful flowers all around them and Eleanor was holding a large flowing bouquet.  They looked so happy.  They were standing in front of the altar of this church. Right there. That was July 31, 1944. 

 The Holy Spirit has been in this church for many, many years.  Through years of struggle and years of growth.  Many children and youth, and I’m sure adults have met Jesus here and grown up in the faith.  Families have worshiped together and there were decades when the sanctuary was filled, and voices resounded off the walls when hymns were sung.  There have been many baptisms, weddings, and funerals here.  And always, God was present.  This church has a rich history.

 The Holy Spirit continues to be present even though our sanctuary is not packed anymore.  Even though our voices are not quite as loud when we sing, the Spirit is here when we worship.  I feel the Spirit whenever I come into the building – when I’m here alone and when I am with all of  you on Sunday’s.  Though the congregation is smaller, God’s Spirit has never left.  She is with us.  We don’t hear the roaring winds or see the tongues of fire like those first disciples did, but the Spirit is here.  The Spirit is present in each of you, because after all, you are the church.  Not this building.  You.  You are the church.

Today, we are going to identify the values of our church.  Who are we?  When we think about Fairfield Community Church, what comes to mind?  What is important to us?  It will be a Holy Spirit exercise for us as individuals, and for us as a church.  It will help us move forward.  We will always have a faithful few who worship here on Sunday mornings.  Gathering together and worshiping God is so important. We will lean on the traditions of our faith. But much of what we do as a church may be outside these walls.  It may look different.  The Spirit will lead us. Just like Jesus sent the disciples, the Spirit may send us.   It will depend on the values you identify.  This is the beginning of our Spirit-led journey.

 

In today’s text, after the disciples had gathered, and after they had been moved by the Holy Spirit at work among them, Peter stood up to preach. For his text he chose the prophet Joel:

 

“Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit … and everyone who calls on the

name of the Lord shall be saved” (Joel 2:28-32).

 

I imagine Peter standing there, preaching these words, sharing this vision of people of all classes and positions brought together by the Spirit, with the disciples and the gathered Parthians, Medes, Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia. I imagine Peter full of energy, passion and adrenalin. I imagine Peter reminding his people of God’s promise to meet us whenever we gather.

 

I know how he felt. Maybe you do, too. This is why we keep going back to church.  This is why we keep gathering as a community. Our rich history will always be behind us, we have a new beginning in front of us.   Let us pray:

 

A Prayer for Pentecost (2006)
From the Reformed Church in America: http://www.rca.org/worship/material/lent/litanies.html

Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life:
At the beginning of time you moved over the face of the waters;
you breathe into every living being, the breath of life.
Come, Creator Spirit, and renew the whole creation.

Holy Spirit, voice of the prophets:
You enflame men and women with a passion for your truth,
and through them call your people to the ways of justice and compassion.
Come, Spirit of Righteousness, and burn in our hearts.

Holy Spirit, Spirit of Jesus:

By your power Jesus came to bring good news to the poor
and release to those held captive.
Come, Liberating Spirit, and free us from the powers of sin and death.

Holy Spirit, Advocate, Teacher:
You speak to us of our Lord,
and show us the depth of his love.
Come, Spirit of Truth, abide in us and lead us in the way of Jesus Christ.

Holy Spirit, wind and flame:
You filled disciples with joy and courage,
empowering them to preach your word and to share your good news.
Come, Spirit of Power, make us bold witnesses of your redeeming love.

Holy Spirit, Spirit of Peace:
You break down barriers of language, race, and culture,
and heal the divisions that separate us.
Come, Reconciling Spirit, and unite us all in the love of Christ.

Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life:
At the close of the age
all creation will be renewed to sing your praises.
Come, Creator Spirit, and make us new creations in Jesus Christ.  Amen.

.

---

[1] Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Vol. 3.Pentecost and Season After.  Acts 2:1-21.  Theological Perspective.  Linda E. Thomas.  P. 18. 
[2] Feasting on the Word.  Year C, Vol. 3.Pentecost and Season After.  Acts 2:1-21.  Theological Perspective.  Linda E. Thomas.  P. 18 and Exegetical Perspective.  Margaret P. Aymer.  15 & 17. 
[3] Presbyterian Outlook.  Terry McDowell Ott.
[4] Presbyterian Outlook.  Terry McDowell Ott.