It was a joy to share the Eucharist with them, and to deliver the sermon on Pentecost Sunday.
The Podcast Link is here
Sermon Notes for the Day of Pentecost.
Whenever I
have taught about the Holy Spirit, or laid hands on a person who has asked for
some sort of Spiritual Blessing,
I have always wanted to get it right.
As I have
gotten a bit older and have gone through a lot of ups and downs, I have become
more and more of a realist in regard to life.
Life can
through some hard things at us.
Never mind
"can". It will, and it does.
Might I ask
you to think about your own challenges?
Another
thing that has happened to me as I have gotten older and have gone through a
lot of ups and downs, is that I have
1. Less
patience for religious platitudes and doctrines that allow us to say
"there there"...Your problem is that you are not doing this the right
way...or saying the right things.
I don't hear
that a lot from people who suffer.
2.
And...because I have experienced God's Grace
(in my own circumstances) in a very deep way, I long to share that in a
way that is authentic and that is effective in the community around us.
The
Community around us ....
There was a
time when people came to the Church and said
Here I am.
I belong
because generations of my family belonged.
Give me the
rules
Give me the
Book
Tell me what
to do, and I will be a good Christian.
Today, that
is not the case. There has been a huge
shift in the way people see the Church and Christianity.
Outwardly,
sometimes I feel like people see the Church as a seller of Products such as
Marriage, Baptism, funerals...etc. In some cases I think people think of me as
an insurance salesman.
We all know
that the cultural connections that once brought people to Church are no longer
there.
It brings us
all face to face with the question that Church people must ask themselves:
Am I a
Cultural Christian OR am I a follower of Jesus, with a desire to be like Him and do what He is leading us all
into at this point of History?
Don't think
for one moment that the Church is going to die.
But do
believe that God is working ,and changing, and challenging.
The
institution is being challenged...Rather better to say the institution is being
ignored by the world.
The world we
live in contains a broad diversity in beliefs and practices, and has less
understanding and desire to engage
sacred rituals, good works, and political and social activism. Many people have been directed to think only of
themselves.
How then do
Christians hope to make a difference?
What is to
become of Christian Identity in the world today?
My prayer is
that the Church will be made up of people who have , a clear understanding of
what they believe, and why it is important to them, and intentionally share it
in an authentic way with others. To go from here, strengthened by worship, to
actually sincerely live the faith in a world that can recognize insincerity a
mile away.
I believe we
are on the verge of a great adventure in the Church.
Churches
that begin to take the mission seriously in this age of Science, Technology
and of people who have little time for
unrational explanations and lack of sincerity are going to fulfill God's plan,
and will be blessed.
Churches
that are inward and self serving cannot survive any longer.
They wont
survive.
If I might
make a strong statement: (I believe I am quoting Richard Rhor here)
God has grown accustomed to our small and
cowardly ways of waiting behind closed doors of fear and self-doubt. God knows
that we settle for easy certitudes instead of Gospel freedom, for a small god
instead of a Big Mystery. Yet God seems surely determined to break through.
That bears
repeating: Yet God seems surely determined to break through.
The largest
challenge now, is that the Church has had all coverings removed, all doors
opened ,and all pretences held naked before the world.
Jesus says once again: "Who do people say that I am?"
Jesus says once again: "Who do people say that I am?"
What This excerpt from the Eucharistic Prayer #6 provides a beautiful
reflection and teaching as to :
1.What our motivation should be
2.Why we
need the Spirit
3.And what
the Spirit can do through the Church.
And that we
might live no longer for ourselves,
but for him
who died and rose for us,
he sent the
Holy Spirit,
his own
first gift for those who believe,
to complete
his work in the world,
and to bring
to fulfillment
the
sanctification of all.
The Holy Spirit has come to help us overcomes the
obstacles of
individualism,
institutionalism,
and of society .
individualism,
institutionalism,
and of society .
We need the Spirit to help us
.
What shall
be our answer?
Glory to
God,
All whose
power, working in us, can do infinitely more
than we can
ask or imagine.
Glory to God
from generation to generation,
in the
Church and in Christ Jesus,
for ever and
ever. Amen.
