The readings
Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all
together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the
rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each
of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in
other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Romans 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are
children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back
into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba!
Father!" 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we
are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be
glorified with him. 18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are
not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19 For the
creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20
for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will
of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set
free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the
children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor
pains until now; 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the
first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the
redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen
is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do
not see, we wait for it with patience. 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our
weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit
intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches the heart,
knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the
saints according to the will of God. 28 We know that all things work together
for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of
his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. 30 And
those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also
justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then are we
to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did
not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him
also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God's elect?
It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died,
yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for
us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it
is written, "For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are
accounted as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
The message
Today was an amazing day at church. I changed the order of our service. Virtually every part of the service was moved
to a different (and unexpected, incorrect place). After church, during refreshments, I turned a
scheduled bible study for the interested into a “forced” or “guided” conversation
about our own faith experiences for everyone. It was awkward and uncomfortable but most people
participated and were able to share faith stories (in some cases for the first
time).
Here is a rough outline of my message (no manuscript this
week)
The first time I walked into a Lutheran Church was about 15
years ago. I had just finished college.
I had lost interest in the Roman Catholic Church, getting to the point where I
disagreed with so many different things, it didn’t make sense to stay there. I
didn’t lose interest in the Gospel, the bible or Jesus teachings. In school I was introduced to some different
Christian traditions, which all seemed very similar. I ended up at the Lutheran Church because
when I was growing up, we used to go to Karate class in the basement there
which our teacher rented. I was familiar with the building so one Sunday
morning off I went.
There are two things I remember about that morning. 1- within about 10 minutes of walking into
the church, I was an usher, by the end of the service I was on the schedule for
next month. What a large, loving risk,
the face of welcome who doesn’t know anyone, a virtual stranger who now knew
where the lights, doors and all the keys were, What an amazing way to say you
are welcome here.
The other thing I remember was being surprised by how
similar the worship service was. The
order was almost identical, the readings where the same or close, the hymns
familiar, the order and rhythm the same.
It was not boring, it was familiar, It was not disappointing, it was
comfortable. People would ask “what was
it like” and I could honestly say “like church”.
In case you didn’t notice, this morning, we are not having
that familiar worship service, which followed me from one faith tradition to
another. There has been a few changes.
This is a big deal. Our church service and order are very intentional,
centering around Word and Sacrament, with hymns and prayers to remind us whose
words we hear and who we meet in the sacraments, all working together, guiding
people through an experience of God, at least on paper. One reason for the change today is a reminder
that to unchurched people, to people unfamiliar with church, worship services
or beliefs, what we normally do makes no sense. Today’s service also speaks a reminder of God’s disruption
This experience is very disruptive. We have done this out of
order thing for the past 2 or 3 Pentecost Sundays. Since September, we have
gone through the bible starting with the first books of the Old Testament and
completing it today with the story of Pentecost.
Most of the events in scripture are disruptive. Creation was
a very disruptive event, the heavenly court, the chaos, the nothing, all of a
sudden Noah and the flood, a new
covenant too, Abraham, Issac, Jacob,
Joseph, the prophets are all disruptive, moving great distances, leaving
behind, making witnessing that God is in control. Individuals are disrupted, communities are
disrupted, whole cities and even empires are disrupted. Jesus ministry was disruptive. Palm Sunday was so disruptive, the city of
Jerusalem literally shakes, Good Friday was disruptive, Easter was a very
disruptive event. The missionary work of Paul, James, Peter, disturbs the world,
Love replaces hate, Community replaces isolation, welcome replaces exclusion,
being children of God replaces being unequal, life replaces death, grace
replaces the consequences of sin.
We are part of a church, a community of sinners forgiven by
God, we are invited to disturb anxiety with trust in God’s promises.
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