As kind of an introductory note, and reiterating the above: when I actually preach these, I don't hold completely to the manuscript. I add, delete, change words around on the fly. Never significantly so that the manuscript becomes wrong, but if it sounds weird aloud or reads weird, well, I may have changed it.
So without further ado, here is my sermon that I preached at Maryville Friends Church in Maryville, TN on Sunday, January 25. Sermon length was between 16 and 20 minutes if I timed it right.
Big for Our Britches
25 January 2009
Maryville Monthly Meeting of Friends
(open reading Acts 2:1-6)
So here the disciples are,
50 days after Jesus rose from the dead,
and ten days after he's ascended.
They've picked somebody to pick Judas' place
and now they're waiting, gathered expectantly waiting.
Tradition tells us that it was the Upper Room,
the same room where they'd had the Last Supper.
All the Bible says is that they were together in one place,
but the Upper Room works for me.
Jesus promised them,
right before he ascended,
that the Holy Spirit would come and give them power.
So they chose a new disciple and started waiting.
This wasn't the first time
they'd been promised something special;
if you recall the book of John,
just before Jesus is arrested
he has a long conversation with the disciples
and promises them a Comforter, the Holy Spirit.
It's from these chapters in John
that Friends take our name,
because Jesus told the disciples
“I no longer call you slaves, but friends.”
So these men and women,
the Twelve and all of Jesus' other followers,
are gathered waiting on the Spirit.
And it arrives.
And oh, does it arrive.
I'm not talking the still, small voice that Elijah heard on the mountain.
No, this time the Holy Spirit came
like a mighty rushing wind
and ignited these people's hearts and tongues for God.
Now, some of our more extreme Pentecostal friends interpret this
to mean we should all be speaking in languages we don't understand.
I can't say I completely agree,
but far be it for me to call into question somebody's relationship with the Spirit.
Regardless, haven't you ever wondered
what it might be like to suddenly have that sort of radical gift from the Spirit?
To just start speaking the words God gives you
and not just by speaking clearly but have everybody understand you
no matter where they come from?
Personally, I praise God if I'm just doing the “speaking clearly” part.
Think about it for a moment;
here these followers are,
men and women uneducated,
many of them from the most backwards part of the land.
And there's all these people gathered in Jerusalem
from different parts of the Roman Empire for the Festival of Weeks,
and they're all hearing their own language from these Galileans?
Talk about power from the Spirit!
No wonder 3000 people were converted that day.
The timing was pretty much perfect on God's part, too.
I mean, of course the timing was perfect,
God's timing is always perfect, right?
But the big festival in Jerusalem,
the holiday that so many Jews had come back home for?
There's a bunch of names for it
since it's so old, but the main Hebrew name is Shavuot.
Now, on the one hand it was a harvest festival,
celebrating the gathering in of the grains.
But there was and still is for Jews a deeper meaning.
You see, Shavuot commemorates the day
on which God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai
and therefore marked the anniversary of their covenant.
In other words, on the day that all the Jews, including Jesus' followers,
were celebrating God giving Israel the Law through Moses,
that same day the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples
to preach the Good News of Christ.
Talk about your parallels and your perfect timing!
And yet we know that the Holy Spirit that empowered Peter and John,
empowered Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany,
We as Friends are particularly aware of this
with our open worship and our belief in continuing revelation.
When Jesus' promised the disciples in the Gospels
that they would do even greater things than he,
he wasn't kidding.
Well, ok, this is all well and good,
but what's my point with all this?
None of this is exactly new, right?
Well here's the other thing;
just because we are given this power by the Spirit,
it doesn't mean we can just use it willy-nilly.
We need to be very careful that we seek God's guidance
in what we do and say in God's name.
Because that's the other thing
about this story of Pentecost.
Jesus' followers were waiting patiently for guidance.
They weren't out trying
to do things on their own.
Even Peter,
that old blowhard
who was always putting his foot in his mouth,
Even Peter was waiting patiently.
I think there's an important lesson there,
and one that often gets overlooked
because we're all so focused
on the tongues of fire and the mighty rushing wind.
You see, even thought they'd been promised power,
these men and women knew they hadn't received it yet,
they hadn't gotten too big for their britches
that they thought they could do it on their own.
It's a very Quaker lesson, too;
“we're gonna sit together in silence,
patiently waiting for the Spirit to come and give us the message.”
They knew there was a message coming,
but they weren't forcing it.
One of the friends that I've made at seminary
has an expression that she'll say whenever somebody's
talking abut needing to make a decision.
“Don't outrun your Guide” she says,
reminding us that everything we do should be under
the guidance and care of the Holy Spirit.
Now, I'll freely admit that this isn't very easy.
Relying on God for guidance and strength,
and not trusting our own abilities and wisdom?
Even when we know this,
we know how much we should rely on God,
how easy is it to get full of ourselves?
I know I've done it,
tried to rely on my own understanding instead of
properly trusting in God's guidance.
It's natural, it's normal, it's a very human thing to do,
and it's something we all have to work so hard to overcome,
don't we?
Especially in today's modern world,
with it's emphasis on being empowered,
on being independent and self-sufficient,
Giving up our rights and submitting
to God's will and guidance,
well, it's almost un-American if you listen to some people.
And yet,
you can look through the Bible,
you can look through history,
and see what happens when we rely on our own strength.
Think of King Solomon,
how magnificently he started.
Even today,
people remember Solomon for being so wise,
a wisdom he asked for and received from God.
But... then what happened?
Do we remember the rest of the story?
Solomon got too big for his britches,
he turned away from God because
he thought he had it all figured out.
So he started worshiping idols.
Even King David,
a man after God's own heart,
made this critical mistake.
It certainly wasn't God's idea
and have her husband sent to the front lines to die.
Or look at more recent examples,
I'm sure we can all think of someone who
clearly had abilities and gifts from God
but who outran the guidance of the Spirit.
You see Friends,
we're not just called to use our Spirit-given power
for the Kingdom of God without direction and as we see fit.
Just as important is that we seek out God's guidance
and that when necessary, as it may often be,
we submit our will to God's will.
Early Quakers spoke a lot about
taking up our cross and following Christ.
They also spoke of “notions,”
and the dangers that were involved when we
follow our notions instead of God's will.
Even today,
when we gather in silent worship
to give us a message,
We have to be careful that
what we hear isn't our own desires
but actually comes from God.
We are reminded in 1st John 4:1,
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit,
but test the spirits to see whether they are from God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
Just as the early Quakers,
so should we, when we feel we have a leading,
test that leading and that message,
making sure that it is truly from God.
“Is this truly from God?”
“Does this work that I feel called to
actually conform with God's plan
or just my own desires?”
And if it sticks with you,
if it burns inside you, growing stronger like a holy fire
and doesn't just pass away,
Then you have a very good indication.
So Friends,
to continue doing God's work,
We need also to remember that the
through the Holy Spirit.
Because if we fly off the handle,
doing our own thing
and counting on our own guidance
to use the power that the Spirit gives us all,
We can end up very disappointed,
or very hurt,
or hurting someone else.
But this command of Jesus',
this reminded in the Gospel of John that
“You are my friends, if you do what I command you,”
is not just a warning and a reminder
that we shouldn't rely on our own strength.
No Friends,
this is a blessing.
We worship and follow a Savior God
to figure things out on our own.
The Holy Spirit promised by Jesus
is not just a source of power and gifts to the Disciples
and to us.
No, the Spirit is also
the Comforter, the Sustainer.
You know the old song,
“What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”
This is the most wonderful thing
about a God who provides guidance,
direction, and support for us in all our days.
This world is big, confusing,
complicated, noisy, and difficult.
Especially today,
with all the challenges and problems we face,
we should be so glad that we can turn to the Holy Spirit for direction.
When I think of so many people,
including some of my friends from college,
who don't believe in God,
I sometimes feel an overwhelming sense of sorrow for them,
Not anger.
I wonder how terrifying and confusing
this world must be, having to face it entirely alone,
or only with other flawed, frail humans to turn to.
True, we are working to grow in our spiritual maturity,
to become more Christlike,
but how many times in the Gospels
Do you see Jesus taking time
to go to God in prayer, seeking guidance and support?
How comforting and empowering it is,
to know we have someone to turn to for guidance.
And this guidance takes so many forms,
whether the words of people and times long gone,
or the direction and guidance of mentors with us today,
Friends and family through whom
That's one of the reasons I think
communities of faith,
places like Maryville Friends,
are so important.
It's people gathered together
in common service of God
that God can work through
to support and guide all of us.
We can all think of times and places,
to guide us and comfort us in difficult times,
or times when we weren't sure where to go with our lives.
These are difficult and troubling times,
but we as Christians know we can rely on God's guidance
in all things.
And we know that when we
take it to the Lord in prayer,
our greatest peace and satisfaction.
So Friends, as we enter into a time of prayerful communion with God,
remember that, whether we're getting too big for our britches,
or we need God's support through difficult and confusing decisions,
What we are called to do is listen
for the movement and power of the spirit.
Whether that comes in
the inward movement of open worship,
the caring voice of a loved one or community of believers,
Or whether, like those men and women at Pentecost,
the direction of God comes in a mighty rushing wind.
And now for your unrelated YouTube video, enjoy!
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