Holy Mystery

Acts 2: 1-21

Pentecost/Baptisms

I walked out to the floor after reading the scripture with a classic paper airplane. I then shared how I learned how to fold that design when I was perhaps just 6 years old in my uncle's house in Gig Harbor, Washington. I do not even remember which older cousin taught me the folds but I remembered what I had to do, to fly the plane. Often it flew upside down as it did when I threw it. For generations and for that matter millenniums, humans did not understand flight, but appreciated it when they saw the bird. Just as I appreciated the throwing of my first airplane, I did not understand why it flew but I enjoyed it.

See we emphasize knowledge so much but I tell you if someone told me they knew everything about God, I would tell you they are missing something. If one told me they knew everything about church tradition and history, I would tell you they are missing something. If they told me they knew everything about the Bible right down to the Hebrew and the Greek, I would tell you they are missing something. If they told me they knew how God was working in their lives and what God has plans for them I would certainly tell you they are missing something.

When the Spirit blew through that room of Galileans and drew everyone to see what happened it was beyond comprehension. Some simply enjoyed the experience and opened themselves to hear the word of God and others mocked. When Peter got up to explain this event he started with Joel, which was a great place to begin. However, what was more important was the experience itself and how it led others to believe following Jesus as the way to the One God. It was an unbelievable experience that could not be explained in human terms. All of the sudden these 11 Galileans could share the Gospel in any native tongue, thus foreshadowing the fulfillment of the great commission. Sending the Gospel around the globe as everyone is able to be saved.

Well the two boys who were baptized today will need to continue to learn about God. And it will be our responsibility as church to continue their education. From learning about the Bible, to church tradition and history, from how it is we explain God, for instance as the Trinity, to how God is working in their lives, will be important for each of us to nurture them in greater understanding. Yet today I tell you that they can share and teach each of us about the part that is missing for most of us adults. That is understanding the Holy Mystery. See we tell children that God is so big God is everywhere and yet small enough God is in our hearts, and they are fine with that. We speak of a God that judges and yet loves and forgives all, and they are fine with that. We speak of One God with three personas the Trinity and while they may say "huh" they are generally fine with that, for they understand God is beyond understanding. They understand that one must have faith in God. One must be able to be fine with the Holy Mystery that is God and work with Faith. The Holy Spirit is that quiet breeze that directs us when we have faith, when we are fine with the Holy Mystery.

I then took out a red paper airplane that is shaped more like a tube and said I have no idea how this flies, but I have faith it does and threw it. (well two times it flew ok and then flew very well).

 

AMEN

 

Winnowing Wind

Luke 3:7-18

Sounds like good news doesn't it? "The ax lying at the root…" "you brook of vipers!," well it is the Good News. This sermon was a two part sermon in part because some were exiting and entering as we had our blood drive before during and after the service. That way there was a better chance for someone to catch one of the two.

The first was about John's baptisms. We know that baptisms were not started by the followers of Christ, which is evident here as John is baptizing people in the Jordan before Jesus starts his earthly ministry. John is preparing the way for Jesus, but others were also baptizing for multiple of reasons, but John foreshadows what our Christian Baptism would become. For John preached that his baptism with water was a sign of repentance (turning to God) for the Kingdom of God in near. The Christian Baptism becomes not only a sign of repentance, but unifying with Christ's resurrection. Now those that were being baptized on this day were turning to God and asked the profit John, "What then should we do?" and John answers very specifically. It is not a simply an answer like, love God, lover everyone and be good. It is specific and financial in nature. The first it to everyone and it says one should share what they have extra and the second two ask people who are in positions of power to not use it for their own benefit. In contemporary society it would not be simply about sharing your coat and your food, but through the church we are able to fulfill this way of sharing what we have as "extra." We never feel it is "extra" but when we pledge we are demonstrating our commitment to follow Jesus, that we give priority to turning to God.

After John had given this stewardship sermon to those gathered and noticed that they were contemplating he may be the Messiah, he tells of Jesus coming. The Good News. Jesus is coming with a winnowing fork to clear the threshing floor gathering the wheat and burning the chaff. This does not sound like the Jesus I learned about in Sunday School. John does say the ax sits at the base of the tree and I do there will be a judgment for those that do not repent, and Psalm One uses this metaphor of wheat and chaff to refer to separate individuals, good and wicked. However, John reference to the ax was to those that presupposed that they were part of the chosen because their ancestor was Abraham. John is not referring to simply the chaff and wheat, but that Jesus is coming to do the threshing with fork in hand. To understand you must know that each grain has chaff that must be removed. Today we have breed our crops to make it easy and have machines, but in the days of John and Jesus, the farmer would have to toss the grains in the air on a windy day. The movement and the wind would separate the chaff from the wheat on each individual grain. Thus Jesus comes and works on each of us individually as we all have chaff that needs to be removed. This is the Good News because Jesus will work on us, with the help of the Holy Spirit (Ruach/Wind). Each of us we repent and receive our baptism of water, but it is Jesus who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit (wind) and fire. A baptism that is actually working that Jesus does on us each individually.

The Color Assumption

Acts 16:9-15

 

Happy Mother's Day, this scripture is perfect for Mother's day. Lydia is essentially one of the first church "mothers" along with others mentioned in Acts. Like Tabitha the only one named as a disciple (Acts 9:36) and Pricilla and Aquila who in Acts 18:24-26 are described as teachers. Specifically correcting Ephesus on the "Way of God." See Lydia came down to the river to pray with others God worshippers and she had her whole household baptized. Made me think about my own household and upon reflection it was my mom that was in charge of our church going and faith. This may be your experience as well as it seems that mothers are in charge of the faith, but that is simply a stereo type. For instance, my son parents are both ordained ministers (Pray for him). Yet even he goes to his mom when he gets hurt over me, and I think that is one aspect of God to be like a mother. When Luke, the writer of Acts, writes about going down to the river it is mentioned they talk to many women but they mention Lydia specifically as she had her whole household baptized.

I reflect back on the first house I can remember at 4 y.o. when we moved to New England from New York. See my mom was in charge of the house and my dad felt he was in charge of the land. See my dad came from Rural poverty and had not had land for at least 12 years when he left for college on a scholarship. My mom came from city poverty as a first generation American and she had lost her father at the age of seven, making it very difficult to have enough money. My mom decorated the house and choice the church, while my dad saw to the garden. He got a pig. He was excited to raise animals again, but he commuted into New York City everyday leaving the pig to the "city girl." Needless to say the next year we had a well fertilized garden.

My mom was in charge of the house, but the point is not on women as leaders in this scripture but the assumption based on money.

Having a pig in a the affluent town was not normal in this town in Connecticut and while we were never as poor as our parents grew up it was less then the "norm" and for some they looked down on us for having a pig, or a car not running in the driveway, etc. (a culture not shaken easily) Once even someone gave my mom this compliment after discovering she was first generation American "you should be scrubbing my toilet." This created one of my mother's favorite sayings, "I don't care if you have money, if you don't care that I don't."

This is the real point of this scripture. See Paul and Silas went and it states they talked to the women, and as the other scriptures in Acts I shared earlier it was normal to have women in roles of leadership. Paul makes that clear with his statement in Galatians 3:28 "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." In this scripture, it is more important that Lydia sells purple. I cannot emphasize enough how rare and valuable her merchandise is in the time period. She is rich. Rich enough that she is probably a widow who had enough money to keep her household herself, which would include slaves and many families as a household was an economic unit larger then our contemporary idea of household. She was very rich and "well-to-do" and yet she was going down to the river to meet with the Jews who worshiped the one God. Curious about knowing the one God she went to the river and met Paul and ultimately met Jesus through the witness she found. The point here is that we often hear in church how we must help the poor and marginalized. I will often preach that and witness that, yet I do not want to forget my mother's wise advice, "I don't care if you have money, if you don't care that I don't." This for me reminds me that people who drive nice cars and seem to have it all are also broken and are looking for something at the "river," at church. A great example of this is the blood drive we will be participating in next week, for we will be giving our blood to others who need it despite their social economic position. This is really what the Gospel is about, Jesus gave blood to help everyone poor and rich. So next time you think someone has it all together, remember Lydia who went down to the river for something found Jesus and thus her whole household was baptized.

New Alphabet

Gen 2:4-9

Rev 21:1-6

 

There are 66 books of our Bible and they make for our one Bible. If you read it from beginning to end that would be wonderful, yet it is not obvious that there is one theme or plot for each book may have its own theme or plot, or it may be a collection of poems, or it may be pithy proverbs, and even in the New Testament the gospels are tell the story of Jesus in similar yet different ways, and then there are these letters to specific churches. It is a book of many books. I asked in the baptism class, "what is the Bible about?" the first answer I got was that it is about Jesus. I then reminded them that only the New Testament is directly about Jesus. While the Hebrew Scriptures are read by us Christians to prepare the way for Christ, I encouraged a more general theme. We thus came up with the Bible is a love story between God and humanity. This is the theme that is dealt with in every book in the Bible, that is the relationship of people and the Divine.

To understand the Revelation scripture we need to start with this Genesis Scripture. In this account of creation there is no plant nor rain, just uncontrolled water from the ground. This is the water of chaos that is also mentioned in the earlier creation account in Genesis 1. While the seven day account had the plants created before the humans, the garden account in Genesis 2 needs humans to till the ground and set the humans in the garden. The garden is a theological place of harmony and order, where God lived with humanity. There is just something missing, humans' free-will. That brings us to the serpent. In the ancient world the serpent or snake represented wisdom, as it was seen as living so long, shedding skin and thus not dying. And as we know the serpent told the two that they would not die if they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And the serpent was correct that they did not die (except being removed from the garden can be seen as a death as well). This fall however was needed.

God created humans to be a partner in the garden. It reads in this Creation account that God needed to someone to till the ground. God knowing the tree of knowledge and life, realized that humanity also needed a partner to me confirms His original goal was for humanity to be in relationship with God. However, to be in relationship, true relationship, you do need to know good from evil, or it is simply a partnership of survival. In a garden that completely provides for the physical needs it is even less needed. Thus the fall is what makes the alphabet necessary. All animals communicate, and many are so complex we still study their communications, however it is all for survival. Humanity communicates to collectively and individually determine good and evil. Our language is for us to be able to discuss and consider this fall, this knowledge of good and evil, and then be able to choose the good, the Divine.

However, language is used for so many other things as well and very little of our alphabet seems to be used to communicate our goal of returning to the garden, the place with God. Mostly it is used to sell things or entertain us, or so it seems. The Revelation scripture shows us that we are not to go back to the garden, yet we are to be apart of something new. Not just a new earth, but also a new heaven. Thus I would add a new alphabet. One in which we all choose good and thus the Divine is with us all in our newness, and our alphabet is an alphabet of Love.