| Sermon
for All Saints-by-the-Sea, Pentecost Sunday,
May 11, 2008
by
The Rev. Dr. Jeffrey L. Bullock
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together
in one place. 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. Divided tongues, 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.”
The disciples have been waiting for today. But they had no idea
it would be like this! Jesus had told them to gather in Jerusalem
to await power from on high. But he never indicated what kind of
power and how it would arrive. Here’s the power though in
all its surprising force. From above, from the heavens, from where
Jesus had ascended, a sound like the fury of a storm crashed on
the disciples’ ears and their neighbors too. When the neighbors
rush to the disciples’ house to see what's happening, they
look in the windows to see what looks like fire dancing above the
disciples’ heads. More surprising, the disciples were speaking
every language the ancient Jews knew, even the strange babble of
far away Cretans and Arabs. Every corner of the world heard the
Spirit speak, each in their mother tongue.
What a story. And what a stunning drama by which to found the church.
Over the centuries, artists have delighted in imagining in paint
the scene we heard of this morning. Ancient icons show again and
again tongues of flame hanging above the heads of the slender, angular
images of the eleven disciples. Make no mistake though: this is
not foremost a visual event. This morning’s story feasts on
the ears. Today, this morning, for the very first time since the
Tower of Babel fell so very many centuries before, God in the Holy
Spirit calls humankind together. Once in our pride our tongues divided
us. Today we are joined by the Spirit in a common language. When
once humanity sought to build their own path upwards to seize heaven
at Babel, now God in the Holy Spirit has come for them.
Look who takes the initiative this time. The disciples didn’t
choose the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit chose them. In a stroke
the mighty act of the Spirit’s voice begins healing the divide
between humanity and God and the divides between each one of us.
This wasn’t the disciples doing. This was God’s action.
This was the fruit of the crucifixion, death and resurrection of
Christ. We have become once again, just like Abraham, just like
Moses, just like the people of Israel in the Egypt, God’s
chosen people.
Do you ever wonder why it’s so important God choose us rather
than we choose God? We’ve very comfortable with “choice”
language in our world. Many people think the greatest reward of
western culture has been choice. Now we have forty kinds of cars
from which to choose, not four. We like to talk of our moral life
in terms of choices. When we have morally erred, we’re more
likely to say we made a bad choice. What even does that mean? Were
the actions of Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot the sum of “bad
choices?” But still we like to think in terms of choice. We
believe it’s we who choose God. We think in terms of choosing
the right church, the right worship style, the right circle of Christians.
Clearly however, on this feast of Pentecost, God has turned the
tables. God chose us.
Maybe we could think about it his way: let’s ask ourselves,
“Why don’t we baptize ourselves?” How hard could
it be? We could thoughtfully consider our lives, personally reflect
on our spiritual journey, and when the time came, we could get a
bowl of water. If we were in a particularly celebratory mood, we
might even invite some friends, families and neighbors over to watch.
Dipping our hand we could baptize ourselves in the name of the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit. How hard could it be?
Sound’s silly doesn’t it? But why does it sound silly?
Because we recognize in the moment the Holy Spirit chose us, we
suddenly have purpose. We know now who we are, where we came from
and most importantly, what we are to do. Purpose doesn’t spring
from nothing. Purpose springs from relationships with God and with
one another.
The danger of “choiceism” cuts in the opposite direction.
When we think of our lives and purpose as an expression of ourselves
as individuals, that’s all we have in the end. Just the individual.
The trouble begins when our purpose in life is shaped by our wants
as well as needs. Okay, we know what we need and we think we know
what we want. So far, so good. But what about other people? What
about those friends, family and neighbors we invited to our baptism?
How do they fit in? If we do not consider ourselves as the natural
extension of the family of God, we are fated to forever search for
a way to meet our wants while at the same time, not trampling on
others wants and needs.
Pentecost turns all that on its head. When God chooses us, God chose
all of us. The story from Acts makes the universal inclusive language
the cornerstone of the story. What we could not do by our own powers--gather
the kingdoms of the world together in peace--the Holy Spirit has
done in a stroke. The Holy Spirit makes us a family of common language
and common purpose. Peter spells it out at the end of today’s
lesson. Peter says, “In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
and Peter continues, “Then everyone who calls on the name
of the Lord shall be saved.”
You see, the power of the Holy Spirit fills us with an imagination,
fiery imagination of the possibilities we could not conceive by
ourselves. God will pour out on all of us the gift of visions and
dreams, whether we’re young or old. When the Spirit chooses
us, instead of choices, we will have possibilities. Instead of choices,
we will have a common purpose. Instead of choices, we have become
the family of God. Every person, young and old, from every land
who seeks God’s hope of eternal life will have it.
God has built a path to us through the Holy Spirit. The God who
bent near to us so many months ago in the birth of the Christ child
has bent near us forever in the Spirit. We are God’s chosen
people, every one of us. Amen.
The Rev. Jeffrey L Bullock
All Saints-by-the-Sea Church
Santa Barbara, CA 93108
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