Reflection on Acts 2:1-21

The fire started with a bath. 

A number of years back, around this time of year, I took a bath in our large garden tub.  It was nice.  I let out the water.  Little did I know, our septic tank was full of water from the spring rains. 

Why is that important to know?  Because, adding a garden tub full of water to a full septic tank means that you get a flooded basement. 

I ran outside and grabbed the bucket that we keep outside by the fire pit to put out our campfires.  I used it to scoop up the water. 

After an entire day’s worth of work, we cleaned up the basement, which included emptying all of the soaked cardboard boxes that contained our store items and moving the items into newly purchased totes.  I took the boxes out to the fire pit and doused them in lighter fluid.  There were many boxes.  I lit the boxes on fire. 

The fire was huge!  The heat from the fire created a mini whirlwind of flames.  The flaming mini whirlwind sent small pieces of flaming boxes high into the air.  Those faming pieces came down and rested on newly, wind dried leaves on the ground.  A fire started. 

No problem; that is why I keep a bucket outside by the fire pit. 

Wait?  Where’s the bucket?  What happened to the bucket?  Well, needless to say, that is how you start a property fire with a bath.

That fire spread faster than I could have ever imagined.  I have always been careful to contain my fires, but some fires just cannot be contained.  Some fires spread to places that you would have never imagined, or have even wanted it to spread.  Some fires are more than we asked for, but they burn none-the-less.

God’s fires are no different.  Some of us try to contain God’s fire, but God has a way of refusing to be contained.  It is as if Jesus does not want to be contained in a grave.  It is as if the heart of Jesus desires to burn anywhere and in anyone it chooses.

I once read about a small congregation that served God, mostly in a poor neighborhood in the middle of a city.  The people were poor, but they loved each other and helped each other spiritually and monetarily as they were able. 

The pastor preached as Jesus did in the gospel of Luke, sharing good news for the poor…but that inherently means that there is also doom and gloom preached toward the rich.  It is easy to preach the doom and gloom when the rich are not present. 

Well, one day a couple of middle-aged men in business suits showed up to church.  The pastor looked out at the crowd before worship and spotted the men immediately because their nice clothing stood out in their poor neighborhood the same way that ratty clothing stand out on Wall Street. 

The pastor said to the worship assistant, “I don’t think they are going to like my sermon.” 

The worship assistant said, “If it is in the Bible, it is the truth.  You preach it.” 

Preach it she did.  After the worship service one of the sharp dressed men walked up to the pastor and said to her, “Sometimes, guys like me need to hear to truth also.  Thank you.”  The two continued to come and participate in the mission of that poor little church.

You see what I mean?  The Spirit of God, the fire of God, the truth of Jesus Christ will burn wherever it wants, and it will not be contained.  But, not only that, the Spirit burns in order to bring people together.

The first time we see that fire creep outside the fire pit in the Christian Scriptures is on Pentecost, the day we celebrate today.  On that day, just short of 2,000 years ago, a group of Jesus’ followers were gathered in the upper room of a house, kind of like when we are gathered in church.  They were keeping to themselves, causing no trouble at all, and having a nice little gathering of friends, when, suddenly, the Spirit of the Lord rained down on them a heavenly fire.  It was a fire caused by a bath.  It was a baptism of fire that did not stay in its fire pit, and it burned fast and furious.

You see, that fire lit a spark in the people of God that they did not even know they had.  They started speaking all sorts of different languages. 

Now, I have to tell you, the Holy Spirit was working overtime that day, because at the same time, it blew thousands of people gathered from all over the known world to celebrate the harvest festival over to that little house, and they all peered up at the upper room and listened in.

Now, as a preacher, I get nervous when I see a crowd of strangers.  I wonder, like that preacher from the poor neighborhood, if they will like what I have to say.  And, I venture to guess that it is the same for you; that you get nervous when asked to pray in public, horrified that you might sound stupid. 

But, the Holy Spirit does not care about any of those trivial attempts to contain a fire.  The Spirit burns as it wishes. 

And, burn it did among the disciples!  People heard about Jesus’ amazing wonders in their own languages.  In their own languages!  The message of Jesus Christ drew these different people together.

You can hear the Spirit’s gathering powers at work when a humble fisherman, Peter, stands up and gives a expert sermon to the people; starting by calling his hearers “Israelites,” then “fellow Israelites,” and finally towards the end of his long sermon, “brothers.” 

You see!  The Spirit will burn where it will and it will unite brothers and sisters created by God even as the world tries to divide. 

The Spirit will give everyone the truth to share in their own language.  And, the Spirit will spread like a bath fire, and burn everywhere we think it should not.  It will burn through the Greeks, Arabs, Romans, Africans, and Asians, no matter what we think of them.  It will unite the world under the one name under heaven by which the world is saved; Jesus Christ. 

And, our world could use a little uniting right now.  Am I right?  You might say, the world needs a little less fire pastor, our cities are burning up, but I say that the world needs more fire…the right kind of fire.  It needs the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Because, just as God, through the work of the Holy Spirit, transformed one man’s death (Jesus’ death) into something that drew thousands people back together just days afterward…even some of his enemies…so too the Spirit is able to do the same today.  Just keep reading Acts, you will see it happen. 

The Spirit is able to draw us together under Jesus so that we can live in a world filled with an eternal sort of love.  Young men and woman shall prophesy and see visions and dream dreams, and they will dream of a future where division is not what unites small pockets of people who sit at tables glaring at other tables with small pockets of people, but the love of Jesus Christ will draw all people together to sit his table of compassion and mercy.

It will bring a couple of rich, completely out of place, businessmen into a struggling, but loving community.  It will unite enemies under one holy cause.  And, the Spirit will burn with God’s grace, touching places we would have never imagined possible. 

The Spirit burns even in you…even in you.  Go and burn beyond the fire pit.

Reflection on John 17:1-11

When we think of glory, one of the most readily available images is that of a football quarterback who has led his team in the defeat of multiple opponents to win the season. You imagine the quarterback, lifted high by his teammates, pumping his fist in a well-deserved victory as crowds of people cheer from the stands in solidarity with their victors. 

Glory is about rising to the top.  Glory is about a hard earned win.  Glory is about defeating opponents and muscling your way through the impossible odds. 

I think you will agree, whether it is a quarterback, a king, a president, a general, a CEO, a golf legend, or some other well-deserving individual or leader, that glory is about the accomplishments of those at the top of their games.

So, if this is glory, then why did a High School football team lift the waterboy into the air as they celebrated in the locker room?  You know, the waterboy, who brings drinks to the players, who hands out towels for sweaty hands and foreheads, and who serves the team by running errands.  You cannot get much lower in the ranks of football, but after the big, public celebration on the field was over, it was the waterboy who got the glory in the locker room.  Why?

This story about the glory of the waterboy from years ago was wrangled loose from the dusty corner of my mind by this text from John.  It too has to do with “glory.”  I do not know if it struck you as you listened, but the word “glory” or “glorify” is mentioned in this text five times in just the first five verses. 

“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,” and Jesus continues, “I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do…Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.”

There is a lot of glory going on here, but Jesus’ situation looks nothing like a conquering king returning from the blood stained fields of battle, trampling over the bodies of his enemy.  No, rather the situation is one in which Jesus is suffering words of hatred from those who despise him, suffering betrayal and abandonment by those who love him, and suffering death in the most publicly humiliating form that the Romans had devised to date; death on a cross. 

There would appear to be nothing glorious about any of this, unless God has a different idea of glory than any of us understand.

You see, if people were raised up on shoulders and celebrated with shouts from the crowds in the kingdom of heaven, they would be those who stoop down to love one another, as Jesus commanded. 

They would be those who bend down like a cheaply paid intern who kisses…I mean…wash other people’s feet.  They would be the ones who are closest to the ground, closest to the smell of fear and pain and death.  They would be the ones who join in the suffering of others, because Jesus entered into the world of suffering so that he might grasp onto those who are low, and never let go. 

“All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them…” Jesus urgently prays.  “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

In the kingdom of God, glory is not found in the one who defeats through raw strength and destruction.  Instead, glory is found in the one who enters into the pain and death of the world. 

Jesus is worthy of glory because he does not shy away when you scream out in frustration. 

Jesus is worthy of glory because he does not back away when you cry out at the loss this world inflicts on you. 

Jesus is worthy of glory because he willingly carries our sins, the worst, most shameful parts of us, to the cross so that they can die with him. 

Jesus is worthy of glory, not because he tromps over death and suffering, but because he chooses to enter into it with us, and in doing so, he redeems it.  

In Jesus Christ, death does not get the last word, resurrection does.  But, resurrection could not come if the savoir of the world were to refuse to be a part of the pain and suffering like a CEO who ignores the grueling conditions that his company inflicts on others and blindly flies over the slums surrounding the neighborhood in his private jet. 

Jesus cares too much for that.  He loves too much for that.  Jesus promises, “You are mine.”  That is what glory looks like.  That is what being raised up looks like.  It looks like a cross.

Maybe it was the notes that the waterboy would leave that raised him up.  Once the quarterback found a note in his locker after suffered a devastating loss because of an interception.  The quarterback could hear the taunts drifting down from the stands before the game was even over.  As he opened the waterboy’s note, he read, “One stumble does not define you, it makes you.  And, you are still miles better than last year’s quarterback.” 

The waterboy was the one who was there, wrapping the bum knee with words of support.  He was there cleaning up, saying good job when the team felt anything but good.  He was the one who was there when everyone was at their lowest. 

He was the one who understood what glory was all about.  He was Christ’s teammate in that football season.  He was the one who taught everyone Jesus’ understanding of glory.

Maybe, in this time of pandemic, fear, and frustration, we will find glory, not in the glaring defeat of invisible viruses (though that would be nice), but in the love and service offered to the vulnerable.  Maybe, glory will be found when we enter into one another’s pain, bearing an armful of love.  And, when we do, Jesus will pray, “They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word…All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them…Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

Reflection on John 14:15-21

“Mom, what can I possibly do for you?” the adult daughter asked as she joined her mother at the side of the bed in the hospital. 

Remember when you could do that…actually be there at the bedside? 

In any case, the mother looked with the loving smile that you can only get from your mother and she said to her daughter, “You can be here for me.  That is all I need.”

I do not intend to start this sermon out on a sad note; that is not my intention.  However, there is a lot of sadness to go around right now, so I think that it is inevitable that it will creep in here too.  In fact, as I left this morning to go and film this sermon, Isaac, my almost three year old, broke down in tears.  His Dad, who has, for the most part, been home with him for an entire two months was leaving him!  He was losing his Dad…if only for a few hours.

We need to have those we love beside us.  We need those who love us to be close. 

And, that is what is making weddings, and funerals, and lost family gatherings, and lost graduation ceremonies so difficult.  Imagine having to call up a good friend and letting him know that he did not make the cut to attend the wedding because only 25 people are allowed to be present. 

I have not gotten any better at reversing the sadness of this sermon have I?  Well, let us look at things in the positive then. 

When looking at the entrance to the haunted house, with sounds of ghosts and screams seeping through the doors, the young child will desperately hold onto their parent’s hand, knowing that the parent is right there, beside them the entire time. 

And, that kind of presence is what the disciples needed as Jesus’ final hours before dying on the cross approached.  They needed Jesus to be there.  They needed him to continue to be there, just as he had in the past. 

In the past, they literally followed Jesus and trusted he knew where they were going.  How would they do that with him gone? 

In the past, they literally listened to his voice and listened to his teachings.  How would they learn anything with him gone? 

And, when trouble arose, Jesus was right there to protect them.  Who would protect them now?

Jesus knows the troubled ruminations of the disciples, of course.  He knows the fears and sadness in the disciple’s hearts, and he knows the fears and sadness without our own hearts too.  So, Jesus does what any of us would do in the face of fear and sadness; he moves to pray to his Father.  He fiercely turns to prayer, and through prayer the answer will come for the disciples and for us.

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever,” Jesus says.

^“This is the Spirit of truth.”  He continues,

“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.”

And, Jesus finishes by declaring that those who have his commandments to love and who in fact do show acts of love are those who love him.  He says, “And those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

Parents try to walk alongside their graduates as they go off to college, or trade school, or off to live and work on their own.  Some parents send daily texts.  Some send letters of support, or emails.  Some call at 9pm every night. 

All of this, of course, can elicit the response of “Come on Mom!” or “Geez Dad!” 

Even so, these parents are right to do so, because when the world has been turned upside-down for you, you need someone to walk alongside you.  These parents are simply acting out of the love that has been given them from the one who walks beside them, Jesus Christ our Lord, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Greek word for Holy Spirit after-all literally means, “The one who walks beside.” 

You, O people of God, have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit.  You, O people of God, have the one who walks beside.  And, as the mother in the hospital said, “That is all I need.” 

It is enough for Jesus to simply be present. 

It is enough, in the face of the unknown, to know that Jesus and his glory and power is with you. 

It is enough, in the shadow of loneliness, to know that Jesus walks right there, beside you through the Spirit. 

And, it is enough to know that even if you start walking on the wrong path, there is someone bedside you, full of forgiveness and love to help you to see a new path to walk. 

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.”  Jesus says. 

The message cannot be any simpler. The Spirit will accompany us. The Spirit will be our companion.  

And, in these times when uncertainty starts to settle deeply into our souls in disturbing ways, this accompaniment, this love through presence, is exactly what we need, and perhaps this love through presence is just what we need to do.

So, what does love look like when everything has gone wrong?  What does love look like when no one can even plan two weeks into the future?  Well, love looks a lot like…being there. 

Love is walking along beside.  Love is making the call.  Love is traveling over to someone’s house and choosing to at least and stand six feet away in their front lawn and visit with them. 

Love is being present, because Jesus is present.  Jesus says, “Love one another, as I have loved you,” and, so, we will.  We too will walk beside.