Ezekiel 37:1–14
Psalm 104:24–34, 35b
Acts 2:1–21
John 15:26–27; 16:4b–15
Year B
Alleluia! Chirst is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
It’s the Fiftieth Day of Easter, which anyone who knows means a really long time after Easter. Seven Weeks ago we were bedecked with lilies and basking in the afterglow of the Great Vigil and its initiation into new life for those receiving First Communion and those newly confirmed.
For Fifty long days we have been living into Easter life, Jesus coming in unexpected ways, through locked doors, saying “give me that fish,” and comparing himself to a good shepherd and a vine.
For seven long weeks we have been lighting the Easter candle, trying to keep the baptismal garden presentable, and mustering up as much joy and justice as we can find while the world around us sometimes joins us in the dance of newness in Spring and other times does a pretty good job of sucking the life out of us.
So today we light a fire, blazing red, and hear of the earliest followers of the crucified and risen Lord on the Fiftieth Day after Passover come to celebrate in Jerusalem, the holy city. The scattered Jewish community made a pilgrimage to their spiritual center of the universe, and there was a diverse group gathered in a house around the apostles.
The apostles had waited and wondered about what life was going to mean for them once Jesus had supposedly left the building. They wondered how to carry on in the name of the one that they had trudged through Galilee with, who taught them the upside-down ways of the kingdom that invited women to tell what they had heard and seen, that honored children as those to whom the kingdom belongs, that would include all matter of society, rich Zacchaeus, blind beggars, prostitutes and God-fearing Gentiles.
The apostles had been puzzling about their future and their destiny for forty days, which was a long time, and on that fortieth day Jesus disappeared from their sight, ascended as it were up into heaven. They asked him after the long wait “It is time, Lord, it is time, to restore the kingdom to Israel?” And on that fortieth day, Jesus responded typically---quickly and cryptically: It is not for you to know the times or the periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:6-8). And then this is how the disciples looked [mouth open, looking up].
After this powerful this exhortation given by their teacher, the disciples did what of lot of us do when given the opportunity of a lifetime that they had no idea how to realize. They went home. And they moved the furniture. They puttered around. They called a family meeting and filled a vacant position in the twelve council seats. And they waited some more.
That sounds like church, or real life, doesn’t it? Waiting for something special to happen, while trying to pretend that life can have some semblance of normality. Wondering what it is we are to be doing, even though God is on the loose throughout the world and constantly prompting us to live and act as if the world is claimed by God, knowing that we are agents of blessing and redemption.
So in the story of the apostles, now they were into fifty days after Easter, which as you know means a really long time, and WHOOSH and CRACKLE and HOLY SPIRIT! They started talking to the diverse group in ways that the group understood, in the language of each, which was amazing and crazy. [hand-picked individuals in the congregation speak] “You talking to me? You talking to me?” “You’re talking about God and God’s acts of power?” “You must be drunk!”
Peter took the microphone and did what good preachers do when they are looking to really take over the room. They quote from someone else. In this case, Peter grabs the prophet Joel’s writing and begins (finally!) to articulate himself the upside-down ways of the kingdom. It’s spreading outward. It’s coming from all corners of the community, from youth, and from senior citizens, from men, and women. You don’t have to wonder or wait anymore. You don’t have to scurry home and putter around. Everybody will get the Spirit, and people everywhere will blow your mind with what God is up to in the world. And the earth and the sun and the moon will resemble a sci-fi movie, which reminds everyone that nothing lasts forever but God and those who call on God.
Okay, you’ll be glad to know that although Peter’s sermon goes on I will not retell it right now. You are welcome to find it in Acts 2.
But I will tell you that Peter and the early church made a new beginning. They turned the corner into passionate spirituality and new life after Easter and new life after Fifty Days after Easter. Because they inspired others. They continued the work of Jesus. They expanded the kingdom. They realized that God was at loose in the world, and found God at work when they were out and about, and they would go back to the scriptures and read it and find it describing Jesus as the lamb led to the slaughter, and as the one who sits to rule over the world, just to name a few. They realized God was at loose in the world as those they most certainly did not expect showed up and asked if this new life for me?
There was an Ethiopian eunuch reading from Isaiah, whom the Spirit sent Philip to, who was reading from Isaiah and wondered what it was about. And Philip had to talk about Jesus. There was Cornelius, a Gentile soldier, who heard God’s voice say, “You have just go to meet Peter.” And Peter just had to talk about Jesus. There was Lydia, the cosmopolitan Gentile businesswoman, who was leading a women’s prayer group. Paul just had to talk about Jesus. There was the jailer hearing Paul and Silas in the cell block singing and praying and discovered that God would not inhibit their spread of the good news and who after the doors of the jail broke open said “What must I do to be saved?” And Paul and Silas just had to talk about Jesus.
All of these encounters resulted in new life to those in the community and new relationships with the apostles. All of these encounters lit a fire in the church. And this was just the beginning of what Jesus promised at the very beginning of the Book of Acts, on the fortieth day, which means a long time, that you will be my witnesses.
Here we have youth on fire for a huge gathering of young people in New Orleans in July who give witness about their desire to see the Holy Spirit at work in them as they serve those still reeling from Hurricane Katrina.
Here we have global connections to those affected by that Pentecost, which spread the gospel. Some are Arabs still in Jerusalem who celebrate the gift of the Spirit today in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. Some are in Liberia who minister to needs in Phebe Hospital, who train future church leaders, and who see that children get a good education. We will be hearing about God at loose in Liberia in a few weeks even as our school scholarship monies bear fruit a world a way, and as our donations to Augusta Victoria Hospital and the Mount of Olives’ Housing Project keep hope alive for Palestinians a world away.
Here we have the opportunity to break open the scriptures and have them burn our hearts in the conviction that God is at loose in the world. We have the opportunity to meet God in others that we come across in our daily lives, at a work station, in a restaurant, waiting for the doctor.
Here we have the opportunity to welcome those from a variety of backgrounds into a life in the Spirit, where we seek to love and serve those whom Christ came to love and serve.
We can do this with a lot of noise or in quite conversation. We can do this with social networking technology and with one-on-one encounters. We can do this in our liturgy centered in a meal that offers new life. We can do this in our Mayfest zaniness and in our consideration of how to welcome all to Christ the King. We can do this in our congregational meeting and our Bike Rally.
We must do this in a variety of ways that speak to our diverse and fractured society, even if it takes a really long time.
Can you imagine it! WHOOSH and CRACKLE and HOLY SPIRIT! Talking to a diverse group in ways that the group understands, in the language of each, which is amazing and crazy.
[same individuals in the congregation speak] “You must be drunk!” “You talking to me? You talking to me?” “You’re talking about God and God’s acts of power?”
Come, Holy Spirit.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
I.N.I.
The Rev. Timothy J. Keyl, Pastor
Christ the King Lutheran Church
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