2nd Sunday after Pentecost Proper 4

I found that for some reason, I had not preached on this text before.

I thought the most important aspect of this text is the relationship with Jesus.

Jesus asks us to have a rock solid relationship with Him. A relationship which he will be in-charge and we will follow His lead.

But then the question needs to be asked, what does it mean to have Jesus in-charge?

I think it is a whole lot more than people who say they have a "personal relationship" with Jesus and they then become in-charge of how they act in their lives.

i think that letting Jesus be in-charge means that He is with me as I walk the path of life. He is there in the good as well as the bad. I don't need a jesus who is only there when there is glory all around, like those "prosperity" preaches say.

No I want a Jesus who can help me celebrate the good as well as giving me comfort in the bad times.

I don't think having Jesus as the rock of my existence is something that can be explained in words. I think it is faith. I know that He is there, period. Not some "goodie" feeling, but a feeling of contentment, a satisfaction that tells me that I am not alone. There is someone who walks beside me.

Tim

Holy Trinity Sunday

When I was in Seminary at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubugue Iowa, I took a course in American Civil Religion which was taught by a Franciscan monk. There were three seminaries in Dubuque at the time, a Lutheran Seminary, Wartburg, a Methodist Seminary, University of Dubuque Seminary, and Thomas Aquinas Seminary, a Catholic Seminary. We were allowed to take courses at all three.

I had several courses at Aquinas Seminary.

The course in American Civil Religion was really well presented. After these many years, 32, I remember that when in the American Civil discourse about God, we never hear the name of Jesus.

The monk pointed out that the founding fathers were not Christians per se, but believed in a deity, an all encompassing God. But they were not Christians. They never referred to Christ in any of their writings.

As this is Trinity Sunday, we as Christians proclaim a belief in a God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We cannot, i believe, talk about God without mentioning the other two parts of the Trinity, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

With all the discourse on television today between politicians and the religious right's talk about God, we forget about the Christ who died for us and the Spirit who dwells within us.

The God I believe in is more that a punishing God, but a God who through His Son Jesus Christ, loves us and forgives our sins and promises us a room in the mansion in the sky.

We hear no talk about that. All we hear is that I believe in God. That is fine, but where is Jesus, where is the Spirit. And when that comes into play, then we no longer have a separation between religion and state. Then I am forcing my belief on you.

So we have to stay with the idea of just God not the Trinity because we all have different ways of expressing our belief in who Jesus Christ is. I am Lutheran and my understanding of Jesus is far different than a Baptist idea of Jesus, or an evangelical Christian.

I do not try to convert a Baptist to my way of thinking and I would hope they would not try to convert me, as we all have different ideas of faith as we read the Bible and church teachings. No one denomination has the only true way of believing.

The Day of Pentecost

3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 ¶ Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.
6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
7 And they were amazed and wondered, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? RSV

Some thoughts about the Day of Pentecost.

I had a course in Seminary by Prof. Dr. Richard Jensen who wrote a book entitle, Touched by the Spirit, and we used that book in his class.

Prof. Dr. Jensen talked about his experience with speaking in tongues and the whole Pentecostal experience. He urged us to look closely at the Acts text. The text says that the disciples spoke in different languages, not different tongues that no one could understand.

The text says: 7 And they were amazed and wondered, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? RSV

Not a language that no one could understand, but their own language.

He went on to tell us that he has the gift of speaking in tongues, but only uses it to build up the community of believers, not to lord it over people.

Dr. Jensen maintains that the gifts of the Spirit are to be used to build up the church, period.

He goes on to say that if your gift brings despair, or discontent to those around us, then use it only in private.

In this day and age when one group of Christians think it is far superior to another, we are not building up the body of Christ, but tearing it down.

We all have gifts of the Spirit as as it says in 1 Corinthians 12

7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Paul says we are given the manifestation of the for the common good. The gifts are not to be used to judge one another, but to build up the community of believers.

7th Sunday of Easter

This text seems out of place for this time of year. It is Jesus' high priestly prayer that he prayed during Holy Week.

But this text is appropriate for this time of year, because we are nearing the Ascension.
Jesus is praying for the disciples in the context of the church year as He knows that He will not be with the disciples much longer. So in the context of the Ascension this text is very much appropriate for us to look at now.

Jesus tells the Father at this point that He is not praying for all the people of the world, but only for the disciples. That seems strange, but if you think about it is not. As Jesus leaves the disciples, as He knows that His time on earth is drawing to the close, He prays for the disciples, so they will stay together and wait for the Pentecost event.

An old story speaks about the "plan" Jesus has for the disciples and the church.

There is the old story that tells how Jesus sent back to heaven after his time on earth. Even going to heaven He bore the marks of the cross. As the angels talked with him, Gabriel, always inquisitive, said to Jesus: "Master, you must have suffered terribly for those people down there."

" I did," Jesus said.

"And", said Gabriel, "do they all know about how you loved them and what you did for them?"

"Oh no," said Jesus, "not yet." Just a few in Palestine know."

"What have you done," said Gabriel, "to let everyone know about it?"

Jesus said, "I have asked Peter, James, and John and a few others to make it their business to tell others about me, and the others to tell others and others and others and others, until the farthest people on the widest circle know what I have done." Gabriel was less than convinced that this would work.

He said to Jesus: "What if Peter, James, and John and the others get tired and forget and fail? What would happen if way down the years - say 2000 - and people just don't tell others about you? Are there no other plans? ...No back-up strategy?"

Jesus replied: "I haven't made other plans. I'm counting on them!" (1)

Jesus prays for the disciples and in a sense He is praying for us, the church, to stay together and spread the word about the love of Christ for everyone.

We celebrate the Ascension and then wait for the Pentecost event when the Holy Spirit fills the disciples and gives them the power to spread the Good News of the Gospel. As we celebrate the Pentecost event we relive the our Baptism as the Holy Spirit came to us through the water and word and fills us with the power to spread the good news of the gospel.


(1) Harry Denman, Worship that Works, Selected Sermons, Day of Ascension, Year C.