It finally happened. Their waiting was over. It came, it’s here, it’s time, it happened.
The disciples were ready for Jesus to bring in the promised kingdom of God on earth. They had followed him for years, watched and listened while he taught, prayed and fasted while he healed the sick, forgave the sinner, brought together rich and poor, outcast and social elite. They got ready for the final showdown when tensions were high and Jesus was headed to Jerusalem for Passover—ready for the day of the Lord to come, ready to bring home the kingdom of God. But you know what happened. Holy week. The triumphal entry was followed by: the last supper, the arrest, the trial, flogging, and crucifixion. The revolution wasn’t won through domination. And the disciples hid. Until they heard the Easter message, “Jesus is alive!” Jesus’ didn’t dominate the romans, but instead won dominion over death! Good news for all the people that unto you is risen this day is a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, and this will be the sign for you, you will find no body wrapped in cloth and lying in a tomb. Jesus is risen! So Jesus comes to his disciples and continues to teach them, opening their minds to the scriptures, and staying with them for 40 days. After 40 more days with him the disciples ask again, (Acts 1:6) they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” Not quite a “no”, but definitely not the “yes” they were waiting for Jesus answers with a “wait here” and then leaves—gets taken up to heaven. Jesus was taken up to heaven, and the disciples were to wait until power from heaven was poured upon them—and, now finally, here it is! The sound of a violent rush of wind, tongues of fire, God’s deeds of power proclaimed in multiple languages and every nation under heaven hearing it in their own native tongue! Last week, I talked about us feeling like we were in that waiting period the disciples were in. Jesus was taken into heaven and the disciples waiting for the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, while we were waiting for some sign and signal to energize and reinvigorate us, tell us to march forward again after this trying year. That would be a fun sermon to preach, “here’s the sign”. But the story here isn’t telling us what to look for in the future so we know when to “start church” or something like that again… It’s reminding us how and where God is actively working in world, which is itself an amazing promise and call forward. Can I give a quick Bible history lesson? Where is God’s presence? The temple was always understood as the place where God’s presence touched the earth—where the kingdom of heaven touched our world. There was a specific symbol that portrayed this presence, and in the temple it was confined in the holy of holies, which no human was to step foot in except the high priest only once each year. In the holy of Holies was kept the ark of the covenant, God’s footstool. Now look, the ark, when Moses was carrying it around in the wilderness led the people with the presence of God. And they could all see it because it was: a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of Fire by night. Fire, in the holy of holies, is the display of God’s presence. It’s in the temple. Where the disciples are gathered on Pentecost. But then what happens? This sign of God’s presence, a pillar of fire in the temple, on this particular Pentecost was visible again. But instead of bursting out of the holy of holies, it dispersed and showed itself on Jesus’ protégés. They received the Holy Spirit and the power and presence of God. God’s presence moved from locked up in the church building, to being in every home and neighborhood of God’s people. Now, we don’t much get the tongues of fire, multilingual abilities, and violent rush of wind anymore…but that same Spirit and promise is just as present, just as alive, on you today. You who’ve been baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus had it proclaimed at your baptism that you received the holy spirit. Just like the apostles received with those tongues of fire, you received in the water and word of promise at your baptism. We celebrated and gave thanks for that gift at the beginning of today’s service. With that promise, Now you, you hold the presence of Christ in your neighborhood. Jesus is “working from home” in you (To use a corny and probably already outdated phrase). You are Christ’s presence to your neighbor. And at the same time, Your neighbor is Christ’s presence to you. It’s not just individual, but all of us that God works through in making Jesus’ kingdom a reality here. We together—this congregation, the churches in this community, globally—we are Christ’s church. And God is working through all the parts and configurations of the body of Christ. All for the sake of the world, to build Jesus’ kingdom of love and life up in the world. Our hymns today express two ways the spirit works on us. Gently and comforting, “We are people created, chosen by God, then we’re washed ever gently in mercy and love” … and through that we, “we join the song” “one in Jesus, one in water, baptized and set free.” The other calls on God who is: Tempest, whirlwind, blazing, burning, earthquake, thunder, and passion! And it calls on God to “drive us from out from sheltered comfort…sweep us into costly service” “purge all that blocks your purpose and let your flaming spirit surge in your church.” A gentle comforter; and a burning, driving, force of impassioned witness to the gospel. The Holy Spirit shows up in both of these things. We are still just beginning our story together. And it is exciting anticipate seeing how the Spirit will act on us. Throughout the book of Acts, as the church is getting started, we see instances of both these dynamics of the spirit—the calm wind and water, as well as the raging fire and violent wind. I anticipate times of both for ourselves, our life of faith together. One thing I expect, calm or raging, is that the call of the Spirit will afford us many opportunities for creativity and experimentation. The whole church is being set to make its wonderful, gospel filled tradition sing out loud and strong in a growing world. And we are right there part of that. God is at work in you, in us. And that work will calm, stir, nudge, and set us on fire. All to proclaim Jesus, to live into his kingdom, and realize his presence in us and in our neighbors. May Almighty God breathe life into our bones, and send the Spirit to bring truth to the world. God send us the Spirit, transform us by her truth, and give us language to proclaim the gospel. With God’s Spirit ahead of us, and Christ in our hearts, we will, indeed, boldly “reach out to share Christ with all.” Comments are closed.
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AuthorRev. Chris Sesvold is currently the pastor at Halfway Creek Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Holmen, WI. Archives
October 2021
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