Christ Episcopal Church
May 24, 2015
Pentecost
Week before last, I made a quick trip to Virginia to attend the funeral of our former rector, Bob Partlow. Bob and Ruth were our rectors at Christ Church in the 1990's, were my sponsoring rectors when I went to seminary, and have been good friends and mentors in the years following. So, once I found out when the funeral was to be held, I hopped in my car, plugged the address of the Richmond Holiday Inn Express into my GPS, and off I went.
Richmond itself is pretty easy to find. The city is basically a straight shot over on highway 35 and interstate 64. But once I reached the outer limits of Richmond, I realized I had no idea where I was. I had no map in my head or picture in my mind of where I was going. All I had was the voice coming through my car speakers telling me to turn left in 2 miles, or take the next right. I was completely at the mercy of this disembodied voice, and she would give me only one instruction at a time. If I looked at the gps display, I could see the very next step, but I was more interested in watching the road than looking at the display in my car! Amazingly, I reached the hotel with very little trouble, and then plugged Ruth's address into the gps and managed to get to her house also. While I got every where I needed to go, I never knew where I was. In both traveling and in life, I much prefer to have the whole trip laid out for me at once so I know where I am going and how I will get there.
When I think about Pentecost and the story we heard from Acts this morning, I can easily think that the flames of fire set the disciples on a journey that was all laid out for them. After all, we can read the whole story in the book of Acts and know where the Holy Spirit sent the disciples and what she had them say and do. There are many stories in the book of Acts where the disciples appear in the right place at the right time, like the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch which we heard several weeks ago. In that story, Philip is sent by an angel of the Lord to encounter the Ethiopian at just the time he was open to hearing the gospel. The Ethiopian was then baptized before Philip was whisked away by an angel of the Lord. Surely some advance planning was required for that series of events to take place. Over and over again, the disciples preach to enormous crowds of people and their words lead thousand to be baptized. They must have had a well thought multi-step strategic plan to thank for their amazing string of successes. Right?
Actually, probably not. In addition to all their successes, the disciples and Paul also had their fair share of challenges. In 2 Corinthians, Paul speaks of being beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, imprisoned, and in danger from bandits, false believers, and enemies of the gospel. We have some stories of those mis-adventures in the book of Acts. Who would sign up for anything if they really knew all that lay ahead?
The reality is that, after Pentecost, the disciples and then eventually Paul, were likely led by the Spirit one step at a time with little knowledge of what the whole journey looked like. They were on a Spirit-led adventure with no guarantees of success or safety. But after Pentecost, the fire that had landed on their heads burned within their hearts, transforming their lives, and giving them the courage to take the gospel into the known world. They were no longer simply disciples, or followers, but now they were apostles, or ones who are sent. And they are sent one step at a time. We have lots of stories about the times the apostles succeeded and only a few allusions to times when they did not, because that is the way history is written. But even in the times when the apostles wound up in jail or worse, their witness is that the Holy Spirit was with them. Even in jail, the apostles sang hymns and their faith brought their jailers to belief.
In the gospel reading, we hear Jesus tell the disciples that when he leaves them, he will send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to be with them forever. On Pentecost, that promise is fulfilled. But Jesus does not say that he will send the Advocate so that all attempts at ministry will work out the way the disciples thought they would, or so that the disciples will never make mistakes, or so that every effort will be successful. Jesus tells the disciples that he will send the Advocate, the Spirit, simply to be with them. Where ever Jesus' followers go, whatever they try, whatever messes they find themselves in, the Spirit will be with them. In another place in John's gospel, Jesus tells the disciples that he will not leave them orphaned or comfortless. Jesus sends the disciples out on a great adventure, with very few instructions and no longer term strategic plan other than to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. But Jesus does not send them out alone.
Pentecost is a baptismal feast day and on this day we renew our baptismal vows whether or not we have a candidate for baptism. On the day that the disciples were sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ's own forever by the flames of fire that rested on their heads, we remember that we were sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ's own forever. In both cases, followers of Jesus are sent out to make a gospel difference in the world. Baptism, whether by flames of fire or by water and the Holy Spirit, does not guarantee that our efforts will always be successful, or that we will hear the voice of the Holy Spirit correctly, or that we will know where we are going or what we are doing as we are sent into the world. But baptism is the guarantee that we will never be on this adventure alone, because we have been marked as Christ's own forever. The gift of Pentecost is the gift of Emmanuel, God with us.
Amen.
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