Central Presbyterian Church (USA)
May 31, 2009 – Pentecost (Year B)
William H. “Billy” McLean
Sermon Title: “Celebrating Pentecost!”
Scripture: Genesis 11:1-9; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b;
Acts 2:1-21; John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15
This
week I was talking with Bob Frankenberg about Pentecost and shared with him an
experience I had in the early 60’s.
I was the acting DCE at Idlewild Presbyterian
Church in Memphis. The great preacher
and President of Louisville Seminary, Dr. Frank Caldwell was preaching and he
made a mistake in assuming everyone in the congregation knew about Pentecost.
Here I was the overseer of Christian Education, a
graduate of a good Presbyterian College who had Bible, and was the product of
our Sunday School through College. I
heard him refer to Pentecost and sat there troubled, puzzled, and embarrassed
that I couldn’t get his point.
As soon as I got home I went straight to my Bible
Dictionary, and knew immediately the story in Acts and realized how little I
knew about the Celebration of Pentecost.
You
can rest assured when Pentecost comes every year, I don’t assume everyone knows
the story in Acts or the other story of Pentecost in John.
As we have celebrated each of the major
celebrations of the Christian year, I have made sure WE all have a “Refreshed
Understanding of What We Celebrate.”
To
begin, let’s review the legacy we inherit from the early Christian Church.
What
is it we celebrate?
·
The Day of Pentecost
brings the Easter season to a climatic finale…The Christian World rejoices with
unrestrained joy, for the God who raised Jesus from death has raised the
Church, and sent it on its mission fully equipped with the Holy Spirit.
·
The roots of
Pentecost are found in the Jewish festival of Shavout or the 50th
day after the beginning of Passover.
·
Therefore, our
Pentecost is the 50th day of Easter.
·
Shavout was a day of
thanksgiving for the harvest and the annual giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai.
·
Pentecost is our day
of Thanksgiving in the Church for the giving of the Holy Spirit.
·
Just as the giving of
the Law marked a new relationship between Israel and the God who had delivered
them from Egpt in the Exodus, so Pentecost marks the beginning of a new
relationship between humanity and the God who raised Jesus from the dead.
Now,
to the 2 accounts of Pentecost, the first is found in John 15 when the
Disciples were equipped with the Holy Spirit; however, the story in Acts is
normally the story we associate with Pentecost.
On the Pentecost following Jesus’ resurrection,
Jews from all parts of the Empire gathered and heard in one language a sign
that God was reversing Babel when the unity of humankind had been broken by
sin.
The Acts story reverses the Babel story…
·
The Spirit comes to
bring together the scattered of the earth.
·
The Spirit comes to
heal a division and restore unity.
Just
as all barriers of nationality, race, and language were transcended in the 1st
c. Pentecost, so it is for us a sign of that day when all barriers separating
people will be broken down and humanity will fine it true unity in God.
I
ask again, What is it we Celebrate on Pentecost?
We are celebrating the Gospel…We are talking about
salvation…About the Mighty Acts of God for the World.
Dr. Karl Barth affirms this and goes on to say,
·
The Gospel (is
enacted by God) in history for the liberation of the Cosmos…FOR all of
creation.
·
It is not a set of
rickety arguments about the divine order;
·
It is not the
expression of some sublime religious experience brought mysteriously to verbal
form;
·
It is not a romantic
report about awareness of God in nature; it is not a speculative, philosophical
theory about the nature of ultimate reality;
·
It is not a set of
pious or moral maxims designed to straighten out the world;
·
It is not a
legalistic lament about the meanness of human nature;
·
It is not a
sentimental journey down memory lane into achient history.
Dr. Barth says, the Gospel we are celebrating (on
Pentecost) affirms:
It is the unique (story) of what God has done to
inaugurate (God’s) Kingdom in Jesus of Nazareth, crucified outside Jerusalem,
risen from the dead, seated at the right hand of God, and now reigning
eternally with the Father, through the activity of the Holy Spirit, in the
Church and in the world.
In Dr. Willimon’s book, Who Will Be Saved, I
found these affirmations of Dr. Barth. Dr. Willimon goes on reflecting on what
Barth says the Gospel is NOT.
I found this very helpful, and I hope you do too!
On
Pentecost, we celebrate what God has done and is doing for the World; and on
Pentecost, a small sect that was to become the Church was thrust everywhere,
showing up all over and, perhaps to our amazement, still showing up today.
In
conclusion, I ask, What does such a church look like today?
I suggest it looks like Central Presbyterian
Church…Some of us able to “see” God at work through his Spirit to bring people
here for nurture and even for food.
This week I have had an email and a call telling
the story of a young pregnant teenage mother who has been cut off from her
family with nothing and who heard about the Food Pantry and came to get a bag
of groceries…Those in the Pantry got or heard her story…The result is a call
was made from Central to Swift Church where the Meltons, Phil and Amy Beth,
were known to have collected a lot of things a young expectant mother with
nothing would need. In no time, the
Meltons made the delivery of a van full of necessities for this young mother
who appeared on our doorsteps.
I learned this morning the baby is expected this
coming week, and I believe what was done in love for this young expectant
mother who is cut off from her family at such a challenging time may find here
among you a new family in Christ. I
pray this will be so, and look forward hoping one day at this font the mother
and baby might stand here to receive baptism.
I believe, this would be a great ending
to a Pentecost Story!
Second, I suggest such a church looks like Central
Presbyterian Church when we see God at work on a Sunday when we see…
A man who is a neighbor who has no ride to “his”
church feels at home here to attend the 11 O’Clock Service.
He came one time…was greeted and received with open
arms…When he returns occasionally, he is greeted by name and feels at home with
us whenever his ride can’t get him to his church.
Third, When I see what your Pulpit Nominating
Committee has accomplished after months of prayer and read the flyer about the
Bullocks who will be coming to be your Co-Pastors, I see the work of the Holy
Spirit at work at Central.
Finally, I want to give you a challenge…of how
others may know how special Christ’s Church is at Central.
Again
and again, Presbyterians have asked me how is Central doing?
I think the question/or concern is, are they alive
and well…are they going to survive?
Some of you have shared your concern…older
congregation…not many children…don’t have a pastor…don’t know when we will get
one!
Well, in His Time, you are getting a new
pastor/better a clergy couple….
I would like to challenge you today to get in your
car, or walk, down Dauphin Street…Imagine you are unchurched or a Presbyterian
just coming to town…Look at Central…What do you see?
As you prepare for the arrival of the Bullocks, ask
yourself what can we do to welcome them…AND all those people who pass our
church every day?
My challenge is to tell you about the church I
first served in VA. It was poorly
located…Didn’t have the visibility of Central.
I was installed and the preacher told the story of Central Presbyterian
Church of Anderson, SC…Our congregation heard the story as a challenge, and one
of the first things our little church did, even in a bad location, was to
change our sign to read:
The Drewry’s Bluff Presbyterian Church Gathers Here
TO Worship and Study AND To Go Out To Serve.
Now, to Central Presbyterian Church-Mobile…Drive or
Walk Down Dauphin St….Picture Beautiful Colorful Banners Big Enough to See and
Read from Dauphin St. that would read:
Central Presbyterian Church Gathers Here To Worship
9 and 11 AM To Study 10 AM and at Other Times AND To Serve The Needs of The
Community and To Go Out To Serve.
I see Central every time I go by and think about
the questions people are asking about Central…There is no time posted…No
indication of what this great, old, serving congregation is about….AND YOU ARE
ABOUT A LOT!
Per Capita, you/Central may be doing more to serve
your community and the basic needs of people than most churches.
Yes, you are smaller than you used to be, but, with
the fresh winds of the Holy Spirit and new co-pastors coming, your best days
can be ahead!