Drew,
\ntoday’s confirmand, planned this worship service. \u00a0He had a lot of
\nleeway. \u00a0I was surprised at how little of it he used, and how
\nintentional he was in the decisions he did make. \u00a0Drew likes worship
\nthe way we usually do it, but there were some tweaks. \u00a0Please
\npay attention to the labeling of the music at the beginning and end
\nof worship \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Some
\nof the leeway Drew had was in picking the scriptures for today. \u00a0He
\nasked what was traditionally read on this day and we read together
\nthe Pentecost texts from the Revised Common Lectionary, year A.
\nAfter questions about the texts themselves, he decided that we should
\nread the two different versions of the Pentecost story from Acts and
\nJohn. \u00a0When we discussed the sermon he suggested that I compare and
\ncontrast the stories, and then pull out the meaning that is in both
\nof them for all of us.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I
\nlike this young man’s idea of a sermon \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nChristian liturgical calendar follows the Luke-Acts narrative about
\nPentecost, placing it 50 days after Easter. \u00a0The Greek ordinal number
\nfor 50? \u00a0Pentecosto. \u00a0Pentecost was a part of the Jewish Celebration
\nof Booths (sometimes called Tabernacle), celebrated 50 days after the
\nPassover, and was a harvest festival. \u00a0Luke’s placement of the coming
\nof the Holy Spirit on Pentecost is saturated with meaning. \u00a0The
\nharvest festival becomes a harvest of new Jesus followers. \u00a0The
\nharvest festival was celebration of the bounty as a sign of of God’s
\ncare for the people, and Luke reimagines it as a celebration of God’s
\ncare for the people through the sending of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It
\nis on this basis that Christianity celebrates the Season of Easter
\nfor 50 days, starting on Easter Sunday and culminating in Pentecost.
\nWe do it because Luke and Acts tell us that the gift of the Spirit
\ncame 50 days later.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
John,
\nhowever, disagrees. \u00a0Neither Matthew nor Mark present any version of
\nthis story, so the debate is simply between Luke-Acts and John. \u00a0(Ah,
\nI should explain my language. \u00a0Luke and Acts are written by the same
\nperson and meant to be parts 1 &2 of the same book, however the
\norder of the New Testament messes this up.) \u00a0John’s gospel places the
\ngift of the Holy Spirit on Easter evening. \u00a0We may sometimes gloss
\nover this story, because it gets used as an opening to the story
\nabout Thomas, who wasn’t there when the Spirit was given. \u00a0The story
\nis less often heard standing alone, and it didn’t get prime attention
\nin the creation of the Christian calendar, which prefers Luke’s
\nversion.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nstories are VERY different. \u00a0Luke-Acts takes place in the morning, a
\nfact we are reminded of because Jesus’ followers are again being
\naccused of being drunk. \u00a0John’s version takes place at night.
\nLuke-Acts’s version happens in public, others see the impact of the
\nSpirit, and they hear the preaching, and many are converted. \u00a0John’s
\nversion involves a large group of disciples as well, but without an
\naudience. \u00a0There is more FUSS in Luke-Act’s version, more description
\nof the event, more of a miraculous feel. \u00a0John’s version is
\nrelatively quiet. \u00a0It mostly focuses on Jesus speaking.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In
\nLuke-Acts, the crowd responds to the disciples speak. \u00a0It says they
\nwere amazed, bewildered, and perplexed. \u00a0The movement of the Spirit
\nand its impact seemed startling, and not in particularly comfortable
\nways. \u00a0The Spirit is known to blow as she will, and that often makes
\npeople uncomfortable. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(An
\naside: \u00a0the last time I read about the Spirit, the Bible translation
\nI read from referred to the Spirit with feminine pronouns. \u00a0Afterward
\nI was asked about it, and had the chance to share the fact that the
\nSpirit’s pronouns in Hebrew are feminine, and some translators follow
\nthe Hebrew, despite the fact that in Greek the Spirit is gender
\nneutral and in Latin the Spirit is masculine. \u00a0Since the Creator most
\noften gets male pronouns in the Bible, I also tend to want to follow
\nthe Hebrew pronouns for the sake of balance within our conceptions of
\nGod.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In
\nboth texts the Spirit comes to the Body as a WHOLE. \u00a0The Spirit is
\nNOT received by one person, but instead by many. \u00a0In Luke-Acts, given
\nthat the occurrence is during a Jewish pilgrimage festival, faithful
\nJews had filled the city to be witnesses, but the people in the house
\ntogether all receive the gift together. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The <\/p>\n Now, <\/p>\n Jesus <\/p>\n In <\/p>\n Now, \n<\/p>\n However, \n<\/p>\n So, <\/p>\n In <\/p>\n Perhaps 1<\/a>Robert 2<\/a>Gail 3<\/a>O’Day, 4<\/a>New <\/p>\n Rev. Sara E. Baron<\/p>\n First United Methodist Church of Schenectady<\/p>\n 603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305<\/p>\n Pronouns: she\/her\/hers<\/p>\n http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nwriter in the New Interpreter’s Bible, has a fantastic comment on the
\nfact that the faithful Jews from around the diaspora took note that
\nthe Galilean men were speaking to them in their languages. \u00a0They
\ncould still tell that the men were Galilean, including by their
\nspeech. \u00a0Robert Wall says, \u201cThe language of the Spirit is not
\ncommunicated with perfect or heavenly diction, free from the marks of
\nhuman identity; it is the language of particular human groups, spoken
\nin their idiom. \u00a0God works in collaboration with real people \u2013
\npeople who are filled with the Spirit to work on God’s behalf in
\ntheir own world.\u201d1<\/sup><\/a>
\nI rather love that idea. \u00a0The Spirit moved, and certainly in
\nunexpected ways, but still worked within the people as they were,
\nincluding with their existent accents!<\/p>\n
\nlikely because of the tradition doing so, I associate the story in
\nActs as the normative Pentecost story, which means that I’m intrigued
\nby the version in John. \u00a0As previously mentioned, it also involves
\nthe Spirit coming to a group of Jesus followers, it was likely NOT
\njust the 12 because John doesn’t tend to think in terms of just the
\n12 and he didn’t designate them as such. \u00a0A group of followers were
\nsimply gathered, and they had an experience of the Risen Christ,
\nwhich IMMEDIATELY involved receiving the gift of the Spirit.<\/p>\n
\nspeaks in five sentences, and two of them are saying \u201cPeace be with
\nyou.\u201d \u00a0This is a particularly apt greeting for the frightened
\nfollowers who had fearfully locked themselves into an upstairs room –
\nafter hearing the women’s Easter story! \u00a0The double naming of peace
\nboth sounds like a traditional greeting imbued with God AND serves as
\na reminder that fear need not define their lives. \u00a0Those faithful
\ndisciples were going to face significant persecution in coming days
\nand years, but Jesus, God, AND the Spirit were calling them to do so
\nin a different way, with the Peace of God within them. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nthis version the gift of the Spirit is the gift given so that the
\nfollowers of Jesus can continue his work, they become HIM and are
\nempowered to do as he had done. \u00a0He was sent, so they are sent. \u00a0He
\nbreaths on them as God has breathed on the first humans in Genesis.
\nA new life is beginning, one that is defined by peace.<\/p>\n
\nI have never much liked the LAST line of this passage, John 20:23,
\nwhich has Jesus saying, \u201cIf
\nyou forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain
\nthe sins of any, they are retained.“ \u00a0My objections aren’t
\nparticularly deep. \u00a0I j shy away from sin language, as I’ve too often
\nseen it lead to guilt and shame rather than to a free and abundant
\nlife of peace and joy with God. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nGail O’Day’s commentary on John (also in the New Interpreter’s Bible)
\nfixed a lot of problems for me, and made me rather glad that line was
\nincluded. \u00a0She says that, \u201cIn John, sin
\nis a theological failing,
\nnot a moral or behavioral transgression (in contrast to Matt. 18:18).
\n To have sin is to be blind to the revelation of God in Jesus.\u201d2<\/sup><\/a>
\n Furthermore, given this understanding, \u201cThe forgiveness of sins
\nmust be understood as a Spirit-empowered mission of continuing Jesus’
\nwork in the world.\u201d3<\/sup><\/a>
\n And, finally, this work is the work of the community, and never one
\nperson alone. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nlet me see if I can remake those words so they fit with O’Day’s
\ninsights. \u00a0But maybe first, you should
\nknow that Gail O’Day is Dean
\nand Professor of New Testament and Preaching\u00a0at Wake Forest
\nSchool of Divinity, and was previously professor of homeletics at
\nCandler school of Theology at Emory. \u00a0She’s an amazing scholar, and
\nespecially well respected as a scholar of the Gospel of John.
\nFollowing her insights, it would be as if Jesus said, \u201cIf you work
\ntogether to help people see God at work in the world, they will be
\nfree from their fears and able to live in peace with you. \u00a0If you
\nleave people in the fear they already know, there they will stay,
\nwithout the blessings that you now live with.\u201d \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nO’Day’s reflections on this text, she continually turns back to John
\n14-17, which is called the Farewell Discourse. \u00a0Within it are the
\ndefining words, in John 15:12, \u201c\u00a0\u2018This
\nis my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.\u201d
\n O’Day reflects on the continuity between the passages, \u201cBy loving
\none another as Jesus loves, the faith community reveals God to the
\nworld\u201d4<\/sup><\/a>
\n Thus, the seemingly problematic line that the institutional church
\nhas often used to claim authority over people’s lives and access to
\nforgiveness is really
\nabout
\ninviting the followers of Christ to share God’s love, and in doing so
\nto show other people the possibility of living life in peace, love,
\njoy, and freedom from fear.\n<\/p>\n
\nit isn’t so perplexing after all. \u00a0Perhaps the story of Pentecost is
\nthe story we already know: \u00a0God calls us to love one another and be
\nexamples of the gracious and abundant love of God in the world. \u00a0And
\nthat can change everything, because it is the completion of the
\nEaster narrative \u2013 no matter when it happened ;). \u00a0Thanks be to God
\nfor the opportunity we have to extend love into the world. \u00a0Amen\n<\/p>\n
\n\tW. Wall, New Interpreter’s Bible Volume X: Acts<\/i>\u00a0Leander E. Keck editorial board convener (Nashville: Abingdon Press,
\n\t2002) 58.<\/p>\n
\n\tO’Day, New Interpreter’s Bible Volume IX: John, <\/i>Leander
\n\tE. Keck editorial board convener (Nashville: Abingdon Press,1995)
\n\t 847.<\/p>\n
\n\t 847<\/p>\n
\n\tInterpreter’s Bible, John, 848.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n