The Feast of Pentecost - Year C

“’BINATARIANS’ – OR – ‘TRINITARIANS’?”
Given at St. Mark’s Church, West Frankfort, IL; and at St. James’ Memorial Church, Marion, IL


We come today to the very familiar account of the coming of the Holy Spirit at the Feast of Pentecost, 50 days after Easter.

And we have read today three passages of Scripture having to do with the Holy Spirit’s coming and work: The Acts account, written by Luke, which recounts the Holy Spirit’s coming like “fire”, and like “a mighty wind” on the Day of Pentecost; the Gospel of John’s account of Jesus’ bestowal of the Holy Spirit to a small group of disciples on that very first Easter Day, and then St. Paul’s description of the various gifts of the Holy Spirit that are given to each believer “just as the Spirit chooses.”[1]

So this day, the Feast of Pentecost, rightly bears a nickname: “The Birthday of the Church”. For it is when the Holy Spirit is distributed to the larger body of believers on Pentecost that the Church’s preparation for its ministry and mission is complete: God the Father has sent God the Son to teach us in the right way, and to “show us the Father”.[2] Now, with Jesus’ departure at His Ascension (10 days earlier), the preparatory phase is complete, and the power of the Holy Spirit that will fuel the Church has been made manifestly clear and has been given to the Church, which is the body of believers.

But what about our understanding of the Holy Spirit?

Are we “binatarians”?[3] That is to say, do we believe that God is known as Father and as Son, but that the Holy Spirit is some sort of a lesser part of God, or something that God “sends out”? I am afraid that, whether we are ready to admit it or not, that’s often the way we believe and behave.

Our Nicene Creed might not help us to avoid the idea that God has two persons, not three…Consider where it says, “we believe in the Holy Spirit”, and a little later goes on to say, “who proceeds from the Father and the Son.” We might think that the Holy Spirit is not really God, but a power that God sends out from Himself….We ignore the other part of the Creed’s statement, which, in its entirety, says, “we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.” The Creed’s reinforcement of orthodox belief is quite clear: the Holy Spirit is God!

Next Sunday, we will concentrate on the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. But today, when we focus quite clearly on the giving of the Holy Spirit, and on the Holy Spirit’s work among the faithful, let’s reflect a little on the Holy Spirit, and on the power that the Holy Spirit makes available to all believers….

1. The Holy Spirit cannot be controlled: Notice that the Holy Spirit came “suddenly”, and with great and noticeable power: we read in Acts 2:2, “suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven.” Clearly, the Holy Spirit is in charge! Reflecting on the Spirit’s freedom, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “the wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear the sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[4]
   
   
2. The Holy Spirit’s power makes noticeable changes in the believing community: In Acts, the change the Holy Spirit brings about is the ability to speak foreign languages, so that the mission of the Church in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ might be aided. In Corinthians, the changes the Holy Spirit brings about are the gifts, the services and the workings that the Holy Spirit assists.
   
   
3. The Holy Spirit gives gifts to each believer: Notice Luke’s description in Acts…he tells us that the Holy Spirit’s arrival was “like a violent wind”, and like “fire”. But then he goes on to tell us that the Holy Spirit distributed what seemed to be “tongues of fire” on each one….The Spirit distributed to each one the divine power (signified by the image of fire) the ability to speak in another language…..Similarly, in I Corinthians, St. Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit “gives to each one, just as he determines.”[5] But, we should notice as we look carefully at the list of gifts, services and workings we read in chapter 12 of First Corinthians that some of the outpourings of the Spirit are more noticeable than others….this was an enormous problem in the Corinthian church, because some members seemed to claim special spiritual status from their ability to speak in tongues (in this case, not the ability to speak in a foreign language, but the ability to engage in “ecstatic, divine speech”).[6] Surely, the ability to speak in tongues is far more noticeable than the ability to have faith. But Paul makes clear in the remainder of chapter 12 that each believer is an important and vital part of the body of Christ, whether or not the gifts given to an individual are particularly easy to see.

As we turn now to the 21st century Church, the one that you and I help to make up, how might we see the Spirit’s working and presence in the Church today? The following are offered as a starting point for some reflections of our own:

1. The Church cannot control the Holy Spirit: We modern Americans tend to believe quite deeply in the democratic process…you know, if “a majority of people believe this or that, then that’s the way things ought to be.” We apply that belief (as important as it is to the political process) to the Holy Spirit, and to the Church: we believe that, if 51% of a group of Church members vote in a certain way, then that is automatically the work of the Holy Spirit….However, a brief look over our shoulders at Church history ought to show us that the Church has often “gotten it wrong”, even though a majority of its members or its leaders have advocated a certain type of action. We should “test the spirits” as I John 4: 1 advises us, to see if what we perceive as being the work of the Holy Spirit is, in fact, consistent with what we know of the Spirit’s working in the past.
   
   
2. The Spirit is consistent: In matters of faith and morals, the Holy Spirit cannot dictate one set of values or beliefs in one place and time, and another in another place and time. What we read of the Holy Spirit’s action, in conjunction with the work of Jesus Christ and with God the Father in Holy Scripture continues to serve as the basis for correct understanding of our ability to see the Spirit’s work and presence today.
   
   
3. The Spirit brings unity: Even as the Spirit distributed the heavenly fire at Pentecost, and then showers the believers with various spiritual gifts, the purpose of the Holy Spirit’s presence is not only to empower the faithful, but to bring them together in unity. A hallmark of the Spirit’s presence is the unity of the faithful in response to the Spirit’s working.
   
   
4. Without the Holy Spirit, the Church is “dead meat”: (I hate to put it so bluntly!) Without the Spirit’s empowering presence, the Church’s mission is “dead on arrival”! We cannot do anything without the Spirit’s power, just as the disciples could not speak those various kinds of foreign languages on the Day of Pentecost without the Spirit’s enabling.
   
   

So, in closing, today’s readings ask us to consider: 1. what is my understanding of the Holy Spirit?....do I recognize that the Spirit is part-and-parcel with God the Father and God the Son, truly God?; 2. How do I recognize the Spirit’s empowering presence in my life, in the life of my parish church, and in the wider church?

May God’s Holy Spirit enable us to understand correctly, and to see His presence in the life of faith.

AMEN.

[1] I Corinthians 12: 11
[2] John 14: 9
[3] Admittedly a coined phrase to describe a belief in God the Father and God the Son. It is used by Robert W. Wall in his commentary on Acts, as is found in the New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. X, p. 57.
[4] John 3: 8
[5] I Corinthians 12: 11
[6] For St. Paul’s full treatment of this problem, see I Corinthians 14: 1 - 25

7 Easter, Year C

"WHAT IS THE CHURCH?"
(Sermon text: John 17:20-26)
Given at Church of the Redeemer, Cairo, Illinois; Saturday, May 19th, 2007

(With hands folded together) “Here’s the church, here’s the steeple. Open the doors, and see all the people.”

Remember doing that when you were a kid? (Maybe you still do that!...perhaps with children or grandchildren.)

If we think about this children’s rhyme for a minute, we might ask ourselves, “what is the church?”

Is the church:

• A building?
  
  
• An institution (like The Episcopal Church)?

This rhyme might lead us to think that the “church” is the building, or perhaps the Institution, something distinct from the people inside….”here’s the church….open the doors, and see all the people.”

But there are other definitions that are possible, as well….definitions that focus on the people inside the building (and in the world):

• The whole body of followers of Jesus Christ, down through the ages
  
  
• The local body of believers who have come to follow Christ

Actually, that is the definition of the early Church of itself….it called itself the "ecclesia", [1] literally meaning “the ‘called out’ ones”. The early Church saw itself as a group of believers who had been “called out” of the world to gather around the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Though John’s Gospel account does not use the term “ecclesia”, it is clear from his language and description of the followers of Jesus Christ that he understands the Church from this vantage point: the Church is, first and foremost, people who have been “called out” of the world, and into an intimate relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ, the Son….whatever other concerns the Church might take up (doing works of mercy for the poor, seeking justice for all persons, etc) all have their relevance in relationship to this central reality: the person and work of Jesus Christ, through whom we know God the Father.

And as we turn now to our Gospel reading for today, taken from the very last part of Jesus’ “high priestly prayer”,[2] we can apply another definition to the word “Church”….the Church is the group of believers for whom Jesus prays.

Since the beginning of chapter 17, Jesus has been in prayer. It is the time of the Last Supper, and since chapter 13 of John, Jesus has been instructing his disciples in the key principles that will guide their lives once He has left them to return to the Father.

But now, we (along with the original disciples and all the believers down through the ages) are privileged to “listen in” on Jesus’ prayer. Beginning with Himself, he prays that God the Father will glorify the Son (verses 1 – 5). Then, beginning with verse 6, He begins to pray for His immediate disciples, those who had known and followed Him over the course of His earthly ministry. Jesus prays that they will be protected “in the name of the Father” once He has returned to the Father.

Finally, Jesus begins to pray “on behalf of those who will believe in me through their (the original disciples) word”….that would include you and me, the Church of today.

Jesus uses three terms that are found throughout John’s Gospel account, which might help us to understand what He is asking the Father to do for us. They are: “glory” (and “glorify”), “world”, and “love”. Let’s look at each one, as John uses them:

• Glory: In John’s usage, “glory” has specific connotations, including:
  
  1) Jesus’ projection of the glory of God the Father (as in John 1: 14: “we have seen His (Jesus’) glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”);
  2) Jesus’ making known God the Father’s character and love for the world brings glory to the Father; and
  3) Jesus’ death on the cross is Jesus’ “hour”[3], which demonstrates the character of Jesus’ (and the Father’s) love.
  
  
• World: For John, the “world” isn’t the physical earth we live in, but all of the whole forces (spiritual and human) that are allied against God.
  
  
• Love: The Greek language has four words to describe love, but in today’s passage, the one that John consistently uses is “agape”, the self-giving, pure love that is seen most clearly in Jesus passion and death.

What lessons might we draw from Jesus’ prayer for us, using these three key words? I think the following are appropriate:

1. The basis of unity is the model of the Son’s unity with the Father: In John 10: 30, we hear Jesus say, “I and the Father are one.”. And again, in John 14: 9, Jesus tells Philip, “whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” John’s consistent message is that Jesus “was God”.[4] Jesus, sent by the Father, to do the Father’s will, was consistently one with the Father, carrying out the Father’s will, and speaking the words the Father gave Him. Jesus gave “glory” to the Father by His faithfulness.
   
   
2. We are gathered up into the life of God through faith in the Son: Jesus said in John 15: 15 – 16a, “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from the Father. You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last….” We are no longer on the outside, looking in at the life of God….No, God has chosen us to be taken up into the life of God, as today’s text says, “the glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” We have been called out of the world into relationship with God.
   
   
3. Unity with the Son and with the Father is the basis for making the Father known in the world: Jesus’ relationship with the Father had an intimacy and directness that we find impossible to match… The mutual love of the Son and the Father was pure...But we are fallen human beings, prone to disobedience and sin, tempted to doubt, and likely to “miss the mark” of God’s will and high standards. None of us can claim that we are “one with the Father”, either in our will or our deeds. We are in need of Christ’s purifying presence in our hearts and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to be able to see Jesus Christ clearly, and to be able to amend our ways, that we may begin to resemble Him in our words and our works, to be able to love as Christ loved the Father and us.

Our Gospel text today calls us to a reassessment of our hearts and our lives:

• We have been called out of the world, into a relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ, His Son. How well do our lives mirror God’s holiness, in word and deed?
  
  
• God’s glory was shown in the faithfulness of the Son. How faithful are we to the Father, through the Son, giving glory to God in our faithfulness?
  
  
• How well do we know the Father and the Son, as they are revealed to us in Holy Scripture? (Constant study and reassessment are necessary to Christian growth!)
  
  
• Does our concept of “love” transcend the world’s definition, and begin to resemble the self-giving love of Jesus Christ?

May the Holy Spirit, Advocate and Guide, lead us into all truth, and remind us of the words of Jesus.[5]

AMEN.

[1] The term “ecclesia” comes from the Greeks, who used it to describe those who had been called into service as a local governing body, like a town council. Matthew’s Gospel account is the only one to use the actual word “ecclesia”.
[2] This informal title has been applied to John chapter 17 in its entirety since about the 16th century.
[3] Another key term for John, used to describe Jesus’ passion and death.
[4] John 1: 1
[5] John 14: 26

6 Easter, Year C

"THE CHURCH ARMY"
(Sermon text: John 14:23-29)
Given at St. Mark’s Church, West Frankfort, Il; and at St. James’ Memorial Church, Marion, IL

Back when I was in the Army, I was used to being told to do things…usually, these “orders” came from the Commander, the guy with the authority to “command” people to do things.

These commands had little to do with love…..They had everything to do with a higher authority or power, telling those in lower or lesser positions to accomplish a certain task, in order to fulfill the mission of the unit.

The church is a little like the Army: we who make up the church have come to accept the authority of God in Christ, our “Commander”, if you will.

We have come to accept His power, since Jesus Christ was sent from the Father.[1]

And yet, we are following a Commander, not out of blind obedience, nor out of fear of punishment if we do not obey, but out of love for our Commander.

Notice our reading for today: Jesus says, “those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”[2]

Jesus, in this statement, picks up a theme He has been driving home for quite sometime now: “if you love me, you will keep my commandments.”[3] Then, in today’s passage, He changes language a little, saying, “if you love me, you will keep my word.”

Notice the connection between love and keeping Jesus’ word…..

We are following a Commander, who, like the best traditions of a military leader, leads by example…..”Follow me” was the battle cry of the infantry back when I was a member of an infantry unit….In other words, “follow me” because the leader was bearing the same burdens, taking the same risks, and asking others to do what they themselves were willing to do.

Jesus Christ left His heavenly home, and assumed our humanity to the fullest degree…Philippians 2: 5 – 8 expresses it well, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.”

John said the same thing this way, “And the Word (Jesus) became flesh, and lived among us…” [4]

Jesus Christ’s self-emptying is clearly seen in the washing of the feet of His disciples,[5] and most clearly seen in His passion and death on the cross.

And, like the most effective military unit, we all have been included in the battle plan, the overall mission’s goal and strategy…We return to our reading for today: “those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”[6]

We have been included in the eternal purposes of God, seen most clearly in the words and the work of Jesus Christ. We know before the battle is joined (remember that, for John, Jesus’ death on the cross is His finest “hour”, and the time of His glorification and final victory over the powers of sin and death), what the outcome of the conflict will be.

And, like a well-trained and supported army, God has provided the means to sustain us for the time when our Commander will leave the battlefield to us: We read today, “but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”[7]
So, take heart, Christian believers!

God, our Commander-in-Chief, has given us, out of His infinite love, a Commander worth following, whose motto is, “follow me”. We follow a leader who has suffered in the fight everything we can ever imagine will come our way as we follow Him. We follow a leader who has demonstrated his worthiness as a leader, in His sacrifice on the cross for our welfare. We follow a leader who has deemed us worthy to be included in the battle plan, and has now left the field to us to carry the fight to the powers of sin and death which would destroy fallen humanity.

We have all the supplies and support we need to win the battle!

And so our task is to hear the orders clearly, to remember Christ’s leading by loving and by example, and to take full advantage of the support of the Holy Spirit.

By doing all these, we will be united in following Christ, so that the mission that God the Father gave to God the Son may be accomplished in you and in me, God’s foot soldiers.

Thanks be to God!

AMEN.

[1] A very common thread in John’s gospel account.
[2] John 14: 23
[3] Found at John 14: 15 & 21
[4] John 1: 14
[5] John 13: 1 - 17
[6] John 14: 23
[7] John 14: 26

5 Easter, Year C

"DIVINE DRAMA"
(Sermon text: John 13:31-35)
Given at St. John's, Centralia, IL by Mr. Jeff Kozuszek, Licensed Lay Worship Leader; and at Church of the Redeemer, Cairo, IL


Through this Easter season, on the Sundays following Easter Sunday, we have had the wonderful privilege of reading from the Fourth Gospel, the Gospel according to John.

John’s gospel account is rich with the understanding of Jesus Christ as the “Word made flesh”, who “dwelled among us, full of grace and truth”.1

John’s gospel account reminds us that, when we have seen the Son, we have seen God the Father. Moreover, we have seen the Father’s glory, in the person of the Son.

John’s emphasis is on Jesus, the Christ, the Son of Man, the Word, who “was God”.2

So John’s point-of-view is radically different than Matthew, Mark and Luke…..these three emphasize Jesus’ humanity, while John emphasizes Jesus’ divinity.

(In our three year cycle of readings for Sunday worship, we have a cycle for each of these three gospel accounts, but we don’t have one for John….what a pity! For John’s perspective is important to remember as we consider what God has done in the person and work of Jesus Christ.)

If Jesus Christ is truly human, and truly divine, both at the same time, and without confusing or diminishing either of those two natures of His, then John helps us to remember that Jesus Christ isn’t just “some great teacher” or some extraordinary and charismatic figure on the world’s stage. John takes great pains to disavow us of any such concept.

John’s account is one of divine action, divine drama, a battle between the forces of God and the forces of evil. The stage for this divine drama in John is in human affairs, and in the human heart.

And here, in today’s Gospel reading, we come to a continuation of the scene that took place during the Last Supper….earlier in chapter 13, we read of Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet. Jesus explains to them that that his action in washing feet was to be an example of his servant leadership.

Then, Jesus tells his disciples that one of them will betray him. Looking at Judas, Jesus says, “do quickly what you are going to do.” Judas’ departure seems to be the reason for Jesus’ next statement: “now the Son of Man has been glorified…”

Since we are studying John this morning, and since we don’t spend a lot of time in this wonderful Fourth Gospel, let’s take a moment or two to consider some ways of approaching John’s gospel account, applying each technique to our reading for today…..

1. Define the key words: I once had a priest friend who led a regular Sunday morning adult Bible study. And every Sunday, without fail, he would begin by asking someone to read the passage aloud for the group. Then, again without fail, he would say, “let’s define the key words in this passage, especially any that might be unusual.” That pattern of Bible study has stuck with me ever since! How often do we begin to read a passage of Scripture, but neglect to define the major terms we encounter in it?
   
   So, let’s look at some of the key words in today’s reading:
   
   + “Glorified”: A word that’s easy enough to understand (although I’m not sure we use it all that commonly in everyday speech). In John’s usage, however, it takes on a unique understanding…..For John, “glory” and “glorified” refer to God’s glory, seen in Jesus Christ (remember back to John 1: 14, “we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth”).
   And “glorified” refers, in John, to Jesus’ death on the cross, Jesus’ “hour”, the time when Jesus, obedient to the Father’s will and sending, glorifies the Father in His love for the Father and for the disciples (not only the original disciples, but all those who will come to “believe in Jesus’ name” throughout time).3 For John, Jesus’ crucifixion is Jesus’ hour of glory.
   
   + “Son of Man”: In John, “Son of Man” takes on cosmic, eternal overtones…..For Jesus, the eternal “Word”, who is “one with the Father”, who was sent by the Father, and who will return to the Father, is this “Son of Man”.
   
   + “Love”: The Greek language has four words to describe love. Here, John uses the word “agape” to describe the love that Jesus has for His disciples, and the sort of love that the disciples are to have for one another. “Agape” love is a self-giving love, a love that gives without expectation of a response. “Agape” love has been described as an altruistic, pure form of love. Jesus’ self-giving act of washing the feet of His disciples prefigures the sort of self-effacing love that He will demonstrate in His death on the cross.
   
   
2. Watch the verb tenses!: In today’s reading, the first two verses are critical…Notice how the verb tenses shift around: “now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him, and will glorify him at once.”4
   
   

What we seem to have in these two verses are references to past (“has glorified”), present (“will glorify him at once”), and future (“will glorify”), all at the same time. How typical of John’s writing!

The net effect for us, the readers, is to prompt the question, “what time is it?”

Put another way, we are prompted to ask ourselves, “is this an event that has taken place at some time in history (as in, at the Last Supper in the Upper Room 2,000 years ago), or is it taking place now, or is it going to take place at some point in the future?”

If God is the Father of Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, then perhaps we are getting a glimpse of God’s eternal and all-powerful nature at work….coming from outside of time, God enters our human story in a specific time and place. But if human affairs and especially the human heart are the stage upon which God is acting, then this divine drama is being played out in our hearts as well, here and now. This divine drama will continue to play itself out on the stage of human affairs and the human heart until the end of time.

For the reason for Our Lord’s advent among us, His miraculous signs, His glorious death and resurrection, and His coming again with power and great glory, is to convince us of Jesus Christ’s identity, the only begotten Son of the Father, and that by coming to believe in Him, we might have life in His name.

By our coming to faith in Jesus Christ, we give glory to the Father and to the Son. By coming to faith in Jesus Christ, we are able, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to do the works that Jesus did, works of self-giving love for those that belong to the Son, that the world might know that we are Jesus’ disciples.

Thanks be to God!

AMEN.

1 John 1:14
2 John 1:1
3 See John 12:23.
4 It’s worth noting that the verb tenses in the original Greek are difficult to translate. Some translators, for example, use present tense to translate verse 31: “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him…”