WhitSunday!

It’s now 50 days since the Resurrection, and 10 days since we celebrated the Ascension – and you know what that means!  The promise has been fulfilled!  The Spirit of the Lord has been poured over all the earth!  It’s WhitSunday!  It’s Pentecost! 

(pause)

Okay, if we had a tech crew and unlimited budget, now would be the time when we would see all sorts of celebratory things happening.  Balloons, confetti, streamers, maybe a cake with sparklers.  But the reality is, we’re not going to have that today.  No cake.  No balloons. 

But – we’re still going to celebrate.  Because Pentecost is worth celebrating.  Not with the gadgets and gizmos that can cause our focus to go awry, but instead with the Spirit.  Because of the Spirit.  Because of the pouring out of the Spirit on the whole earth – on each and every one of us. 

So we’ll celebrate, in our calmer states.  In our very normal, ordinary ways.  Because I believe that God is speaking to us ‘normal’ folks just as much as God is speaking to folks who have the confetti and fireworks and all that.  I believe that God speaks to us in the everyday.  In the unremarkable.  Making things become remarkable – if only we have the eyes to see them.

And that’s where our faith comes in.  We can see that the Spirit is moving, is present and active, because we believe.  We don’t believe in coincidences – we believe in God.  We don’t believe that good things happen just because, we believe in the promise of God’s great glory made manifest in our lives.  We don’t believe that things just come together by chance – we believe that God is actively participating in the world to demonstrate what’s possible.

And what is possible?  Well, anything.  The sky’s the limit.  God’s grace and love will be shared among all of us so long as we believe.  So long as we want to receive it.  So long as we are able to recognise it when it’s shown to us.

So when was the last time You saw the power of the Spirit being active in the world?  Making ordinary things sacred?  Turning the unremarkable into the astonishing?  It can be a challenge to see what’s happening – especially when the secular world doesn’t tend to share good news stories as often as we might like.  But they’re there, waiting to be found.  Waiting to be shared.

Perhaps the happiest story I heard this week was of a young child whose life was changed – by chance, some say.  By a nice series of events, others may say.  By God’s action, I’d say.

The story goes something like this.  There’s a 4-year old boy in the States, Anthony Smith, and he has major hearing problems.  He has no right ear and minimal hearing in his left – so he needs to use a hearing aid – which he calls Blue Ear because of it’s colour. 

But he doesn’t like Blue Ear.  And his rationale?  Superheros don’t wear hearing aids.  Good logic for a 4-year old!  So his mom tries everything, nothing works.  On w him, she emails Marvel comics about the situation.  Not only do they get a response about a superhero in the ‘80s who got hit in the ear by his own arrow, the artists design a new superhero.  Anthony Smith becomes the superhero “Blue Ear” who needs his hearing aid to hear when people need help.  They design a whole cover for a comic and send it through. 

Needless to say, little Anthony has no objection to wearing his hearing aids now – and he’s become the hero (as it were) at his school.  Good news indeed.

It was a small thing. The mom didn’t have to email the comic book company; the person getting the email didn’t have to send it to the Executive, who didn’t have to send it to archives for the 80’s comic, who didn’t have to send it to the art department, who didn’t have to spend time to make a new character.  But it happened.  Good news.

Now, I know that a lot of people will hear this story and take it as a heart-warming warm-fuzzy rainbows-and-butterflies kind of thing.  Because they can only see the ordinary – they can only see the earthly actions that are in there.

But I see this story in a different light.  I see the Spirit moving in all sorts of ways to make a difference in the world, to make the world a better place.  For young Anthony Smith, for his family, for his friends, for everyone out there that this story touches.  I see the Spirit moving in everyone who had something to do with it.  Everyone had their heart opened just a tiny bit… everyone had their minds opened just a little bit… everyone had the incentive and desire to do what they could – just a little bit – to make a difference. 

I can hear the rush of wind encouraging them to take action; the tongues of flame inspiring them to do something about the situation.  I see the power of God in this story.  I see the movement of the Spirit in and through these people – these ordinary, average, normal people.

And I challenge us all to go out and find these kinds of stories this week.  Find examples of the Spirit being active in the world – and in your life!  No matter how ordinary your life may seem, the Spirit is moving.  The potential is there.  I challenge you to go into the world and be moved by the power of God, be inspired and invigorated and encouraged to make it a better place.  I challenge you to make a difference for someone else – not for any return, but because of your belief in the power of good – in the power of God.  I challenge you to go into the world and live out your ministry any and every way you can.  I challenge you to be like the disciples, seeing God’s presence in front of your eyes.  So go - delight in the celebration of the Pentecost - delight in God’s power to make the ordinary extraordinary. 

New Adventures

So... as tends to happen in my life, I get excited about random things.  Most recently has been an agreement to be a guest blogger on "The Community."  It's a place for Canadian Anglicans to come together and chat about a variety of stuff - from liturgy to ecumenism to tech to kids' ministry.  My blog is going to be on everyday Christianity - basically looking at my wide variety of interests and such and going over how I can see them as expressions of faith - as ways to demonstrate to the world (and myself) that what I do is a reflection of who I am.  Anyway - my first blog goes up today, and I'll be putting up new offerings each week.  So head on over there and see what I'm rambling about - join in the conversation - get into the community!!
http://thecommunity.anglican.ca/

Easter +5 Sermon

Membership

We all like to belong.  We all like to be part of something.  And, when we think about it, we all have a number of memberships in something.

And these memberships demonstrate themselves in many ways.  

Some people are members in private groups or clubs; these may have acceptance requirements or special forms to fill out.  Some of these also may have a cost attached – a membership fee may be a one-time thing or an annual requirement.

Some people may hold specific positions in an agency, which denotes a membership.  Boards of Directors, for example, are people who have been elected or appointed as the decision-making members who speak for an organisation.  

Some folks are members in wider agencies or groups where anyone can join – think of the Girl Guides or a band – there still needs to be a commitment, but there is a definite membership acknowledged – usually by a uniform or a members’ card.

Then there’s the membership in a family.  It’s a group of people to whom we belong, either through bloodlines or adoption.  No fees, no cards, no application forms.  And our groups of friends are another of our memberships – again, this is informal membership.

So what does it meant to a member in the family of God?  Is it formal or informal?  Do we apply, or is it just granted?  Do we proclaim this membership to the world, or do we just presume it’s known?

I suggest that our membership in God’s family is both formal and informal – we know that we are members, with all of the responsibilities and obligations that go along with that, but we also live and breathe and exist as beloved children, as casually as we carry our surnames.  We don’t need to fill out paperwork for membership, but we do need to apply our hearts.  We have to choose our actions to live out the great commission.  And yet for all those that do wish membership, it is granted.  And how we share our membership depends on what is comfortable to each of us – for some, they cannot proclaim the good news enough – it will permeate their every conversation.  For others, their faith is demonstrated in action but not shouted in words.  Everyone’s faith is individual; likewise everyone’s expression of faith is individual.  And so long as it remains their expression of their unique relationship with God, it’s good.

Our membership in the family of God is all about how we live out belonging.

The first reading today speaks of joining something, of belonging.  Of being part of something bigger and more powerful than we thought possible.  And of the importance of connection in order to have a grater understanding of God.

The eunuch is reading his scriptures, but admits that without being guided, he doesn’t actually understand Isaiah.  And who can blame him – the Hebrew texts can be confusing at times.  And so Phillip realises that his mission – his branching out – is to educate, nurture, and baptise.  To teach the good news of God in Christ.  The eunuch is so delighted when he understands, when he is one of the members of the household of God, that he goes out into the world and proclaims this good news. 

The second reading celebrates the love of being part of the family.  We’re invited to love one another as equals, as members of the family.  We’re invited to love as God loves, “because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”  We’re challenged to go into the world and show that love as proof, not just that we belong to this great family, but that we are encouraging others to join us as well.

The gospel today celebrates this family connection, and invites us to think about how we are rooted and situated within it.  We get this lovely analogy, which comes to us at a great time as we start to think about seeding and gardening and all the benefits of our fertile environment.  We know that when we are growing a plant, we do need to take off parts that are not healthy, parts that are not truly connected to the roots.   

Otherwise, these unhealthy offshoots can be damaging to other offshoots and to the whole plant, as they are always all connected.  They are all parts, or members, of the same whole. 

God’s family is like that – God is the vine, we are the branches.  We are part of the whole family of God.  And so we are called to recognise how it is that we connect to the vine, to God.  Are we a healthy offshoot, flourishing and fruitful?  Are we just sitting there, holding our own?  Are we in need of some fertiliser because we’re not growing?  What is our role in the growing family of God? 

We’re invited this week to think about our role in the family.  About our membership.  As one part of the family of God, rooted in Christ and branching into the world.  We’re invited to consider whether we’re a proud member of this family, living out our vocation and responding to God’s calls to us.  If we are, praise God.  If we’re not, we need to think about why not?  And in what ways can we change our lives so that we can re-establish or re-strengthen our connection to God and to the world in healthy ways, to once again be fruitful branches?

We’re invited this week to continue our growth, celebrating our connection to the vine as our support and nourishment, branching out into a world that is in need of the fruit we have been called to bear.  May we all show the world the love of Christ as members of this family.