In the past, I have preached this text to proclaim how God enables/empowers ALL persons for ministry. For this Pentecost, I am struck by the unity of the Spirit behind the diversity of gifts. It is early, but I am looking to preach on the unity of the Spirit in a world that places currently a premium on diversity.
JJinChas
I will be using this text on Pentecost Sunday, the Sunday on which the confirmation class comes to make their profession of faith. They will be asked "Do you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and pledge your allegiance to his kingdom?"
I believe we are facing one of the truly great revivals of Christianity. We are moving rapidly from the day of "Professionalism" to the day of the body of Christ. Still so much of the work of the Holy Spirit is bottle necked through the few clergy who are increasingly burned out. But there is a powerful movement of the Spirit in the Laity that is being unleashed.
Laity are entering ministry, not because they were nominated or recruited, but because they feel called. They are discerning their gifts for ministry and are entering that ministry wherever the church is allowing them and equipping them.
I sense a day when "Jesus is Lord" is becoming more than a quaint bumper sticker saying. I sense people feeling the call to use their gifts in response to an authority greater than themselves. People are coming with their gifts and offering them to Jesus as Lord.
This is not a new program developed by a denominational publishing house. It is not a movement of right wing fundamentalism or glossolia speaking charismatics. It is a movement of the Holy Spirit that is taking hold and form even in the most liberal of our churches.
The title of my sermon is going to be, "How do you say, 'Jesus is Lord?'" The catch is that we cant say it. Not on our own. Only the Spirit working through our lives, through our gifts, through our services, through our activities can say that Jesus is Lord.
Last year I went to a store and tried to make a purchase with a new credit card. The store would not accept the card. I knew that I had nothing due on the card and was puzzled why they would not accept it. I called the company and discovered that the card had not yet been "activated."
There are so many gifted people whose gifts have not yet been activated. It is a power and potential yet unrealized for the common good.
Nevertheless (I love that word), something is happening. It is not a new program, not some new consciousness, but is something beyond us, coming to us, and working through us. Like on the Day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts. Maybe not as loud or as spectacular, but no less significant. People with their gifts being activated by the Holy Spirit and through their serving saying "Jesus is Lord."
oops, forgot to sign off
Fred in LA
PS I would be interested in hearing different ways in which some of you celebrate confirmation. On what day are youth confirmed? How old or in what grade? What are your classes like? How long do they last?
Our classes begin in the fall for sixth graders. Classes are on Sunday morning during Sunday School. There are three adult leaders who help lead, organize retreats and field trips, and assist mentors. The teaching is done by many different members of the church. The pastors also teach approximately 3 classes each. Mentors pray and send cards of encouragement during the months of preparation.
Confirmation Sunday is celebrated on Pentecost Sunday. I interview each candidate two weeks before confirmation inquiring as to their readiness to make this important decision. There is a brunch served before the service. Bibles are given to each youth by the older youth along with a challenge.
Tell me what you do?
My first impression is that we should use this passage starting at 12:1, not just 12:3b. I understand that the RCL is just the beginning, but this amplification helps a lot here.
I will also be confirming on Pentecost, except that we had to monkey around with the lectionary due to graduation (May 23) and we're observing Pentecost on the 16th.
Thanks for the credit card example. I just had to renew some...and the experience is a great kick-off. On Pentecost Sunday, I have had red balloons thrown down from the balcony at the end of the service, which becomes a hilarious exhilerating moment for everyone. Lots of joy and jabber. In this church I have no balcony...I do have a wooden beam running the side and may hang red, orange, yellow crepe paper steamers and balloons straight down there to blow in the "breeze". This year's class has decided to wear white robes, I ask the congregation to wear the other flame colors, if we get much response, it should be a brilliant scene! Icthus33
I'm curious about the use of the word "same." Greek: "autos" which has something to do with natural breathing ... inhaling. I suspect that there is some connection between the word and the relationship the Spirit established with the parts --Breathing, inspiration, indwelling. I do not choose to breath. Breathe chooses me. I do not choose my moments of inspiration. Inspiration chooses me. I do not choose an indwelling of spirit. The Spirit chooses me. There is something liberating about knowing that all parts breathe the SAME breathe of life.
Dr. Duh.
I'll be moving in a few weeks, leaving a happy appointment with a congregation uncertain about their future pastoral leadership. I'm hoping to help them see that THEY have been given the gifts for ministry, that pastors don't generally make or break a church (the one they're getting actually will be a good one; they're just going through the transitional jitters). Any ideas on how to bring this familiar text to life in this situation?
I think I'll take my friend Gary's dare and call the sermon, "You're Full of It!"
I am thinking for a sermon outline to use the following: What do we learn from Pentecost?
1. It was a miracle. They spoke as the Spirit empowered them. It is the power of the Spirit that will do the work of God, not our strength or skill or programs.
2. Pentecost demonstrates the wisdom, the power and the love of God. Wisdom--relate back to the tower of Babel. Power--God takes our inadequacies and makes them strong; love--the purpose of it all was to reach out to the needy world.
3. Pentecost shows us the diversity of the church. The people were gathered from all the area provinces to hear the word in their own language. God loves and accepts and calls all of us, regardless of our background or our needs. Different languages, different lifestyles, different colors, different needs.
Clare in Iowa
WE're doing a sermon series up here on "marks" of the church. The epistle reading's emphasis on "one body" accents the unity in diversity theme. As I read "Homiletics" I encountered an explanation about 1 Cor. 12 that REALLY sings! We're reminded that gifts aren't some private experience, nor a one time ecstatic phenomenon. Rather, God's Spirit grants gifts from the sake of the whole community--the whole body. Blessings in your preparations! bc in MT
Unity is not contrary to diversity. That is what harmony is about
God is the great orchestra leader who leads players of a variety of different instraments and the production of a multitude of different sounds and makes it One beautiful pattern. Manzel
PS this reminds me of the song, From a Distance
19 MAY 99
TO continue w/ Manzel's comment about diversity. Apparently (see Rev. 7:9-10)diversity will continue in the new Jerusalem. Therefore, we have no call to erase diversity but perhaps to revel in it, recognize and celebrate the amazing power of God in creating the human race that is at once so diverse and yet united in being "imago dei." Peter in CA
The Church is Universal because the Spirit unites us. However, we allow our differences to tear us apart. Mark in Va.
with regard to unity and diversity though they are not opposite, Carl Holladay uses the contrast of uniformity and pluraformity. Just a note of contrast (what I'm not saying is).
Kelly in Tacoma
I appreciated "Dr.Duh's" note on the greek word for same. Usually I focus on the variety of gifts in this passage, but this time I was struck by the "trinitarian" nature of: 1)varieties of gifts, same Spirit; 2) varieties of service, same Lord; and 3) varieties of working, but same God. Are there any greek scholars out there with insight into the meaning of "working" (in contrast to service?) Thanks! jhr
I think it's interesting to note that Paul includes the list of gifts next to a discourse about the one body. This makes me believe that our gifts are insignificant, perhaps even non-existent, without our being in unity with a Christian community. Interesting that unity is part of the word "community". Perhaps community really should mean "communication of unity", in that our gifts are this means of non-verbal communication, and only when each of us is using our gifts to our fullest ability are we truly in community.
Mark M.
I think it's interesting to note that Paul includes the list of gifts next to a discourse about the one body. This makes me believe that our gifts are insignificant, perhaps even non-existent, without our being in unity with a Christian community. Interesting that unity is part of the word "community". Perhaps community really should mean "communication of unity", in that our gifts are this means of non-verbal communication, and only when each of us is using our gifts to our fullest ability are we truly in community.
Mark M.
Dear Moving in a few weeks,
Hope your move goes well. I do not move very well. But I have learned some lessons, the hard way, that might be helpful.
First, remember the importance of closure as it relates to grief and healing. In my tradition, United Methodist, there is little or no time for quality closure. You learn in late April that you are moving, and cannot tell anyone until May. That leaves one month to say goodbye. You have to do the best you can.
It is very important for you to articulate that you are leaving, that this move represents a change in your relationship. You will never be their pastor again. But you will always be their friend. That is so difficult to say, but I think necessary if people are going to be set free to mourn.
All Church dinners with a roast or some mixture of remembering good times, funny times can be helpful.
Remember that you will be grieving, too. I have had difficulty making adjustments in the first year of a new appointment. It finally dawned on me that I was grieving. I kept telling myself that there was no need to grieve, no reason to grieve. I was in a larger church, making more money, etc. My heart didn't agree with me. I got depressed.
After the move, there will be much pressure on you to jump right in, meet all the leaders, learn the mission, and everything else that helps to lay a good foundation for the future. Just remember that a good future for your new church is dependent on a healthy you. Make quality time for grieving. Find a good friend who can listen.
God bless you in your move.
Fred from LA
Re the theme of unity in diversity, some thoughts from Nora Gallagher, "Things Seen and Unseen - A Year Lived in Faith" (New York: Alfred E. Knopf, 1998). "In the Holy Spirit's arrival is the healing of Babel and the promise that we will all eventually understand another not in our commonality, but in our individuality, our diversity: 'each...in the native language of each.' We will all eventually understand each other, but in order to be understood, we must both speak and hear. In our speaking, our hearing, and our understanding, there will be half-measures, half-desires, misunderstandings, the turbulence of words" (p. 159).
Doug in Riverside
"No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit."
Martin Luther in his Small Catechism put it this way: "I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel...."
That's quite a statement: "I believe that...I cannot believe." That's not the way I like to think. I like to think that I can do anything I set my mind to. It's all a matter or will-power.
And yet, when I'm honest with myself, I realize that my power of the will is not so strong as I like to think. for years, now, I've been saying to myself, for the sake of my health and appearance I'd like to lose 20 pounds. But do I have the will-power to push myself away from the dinner table? Not so far!
Tom in Winnipeg