Do you have a favorite Bible verse? Lots of people like John 3:16 (“For God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that whoever believed in him would not perish but have eternal life.”) Some people like Jeremiah 29:11 - "'I know the plans I have for you,'" says the LORD, "'plans for good and not for evil, to give you hope and a future. ‘”Jeremiah 29:11 is the second most quoted Bible verse behind John 3:16.
People like this verse from Jeremiah because they like the idea that "God has a plan for my life." Christians facing difficult situations today can take comfort in Jeremiah 29:1 in knowing that it is not a promise to immediately rescue us from hardship or suffering, but rather a promise that God has a plan for our lives and regardless of our current situation, God can and will work through it to prosper us and give us a hope. I believe that God will always be with us and there is always hope. We, Christians, are people of hope! In Ted’s sermon last week, the scripture passage he used from Romans 8:12-17 said we are “…all children of God” and “…led by God’s Holy Spirit.” This is true. God may lead us and also have plans for us but we are free to mess them up or follow them. We have free-will. This is how God made us. However, the Spirit of God is enabling us to be better people and walk in the Spirit. When Paul writes that we are “being led by the Spirit” in Romans 8:14, the focus is not upon the Spirit leading us to make day-to-day decisions such as what to buy when grocery shopping or what to eat for dinner or what time I should go to bed at night. God does give us free choices. But the Spirit does and will lead us to make some decisions about God’s plan for us. God wants what is good for us. But there are illnesses, tragedies, wars, pestilence, and natural disasters in this world. God’s plan is to be with us no matter what. God will never leave us. God may have certain plans for us but we ignore, we pivot, we go another direction, and we don’t make always the best choices. God probably looks at us and throws up His hands in exasperation when we mess up and says, “What? Not again!” We probably disappoint God constantly but God’s love for us never stops. God has plans but if we change them, then God may have a Plan A for us and if we blow it again, maybe God will move to Plan B or C. God stays with us no matter what happens. It is hard to discern God’s plans. Does God "plan" everything for my life? e.g. how I will grow up, whom I will marry, how things will unfold, even when I will die? It would be so nice have God drop a letter or a map from the sky showing me the best way to go in my life. The smoothest path to take. But God doesn’t work that way. We are given a choice on how we will live our lives. Will we follow Jesus or not? Will we stray? Does God already know when we will stray? As for me, was it God’s plan to come to Japan in 1976 as an exchange student? I think so. Was it God’s plan for me to meet my future husband and spiritual partner Toshi in 1976? Yes, I believe it was. Was it God’s plan for me to go to seminary and come to Japan and come to Japan as missionary? Yes. We make choices in our lives – some good and some bad. We make mistakes. How do we discern God’s will? We have a responsibility to pray and this is how we can discern God’s will for us. Here are some steps which are part of the prayer process.
The assumption is that God's "plan" will be a happy one and the best for us. But, what if tragedy strikes? Is it God planning to mess up your life with suffering now and then? I don’t believe that God works that way. God wants the best for us. But bad things still happen to good people. A book with this title was written in 1981 which was very popular best seller list for years, tried to answer this question. The author, Rabbi Harold Kushner says that God does His best and is with people in their suffering, but is not fully able to prevent it. The book is dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Kushner's young son, Aaron, who died at the age of 14 of the incurable genetic disease progeria. When something happens, something good, I like to say, “Providence.” (God’s divine will.) To trust in divine providence is a source of comfort to many of us. But was it Providence – God’s divine will or God’s plan for the earthquake to happen to Kobe in 1995 and over 6000 people to be killed? Was it Providence when the Tohoku earthquake happened on March 11, 2011 God’s plan? The tsunami afterwards and the nuclear power melt-down? It is believed that 15,899 died and 7,700 are still “missing.” I don’t believe these disasters were, God’s plan. But a Christian friend of mine disagreed with me about the Tohoku earthquake and said that it was God’s plan because so many Buddhists temples were destroyed. I had to point out to her that the churches in Tohoku were also destroyed as well. I really do not believe God caused this suffering. But in the midst of this suffering there was hope and many Christians came together, including KUC, to assist Tohoku. Out of a disaster, God can still work. Out of something bad, God can bring good. We have had this Covid 19 pandemic for two years. Did God want this for us? I believe God did not want this for us, but as a result of this pandemic, we started zoom classes which allowed us to connect to so many people worldwide. We believe in a loving God who created the universe and wants good things for us. However, there is still evil in the world. Bad things do happen. But God is stronger than evil. Bad things are not from God. We know that God will never forsake us. "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." - Deuteronomy 31:6-8 God's promise that "I will never leave you nor forsake you" is found in many books of the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments. With this promise, we can be assured that God is always with us. The scripture verse, Jeremiah 29:11, says: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” I wondered about the word “prosper.” Generally speaking, we understand the word “prosper” or “prosperity” to relate to things financial. But this is not the prosperity that God promises in Jeremiah 29:11. The Hebrew word translated as “prosper” is the word “shalom.” So, the promise of prosperity that God makes in this passage is actually a promise of “shalom.” “Shalom” is a Hebrew word we know which means “peace” but it has a much deeper meaning is far more than peace. “Shalom” also refers to wholeness, fullness, tranquility, community restoration , harmony, welfare, health, safety, universal flourishing, and the webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment,and the way things ought to be in the world. The “hope and a future” promised refers not to freedom from suffering in the short term, but to abiding freedom from sin and suffering when the whole community is restored – when God’s kin-dom* comes to earth and God dwells among us. The is shalom. “ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Let’s look at the historical context when Jeremiah spoke these words which is always helpful when studying scripture. Jeremiah spoke these words to Jews who had been forced to leave and were living under the domination of the Egyptian and then Babylonian Empires before eventually being carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. It was in 587 BC, that King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Kingdom of Judah, and its capital, Jerusalem. The destruction of Jerusalem led to Babylonian captivity as the city's population, and people from the surrounding lands, were deported to Babylonia. The Jews thereafter referred to Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest enemy they had faced until that point. They had been forced into exile so they were pretty sure that had abandoned them forever. But Jeremiah writes to them and tells them that they will be in this foreign country for a very long time - 70 years to be exact. But God promises that God has a plan to “prosper” them – God will give them “shalom” in the midst of their current situation. For us today, we know that Jesus Christ came so that true shalom might be experienced by all those who follow Him. (John 10:10 says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”). As followers of Christ, we can experience shalom. Shalom is experienced, in part, as the kin-dom* of God breaks in to this world, our current world, by Christ, through us. Our role is to display to others around us, the shalom that is offered in the kin-dom* of God. While the kin-dom* of God will not be fully realised on earth until Christ’s second coming, we are nevertheless called to step in and begin this restoration process, so we might show humanity that there is a better world to be had. A world of shalom. Jeremiah 29:11 shows us that God's "plans for good" are for everyone. The word "you"--in "the plans I have for you"--is plural. God called Jeremiah to speak God's Word, to the nation of Israel. For us today that is the community and the world. This also includes God’s plan and God’s shalom for Kobe Union Church. We had our SGM (Special General Meeting) last Sunday and many new Council members were elected. The new members will pray and make plans for the future. God’s Spirit will guide us. We will try to follow God’s plan for KUC but we need to work together and pray. God has plans for the Church. God has plans for KUC. We work together for shalom. We are God’s family. We are also God’s hands and feet. My life, your life, all of our lives at KUC in God's plan are interwoven with others - with the Body of Christ. Part of God's plan is that God gives us the privilege of being part of something bigger than us. We have hope for our future. We have hope for shalom. We have hope in Jesus Christ. We have hope for KUC. Let us trust in God and evoke upon the Holy Spirit. As we follow God’s plan, we will share God’s love and build a wonderful community of shalom. Amen. PRAYER Thank You God for Your plans for my life and for KUC and for the world. Thank you that You are with us in all situations. Help us to hear Your voice directing us. Help us all to choose your plan and path for our lives. Fill me with a passion to seek you diligently as I read your word and apply it to my life. Amen. ( *“Kin-dom” is used in my sermon instead of “kingdom” to show we are “kin” to one another and part of God’s family. )
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Happy Father’s Day! Today is a special day when we celebrate the existence of our earthly fathers, but it is also an important day for us to remember and to celebrate the existence of our heavenly father, our creator. Last week we heard about the trinity, God in three persons. Jesus Christ, the son, came to earth to show us how to live and give us the way to connect to our creator. That is why when we pray we ask for things in the name of Jesus. Also, we have the Holy Spirit, who helps us to communicate with God. We are like our heavenly father, and we are God’s children. In Genesis, it says that male and female were created by God in God’s image. We need to remember that and try to be more like God. In Matthew, Jesus says: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect.”
Today we are thankful for our fathers. When did Father’s Day begin, anyway? Well, Mother’s Day started officially in 1914 in the U.S. and has been celebrated for a long time. In 1909, inspired by the Mother’s Day celebration, an American named Sonora Dodd wanted to honor fathers too because her father was a single parent who raised his five children by himself. It took a long time, but Father’s Day became an official holiday in the U.S. in 1972. Now it is celebrated in many places around the world. Do you know any famous fathers and their children? Who do you think of? Let me give you a minute to try to think of some. (Picture) Do you know these people? That is Michael Douglas and his father Kirk Douglas, famous American actors, and the next picture is Dick Hoyt and his son Rick. Dick pushed his disabled son in a wheelchair, and they completed many, many marathons together. (Picture) How about these people? That is the famous American actor Henry Fonda and his daughter Jane Fonda, who is an actress and peace activist. Then, do you recognize John F. Kennedy, who was the president of the United States, and his daughter Caroline, who was the U.S. ambassador to Japan? I’m sorry, many of the younger people here might not recognize them. (Picture) Who are these people? Are they famous? Today I want to honor my father. He is 95 years old and lives in Virginia in the U.S. I was able to visit him in April this year, after not being to see him for five years because of Covid 19. That is a picture of him when he was 19 and in the army. He first came to Japan during the occupation in 1946. After that he decided to become a minister and to come to Japan as a missionary. He taught at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo for 41 years. And the next picture is me when I was 24. Do we look alike? Like father like son? Many people have told me that we look alike. (Picture) This is us now. I never thought I would be a missionary, but I became a teacher and missionary in Japan just like my dad. In my case, again, like father like son. Actually, in my family we have three “Teddys”. My father is Theodore Jackson Kitchen, I am Theodore Jackson Kitchen, Jr., and my son is Theodore Jackson Kitchen, III. My father and I were called “Teddy” when we were children. Let me tell you a funny story. As I just mentioned, I was a missionary kid, and one time we were visiting my father’s home church and having a potluck lunch there. Before we started to eat someone said, “Teddy, please lead us in prayer.” I was surprised but was getting my courage up to pray when my father started praying. They were asking my father to pray, not me. I was happy that I didn’t need to pray. Now my father and I are called “Ted”. However, the third Teddy, my son, still goes by the name Teddy. (Picture) This is me and Teddy. Teddy just turned 25 this month. (Picture) This is Teddy and my father. I am blessed to have my son Teddy, and I also have two wonderful daughters. Enough about my family. Well, who are some famous fathers in the Bible? (Picture). Here some pictures, but, of course, we don’t really know what they looked like. The first person is Abraham. We all want to be like him. He had faith in God like no other person. He was willing to obey God no matter what. He even almost sacrificed his son Isaac when God commanded him to. Next, is his son, Isaac, and then Isaac’s son Jacob. Jacob is dreaming about the stairway to heaven, Jacob’s Ladder. The last father is Jesus’s earthly father, Joseph. All of these fathers were wonderful fathers. They tried to do their best to obey God, but they made mistakes. They weren’t perfect. They were human. Only our heavenly father, our creator is perfect. Earthly fathers, earthly parents come up short, but with God’s help we can overcome our problems. Our heavenly father can be strict with us, and we need that sometimes, but more often than not, our heavenly father is like the father of the prodigal son in Luke, always waiting for us to come back, so that he can show his love for us. As today’s scripture reading reminds us, we are God’s children, and God will take care of us. God is not a distant person, too far to reach. God is someone we can call “Abba”, not just “Father”, but “Daddy”, in Japanese, not just “Otosama”, but “Tochan”. We can be like small children totally relying on our loving and strong parent. I would like to end by honoring two very special fathers. They were not only great fathers for their own families, but they were great fathers, father figures, for our church, KUC. They had super faith in God, like Abraham. We need to have faith like them, the faith of our fathers. God will help us to have that faith. (Picture) They are Chuck Graft and Billy Burke. They were such wonderful teachers and preachers for our church. We really miss them. Some of you may remember that Chuck gave us his last sermon last year on Father’s Day. He reminded us to think of God as the smartest guy in the room, our best friend, and someone we can call Dad. And Billy Burke really knew how pray for our church and to spread the gospel. Please remember that we will be having a celebration of Billy’s life here at church on July 8th. Last week was Pentecost and I was in the US preaching at a United Methodist Church in California at a joint service with The Church of India which shares facilities at this church. It was a diverse congregation much like Kobe Union Church. And I heard that you had a wonderful Pentecost service here at KUC. So did I in California.
Today is the first Sunday after Pentecost and known as Trinity Sunday. Trinity Sunday focuses on God in three persons– God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God in three persons is not easy to explain to people. The word “Trinity” does not even appear in the New Testament. But that is where we look to understand the Trinity – we go to the scriptures. We need to connect the Trinity to the Gospel as directly as possible. When you begin as a Christian thinking about the Trinity you actually already have all the equipment you need in your mind and in your heart and your experience so you’ve got all the pieces of the puzzle there you just need to be able to see them all together to understand what you’re thinking about is the Trinity. if you think that the Trinity is something that you have not had any experience with understanding, you’ll find interesting neat little analogies Like an apple has a core and the flesh of the apple and the skin of the apple is one apple. Or the Trinity is kind of like water being liquid water and ice and steam. It is water but in three forms of the same. But these analogies don’t really help us to understand and people don’t really believe God is very much like any of these things but are just looking for something to think how could something that is three also be something that is one. The Trinity - Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all the same but all distinct. I heard this explanation once for the Trinity. It isn't words but musical notes. Jeremy Begbie points out that if you sing a C, the note fills the whole room, no more in one place than another. If you add the E and then the G, each note fills the room, one doesn't crowd out the other - and the chord they form together are far more lovely than the single note. God the Trinity is like that. Same 3 first notes, by the way, of the hymn we sang, "Holy, Holy, Holy." Another example is from one of the early church Fathers, St. Augustine of Hippo, who lived in the years 354 – 430 AD. He was an early Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. He is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in the Western Christianity for his writings. In the Catholic Church he is a Saint. Many Protestants, consider him to be one of the theological fathers of the Protestant Reformation due to his teachings on salvation and divine grace. Here is the story. St Augustine was walking along the sea shore one day while pondering the doctrine of the Trinity - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. St Augustine heard a voice saying to him, "Pick up one of the large sea shells there by the shore." So he picked it up. Then God’s voice said, "Now pour the ocean into the shell." And he said, "Lord, I can't do that." And the voice answered, "Of course not. In the same way, how can your small, finite mind ever hold and understand the mystery of the eternal, infinite, triune God?" How can you pour the ocean into a mere seashell? How do you explain the grandeur of God to minds as limited as ours? . In our lesson from John’s Gospel today, Jesus is teaching his disciples. He says to them, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when Spirit of truth, comes, the Spirit will guide you into all truth.” Jesus knew that his disciples were going out into a hostile world. They would need both power and guidance. Jesus himself would no longer be with them in the flesh. But he would be with them through the power of the Holy Spirit. When we speak of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are in essence saying that we believe in the Creator God, we believe in Jesus, God’s unique presence in the world in human flesh, and we believe in Christ’s Spirit at work today in the world and in our individual lives. Therefore, Trinity Sunday is a chance for us to remember to come together in our faith and be reshaped and be transformed in the Father, and in the Son and in the Holy Spirit. In doping this, we are responding to God's response of discipleship and living as Jesus' disciples in the world in the power of the Holy Spirit. Last week was Pentecost and that is when we talk a lot about the Holy Spirit. One of my favorite topics - the Holy Spirit which is why I like Pentecost and the Acts 2 passage so much. I like how the Holy Spirit gives us power and guidance. We all need to be touched by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is what nudges us to do things and we need to listen to that voice. Let me give some simple examples: Pastor Akiko talked about feeling led to spend time with a person on a rather busy week that she had to write a sermon. The Holy Spirit nudged her to be with this person and she felt this was where she needed to be and who she needed to be with at the time. Another example. Many years ago, I felt the need to make a chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for someone in the congregation (not KUC but another church I served before coming here). This person was bedridden. Her husband took me into her bedroom. So, I made the cookies and took them to her. She was happy when she saw cookies and said, “how did you know? “ I said; “know what? “ She said, “For the last 45 years I have been making a cookies for my husband for our anniversary and this year because I was so sick, I could not make it. It is his favorite. Today is our wedding anniversary! God bless you for making these cookies!“ A simple little story. Coincidence? Maybe more like a God incidence? Perhaps. But it’s interesting how many happy little coincidences happen to those who yield themselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There are no coincidences - just incidences of God breaking into our lives. A God-moment. Look for these God-moments. Many times I have felt nudged by the Holy Spirit to do something or perhaps or contact someone you had not heard from for awhile and then find out later that person was in need or appreciated me reaching out at that particular time. There are times these nudges happen, and we ignore or misread them–but if we can stay tuned in our spiritual lives, then these nudges become more and more frequent and we can learn when the Holy Spirit is guiding us. Jesus told his disciple they would not be alone. He sent the Holy Spirit which has been around the beginning of time to be with them. At Pentecost it was the fire of God’s Spirit burned in their hearts and guided them to go forth out into the world to preach the Gospel. And it is Holy Spirit is what will help us to move forth as a church at Kobe Union if we continue to listen to God’s guidance. We are followers of Jesus and we need to act in a way that the followers of Jesus Christ would act which is by being loving, open, and caring towards one another. This question of the Trinity cannot be dealt with on just one Sunday out of the year. It is instead a journey into the life of God - an ongoing process responding to a Triune God, who asks us to live in a merciful and compassionate community. This is what God desires for us. As you may recall at every baptism that we have done here at KUC, we use the words: "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." (This is designated in Matthew 28:19.) “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” It is the Trinitarian formula. The clear command of Jesus is to baptize this way. But, if that is so, then why do we see so many instances in the New Testament where people were baptized “in Jesus’ name”?
Another example of the Trinity is when Paul, who began his Second Epistle to the Corinthians with this reminder, “It is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (1:21–22), and concluded the same letter with, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (13:14). Christ's baptism remarkably shows all three Persons of the Trinity at the same time: the Son being baptized, the Holy Spirit descending, and the Father speaking from the heavens. In this event, the Father and the Holy Spirit confirm the deity of Christ, and Jesus submits to his Father's will. Paul began his Second Epistle with the reminder to the Corinthians “It is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (1:21–22), and concluded the same letter with, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (13:14). Let me close with a short story. Long ago, Toshi had a favorite uncle and they together made a kite. They went to a park to fly it. Toshi ran up and down but the kite did not fly. It fell to the ground. His uncle said, “Toshi you cannot keep running because if there is no wind, the kite will not fly!” This is a metaphor for the church. People may be running around but if the wind does not blow, nothing will move. We need the Holy Spirit to move. We need the Holy Spirit to lift us up! We need the Holy Spirit! Let us remember that “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” is with us. The word for wind or breath in Hebrew - “Ruach”- is the same word for Spirit. In the life of the Christian and of the church, if there is no wind of the Spirit, nothing of significance happens. We need the breath or wind of God to blow us and our church to new directions. Please commit with me that we at KUC will be wide open to as much of that mighty wind of the Spirit as God is willing to give. Be open to God’s Holy Spirit moving in your life. Become like Jesus in our actions and words. Share the Holy Spirit and the love of God with others. Be who God meant you to be, follow Christ’s teachings, let the Holy Spirit guide you and you will set the world on fire. Let's Pray: Lord, today is Trinity Sunday, and we remember that you have revealed yourself to us as Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Open us to God’s Holy Spirit moving in our lives and in KUC. Work with us and within us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Sermon title: “Show Up!!” / Scripture: Acts 2:1-21 (NRSV) / Preacher: Rev. Akiko Van Antwerpen6/5/2022 Let us pray.
Holy Spirit, please descend on us wherever we may be, and fill us. Guide our wandering hearts and minds so we may better perceive you, and be brought nearer to you through your gentle nudging. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen. First let me say, Happy Pentecost Sunday! Today is a big day for Christians, as we celebrate and rejoice in the work of the Holy Spirit, but today isn’t just about celebrating this one aspect of our Triune God - it’s much more than that. Today is when we remember the descent of the Holy Spirit on the followers of Jesus. And this gathering of disciples was to be more than some small gathering of Jesus’ disciples. This was to be the start of a community, centered around faith in the risen Christ and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit - the Christian Church! Everything has to have a beginning, right? Even something as long-lived as the church had to start somewhere, and it is from this beginning that we can tell what the church is, and why we do the things we do. Why does the church gather together as a community? Why do we come to pray, worship, and share in fellowship with each other? Read Acts chapter 2. That is how. We gather as a church because of the Holy Spirit, which brings people together and leads them to do great things! But the Spirit didn’t just descend at random - there was background to what is happening in these first moments for the church described in today’s Scripture passage. More than 2000 years ago, on Easter Sunday, three days after being nailed to the cross, Jesus was resurrected. He rose again from the dead and began to appear to the various disciples, speaking with them and ministering to them until he ascended into heaven, taken up into heaven to be with the Lord. (Acts 1) While he was talking with the disciples, preparing them for what was to come, Jesus told them to remain in Jerusalem, where they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit. He said to them, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:3-8). During his time here on earth, Jesus called on the disciples and asked them to follow him physically but, as he would soon be ascending into heaven, Jesus needed to clarify the meaning of this call to the disciples. From this point on, following Jesus would need to mean more than just traveling and ministering with him around Israel and the surrounding area. It would involve going out into the world, sometimes alone, to live as Jesus did - to preach and teach the Word of God as Jesus did - and to make more disciples, among all the people of the world. And this kind of following, this more difficult, figurative kind of following, was going to take a much greater power. Something far greater than the disciples, even with their faith, had within themselves. So, just as Jesus instructed them, the disciples were in Jerusalem waiting. And this is where, as you know, we enter into that famous Pentecost text we read in today’s scripture reading: “Suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they(disciples) were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. “ (Acts 2:2-4) This is probably the part of the text that many of us are most familiar with, or at least the one we’ve heard the most often. We even did our own little reenactment of this scene just a moment ago, when all our volunteer scripture readers came and read in their own native tongues, mimicking how the disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, began to speak in all the other languages that were spoken by the people present in the crowd at the time. In fact, the Scripture tells us that there were Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome there, and all their languages were used to talk about God’s deeds of power. (Acts 2:9-12) Logically speaking, this doesn’t make any sense, of course. We know that there were 12 disciples, but there were more than 12 regions represented in town that day. That means more languages than the numbers of the disciples were spoken. This shows that he Holy Spirit wasn’t just working in the disciples, giving them the ability to speak other languages. The Spirit also gave people present in the crowd the ability to understand these different languages as if they were hearing their own native language. Clearly, the Spirit was doing something wild, confusing, and powerful in this place. As with many things we encounter in our walk with God, what’s happening here is mysterious, and not something we can easily explain, at least in terms of “how” it happened. But when we get caught up in thinking about how a miracle happened, we can easily lose sight of what the Spirit is actually doing in that moment. Have you noticed, for example, that the content of what the disciples were speaking in all these different tongues is not mentioned at all? The text here goes out of the way to explain how diverse the gathered crowd was, and rather than telling us the exact message the Spirit had for those who were present. What the Scripture focuses on is how the power of God made it possible for people to understand each other. It’s not what the Spirit is saying here that matters, as much as the fact that the work of the Spirit makes it possible for people to connect and communicate! And it is in this moment then, where the Scripture gives us the words of Peter, delivering what may well be the very first public sermon by him. His preaching begins at Acts 2:17, and first of all, he reminds people that what they are experiencing is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel: “In the last days, it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days, I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. “ (Acts 2:17-18) Prophecy, dreams - visions - these things are gifts that come to us as the result of God pouring out God’s own Spirit, the Holy Spirit, over the people. People receiving prophecy or visions as the result of God’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit is nothing new. We see this many times throughout the Old Testament. Yet, in these cases, these great visions were given specifically to leaders; those tasked with governing entire nations, leading communities of faith, or those tasked with advising, challenging, or even rebuking those kings and other political leaders who had fallen to sin and corruption along the way. But what is amazing here is that in this place, in this time, God’s Spirit isn’t restricted to only the privileged few, but poured out freely on all who are present! Everybody there gets to share in the outpouring of Spirit, regardless of social status, gender, race, ethnicity, or even age. The Holy Spirit, in this moment, blew through all of these human-made borders and boundaries. And when you think about it, this is quite the radical act. The trend in the scripture up to this point was that the revelation of God’s word, the seeing of visions and the dreaming of dreams, was something only given to a selected few; certain people from particular families or tribes. God seemed to be selective, giving this gift only to those who were holy and faithful, and God never dumped out the Spirit onto the nameless masses. But with the descent of the Holy Spirit, it seems God is showing that all these artificial barriers, restrictions, and things that limit the work of the Holy Spirit…they just seem to fall away. Prophecy, visions, and dreams don’t just come to those who pray for them, those who ask for them, or those who happen to be in the right religious or social category. They are given as the result of God indiscriminately pouring out the Holy Spirit onto anyone who would receive it. And, in my experience, when the Holy Spirit is active like this, those visions just…come. About three years ago I was living in America, and my husband Don and I were among the final candidates to come serve at KUC. At that time, we had a meet-and-greet time online with the people of this church. Now, I’ll spare you most of the details of that meeting but during it, we received one very powerful question. One person asked us why we would want to come and serve KUC despite the challenges we might encounter serving here. And in that moment, what flew to my mind was not words of my own convictions or anything, but these verses from 2nd Corinthians Chapter 5: “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we no longer know him in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.” So the message I received from God in that moment, long before the current challenges we face today, was that what was needed was to reconcile ourselves to God. And when we succeeded in reconciling our communal relationship to Christ, we would be able to work on reconciling ourselves to one another. Looking back now, I find it interesting that this vision was given to me not as a result of someone asking what our vision or plans were for KUC as a church, but as the result of someone asking something far more personal: someone asking us a question that was focused on understanding us better as people, rather than as tools for the great mission of the church as an organization. Prophecy, visions, dreams - the work of the Holy Spirit in and among us - these things come to us in ways that move beyond our expectations, that often go against what we think is logical or correct. They often don’t make much sense, when you try to understand them logically. But when you embrace the human connection, you can see where God is at work. That is because it is often similar visions are given to others also. Not too long ago, I was having a very busy week. But, even in the midst of everything I was trying to do, I felt the stirring of the spirit, nudging me to reach out to someone. So, I did just that. And when I did that, I found that this person also really wanted to spend time with me too, just as I did with them. Of course, at the time, I was really behind in preparing for my sermon that week so, in my rational way of thinking, I thought that I shouldn’t offer up my time until I had finished writing my sermon, or at least until I had done “enough” of the preparation. But something in my gut just told me I needed to go see this person soon. So I did it, full of worry about how I would ever finish my sermon in time! But when I met with this person, and as we started to talk, I began to realize that we were meant to spend this time together. Just as I had been feeling the nudge of the Spirit encouraging me to come and talk, they had also felt that same nudging, telling them that it was important to meet with me today. And while we didn’t plan for it, our talk became about vision - how the church can grow to respond to, and even address the greater issues in our society. We began to talk about how the church could become a warm and welcoming place for anyone and everyone. We began to share ideas of our church as a home for people from all over the world, especially those who are most vulnerable and marginalized. Prophecies, visions, and dreams can be exciting by themselves, but God never intended them to be limited to only a select few. These things become even more exciting when we share them with others, when the Spirit that resides in you recognizes the Spirit residing in someone else, and you realize that you aren’t the only one who has been given these things by God. When the vision stops being one person’s dream and becomes a prophecy shared by everyone, that’s when the work of the Spirit really gets truly exciting! After all, this work of the Holy Spirit comes to fulfill what the prophet Joel spoke of: God declares that the Spirit will be poured out upon all flesh (Acts 2:17)! Young and old, men and women, everyone - no matter where they are from, what they look like, or who they are - you, me, all of us have the Holy Spirit poured out upon us. But it is interesting too, that Joel’s prophecy (which Peter is quoting here) not only doesn’t say that these prophecies will be given to a select few, but it doesn’t even say that we ourselves will be the recipients of these dreams and visions. It is our sons, daughters, young men, old men, young women and old women, those who serve rather than those who are served. These are the people who speak prophecy, see visions and dream dreams. But how does that connect to the rest of us? If God truly poured out the Holy Spirit upon all flesh, how about everyone else? How about the people other than those whom Joel described in his prophecy? The secret here, I think, is in how the Holy Spirit works. Remember that descent of the Spirit on Pentecost gave two different gifts - speaking and listening. When we seek to grasp a shared vision within our community, we need the gifts of both speaking and listening so that the Spirit can move freely among us. This is why the Holy Spirit is poured out on all people! Prophecy doesn’t work if prophecy is only spoken, but never heard. Visions cannot be seen if they’re only expressed, but never listened to and believed in. Dreams can never be realized if people aren’t willing to share them, and walk hand-in-hand to realize the dream God has shared with us all. When we think about the descent of the Holy Spirit, we love imagining it as some magical, grand, and dramatic thing. We like to think of it as some great force that transforms us into active, heroic agents of the faith, calling us to powerful works of prophecy, vision, and dreaming. But remember that the focus of this story wasn’t that dramatic message we never heard, but in the act of connecting people - the way the Spirit made it possible for people to both speak and listen to each other. It’s true that the Spirit gives us prophecies, visions, and dreams but, at the same time, the Spirit gives us the ability to listen to the prophets, embrace each other’s visions, and share in each other’s dreams. The Spirit gives us the ability to go beyond ourselves, to connect to each other, and grow as a community - just as it did in this very first church community here in the book of Acts. I strongly believe that the Holy Spirit has been poured out on KUC. I hear of visions being received and dreams being dreamed throughout our church community. I hear them when I go to prayer meetings. I hear them when I do pastoral care. I hear them when we worship together on Sundays. I hear them in the conversations and discussions in Sunday school. I hear people longing for reconciliation, for a prayerful church, a welcoming church, and a church that serves the needs of the international community with honesty and vulnerability. I hear we go back to basic things of worshipping, praying and studying the Word of God. I hear of visions of a broken altar being rebuilt, and broken trust being restored. I hear we are getting prepared to be Christ’ bride to bear fruits. And I will continue to hear more, as the Spirit continues to work among us. And I need to embrace the continued outpouring of the Holy Spirit in order to keep hearing these prophecies, visions, and dreams that have been given to you all, because listening is a gift of the Spirit too. After all, I don’t want to wind up being the person who claims that the work of the Spirit is just someone speaking while drunk (Acts 2:13)! In the end, I think that the key to remaining open to hearing the prophecies, visions, and dreams the Spirit works into our communal hearts is in just showing up. Look at how today’s text starts. Verse 1 says, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.” It is only once they are all gathered together, just as God had told them to, that the violent rush of wind flows into the room, and tongues of fire descend. It’s only once they are gathered together that this great sound draws a crowd (Acts 2:6). It’s only once the people are gathered together that the ground is truly prepared for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God will continue to pour out the Holy Spirit in our community. If you doubt it, don’t be alone with your thoughts. Gather together with others in fellowship. Talk to people after worship, and ask how things are going. Join the zoom gatherings to see what God is placing in people’s hearts. Listening, hearing about the prophecies, visions, and dreams given to others might be even more exciting than receiving them yourself! 'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” May we be good listeners, good supporters of the prophecies, visions and dreams given and shared by the Spirit among all the people of our community. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen. |
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