Together In One Place
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
A quick perusal of the daily headlines is all you need to see how bitterly divided we are as a society. There are deep, fundamental points of contention between our political parties, and even among various factions within them -- and the complete inability to compromise has become a defining feature of our increasingly dysfunctional politics. But in order to compromise, there has to at least be a willingness to agree on basic parameters and acknowledge another viewpoint (even if you find it repugnant). In other words, before we can do business with our adversaries, we at least need to sit down together and understand one another. It's not just our politics -- in more and more areas of modern life, we are prone to talking primarily to others who "share our language," i.e. share our narrow interests and viewpoints.
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Dean Feldmeyer points out that this cacophony of languages and contentiousness mirrors the scene on Pentecost. Moreover, Dean notes that this division is just as prevalent in our church life. From denominational strife to the "worship wars" to arguments over homosexuality, we in the church talk over and past one another as well. But, Dean reminds us, the true miracle of the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost is the gift of being together in one place -- and of actually understanding others... even if they speak radically different languages. That's something that speaks to modern life, and we do well to remember that whenever such understanding occurs, God is at work.
Team member Mary Austin shares some additional thoughts on the alternate first lesson text from Ezekiel. The imagery of the valley of dry bones is especially powerful -- and Mary suggests that the lack of life it evokes is an apt description of how many faith seekers view the church. Mary also notes that if we focus on the lifeless bones, we miss the miracle of God's ability to reanimate them and breathe life into places where we might have given up hope. Mary reminds us that like Ezekiel, it behooves us to invite the Spirit into our valleys of dry bones and be prepared for when it blows into our lives.
Together in One Place
by Dean Feldmeyer
Acts 2:1-21
A few weeks ago I was a visitor at a church where they had two worship services going on simultaneously. In the sanctuary they were doing what they called "traditional" worship, which would have been unrecognizable as worship to my upright and uptight grandparents. People sipped coffee and sat in rows of chairs instead of pews. The words to the hymns were flashed on a screen or you could read them from the hymnal.
Meanwhile, in a relatively small room down the hall, about 30 people were doing "contemporary" worship. You know -- guitars, keyboards, drums, slide shows, people in short pants and Hawaiian shirts with coffee cups, kids running around, chairs sort of scattered around the room. The only reason they used microphones was so the song leaders could be heard over the drums.
The sermon was preached in the sanctuary and simulcast into the contemporary worship room. When it came time for communion, a couple of guys ran down the hall to get the elements from the pastor and take them back to the 30 contemporary worshipers. All of these people, "traditionalists" and "contemporaries," could have easily fit into the sanctuary together.
When we read in Acts 2 that "they were all together in one place," it sounds foreign to us, archaic, a little old-fashioned. We just don't do that anymore. And we are curious to see what other kinds of weird things God has in store for these folks.
THE WORLD
I cannot remember a time when American political rhetoric was angrier, nastier, meaner, or more divisive than it is today. I know, some will say that this is a sign that my memory is going, but I don't think so. Americans are losing the ability to compromise.
We are like the comedian who tells of an argument with his wife: "She wanted a cat and I wanted a dog, so we compromised. We got the cat." We say that we want to work together, but the only way we allow that togetherness to happen is for everyone to "come to my side."
I once served as pastor to a Methodist church that was less than a block from another Methodist church. Forty years earlier when there had been a denominational merger, both congregations had agreed to merge. Their idea of a merger, however, was for the other church to close.
The divisiveness that rends our nation is in evidence in our churches as well. I can't say for sure, but I wonder if the Christian church has ever been more fractured and divided than it is today. We are divided by denominations, and our denominations are divided over theology, politics, worship styles, and music preferences. Opinions about sexual orientation, scriptural authority, political activism, abortion, economics, and war threaten to tear us asunder.
We can't even agree to disagree. When the United Methodist church met in its quadrennial General Conference in April of this year, it was moved by two highly visible leaders within the church that words should be added to the Book of Discipline to communicate that Christians of good will and faith can disagree on the topic of sexual orientation. The motion was defeated.
When we do say that we "agree to disagree" on some topic or other, what we usually mean is that we won't talk about it when we're together. We will talk about it, however, in the parking lot in groups of people who agree with each other.
THE WORD
The story of Pentecost is usually considered the story of one miracle -- but it is, in fact, the story of three miracles.
First, they "were all together in one place" (v. 1). Rare is the church today where people worship together in one place. Physical togetherness is just not part of our contemporary Christian ethos. And don't get us started on theological or even ecclesiastical oneness. If we are ever "together in one place" in any sense of those words, we can be assured that it is God's doing. A miracle has just happened.
Second, they heard what was being said (v. 6). They turned off their cell phones, put away their Kindles, unplugged their laptops, shut down their iPods, took the buds out of their ears, and listened to what was going on around them... and they heard! We live in a time when music is pervasive and advertising is insidiously omnipresent. You can't shop or eat or even go on a picnic without being assaulted by noise, if not from your own picnic table then at the next one over. It takes a lot of work and effort to hear what is being said. If, in fact, people actually hear, we can be assured that it is God's doing.
Third, they understood what was being said. The gospel was spoken in a language that the people understood. Those who sang contemporary music heard it in contemporary music. Those who sang traditional hymns heard it in traditional hymns. Those who spoke IT heard it in IT, and those who spoke hip-hop heard it in hip-hop. Southerners heard it in southern, and Northerners heard it in northern. Children heard it in stories, and adults heard it in... well, they heard it in stories too. Whatever language people needed to hear it in, that's how they heard the gospel proclaimed -- which is just more proof that whenever people hear the gospel proclaimed, really hear it, it is God's doing.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
As you can see, this is a passage I like to have fun with. It lets us laugh at our own idiosyncrasies even as we shake our heads in wonder that the gospel ever gets communicated at all. Winston Churchill once said about dogs dancing on their hind feet: "It's not that they do it well that pleases us. It's that they do it at all." That must be how God feels about Christians communicating the gospel.
Here are a few ideas for making this passage come alive for your congregation:
• Try having some people stand at the beginning of the sermon and recite John 3:16 in different languages.
• Have the children wave their fingers above their heads and babble, just for fun.
• Talk about how hard it is to be together in one place -- physically, mentally, and spiritually.
• Share how hard it is to hear, really hear, through the cacophony of modern-day living.
• Lament with your congregation about how tough it is to speak so that everyone hears in the language that they speak -- and how truly, if any of this happens, it is God's doing.
ANOTHER VIEW
by Mary Austin
Ezekiel 37:1-14
It's as strange a vision as there is in the scriptures -- the prophet Ezekiel there in the valley, surrounded by bones... lots of bones... dry bones. Surrounded by not just an image of death but literal death, Ezekiel is given an absurd task by God. Ezekiel is speaking to the nation of Israel in exile, talking to people who know plenty about death and destruction. Bones littered the way from Jerusalem to Babylon, as people were lost on the journey into exile. The people of Israel also know about the death of their culture, worship life, and way of life. When they look at the bones, Ezekiel and God are looking at the nation of Israel as a whole.
The image is so resonant for people of faith that it endures as an image of every lifeless place in our own lives. We know dry bones too. The dry bones of businesses, closed and moved overseas. The dry bones of soldiers returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with traumatic brain injuries, amputations, or stress levels that make daily life a whole different battle. The dry bones of long-term unemployment that saps the spirit and drains our confidence. The dry bones of economic recovery that leaves people still struggling and still out of work.
The church has a wealth of dry bones too. Worship that no longer feeds the spirit but can't be changed because someone might get upset. Buildings that don't serve old or young very well but can't be changed because someone left the money in their will. Churches so interested in conflict that they're willing to lose members rather than cease and desist. Blogger Rachel Held Evans recently wrote about 15 reasons she left the church, and her list is a list of the dry bones she found in church. As she writes: "Eight million twenty-somethings have left the church, and it seems like everyone is trying to figure out why." She adds, "I left the church when I was 27. I am now 30, and after trying unsuccessfully to start a house church, my husband and I are struggling to find a faith community in which we feel we belong. I've been reluctant to write about this search in the past, but it seems like such a common experience."
Among her reasons: "1. I left the church because I'm better at planning Bible studies than baby showers... but they only wanted me to plan baby showers... 2. I left the church because when we talked about sin, we mostly talked about sex... 3. I left the church because my questions were seen as liabilities... 4. I left the church because sometimes it felt like a cult or a country club, and I wasn't sure which was worse... 13. I left the church because I had learned more from Oprah about addressing poverty and injustice than I had learned from 25 years of Sunday school... 14. I left the church because there are days when I'm not sure I believe in God, and no one told me that 'dark nights of the soul' can be part of the faith experience." The others are available on her blog.
Dry bones are all around Ezekiel, as they are all around us. It would seem that there's no possibility for life in the bones, and yet Ezekiel manages not to close the door to what God can do. When God asks if the bones can live, Ezekiel is diplomatic but not enthusiastic. "You know, God," he says. When God commands him to speak to the bones Ezekiel does as he is told, but even then there's no hint that he believes it will work. God's first announcement to the bones is that breath (or wind or spirit) will enter them, and they will live. First the bones snap together and are reassembled -- but no breath or spirit is there.
That's an interesting moment in which to find ourselves. It seems like the bones might live, and there's a hint of reconstruction but no spirit yet. The next step in bringing the bones to life is to cause breath to enter them and with this breath they begin to live again. The spirit of God is the spirit of life, in contrast to the emptiness of the bones.
To get there, Ezekiel is again commanded to do something unusual. Then God says, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live" (v. 9). Ezekiel writes, "I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude" (v. 10). Are we, then, to try to command the Spirit of God -- the wind or breath of the divine? In John's gospel, Jesus says that this same Spirit is essential for the life of faith. "Very truly," Jesus says (John 3:5ff), "I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit." He also admonishes us that the "the wind (breath, Spirit) blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Are we to try to command or even invite the Spirit, as Ezekiel does in God's name? Or do we wait for it to blow where it will? I suspect that the life of faith is about both. The Spirit does blow where it will, surprising and startling us. We can also call on it, with the hope that it will come into our dry and lifeless places. It seems presumptuous to hope to command it, but, by grace, we may invite it and find that it comes into our valleys too, to bring life out of death. For all our failings and in all our places of death and despair, there's life in the bones yet, if God's Spirit comes by. Let's issue the invitation and pray that the Spirit shows up.
Rachel Held Evens has another blog entry titled "15 Reasons I Returned to the Church" (http://rachelheldevans.com/15-reasons-i-returned-church). The last one on that list is: "Grace, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace."
ILLUSTRATIONS
It was Winston Churchill who said that England and the United States are "two countries divided by a common language." That's often true even within the most intimate of human institutions: the family. How easy it can be for husband and wife, parent and child, brother and sister, to talk with each other for hours on end, both parties speaking English -- yet neither one truly understanding the other on the deepest level! Pentecost celebrates the Holy Spirit's gift of understanding on the deepest level.
* * *
The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost couldn't have been very organized or very genteel. It isn't high tea with all the disciples sitting around and conversing with the delicacy of diplomats. No, Pentecost is a little bit of heaven breaking in. There is the rush of a mighty wind and tongues of fire dancing around; there's screaming and sweating and running and embracing. No one -- not even the eloquent Luke -- could ever convey the experience in words. It is a joyous, chaotic, frightening moment. Confusion and bewilderment and more than a little wonder -- that's Pentecost.
At the heart of it all is the remarkable experience of mutual understanding. According to the Pentecost story, understanding is a gift of the Spirit. And so it is -- for human beings are so prone to misunderstanding one another that it sometimes seems a miracle we can communicate at all. Language is only one thing that divides us. There are also differences of experience, of economic status, of gender, of age. Sometimes it feels like each of us is ultimately alone -- sealed up in our private world, never able to see into the heart of another. The lesson of Pentecost, however, is that by the power of the Holy Spirit communication -- and communion -- can and does take place.
-- Carlos Wilton, Lectionary Preaching Workbook [Series VIII, Cycle B] (CSS Publishing, 2006)
* * *
In one of the great scenes in George Bernard Shaw's play Saint Joan, Joan of Arc, the peasant maid of Orleans, is telling the obtuse King Charles about the heavenly voices she has heard. All she gets for her efforts is a scoff from the monarch, who refuses to believe in her mystic source of understanding. "Oh, your voices, your voices! Why don't the voices come to me? I am king, not you," rants Charles.
"They do come to you," replies Joan, "but you do not hear them. You have not sat in the field listening for them. When the angelus rings, you cross yourself and have done with it; but if you prayed from your heart and listened to the thrilling bells in the air after they stop ringing, you would hear the voices as well as I."
"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place" (Acts 2:1).
* * *
People can sit side-by-side but be light-years apart. It happens regularly. Folks share houses, airplanes, buses, movie theaters, and even church buildings, but chasms divide their hearts and minds. Wrangling, disputes, and spats evidence their separation.
When Acts tells us that the disciples were "all together in one place" it refers to more than physical togetherness. It means that they were emotionally and spiritually in sync. They proved it by the mighty things they later did for God. "Together" people do astonishing things.
What brought the disciples together making them such a powerful force? First, they all obeyed Jesus. He told them to wait in Jerusalem, and they did exactly that. Are you currently in full obedience to him?
Second, the disciples continually prayed. Some of us entreat God only if we think we need something or feel that we're in trouble. Do you pray constantly?
Third, the disciples were open to God's Spirit and were ready to act for him. How "together" are you? Are you ready to act with fellow Christians for God's glory? If so, God's Spirit may soon work powerfully in you.
* * *
Those who work in hospice ministry tell how frequently it happens that some dying patients, who have functioned perfectly well using English as a second language, gradually revert to their first language on their deathbed. If their dying is prolonged, they may lose English altogether -- creating certain practical difficulties for the hospice team, who may have to scramble to find a translator.
It's a beautiful thing, though, in its own way: how, when certain people prepare to cross over into the next life, they are focusing so clearly on seeing their parents and grandparents, those who have gone before them -- and how they may journey, in memory, back to the time in distant childhood when they first met Jesus. It only makes sense that they would want to function from that point onward in the language of home -- for home is where they are headed.
The miracle of Pentecost is that our God addresses us in the language of home: "In our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power" (Acts 2:11). That's because our relationship with God is meant to be intimate. God means there to be no barriers to our understanding, no obstacles to block our awareness that God is near.
When Jesus himself is dying on the cross, he doesn't speak Greek, the language of commerce and learning, which is a second language for him. Nor does he speak Hebrew, the language of his religious faith. He speaks Aramaic: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani -- "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" In his dying agony, he reverts to the language he learned at his mother's knee.
There is another occasion when the gospel writers record Jesus speaking Aramaic. When he's teaching the disciples to pray, he instructs them to address God as "Abba" -- the Aramaic diminutive for "Father." Literally, he's advising them to address God as "Daddy."
In death and in prayer... in times of extreme solitude -- when (as the gospel hymn puts it) "we've got to walk that lonesome valley, we've got to walk it by ourselves," we hear God speaking to us in our own language. And that's a wonder and a joy.
* * *
Time magazine had a cover story in its April 30 edition titled "The 100 Most Influential People in the World". One of the individuals selected was broadcaster Maryam Durani, who was noted as "Kandahar's Defiant Voice."
Durani is the owner and operator of a radio station in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province. Many of her commentaries focus on women's issues, especially how women are oppressed in a male-dominated society. As a result of her outspokenness, she has survived several assassination attempts by the Taliban. Durani recently received the U.S. State Department's annual Women of Courage award. She had the ceremony filmed, in which she stood between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and First Lady Michele Obama, so that the Taliban commanders could watch it on YouTube.
Durani is going to make the dry bones live again. As Ezekiel brought new life to Israel, Durani is bringing new life to Afghanistan.
* * *
Well, how old is she?
For decades now our hearts have throbbed over the impoverished Appalachian childhood of Loretta Lynn. In her autobiography Coal Miner's Daughter (and the popular movie based on it), we learned of the death of her young father as he was digging coal from the family mine to heat and cook for their Kentucky household. We wept when we learned that she was married at the age of 13, and then had four children by the age of 18. Then we watched with amazement and adoration as she made her way singing in the honky-tonks, finally arriving as a Nashville star performer.
Or so the story goes in her own words in her autobiography -- and in the movie whose script she approved and never discounted.
But we learn from a review of Johnson County, Kentucky, court records that Loretta Lynn was born on April 14, 1932. This means she is now 80 years old and not her reported 77. The marriage license on file with the county court indicates she was married on January 10, 1948. This means she was married at 15 years of age instead of her reported 13. Fifteen is still young, but it does lack the drama of 13 as portrayed in her autobiography and the movie and perpetrated through the decades of her career.
In John's gospel Jesus speaks that if we receive the Holy Spirit we will have "the spirit of truth" within us, and in so doing, will speak the truth. Ms. Lynn is outspoken about her Christian faith and commitment, but she ought to be a caution to all of us about how easy it is to make two or three years sound better.
* * *
Since the outset of her campaign, there have been several ethical issues revolving around the résumé of South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, especially her reporting of income on campaign forms. The central question is this: while she was an elected member of the state's House of Representatives, did she act as a lobbyist for Lexington Medical Center, which sought state financing? What evoked concern is that on her campaign financial disclosure form she did not list the six-figure salary she received as a fund-raiser for the hospital. The dispute between opposite sides of the political aisle is whether her actions were illegal, or if she slipped through a financial loophole on the disclosure form.
The case initially went to court, where a judge ruled that the case fell within the jurisdiction of the State House's ethics committee. Reports and rumors have been circulating for months, even years, as to the propriety of Haley's actions. On May 2 the ethics committee ruled that there was probable cause to continue the investigation -- but then immediately voted 5-1, along party lines, to drop all charges. This, of course, caused great consternation throughout South Carolina and among the state's politicians. The printable word that is most often uttered is that the committee's action was a "sham."
Absent of sufficient evidence, it is not our place to determine Haley's guilt or innocence. But we certainly can call into question the honesty and truthfulness of the South Carolina House's ethics committee. Reading the words of Jesus, we can only hope and pray that "the Spirit of truth" will descend upon the state capital of Columbia.
* * *
In the Christian vision, one Greek word has consistently characterized the Holy Spirit: dynamis, from which we get our word "dynamite." The Spirit is power, the Spirit is dynamite.
-- Walter J. Burghardt
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: O God, how manifold are your works!
People: In wisdom you have made them all.
Leader: Your creatures look to you to give them their food in due season;
People: when you give to them, they are filled with good things.
Leader: May the glory of God endure forever;
People: Bless God, O my soul. Praise God!
OR
Leader: Come, Holy Spirit, and fill our hearts.
People: Come, so that we may love as God loves.
Leader: Come, Holy Spirit, and fill our minds.
People: Come, that we may see clearly our mission.
Leader: Come, Holy Spirit, and fill our lives.
People: Come, that we may act as the Body of Christ.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"O Spirit of the Living God"
found in:
UMH: 539
H82: 531
NCH: 263
LBW: 388
"See How Great a Flame Aspires"
found in:
UMH: 541
"Like the Murmur of the Dove's Song"
found in:
UMH: 544
H82: 513
PH: 314
NCH: 270
CH: 245
LBW: 403
Renew: 280
"Surely the Presence of the Lord"
found in:
UMH: 328
NNBH: 129
CH: 263
Renew: 167
"Holy Spirit, Come, Confirm Us"
found in:
UMH: 331
NCH: 264
"Of All the Spirit's Gifts to Me"
found in:
UMH: 336
CH: 270
"O God Who Shaped Creation"
found in:
UMH: 443
"Breathe on Me, Breath of God"
found in:
UMH: 420
H82: 508
PH: 316
AAHH: 317
NNBH: 126
NCH: 292
CH: 254
LBW: 488
"Open Our Eyes, Lord"
found in:
CCB: 77
Renew: 91
"Change My Heart, O God"
found in:
CCB: 56
Renew: 143
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who creates and sustains creation with your Spirit: Grant us the grace to welcome your Spirit into our lives that we may live as your faithful children; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We gather in your presence, O God, to worship and praise your glory. Send your Spirit upon us that we may hear with our hearts as well as our ears the wonders you are calling all creation to become. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways in which we quench the working of your Spirit among us.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We call ourselves your children and take the name of the Christ as ours, and yet we fail to let your Spirit work within and among us. We are so centered in ourselves that we forget that we are made into one body. We think the way we like things is the only way things can be done; it must be our music, our prayers, our space. Forgive us and so overwhelm us with your Spirit that we fall in love with you and one another all over again. Amen.
Leader: God's Spirit is among us, within us, and upon us. God's presence brings reconciliation and peace, both with God and with one another. Rejoice in the grace and forgiveness of our God.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We praise your name, O God, for the wonders of your creation that are filled with your loving Spirit.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We call ourselves your children and take the name of the Christ as ours, and yet we fail to let your Spirit work within and among us. We are so centered in ourselves that we forget that we are made into one body. We think the way we like things is the only way things can be done; it must be our music, our prayers, our space. Forgive us and so overwhelm us with your Spirit that we fall in love with you and one another all over again.
We give you thanks for the blessings of your Spirit that give light and life to all around us. We thank you for the ways in which others have allowed your Spirit to work within and through them so that they have been able to minister to us and to others. We thank you for those in the church through the ages who have shared your loving Spirit with the world.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for those who find it hard to discern your presence in their lives or their world because of the hatred and violence around them. We pray for those who are blinded to you by the poverty or oppression that overwhelms them. Help us to be faithful bearers of your Spirit so that your love and care may reach them.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
Take a light blanket, sheet, or small tablecloth and ask each child if they can make it lay flat without it touching the floor or any flat object. Then ask the children if together they can. (Even if you only have one child the two of you can each hold two corners if it is not too large.) Some things we can't do alone -- we need others. The Spirit came to bring the disciples together as the church, as the Body of Christ, to do God's work.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
And Suddenly from Heaven
Acts 2:1-21
How many of you like to pretend? (let the children answer) Today is called Pentecost Sunday. It is a day when Christians remember that the Holy Spirit came to Jesus' disciples. We are going to pretend today that we were there with the disciples when the Holy Spirit came to them. As we pretend we were there we are going to make some motions with our hands. We are going to be wind, a flame, and a mouth. Can you pretend all those things? (let them answer)
(Note: Read this story twice. Read it the first time for children to hear it. When you read it the second time, have the children insert the following actions: blowing like a gust of wind; placing both their hands above their heads and moving all their fingers like a flame; and making both hands in the shape of a face and mouth, then moving the mouth like a finger shadow.)
I'm going to tell you the story. Listen to it, and then I'll repeat it. When I repeat it you pretend you are wind, a flame, and a mouth. Here's the story: "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind (make a wind sound), and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them (put hands above head and move fingers like a flame). All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages (make faces with your hands and move mouths), as the Spirit gave them the ability."
That was very good. You are all very good pretenders. I want you to remember that today is Pentecost Sunday. It is the birthday of the church. It is the day that the Holy Spirit came to the disciples. The Holy Spirit is with us today too! When we feel Christ's love, we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, May 27, 2012, issue.
Copyright 2012 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Dean Feldmeyer points out that this cacophony of languages and contentiousness mirrors the scene on Pentecost. Moreover, Dean notes that this division is just as prevalent in our church life. From denominational strife to the "worship wars" to arguments over homosexuality, we in the church talk over and past one another as well. But, Dean reminds us, the true miracle of the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost is the gift of being together in one place -- and of actually understanding others... even if they speak radically different languages. That's something that speaks to modern life, and we do well to remember that whenever such understanding occurs, God is at work.
Team member Mary Austin shares some additional thoughts on the alternate first lesson text from Ezekiel. The imagery of the valley of dry bones is especially powerful -- and Mary suggests that the lack of life it evokes is an apt description of how many faith seekers view the church. Mary also notes that if we focus on the lifeless bones, we miss the miracle of God's ability to reanimate them and breathe life into places where we might have given up hope. Mary reminds us that like Ezekiel, it behooves us to invite the Spirit into our valleys of dry bones and be prepared for when it blows into our lives.
Together in One Place
by Dean Feldmeyer
Acts 2:1-21
A few weeks ago I was a visitor at a church where they had two worship services going on simultaneously. In the sanctuary they were doing what they called "traditional" worship, which would have been unrecognizable as worship to my upright and uptight grandparents. People sipped coffee and sat in rows of chairs instead of pews. The words to the hymns were flashed on a screen or you could read them from the hymnal.
Meanwhile, in a relatively small room down the hall, about 30 people were doing "contemporary" worship. You know -- guitars, keyboards, drums, slide shows, people in short pants and Hawaiian shirts with coffee cups, kids running around, chairs sort of scattered around the room. The only reason they used microphones was so the song leaders could be heard over the drums.
The sermon was preached in the sanctuary and simulcast into the contemporary worship room. When it came time for communion, a couple of guys ran down the hall to get the elements from the pastor and take them back to the 30 contemporary worshipers. All of these people, "traditionalists" and "contemporaries," could have easily fit into the sanctuary together.
When we read in Acts 2 that "they were all together in one place," it sounds foreign to us, archaic, a little old-fashioned. We just don't do that anymore. And we are curious to see what other kinds of weird things God has in store for these folks.
THE WORLD
I cannot remember a time when American political rhetoric was angrier, nastier, meaner, or more divisive than it is today. I know, some will say that this is a sign that my memory is going, but I don't think so. Americans are losing the ability to compromise.
We are like the comedian who tells of an argument with his wife: "She wanted a cat and I wanted a dog, so we compromised. We got the cat." We say that we want to work together, but the only way we allow that togetherness to happen is for everyone to "come to my side."
I once served as pastor to a Methodist church that was less than a block from another Methodist church. Forty years earlier when there had been a denominational merger, both congregations had agreed to merge. Their idea of a merger, however, was for the other church to close.
The divisiveness that rends our nation is in evidence in our churches as well. I can't say for sure, but I wonder if the Christian church has ever been more fractured and divided than it is today. We are divided by denominations, and our denominations are divided over theology, politics, worship styles, and music preferences. Opinions about sexual orientation, scriptural authority, political activism, abortion, economics, and war threaten to tear us asunder.
We can't even agree to disagree. When the United Methodist church met in its quadrennial General Conference in April of this year, it was moved by two highly visible leaders within the church that words should be added to the Book of Discipline to communicate that Christians of good will and faith can disagree on the topic of sexual orientation. The motion was defeated.
When we do say that we "agree to disagree" on some topic or other, what we usually mean is that we won't talk about it when we're together. We will talk about it, however, in the parking lot in groups of people who agree with each other.
THE WORD
The story of Pentecost is usually considered the story of one miracle -- but it is, in fact, the story of three miracles.
First, they "were all together in one place" (v. 1). Rare is the church today where people worship together in one place. Physical togetherness is just not part of our contemporary Christian ethos. And don't get us started on theological or even ecclesiastical oneness. If we are ever "together in one place" in any sense of those words, we can be assured that it is God's doing. A miracle has just happened.
Second, they heard what was being said (v. 6). They turned off their cell phones, put away their Kindles, unplugged their laptops, shut down their iPods, took the buds out of their ears, and listened to what was going on around them... and they heard! We live in a time when music is pervasive and advertising is insidiously omnipresent. You can't shop or eat or even go on a picnic without being assaulted by noise, if not from your own picnic table then at the next one over. It takes a lot of work and effort to hear what is being said. If, in fact, people actually hear, we can be assured that it is God's doing.
Third, they understood what was being said. The gospel was spoken in a language that the people understood. Those who sang contemporary music heard it in contemporary music. Those who sang traditional hymns heard it in traditional hymns. Those who spoke IT heard it in IT, and those who spoke hip-hop heard it in hip-hop. Southerners heard it in southern, and Northerners heard it in northern. Children heard it in stories, and adults heard it in... well, they heard it in stories too. Whatever language people needed to hear it in, that's how they heard the gospel proclaimed -- which is just more proof that whenever people hear the gospel proclaimed, really hear it, it is God's doing.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
As you can see, this is a passage I like to have fun with. It lets us laugh at our own idiosyncrasies even as we shake our heads in wonder that the gospel ever gets communicated at all. Winston Churchill once said about dogs dancing on their hind feet: "It's not that they do it well that pleases us. It's that they do it at all." That must be how God feels about Christians communicating the gospel.
Here are a few ideas for making this passage come alive for your congregation:
• Try having some people stand at the beginning of the sermon and recite John 3:16 in different languages.
• Have the children wave their fingers above their heads and babble, just for fun.
• Talk about how hard it is to be together in one place -- physically, mentally, and spiritually.
• Share how hard it is to hear, really hear, through the cacophony of modern-day living.
• Lament with your congregation about how tough it is to speak so that everyone hears in the language that they speak -- and how truly, if any of this happens, it is God's doing.
ANOTHER VIEW
by Mary Austin
Ezekiel 37:1-14
It's as strange a vision as there is in the scriptures -- the prophet Ezekiel there in the valley, surrounded by bones... lots of bones... dry bones. Surrounded by not just an image of death but literal death, Ezekiel is given an absurd task by God. Ezekiel is speaking to the nation of Israel in exile, talking to people who know plenty about death and destruction. Bones littered the way from Jerusalem to Babylon, as people were lost on the journey into exile. The people of Israel also know about the death of their culture, worship life, and way of life. When they look at the bones, Ezekiel and God are looking at the nation of Israel as a whole.
The image is so resonant for people of faith that it endures as an image of every lifeless place in our own lives. We know dry bones too. The dry bones of businesses, closed and moved overseas. The dry bones of soldiers returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with traumatic brain injuries, amputations, or stress levels that make daily life a whole different battle. The dry bones of long-term unemployment that saps the spirit and drains our confidence. The dry bones of economic recovery that leaves people still struggling and still out of work.
The church has a wealth of dry bones too. Worship that no longer feeds the spirit but can't be changed because someone might get upset. Buildings that don't serve old or young very well but can't be changed because someone left the money in their will. Churches so interested in conflict that they're willing to lose members rather than cease and desist. Blogger Rachel Held Evans recently wrote about 15 reasons she left the church, and her list is a list of the dry bones she found in church. As she writes: "Eight million twenty-somethings have left the church, and it seems like everyone is trying to figure out why." She adds, "I left the church when I was 27. I am now 30, and after trying unsuccessfully to start a house church, my husband and I are struggling to find a faith community in which we feel we belong. I've been reluctant to write about this search in the past, but it seems like such a common experience."
Among her reasons: "1. I left the church because I'm better at planning Bible studies than baby showers... but they only wanted me to plan baby showers... 2. I left the church because when we talked about sin, we mostly talked about sex... 3. I left the church because my questions were seen as liabilities... 4. I left the church because sometimes it felt like a cult or a country club, and I wasn't sure which was worse... 13. I left the church because I had learned more from Oprah about addressing poverty and injustice than I had learned from 25 years of Sunday school... 14. I left the church because there are days when I'm not sure I believe in God, and no one told me that 'dark nights of the soul' can be part of the faith experience." The others are available on her blog.
Dry bones are all around Ezekiel, as they are all around us. It would seem that there's no possibility for life in the bones, and yet Ezekiel manages not to close the door to what God can do. When God asks if the bones can live, Ezekiel is diplomatic but not enthusiastic. "You know, God," he says. When God commands him to speak to the bones Ezekiel does as he is told, but even then there's no hint that he believes it will work. God's first announcement to the bones is that breath (or wind or spirit) will enter them, and they will live. First the bones snap together and are reassembled -- but no breath or spirit is there.
That's an interesting moment in which to find ourselves. It seems like the bones might live, and there's a hint of reconstruction but no spirit yet. The next step in bringing the bones to life is to cause breath to enter them and with this breath they begin to live again. The spirit of God is the spirit of life, in contrast to the emptiness of the bones.
To get there, Ezekiel is again commanded to do something unusual. Then God says, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live" (v. 9). Ezekiel writes, "I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude" (v. 10). Are we, then, to try to command the Spirit of God -- the wind or breath of the divine? In John's gospel, Jesus says that this same Spirit is essential for the life of faith. "Very truly," Jesus says (John 3:5ff), "I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit." He also admonishes us that the "the wind (breath, Spirit) blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Are we to try to command or even invite the Spirit, as Ezekiel does in God's name? Or do we wait for it to blow where it will? I suspect that the life of faith is about both. The Spirit does blow where it will, surprising and startling us. We can also call on it, with the hope that it will come into our dry and lifeless places. It seems presumptuous to hope to command it, but, by grace, we may invite it and find that it comes into our valleys too, to bring life out of death. For all our failings and in all our places of death and despair, there's life in the bones yet, if God's Spirit comes by. Let's issue the invitation and pray that the Spirit shows up.
Rachel Held Evens has another blog entry titled "15 Reasons I Returned to the Church" (http://rachelheldevans.com/15-reasons-i-returned-church). The last one on that list is: "Grace, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace."
ILLUSTRATIONS
It was Winston Churchill who said that England and the United States are "two countries divided by a common language." That's often true even within the most intimate of human institutions: the family. How easy it can be for husband and wife, parent and child, brother and sister, to talk with each other for hours on end, both parties speaking English -- yet neither one truly understanding the other on the deepest level! Pentecost celebrates the Holy Spirit's gift of understanding on the deepest level.
* * *
The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost couldn't have been very organized or very genteel. It isn't high tea with all the disciples sitting around and conversing with the delicacy of diplomats. No, Pentecost is a little bit of heaven breaking in. There is the rush of a mighty wind and tongues of fire dancing around; there's screaming and sweating and running and embracing. No one -- not even the eloquent Luke -- could ever convey the experience in words. It is a joyous, chaotic, frightening moment. Confusion and bewilderment and more than a little wonder -- that's Pentecost.
At the heart of it all is the remarkable experience of mutual understanding. According to the Pentecost story, understanding is a gift of the Spirit. And so it is -- for human beings are so prone to misunderstanding one another that it sometimes seems a miracle we can communicate at all. Language is only one thing that divides us. There are also differences of experience, of economic status, of gender, of age. Sometimes it feels like each of us is ultimately alone -- sealed up in our private world, never able to see into the heart of another. The lesson of Pentecost, however, is that by the power of the Holy Spirit communication -- and communion -- can and does take place.
-- Carlos Wilton, Lectionary Preaching Workbook [Series VIII, Cycle B] (CSS Publishing, 2006)
* * *
In one of the great scenes in George Bernard Shaw's play Saint Joan, Joan of Arc, the peasant maid of Orleans, is telling the obtuse King Charles about the heavenly voices she has heard. All she gets for her efforts is a scoff from the monarch, who refuses to believe in her mystic source of understanding. "Oh, your voices, your voices! Why don't the voices come to me? I am king, not you," rants Charles.
"They do come to you," replies Joan, "but you do not hear them. You have not sat in the field listening for them. When the angelus rings, you cross yourself and have done with it; but if you prayed from your heart and listened to the thrilling bells in the air after they stop ringing, you would hear the voices as well as I."
"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place" (Acts 2:1).
* * *
People can sit side-by-side but be light-years apart. It happens regularly. Folks share houses, airplanes, buses, movie theaters, and even church buildings, but chasms divide their hearts and minds. Wrangling, disputes, and spats evidence their separation.
When Acts tells us that the disciples were "all together in one place" it refers to more than physical togetherness. It means that they were emotionally and spiritually in sync. They proved it by the mighty things they later did for God. "Together" people do astonishing things.
What brought the disciples together making them such a powerful force? First, they all obeyed Jesus. He told them to wait in Jerusalem, and they did exactly that. Are you currently in full obedience to him?
Second, the disciples continually prayed. Some of us entreat God only if we think we need something or feel that we're in trouble. Do you pray constantly?
Third, the disciples were open to God's Spirit and were ready to act for him. How "together" are you? Are you ready to act with fellow Christians for God's glory? If so, God's Spirit may soon work powerfully in you.
* * *
Those who work in hospice ministry tell how frequently it happens that some dying patients, who have functioned perfectly well using English as a second language, gradually revert to their first language on their deathbed. If their dying is prolonged, they may lose English altogether -- creating certain practical difficulties for the hospice team, who may have to scramble to find a translator.
It's a beautiful thing, though, in its own way: how, when certain people prepare to cross over into the next life, they are focusing so clearly on seeing their parents and grandparents, those who have gone before them -- and how they may journey, in memory, back to the time in distant childhood when they first met Jesus. It only makes sense that they would want to function from that point onward in the language of home -- for home is where they are headed.
The miracle of Pentecost is that our God addresses us in the language of home: "In our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power" (Acts 2:11). That's because our relationship with God is meant to be intimate. God means there to be no barriers to our understanding, no obstacles to block our awareness that God is near.
When Jesus himself is dying on the cross, he doesn't speak Greek, the language of commerce and learning, which is a second language for him. Nor does he speak Hebrew, the language of his religious faith. He speaks Aramaic: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani -- "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" In his dying agony, he reverts to the language he learned at his mother's knee.
There is another occasion when the gospel writers record Jesus speaking Aramaic. When he's teaching the disciples to pray, he instructs them to address God as "Abba" -- the Aramaic diminutive for "Father." Literally, he's advising them to address God as "Daddy."
In death and in prayer... in times of extreme solitude -- when (as the gospel hymn puts it) "we've got to walk that lonesome valley, we've got to walk it by ourselves," we hear God speaking to us in our own language. And that's a wonder and a joy.
* * *
Time magazine had a cover story in its April 30 edition titled "The 100 Most Influential People in the World". One of the individuals selected was broadcaster Maryam Durani, who was noted as "Kandahar's Defiant Voice."
Durani is the owner and operator of a radio station in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province. Many of her commentaries focus on women's issues, especially how women are oppressed in a male-dominated society. As a result of her outspokenness, she has survived several assassination attempts by the Taliban. Durani recently received the U.S. State Department's annual Women of Courage award. She had the ceremony filmed, in which she stood between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and First Lady Michele Obama, so that the Taliban commanders could watch it on YouTube.
Durani is going to make the dry bones live again. As Ezekiel brought new life to Israel, Durani is bringing new life to Afghanistan.
* * *
Well, how old is she?
For decades now our hearts have throbbed over the impoverished Appalachian childhood of Loretta Lynn. In her autobiography Coal Miner's Daughter (and the popular movie based on it), we learned of the death of her young father as he was digging coal from the family mine to heat and cook for their Kentucky household. We wept when we learned that she was married at the age of 13, and then had four children by the age of 18. Then we watched with amazement and adoration as she made her way singing in the honky-tonks, finally arriving as a Nashville star performer.
Or so the story goes in her own words in her autobiography -- and in the movie whose script she approved and never discounted.
But we learn from a review of Johnson County, Kentucky, court records that Loretta Lynn was born on April 14, 1932. This means she is now 80 years old and not her reported 77. The marriage license on file with the county court indicates she was married on January 10, 1948. This means she was married at 15 years of age instead of her reported 13. Fifteen is still young, but it does lack the drama of 13 as portrayed in her autobiography and the movie and perpetrated through the decades of her career.
In John's gospel Jesus speaks that if we receive the Holy Spirit we will have "the spirit of truth" within us, and in so doing, will speak the truth. Ms. Lynn is outspoken about her Christian faith and commitment, but she ought to be a caution to all of us about how easy it is to make two or three years sound better.
* * *
Since the outset of her campaign, there have been several ethical issues revolving around the résumé of South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, especially her reporting of income on campaign forms. The central question is this: while she was an elected member of the state's House of Representatives, did she act as a lobbyist for Lexington Medical Center, which sought state financing? What evoked concern is that on her campaign financial disclosure form she did not list the six-figure salary she received as a fund-raiser for the hospital. The dispute between opposite sides of the political aisle is whether her actions were illegal, or if she slipped through a financial loophole on the disclosure form.
The case initially went to court, where a judge ruled that the case fell within the jurisdiction of the State House's ethics committee. Reports and rumors have been circulating for months, even years, as to the propriety of Haley's actions. On May 2 the ethics committee ruled that there was probable cause to continue the investigation -- but then immediately voted 5-1, along party lines, to drop all charges. This, of course, caused great consternation throughout South Carolina and among the state's politicians. The printable word that is most often uttered is that the committee's action was a "sham."
Absent of sufficient evidence, it is not our place to determine Haley's guilt or innocence. But we certainly can call into question the honesty and truthfulness of the South Carolina House's ethics committee. Reading the words of Jesus, we can only hope and pray that "the Spirit of truth" will descend upon the state capital of Columbia.
* * *
In the Christian vision, one Greek word has consistently characterized the Holy Spirit: dynamis, from which we get our word "dynamite." The Spirit is power, the Spirit is dynamite.
-- Walter J. Burghardt
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: O God, how manifold are your works!
People: In wisdom you have made them all.
Leader: Your creatures look to you to give them their food in due season;
People: when you give to them, they are filled with good things.
Leader: May the glory of God endure forever;
People: Bless God, O my soul. Praise God!
OR
Leader: Come, Holy Spirit, and fill our hearts.
People: Come, so that we may love as God loves.
Leader: Come, Holy Spirit, and fill our minds.
People: Come, that we may see clearly our mission.
Leader: Come, Holy Spirit, and fill our lives.
People: Come, that we may act as the Body of Christ.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"O Spirit of the Living God"
found in:
UMH: 539
H82: 531
NCH: 263
LBW: 388
"See How Great a Flame Aspires"
found in:
UMH: 541
"Like the Murmur of the Dove's Song"
found in:
UMH: 544
H82: 513
PH: 314
NCH: 270
CH: 245
LBW: 403
Renew: 280
"Surely the Presence of the Lord"
found in:
UMH: 328
NNBH: 129
CH: 263
Renew: 167
"Holy Spirit, Come, Confirm Us"
found in:
UMH: 331
NCH: 264
"Of All the Spirit's Gifts to Me"
found in:
UMH: 336
CH: 270
"O God Who Shaped Creation"
found in:
UMH: 443
"Breathe on Me, Breath of God"
found in:
UMH: 420
H82: 508
PH: 316
AAHH: 317
NNBH: 126
NCH: 292
CH: 254
LBW: 488
"Open Our Eyes, Lord"
found in:
CCB: 77
Renew: 91
"Change My Heart, O God"
found in:
CCB: 56
Renew: 143
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who creates and sustains creation with your Spirit: Grant us the grace to welcome your Spirit into our lives that we may live as your faithful children; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We gather in your presence, O God, to worship and praise your glory. Send your Spirit upon us that we may hear with our hearts as well as our ears the wonders you are calling all creation to become. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways in which we quench the working of your Spirit among us.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We call ourselves your children and take the name of the Christ as ours, and yet we fail to let your Spirit work within and among us. We are so centered in ourselves that we forget that we are made into one body. We think the way we like things is the only way things can be done; it must be our music, our prayers, our space. Forgive us and so overwhelm us with your Spirit that we fall in love with you and one another all over again. Amen.
Leader: God's Spirit is among us, within us, and upon us. God's presence brings reconciliation and peace, both with God and with one another. Rejoice in the grace and forgiveness of our God.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We praise your name, O God, for the wonders of your creation that are filled with your loving Spirit.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We call ourselves your children and take the name of the Christ as ours, and yet we fail to let your Spirit work within and among us. We are so centered in ourselves that we forget that we are made into one body. We think the way we like things is the only way things can be done; it must be our music, our prayers, our space. Forgive us and so overwhelm us with your Spirit that we fall in love with you and one another all over again.
We give you thanks for the blessings of your Spirit that give light and life to all around us. We thank you for the ways in which others have allowed your Spirit to work within and through them so that they have been able to minister to us and to others. We thank you for those in the church through the ages who have shared your loving Spirit with the world.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for those who find it hard to discern your presence in their lives or their world because of the hatred and violence around them. We pray for those who are blinded to you by the poverty or oppression that overwhelms them. Help us to be faithful bearers of your Spirit so that your love and care may reach them.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
Take a light blanket, sheet, or small tablecloth and ask each child if they can make it lay flat without it touching the floor or any flat object. Then ask the children if together they can. (Even if you only have one child the two of you can each hold two corners if it is not too large.) Some things we can't do alone -- we need others. The Spirit came to bring the disciples together as the church, as the Body of Christ, to do God's work.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
And Suddenly from Heaven
Acts 2:1-21
How many of you like to pretend? (let the children answer) Today is called Pentecost Sunday. It is a day when Christians remember that the Holy Spirit came to Jesus' disciples. We are going to pretend today that we were there with the disciples when the Holy Spirit came to them. As we pretend we were there we are going to make some motions with our hands. We are going to be wind, a flame, and a mouth. Can you pretend all those things? (let them answer)
(Note: Read this story twice. Read it the first time for children to hear it. When you read it the second time, have the children insert the following actions: blowing like a gust of wind; placing both their hands above their heads and moving all their fingers like a flame; and making both hands in the shape of a face and mouth, then moving the mouth like a finger shadow.)
I'm going to tell you the story. Listen to it, and then I'll repeat it. When I repeat it you pretend you are wind, a flame, and a mouth. Here's the story: "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind (make a wind sound), and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them (put hands above head and move fingers like a flame). All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages (make faces with your hands and move mouths), as the Spirit gave them the ability."
That was very good. You are all very good pretenders. I want you to remember that today is Pentecost Sunday. It is the birthday of the church. It is the day that the Holy Spirit came to the disciples. The Holy Spirit is with us today too! When we feel Christ's love, we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, May 27, 2012, issue.
Copyright 2012 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
