Pentecost Sunday

              May 27, 2007

     A man decided to indulge his midlife crisis by going out and buying the best car available in the USA, Asia, or Europe.  He decided on the 2008 turbo Beep Beep.  It is the best and most expensive car in the world and comes fully equipped at $500,000.  The day after the purchase the man took his new car out for a spin.  He came to a red light.  An old man on a moped, both looking about 90, pulled up next to him.

     The old fellow looked over the sleek, shiny surface of the car and asked, “What kind of car ya got there, sonny?”

     The dude replied, “A 2008 turbo Beep Beep.  It cost $500,000.”

     “That’s a lot of money!” said the old man, kind of shocked.  “Why does it cost so much?”

     “Cause this car can do up to 320 miles an hour and has a 12-valve, 600 horsepower engine,” said the new owner.

     The old man asked, “Can I look inside?”

     “Sure,” said the owner.

     So the old fellow poked his head in the window and looked around.  Leaning back on his moped, the old fellow said, “That’s a pretty nice car, alright!”

     Just then the light turned green, so the Beep Beep owner decided the show the old fellow what his car could do.  He floored it, and within 30 seconds the speedometer read 320.  Suddenly, the guy noticed a dot in his rearview mirror.  It seemed to grow larger and larger.

     Whhhoooooooossssshhhh!  Something whipped by him, going about three times as fast!

     The guy wondered what on earth could be going faster than a turbo, 12-valve, 600 horsepower Beep Beep?  Then, ahead of him, he saw a dot coming toward him.

     Whhhoooooooossssshhhh!  Went by again.  It almost looked like the old guy on the moped!  That couldn’t be.  How could a moped outrun such a car?  Again, he saw a dot in his rearview mirror.

     Whhhoooooooossssshhhh!  Kaabbblaammmm!  It plowed into the back of the car, demolishing the rear end.

     The guy jumped out and discovered the old man, dazed, still astride the crumpled moped.  The Beep Beep owner ran up to the old fellow and asked, “You hurt badly?  Is there anything I can do for you?”

     The old fellow replied, “Yeah!  Unhook my suspenders from the side-view mirror on that car!”

     The violent wind of Pentecost probably traveled faster than the old fellow on his moped.  At least the record of the first Pentecost, recorded in Acts, states that the wind arriving from heaven was something more than a gentle breeze.  It was intended to blow the disciples out into service in the world.  It was to assure them that the promise Jesus had made to them in the Upper Room about receiving power had now come true.  He had breathed on them and that Holy Spirit was now to be the guiding power in all that they did and said.  It was not just for them anymore.  The variety of gifts would be multiplied exponentially.

     There is not much doubt that the disciples continued to meet in the Upper Room after all the things that had happened.  But, they met there in something akin to stark terror.  They knew well the venomous hate of the authorities for all that their rabbi stood for and they knew their turn might come at any moment.

     So they met in fear, trapped in silence, and behind locked doors.  Perhaps they had a code-word for anyone who might come to the door.  It might have been possible to hear the individual breaths of each of the eleven.  Perhaps a few whispers about what to do now could be heard.  What might they do if they escaped with their lives? 

     They sat there in terror, listening fearfully for every footstep on the stairs, every knock on the door.  It was as they sat in fear and silence that Jesus was suddenly in the midst of them.  He gave the traditional mid-eastern greeting.  They had heard it before.  “Peace be with you.”  Shalom.  It means far more than our normal definition of the word.  May you be saved from fear.  May God bathe you with his presence.  May you know God’s love in the depths of your being.  May you know how much you need each other.  Those are some of the meanings extended in John’s Gospel.

     It is from today, for the great granting of God’s peace that we get the passing of the peace in this Eucharist.  It is not our own peace we exchange with each other.  This is not a mini-coffee hour thrown into the middle of a worship service.  This is not the time to inquire about the family or make comments about how pale someone looks, or share a doctor’s report, or to pass judgment on a dress or suit.  This is the hinge on the great door that allows us, by the grace of God and by God’s peace, to move on to make Eucharist.  The primary point in the Gospel for Pentecost is that we cannot hear the Great Commission until we feel God’s peace.

     Jesus said that as God had sent him into the world, so he would now send his followers into the world.  This is the Charter of the Church.  It means three things for us as we meet in this beautiful building on May 27, 2007 as the people of God.

     First, it means that Jesus the Christ needs the church.  We are, in St. Paul’s words, “the body of Christ.”  Jesus came with a message for all people.  Now he was returning to the Father.  That message could never be taken to all people unless the church took it.  The reconciling message of Jesus the Christ was delivered into the hands of the church.  Others would not hear his claim upon their lives that he came as Savior and can be followed as Lord unless the church took that message to the world.  It is an awesome responsibility, but one from which the church cannot shrink.

     Second, the church needs Jesus the Christ.  A person, a group of people gathered as a denomination, or a mission endeavor needs some to send them.  They must have a message to take and they must be clear that it is not a human message.  “It is not ourselves we proclaim.  We proclaim Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves as your servants for Christ’s sake.”  We must always and in everything point to the one beyond.  He is everything and we are the vessels through which he has chosen to work.  Without Jesus the Christ we have no message, we have no power, and nowhere to turn when we are up against it.  The church must be dependent on Jesus.

     Last of all, the sending out of the church is the parallel to the sending out of Jesus by God the Father.  Jesus could only be God’s messenger because he rendered perfect obedience and demonstrated the perfect love of God.  Obedience to the cross as the atoning death for you and me are the clearest indications of that perfect love.  The church must strive to perfectly love him and perfectly obey him.  We sometimes go astray.  He knew we would.  That knowledge makes the giving of the Holy Spirit all the more wonderful and awesome.  We have a guide, a comforter, and a counselor.  We have one who intercedes for us, appeals to the Father in our behalf, and prays for us every second of every day. 

     We must never put before people the Episcopal message as the first order of business.  We are Christians first and members of the Episcopal Church second.  Don’t get those things confused in your witness to the world.  There is no such thing as an Episcopal Christian.  The church can never be seen as out to follow policies of human design, but to follow the will of God.  We have been given a great gift this day.  Does your hand tremble?  Do you stammer in your confession?  Do you fail in keeping your baptismal covenant?  Welcome to the club.  We all do. 

      But we are invited to breathe deeply this day.  Inhale the Holy Spirit of God as the Lord Jesus breathes into our nostrils and we become a new creation.  Put out your shaking hand, stand firm on your wobbly knees and listen.  You can’t outrun the Holy Spirit.  Unhook your suspenders.  It is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.  “Peace be with you.  Receive the Holy Sprit.”  And go and share it with others.  Amen.