Back to Sermon Archive

Back to Worship Services

May 11, 2008


Loreen Kleinschmidt

Pentecost

Year A

RCL
To read the lessons for the day click here:


http://www.io.com/~kellywp/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/APentDay_RCL.html

 

Acts 2:1-21

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 

John 7:37-39

 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, pray with me, that the words I speak may be those God wants us to hear.

 

Happy Birthday! Today is Pentecost, the Birthday of the Church. And so I say to all of us together, Happy Birthday!

 

Because who are we?

We are the church!

 

Let’s do that again, now that you know the answer to the question!

 

Who are we?

We are the church!

 

Who Are we?

WE ARE THE CHURCH!

 

You have just had a preview of something that might happen on a Cursillo weekend… and does happen on a Kairos weekend. On a Cursillo weekend you are likely to say this while surrounded by your peers, people just like the folks you meet at church on a Sunday morning.

 

It takes on a whole new dimension when you are in a prison chapel with the Kairos team and 36 level-4 inmates who have just spent 4 days wrestling with themselves and God and learning to trust each other, and everyone in the room shouts “We are the church” in answer to that question.

 

It takes on another face when you are in Friendship Park with a group of homeless people, and as the group shares their prayer concerns and stories, you realize that you have found the church again, that you are sitting with the saints.

 

The church doesn’t just stay in a building because we don’t just stay in a building. The church gets out and goes places. It happens whenever and wherever 2 or more of us meet. Church isn’t something that can be done alone, and it isn’t something that just happens on Sundays. Church is more than collection of habits…it a way of life, a way of being.

 

WE ARE the church!

 

So Happy Birthday! And God Grant Us Many Years! And God grant that we may always remember that we are His church, and BE the church to His Honor and Glory.

 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus talks about living water. Now, just reading it as it is, this lesson seems just a bit strange to me… Jesus is standing around at a festival, and all of the sudden he shouts:

 

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”

 

Does Jesus just say this out of the blue? The underlying theme may have been obvious to the first readers of the Gospel, but 21st century readers need some context here.

 

The feast of booths was a pilgrimage festival that occurred in the fall, after the harvest. People traveled to Jerusalem, and while they were there they lived in tent-like structures, to remind them of Israel’s dependence on God during their 40 years in the wilderness. Every day during the festival water was carried from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple to commemorate the time Moses struck the rock in the desert and water flowed out, and also to ask for future blessing. So the flowing of life-giving water, without which we cannot survive, and of God’s presence with, and care for his people are intertwined themes in the festival ceremonies.

 

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow RIVERS of living water.’”

 

We come to Christ for life. Our thirsty spirits drink of his living water, and we find healing, and wholeness and life. But we don’t just receive the living water—it wells up in us and springs out of our hearts in great rivers. God’s Spirit, working in us, flows out into the world through our actions—and joined with the actions of others, we are the church in the world. Sometimes Gods plans for His church seem wild and crazy to us, because they are far bigger than we can see by ourselves. God is crazy about his children, and wants them to know about His love for them. And it is our job to let those waters flow from our hearts…to bear the river of God’s love to others.

 

This past week we heard about the devastating cyclone in Myanmar, and the great difficulties that have been encountered by those trying to send aid. Although the need is very great, the country’s government is very suspicious about letting relief workers in.

 

But the church is already there. Even though the country is 90 percent Buddhist, Anglican churches have been present there for generations, and Episcopal Relief and Development has been working with them and with ecumenical partners in that country for several years. So with working relationships already established, ERD has been able to transfer funds to partners working in 3 areas to purchase critical supplies, providing food, water, and shelter. There is more information on the bulletin insert this morning.

 

We all drink of the same life-giving spirit. The Spirit works within us, filling us with the hopes and dreams of the living God. We are all different, and God stirs us up to use the gifts and talents we have in different ways. All of the ministries we do, all of the projects we take on, all of the particular gifts we bring to the community are put into action and woven together by the Holy Spirit for the common good.

 

Jesus came into history for only a little while, one human lifetime of a little more than 30 years. But those who believed in him were set afire with the Holy Spirit, who sent them out to the farthest corners of the earth, and together, over time, they turned the world upside down. Through the ages they carried the Good News and let the living water flow through them to others. The flame of the spirit has stirred them and sent them out to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, and the winds of the spirit have carried them where they are needed the most. We are bound together with them in baptism, and carry the message on and out, sharing with them and each other the work of being God’s hands and feet and heart and voice in the world, and the work of being Christ to one another.

 

So… Who are we?

 

WE ARE THE CHURCH!

 

Let us pray

 

Father,

You have filled your people with the Spirit

Who rested first on your Son

And united us in your Church;

Open the channels for your Spirit

That we may freely work together

And your kingdom and your rule increase.1

 

Amen.

 

 

 

 

1Prayer is from the New Zealand Prayer Book, p.604