Pentecost, 2011

JOHN 20:19-23
WHEN WE HEAR THE FIRST READING FROM THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, IT'S VERY EXCITING. A MIGHTY WIND, TONGUES OF FIRE, BEING ABLE TO SPEAK IN ANY LANGUAGE AND BE UNDERSTOOD. ILLITERATE HILLBILLIES FROM GALILEE SUDDENLY BECOMING GIFTED PREACHERS, AND 3000 PEOPLE BECAME CHRISTIAN THAT DAY. IT MAKES ME JEALOUS. WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL IF THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD DO THAT FOR US? IF SOMEONE GOT SICK, WELL, THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD HEAL HIM. IF SOMEONE NEEDED SOMETHING, WELL, THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY, LED BY THE SPIRIT, WOULD PROVIDE. AND ALL OF US WOULD LIVE IN HARMONY. THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD SOLVE ALL OUR PROBLEMS, THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD SEE THAT EVERY EFFORT WE MADE WOULD BE BLESSED WITH SUCCESS.
BUT IF YOU READ FURTHER IN ACTS, AND IF YOU READ THE LETTERS PAUL WROTE, AND PETER AND JOHN AND JAMES, A DIFFERENT PICTURE EMERGES. AFTER THE INITIAL EXCITEMENT, ALMOST IMMEDIATELY PROBLEMS BEGAN TO DEVELOP. JESUS HAD TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO GO TO GALILEE TO WAIT FOR HIM. WHEN THEY GOT THERE, I IMAGINE THEY LOOKED AROUND AND SAW THOSE FAMILIAR BOATS, AND THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILIES. THEIR THREE YEARS ON THE ROAD NOW SEEMED LIKE A DREAM, AND THEY HAD RETURNED TO THEIR COMFORTABLE REALITY. PETER COULD HARDLY WAIT. HE TOLD HIS FRIENDS, AND IT'S RIGHT THERE IN THE BIBLE, “I'M GOING FISHING”. BUT THE HOLY SPIRIT HAD OTHER IDEAS, AND THE TWELVE HAD TO LEAVE THEIR COMFORTABLE FAMILIAR LIVES FOREVER, AND WANDER THROUGH THE WORLD PREACHING AND TEACHING AND BEING PERSECUTED, PETER AND PAUL TO ROME, JAMES TO SPAIN, THOMAS TO INDIA, MATTHIAS TO ARMENIA, AND SO ON. AND ALL WERE MARTYRED IN STRANGE LANDS FAR FROM HOME.
AND WE READ ABOUT PROBLEMS IN THOSE EARLY COMMUNITIES. WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE GREEK WIDOWS WHO WEREN'T GETTING THEIR FAIR SHARE OF THE COMMON GOODS. WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE GENTILE CHRISTIANS, WHO DIDN'T SEE THE POINT OF GIVING UP PORK CHOPS AND SHRIMP. WHAT TO DO ABOUT THOSE CORINTHIAN CHRISTIANS WHO HAD COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT ONCE YOU WERE BAPTIZED, YOU WERE SAVED, SO IT DIDN'T MATTER WHAT YOU DID – AND PAUL WAS HORRIFIED AND WROTE A LONG LETTER TRYING TO SET THEM STRAIGHT.
YOU MIGHT EVEN THINK THE HOLY SPIRIT HAD CREATED PROBLEMS RATHER THAN SOLVED THEM.
AND YOU CAN READ ABOUT HOW PETER THE FIRST POPE, DECIDED THAT HE WAS GOING TO QUIT EATING WITH THE GENTILE CHRISTIANS BECAUSE HE WAS A JEW AND DECIDED TO KEEP THE DIETARY LAWS. BUT PAUL GAVE HIM A STERN LECTURE AND THE EARLY COMMUNITY DECIDED THAT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO FOLLOW JEWISH RULES TO BE A CHRISTIAN. AND YOU CAN SEE HOW PAUL COULDN'T MAKE ANY HEADWAY WITH THE ATHENIANS. HE GOT OUT HIS BEST PHILOSOPHICAL ARGUMENTS, AND AFTER HE AND THE ATHENIANS HAD A WONDERFUL DEBATE IN THE TOWN SQUARE, HE DIDN'T MAKE ANY CONVERTS; BUT THEY TOLD HIM THEY ENJOYED THE DEBATE AND WOULD BE BACK TO DEBATE MORE. KIND OF LIKE ONE OF THOSE REALITY SHOWS ON TELEVISION I GUESS. AND WE CAN SEE PAUL AND MARK, ONCE OFF ON MISSION TOGETHER, AND THEN APPARENTLY HAVING SOME KIND OF DISAGREEMENT THAT LED MARK TO LEAVE PAUL. AND PETER AND JOHN BEING BEATEN; AND PAUL BEING STONED AND SHIPWRECKED, AND THE EARLY COMMUNITY OF CHRISTIANS BEING DRIVEN OUT OF JERUSALEM.
YOU MIGHT EVEN THINK THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS LEADING THOSE EARLY CHRISTIANS TO FAILURE AFTER FAILURE.
IF YOU THINK THE HOLY SPIRIT CAUSES PROBLEMS, IF YOU THINK THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS US INTO FAILURE, YOU ARE RIGHT. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS, AFTER ALL, THE SPIRIT OF JESUS. AND AS JESUS WENT ABOUT DOING HIS FATHER'S WILL, HE HAD PROBLEM AFTER PROBLEM. HE HAD APOSTLES WHO WEREN'T ALL THAT SWIFT; HE HAD PHARISEES WHO FOLLOWED HIM AROUND IN THE BEGINNING OUT OF CURIOSITY, THEN IN THE HOPES OF TRYING TO SILENCE HIM, AND FINALLY, PLOTTING TO KILL HIM. THE MORE HE PREACHED AND TAUGHT AND HEALED, THE MORE PROBLEMS WERE CREATED, THE MORE BARRIERS WERE THROWN UP FOR HIM TO OVERCOME. AND FAILURE? THERE WAS A MOMENT THERE, WHEN JESUS WAS HANGING ON THE CROSS, DESERTED BY ALL BUT HIS MOTHER AND JOHN, WHEN HE MUST HAVE FELT A COMPLETE FAILURE, AND HIS FOLLOWERS WOULDN’T HAVE DISAGREED.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ONLY INTERESTED IN ONE THING – THAT IS TO MAKE US INTO OTHER CHRISTS. IF THE SPIRIT GAVE BIRTH TO THE CHURCH, IT ISN'T BECAUSE THIS WAS HIS GOAL; THE CHURCH IS ONLY ONE OF THE WAYS HE USES TO TURN US INTO CHRIST. AND JUST AS CHRIST FACED MORE AND MORE PROBLEMS AS HE WORKED TO DO HIS FATHER'S WILL, AND JUST AS HE FAILED SPECTACULARLY ON THE CROSS, THAT WILL BE OUR FATE AS WELL. IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME, READ THE LIFE OF JUST ABOUT ANY SAINT. PROBLEMS, FAILURES. THE TOOLS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
BECAUSE PROBLEMS SHAPE US; AS WE CONFRONT THEM, WE BECOME STRONGER, WE BECOME MORE CAPABLE OF DOING GOD'S WILL AND AVOIDING SIN; AND THE STRONGER WE ARE, THE BIGGER THE PROBLEMS HE WILL GIVE US. AND FAILURES? THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS US TO FAILURE AND SOMETIMES, TO SUCCESS. TO HIM, IT DOESN'T MATTER IF WE FAIL OR SUCCEED. HE WILL ACCOMPLISH THE WILL OF THE FATHER, WHETHER WE FAIL OR SUCCEED. HE CAN USE ANYBODY AND ANYTHING TO BRING ABOUT THE FATHER'S PLAN; MY FAILURE DOESN'T BOTHER GOD, ONLY MY FAITHFULNESS MATTERS.
AND IN A WAY, KNOWING HOW THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKS IN OUR LIVES IS LIBERATING AND BRINGS JOY. WHEN I CONFRONT A BARRIER, WHEN I FACE A PROBLEM, I REALIZE HE IS SHAPING ME, WORKING WITHIN ME, TO MAKE ME MORE LIKE JESUS. AND IF I START OUT TO DO SOMETHING I MAY FAIL, SOMETIMES I MAY GO DOWN IN FLAMES; BUT I KNOW THAT FAILURE HAS A CONNECTION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO WILL SEE TO IT THAT GOD'S WILL IS DONE AND GOD'S PLAN SUCCEEDS WHETHER OR NOT I FAIL. IF I SET OUT TO GET RID OF HUNGER, I KNOW I CAN'T DO IT, I WILL FAIL, BUT I CAN START. IF I SET OUT TO BRING CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES INTO A WORLD WHICH PROUDLY CALLS ITSELF “POST CHRISTIAN” I'M NOT LIKELY TO SEE THE FRUITS OF MY EFFORTS, BUT I CAN START, BECAUSE I AM ALLOWED TO FAIL. IF I DECIDE TO SPEND MY LIFE TRYING TO END ABORTION, I MAY DIE FEELING LIKE A FAILURE, BUT JESUS DIED FEELING LIKE A FAILURE, CRYING OUT, “MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU ABANDONED ME?”
IF YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN, YOUR LIFE WILL BE ONE PROBLEM AFTER ANOTHER. YOU WILL FAIL MANY TIMES MORE THAN YOU SUCCEED, IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT YOUR DUTIES AS A CHRISTIAN. AND THAT'S OK, THAT'S THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHO TURNS CRUCIFIXION INTO RESURRECTION FOR EACH OF US, THROUGH OUR PROBLEMS AND OUR FAILURES. THE SPIRIT OF JESUS IS STILL AT WORK IN THE CHURCH AND IN THE WORLD, MAKING YOU AND I INTO BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF JESUS CHRIST. AND THE MORE PROBLEMS, THE MORE FAILURE HE BRINGS INTO OUR LIVES, THE MORE WE TAKE ON THAT FAMILY RESEMBLANCE, THE MORE WE CAN LOOK FORWARD TO THAT PERSONAL EASTER SUNDAY WHEN HE WILL RAISE US UP IN TRIUMPH. COME, HOLY SPIRIT.