The Southeastern Pennsylvania Lutheran
Synod Assembly was last weekend and, as usual, I had a great time attending. I
loved hearing the speakers, finding out what’s going on with the other parishes
in the five counties around Philadelphia, and participating in the inspiring
worship services. It’s really cool for a pastor to be able to just go to church
for a change and not have to worry about conducting the service.
At the Saturday morning worship there was
an opportunity to ask for private, personal prayer. I approached the prayer
leader—a compassionate colleague who had served in Philly—and responded to his
question “How can I pray for you, Owen?” with “I’ve been pastor of my church
for seventeen years. I have ten more to go before retirement. I am so tired.”
Okay. I admit it. Sometimes I wonder how
I’m going to make it. My parish sits perpetually on the precipice of fiscal
doom. My lay leaders are often inflexible and stuck in their ways. We have
issues with the staff and with the building. On top of it all, we are still a
collection of sinners, heirs to all the hurts which come from being born and
living on old Mother Earth. So sometimes I need some prayer. Sometimes I wonder
how this will all turn out.
And then a blessing. Usually, whenever I
enter a contest or play a game I never
win. But for the second year in a row my congregation won the Southeastern PA
Synod’s “Forward Together in Faith” raffle drawing. This year we were given
$1,000 grant to start an innovative program to collaborate with other ministries
for the good of our community. We’re planning on turning part of our extensive
church lawn (heretofore the local urban soccer field, garbage dump, and doggie
toilet) into a community vegetable garden which neighbors would be welcome to
cultivate along with church members. The produce we grow would be donated to
Feast of Justice Ministries, the Northeast Philadelphia Lutheran Conference’s
food bank and advocacy service located at one of our sister congregations.
Feast serves about 2,000 local families with food assistance and has recently
lost its produce supplier due to budget cuts.
My prayer for strength was answered in an
unexpected way. Which, of course, makes me wonder: Was this the Holy Spirit at
work? Just what is she up to, anyway? (Please note: since the words for
“spirit” in Greek and Hebrew are both feminine nouns, I always, in a spirit of
inclusion, try to refer to the Third Person of the Trinity by feminine
pronouns. If this offends you…well..suck it up and deal with it.)
Our Gospel lesson for Pentecost in Year C
(John 14:8-17, 25-27) tells us pretty much what the Spirit is up to. She has
come to us to be part of us, to be God in
us (v. 17). And because she is God in us, we will be sustained in
weariness. We will be taught God’s ways and reminded of the ways and promises
of Jesus (v.26). When we feel we just can’t, she’ll be there to remind us that
we can, because Jesus has promised that we shall do the works he has done—and
even greater works, too. (v.12).
Of course, I must quickly point out that
she very often works in us collectively. Luther reminds us that she calls and gathers the Christian Church
on earth (remember this from your Small
Catechism?), and so the wonderful works which look so daunting to us as
individuals are accomplished when the Spirit unites us in the body of Christ.
In our first lesson (Acts 2:1-21) we see her turning cowards into charismatic
preachers and xenophobic, insular Jews into international evangelists. She has
sustained the church throughout the ages, and she will continue to do so in spite
of our fears of declining finances and changing cultures.
Here’s one little example of her
miraculous work: This October, as the “kick-off” of a year of celebration of
the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, the Lutheran
World Federation will hold a special worship service in the city of its
founding, Lund, Sweden. The service officiants will include the LWF President,
Bishop Munib Younan, LWF General Secretary Martin Junge, and—drumroll, please—Pope Francis. There may
be some of you who never thought you’d live to see the day the Pope would be
celebrating the Reformation with Lutherans, but this is what the Holy Spirit is
doing. The Old Girl is bringing her church together.
For many churches in my denomination,
Pentecost is a day to celebrate the Spirit coming to us. We can think of her descending on Jesus like a dove at his
baptism, and be reminded that she descended on us at our baptism, too. It’s not
surprising that many churches use Pentecost as the day to celebrate the
Affirmation of Baptism or the Rite of Confirmation. Whether or not we have babies or adults to
baptize this Sunday or teens to make their Confirmation, this is a glorious
time to sing praises for our faith and celebrate that God has come to be with
and in us. It might be a very good time to confess Luther’s understanding of
the Holy Spirit:
I believe that by my own understanding or
strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead
the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with (her)
gifts, made me holy and kept me in true faith, just as (she) calls, gathers,
enlightens, and makes holy the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with
Jesus Christ in the one common, true faith. Daily in this Christian church the
Holy Spirit abundantly forgives all sins—mine and those of all believers. On
the last day the Holy Spirit will raise me and all the dead and will give to me
and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly true. (Small Catechsim)
Or, we could join Luther in his simple
prayer of gratitude, “I am baptized!”
However we celebrate the day, we celebrate
in the peace of Christ. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them
be afraid!
PS-If you want to learn a little more about the celebration in Lund, just click this link here.
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