Pentecost Sunday -- Celebrating gift of the Holy Spirit

Dear Friends:  This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, one of the major holidays of the Christian year.  Although it doesn't get the press in the secular media that Christmas and Easter gets, its important to each of us because it celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church community.

 

This Sunday we will be reading both "versions" of Pentecost -- John's version and Luke's version.  In the Gospel of John, we find the Holy Spirit given by Jesus to the disciples on Easter evening.  Jesus appears to them, and "breathes" on them, telling them to receive the Holy Spirit.  This makes little sense until we realize that the word for "Spirit", "wind", and "breath" are all the same word in the original Greek.  John is telling us that the Holy Spirit is part and parcel of the risen Lord, the presence of Jesus with the community in His bodily absence.

 

Luke's version, found in Acts, is far more famous, and probably more accurate, historically speaking.  Here we find the disciples gathered together, just as in John, when the Spirit comes upon them as rushing wind and tongues of flame.  But Luke has another theological axe to grind.  He wants us to know that the Spirit empowers the disciples in their new mission of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Indeed, the worldwide spread of the Church is powered and planned by God, and enabled by the Spirit, working through all of the disciples of Christ.

 

Acts also tells us that the Spirit's power can take two formes:  dramatic/showy, and subtle.  We all know God is present when divine fireworks happen, like on that first Pentecost.  But God works much more often behind the scenes, quietly, empowering the Church to do the Will of God.  Many times it doesn't seem like God is there at all, but His hidden hand becomes apparent later, through the 20/20 vision of hindsight.

 

This Sunday we want to take a closer look at these matters.  I look forward to seeing you in Church!!

Pentecost Sunday

Dear Friends:  We are all familiar with the Lord's Prayer.  And we should be!  When Jesus' first disciples asked the Master how they should pray, this is what He taught them.  It is said verbatim, and more importantly, it should become the pattern for how we prayer.  For example, have we ever noticed that the word "ME" is never used in the Lord's Prayer?!  Interested........!

 

But now when Jesus prayed to God, what did He pray for?  You might be interested to know that Jesus didn't pray the Lord's Prayer.  A portion of what He did pray, though, is our Scripture reading for this upcoming Sunday.

 

To fully grasp the meaning of this Sunday's passage of Scripture, it is really helpful to notice where we are in the Church calendar.  This upcoming Sunday is the last Sunday of the Easter season.  I am writing this note on Ascension Day, 40 days after Easter, commemorating the ascent of Jesus into Heaven.  This promise of this day is huge -- Christ has been given ultimate authority over the world, and over any force in our lives that resists His work in the world.

 

Next Sunday (May 31) is Pentecost Sunday, the day the Holy Spirit in all God's great power was given to believers.  Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, the day God's Kingdom begins to manifest itself here on earth in power.  And as we see in the Book of Acts, with the first preached sermon, 3,000 people are converted to Christ.

 

So this Sunday's passage of Scripture finds Jesus praying for the Church immediately prior to His death on the Cross.   He knows He is leaving them with His physical presence.  And so He prays for what is important for the baby believers that surrounded Him.  As we look at it, we see Jesus prays for 1) God to protect believers from the spiritual powers of evil that surround us, 2) that we may resist temptation, because we still live in a world that hates the Church in general and Christians in particular, simply because of what we believe.  And lastly, Jesus prays 3) for joy and purpose in our lives.

 

So what's the bottom line?  Well, come this Sunday and find out.  And since a lot of folks are traveling this weekend, please know that the message can be downloaded from our website.  Hope to see you Sunday!

Keith Almond Ordained this Weekend!

Exciting News!  Keith Almond will be ordained as a Priest at the Falls Church on Saturday, May 30^th

at 1PM. 

No one has greater love than this ...

Dear Friends:  Our Gospel reading for this Sunday, and the passage we will be considering during the morning message, is John 15:9-17.  At least chronologically, we are back before the Crucifixion, though just before it, and Jesus is telling His disciples some things they will need to know prior to His death and Resurrection.

 

The key verse in this passage is where Jesus says, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends".  This verse has been oft-quoted, and sometimes misunderstood.  It can truthfully be said of our military, fire, police, and rescue squads; this is what they do everyday.  However, in the 15th chapter of John, Jesus meant something a little different.

 

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that Jesus is speaking of Himself here.  He is the one who is giving up His life for His friends!!  But here's the strange and wonderful fact about this verse -- we are His friends!  Three years with Jesus have taken the disciples from well-meaning but bumbling acquaintances to being "friends" with Jesus.  In the original Greek language, the word for "friend" here is phileo (from which we get the name "Philadelphia", the city of brotherly love).  The Gospel writer likes to interchange this word with another New Testament word for love, agape, which is a selfless and self-giving love. 

 

In short, Jesus died for us because He loves us, like friends love friends.  Imagine that, the Almighty Creator and Sustainer of the Universe calls us His friends!!!  Talk about having friends in high places!  And if God is our friend, He is not going to leave us, no matter what!

 

Friendship with God also means that we have to share that friendship with others.  "I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last."  We are called to get out there, roll up our sleeves, and be a friend to the world.  The Church is the salt and light for the world.  We have to point the way to Jesus for a spiritually hungry and very violent world.  And we as individual Christians, in both small ways and great, are called to reach out to others as needed, to bear fruit, and to help others see Christ through what we say and what we do.

 

This is a big job, but this Sunday we're going to discuss it, and see what falls out.  I'll see you in Church on Sunday.

Philip the Evangelist

Dear friends:  We have focussed our attention for several months now on the Gospel readings and message, laying the foundations of the beliefs of the Anglican Christian.  Now I would like to branch out a little bit, to focus on one incident in the history of the Church, involving Philip the Evangelist.

 

The setting of the story is straightforward enough.  A high official in the Ethiopian royal court has made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  Apparently, he is one of those "God-fearers" Paul talks about.  He admires the Jewish faith.  He is curious about God.  He is a true seeker.  But he cannot participate fully in Temple practices nor become a full-fledged Jew because he is a "eunuch."  Such people are looked down upon as being different.

 

Ironically, the same thing that allows him into the very presence and confidences of the Queen of Ethiopia prevents him from satisfying his thirst for God.  That is, until Philip came along.  Together they explored the Scripture, and with Philip's guidance, God converts the official.  He is baptized, and presumably takes his new-found faith to Ethiopia.  The Coptic Christian church is Ethiopia is one of the oldest in Christendom, so perhaps this official became quite the evangelist in his own right.

 

The fascinating thing about this passage is that the Holy Spirit directs everything that is going on here.  The Spirit sends Philip down the right road to meet the Ethiopian official, the Spirit opens the eyes of the official, and the Spirit directs Philip and the official down different but very God-inspired paths in life, as well as in geography.  What do you know -- God is in charge!!

 

This Sunday we want to talk about the role of the Spirit in our lives, and how the Spirit can guide us, empower us, and transform us.  Be there, or be square!!