June 23 2024 Pentecost Joel 2:23-3:5, AC 2:1-11, Jn 7:37-52, 8:12

 As preached by Sister Cecelia

Holy Wisdom Church

Jesus cried out on the last day of the festival of Booths, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me ...and drink. Out of believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water. Now Jesus said this about the Spirit which believers were to receive, for as yet there was no Spirit. That seems an odd thing to say, so what could it mean, there was no Spirit? We know the Spirit is spoken of quite often in the Hebrew scriptures. To mention just a few times, The Spirit of God hovers over the waters during creation. Genesis 1:2:  And the spirit of the LORD gripped David from that day on"1 Samuel 16:13. The Spirit of God is also mentioned in other places in the Pentateuch, including Genesis 6:3, Exodus 31:3, and Numbers 11:17. In many of these references, the Spirit of God "came upon" an individual and enabled them to speak or act on behalf of YHVH

Perhaps “no spirit” can be understood by thinking about nuclear power.  It has existed for eons but has only recently been aware of to be able to tap into for our use.

So the Holy Spirit has always existed but humankind never experienced the Spirit quite this way until Pentecost. We see now that the Spirit brings us the presence of the Risen Christ –who is always with us. The early church had a sense that Jesus was the hinge of all history: that with his coming, eternity had entered time. Therefore, life and the world would never be the same. In Jesus alone is salvation and the ones who believed would receive the Holy Spirit who was the dominant reality in the life of the early church.

From our second reading from Acts we heard that this mob was hearing the word of God in way that struck straight home to their hearts and that they could understand in whatever language it was spoken. The power of the Spirit had given these simple disciples a message that could reach every heart. The church was born on that day of Pentecost: the church was born universal! In all languages she proclaims the “marvels of God”.

The Good news needs to be translated, that is: the Word needs to be transmitted and explained. Are we translators of the Word of God to our brothers and sisters? The primary translation is faithfulness to the Gospel. The Gospel is the book for Christians. But the life of Christians is the book for unbelievers. Do our own hearts need to be converted to understand more fully the Covenant we made?

Just as the people of the Exodus, fifty days after coming out of Egypt, received the law of Sinai and entered into the Covenant, in the same way the community of Jesus, fifty days after the Lord’s Resurrection - his exodus from the world - received his law, which is the Spirit of Jesus, and entered into the new Covenant.

In our Covenant with God, God understands that we are human. As a result, our acceptance, our understanding, and our implementation of divine precepts will be stamped with the particularities of who we are and in what situation we find ourselves. The precepts of God are in the context of a loving relationship. They are gifts of love, even though we do not always understand them immediately. Mostly divine precepts are given to us to hold onto so that they begin to have a formative effect on our beliefs and values. It is only when they have been successful in bringing a change of heart that they begin to influence our choices and actions.

Is my personal relationship with Jesus a relationship between servant to master or an authentic relationship of love, of the Covenant of love?  May the grace of Pentecost enable the Spirit of love, love for everyone, all races, nationalities, genders and ourselves, be the law of our hearts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon 198 June 16, 2024 Jn 11:47-52; Acts 12:1-7; 1 Cor 15:12-21 [Council Fathers] Father's Day, Tikhon of Amathus + Gregory of Narek - Divisions

 As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Today is Fathers' Day. Blessings to all our fathers. And by coincidence, our church also celebrates today the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council [325]. This was the Council that formulated the Nicean Creed: The symbol of faith that codified our understanding that Jesus Christ was both human and divine. The Creed emerged from this Council at Nicaea because it was tasked with dealing with the divisive views of Arius who held that Jesus was a prophet but not God.

       The creed also states that Christ died and rose from the dead. And as we heard in this morning's gospel reading, Christ's crucifixion flowed from the insistence of the High Priest Caiaphas that Jesus should die. The High Priest and Pharisees met to deal with Jesus who was seen as dividing the people by drawing them to himself and away from the established religious leaders and threatening the survival of Israel.

       Jesus understood this line of thinking because when he was accused of being in league with the devil [Beelzebub], Jesus replied that a house divided among itself cannot stand. Dealing with divisive impulses in the church and society have not disappeared from the human condition.

       Just look at where we are today in our Christian Church. Divided among ourselves not only between denominations but also within particular jurisdictions. And if we don't want to look too closely at our faith community, we can look at our country to see what being divided among ourselves is doing to our nation. It is the problem Richard Rohr is constantly warning us about: dualistic thinking. The dangers of thinking in terms of us vs them. It's a dead end, literally.

       Creating a creed for the church to bring uniformity to basic beliefs did not heal the divisions, it solidified them. This doesn't mean that the creed was a mistake, but it does point to a reality that goes beyond creeds. Christ told us that the most important commandments are to love God and to love one's neighbor. Notice, these commandments are not in the creed. However, for the creed to be effective, these commandments need to be in our hearts.

       The creed also speaks of Christ being born of a virgin which flows from prophecy in the Hebrew Bible. However, I suspect that Christ wasn't particularly concerned that his followers believe that he was born of a virgin, at least we have nothing in scripture to indicate that. But the image of virginity can be useful in helping us understand that purity of heart and humility, two essential qualities of the Virgin Mary, are worth striving for in our lives. And Christ said of himself, I am humble of heart. And we also profess that Christ was human in every way except sin, a level of purity truly in line with his divinity.

       We can take the creed and make it a litmus test for membership in the church but we can also take it as a teaching tool for helping us spread the message that Jesus Christ through his church brings hope to the hopeless, help to those in need, support for those striving to lead a life of virtue and salvation to all who believe.

       Resurrection is about new life. The fact that Christ's message of new life was gaining adherents upset the High Priest and the Pharisees, and so they concluded that he had to be stopped. His message was too good and too powerful. His death was their solution. But it backfired. His death didn't kill his message, it gave it new impetus following his resurrection.

       There may be many practical plans laboriously arrived at for overcoming divisions in our churches, in society, and between nations. But laws and agreements can be easily torn up and disregarded. This is why the Christian message of the Good News is never obsolete. Living a life that Christ calls us to live which recognizes a power and authority beyond human frailty and opens avenues for reconciliation, understanding and mutual respect is the soil in which concord rather than division can flourish.

As St Gregory of Narek, whom we recall today, wrote:

       You for our sake alone became flesh with us,

       So that you may make us for your sake like yourself.

       Light for all, in all things merciful, almighty, heavenly.

 

Glory be to Jesus Christ!