Final Sermon at University Lutheran Church and Student Center
Festival of Pentecost
Year A
June 12, 2011
Acts 2:1-21
1 Corinthians 12:4-13
John 7:37-39
It is ironic, I think, that I’m preaching my last sermon as your pastor on Pentecost Sunday… our celebration of the very first day of the Church’s mission -- the day when Peter preached his very first sermon.
But, then, I have felt, all along, that this transition we are all in has been very much the work of the Holy Spirit – and this day is also the great festival of the Spirit, and the Spirit’s sometimes surprising, sometimes startling way of doing things.
Pentecost is a great day to be reminded that, without the Spirit’s guidance and power, nothing that any of us do in ministry… or in life, would come to anything.
That has always been true. It always will be true.
And that is certainly true of the mission and ministry of this congregation. The ministry that happens here, only happens because the Spirit makes it happen.
And that is true regardless of who the pastor is, who is serving on the church council or chairing the committees, or teaching Sunday School or leading the youth program.
In fact, it has been my experience through over thirty years of working in the church – both as a lay leader and as a pastor – that things go much, much better when I get out of the way and let the Spirit work through me.
So, that’s my first bit of advice to you this morning: As you move into the future, both as a congregation… but also as individual Christians… be open to the sometimes surprising guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit. Open yourself through prayer, and reflection and study of God’s Word.
If you do that, then amazing things will happen. Guaranteed. Not always easy things… but amazing things none-the-less.
People may think you are drunk out of your mind… Just like they did on Pentecost… but you will know better!
As I look at these texts, I see five different, but inter-connected ways the Spirit will guide you as a church… if you’re open to it.
First, when the Spirit got hold of the disciples, they went out into the streets of Jerusalem and were immediately understood by people from all over the world.
In several places in the Gospels, Jesus promises that the Spirit will give the disciples the words to speak when they need them.
We need to count on that too.
We need to go out into the world with the confidence that the Spirit will give us the words to speak – and that the words we speak will be understood!
We need to keep looking for ways to speak the Good News of Jesus Christ to this new generation in a language that can be understood. And the Spirit will help us with that.
Second. Peter begins his first sermon with a quote from the prophet Joel. And, in that quote, Joel says that the Spirit will give young men visions and that the old men will dream dreams.
It is the Spirit that gives this congregation its vision for the future. As you dream dreams together about the future in the weeks and months ahead, make sure to surround them with prayer, and with an openness to the Spirit.
As you imagine what you can do with the new Education Center… ask what the Spirit wants you to do… and the vision will emerge.
Third. Joel says that the Spirit will give us the ability to prophesy.
That connects, I think, to the first part – the speaking in a language that can be understood.
But, even more, to “prophesy” means to point out what God is up to in the world. It means speaking both a word of challenge and a word of comfort to the world.
God is already at work in the world. Of that, I am absolutely certain.
Our job, as the Church, as God’s people in the world, is to figure out what God is up to and then get on board! (The Spirit will help us do that)
Fourth. In the second lesson, Paul tells us that the Spirit gives us the gifts we need to carry out this mission of proclamation and prophesy. The Spirit gives us the gifts we need to make the visions and dreams a reality.
I have said it many times, but I will say it one more time:
This congregation is amazingly gifted, and you are generous with those gifts. Probably more gifted and generous than any congregation I have been associated with over the years.
Use those gifts!
Use the time, and the talents and the treasures God has given you for the common good and for the sake of the mission and ministry of God’s church.
Finally, Paul tells us that it is through the Spirit that we find our unity. It is the Spirit who makes us one people in Christ.
There is no doubt the community that gathers here each Sunday is a pretty diverse group.
This congregation has people from across the political spectrum, with lots of different opinions and a variety of different backgrounds. There are lots of different theological perspectives and ideas represented here.
But, no matter how diverse we are… we need to remember that we are still one. We are one in our faith in Jesus Christ. We are one because the Spirit makes us one.
That doesn’t mean we will always agree. But it means we are always, always, sister s and brothers in Christ… even when we disagree.
It means that we can pass the peace with one another… even when we don’t see things the same way.
In the days of transition that lay ahead… don’t forget that unity!
It has been both a privilege and a blessing to serve you these past six years and will continue to be in my new role as bishop.
I truly believe that the living water of the Spirit has flowed through this congregation and out into the world through the work we have done together.
I am confident that it will continue to flow unabated!
I promise that I will keep you in my prayers and ask that you would keep me in yours.
And that, together, we will continue the mission and ministry that started back on that first Pentecost day… as always, through the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.