SERMON Party Time

Day of Pentecost (C): Genesis 11:1-9; Psalm 104:25-35, 37; Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17, 25-27

Pentecost is a party day.

Now, we at Wicker Park Lutheran know about parties. Some of us who live in the neighborhood know that on Saturday nights, especially when the weather is nice, this is a big party place. Parties spill out unto decks and porches and back yards and the streets. Those of us who don't have to prepare sermons for Sundays are frequently part of that party scene. There is, it seems, much to celebrate. Always. Birthdays. Jobs. Babies. Friendships. Neighborhoods. Gardens. Performances. Today Kalina's family will celebrate her confirmation. As a congregation, we have been part of block parties that celebrated the diversity of the 2100 block of West LeMoyne. "Unity in diversity," we called our parties.

Pentecost is a party day for us because it is the church's birthday. And what a day of birth it was for the church! As we just heard (in seven different languages!), the disciples are staying in Jerusalem. At the same time, they are celebrating what was known in Greek as Pentecost, a Jewish springtime grain harvest festival observed fifty days after Passover. (We now know from the Dead Sea Scrolls, by the way, that, in the first century, there were three Pentecostal feasts observed at fifty day intervals, the first for new grain, the second for new wine, and the third for new oil -- this discovery of the feast of new wine, might explain why Luke in Acts reports that some of the observers sneered at the disciples when they spoke different languages saying, "They are filled with new wine." Luke may be confusing and conflating the first two of the three Pentecosts.)

In any event, while the disciples are waiting altogether in Jerusalem, they (and they alone) suddenly hear something that sounds like a violent wind and they (and they alone) see divided tongues — not unlike the ribbons on the beautiful banner on the cross in the chancel — tongues that look like fire. And then it happens. Suddenly they are speaking to a diverse crowd of pilgrim Jews from all over the world in other languages -- languages that they do not even know! And those Jewish pilgrims understand them in their native languages. Real diversity but real unity.

Which makes the Pentecost party almost the mirror image of the Tower of Babel party that never gets off the ground. In that beautifully crafted story, everyone in the whole world starts out with the same language and the same words. No diversity and real uniformity, if not unity. As we know, in an effort to preserve that uniformity, the people decide to build a city with a tower to the heavens. But before they are able to finish their tower and celebrate with a big party, the people are dispersed by God who confuses their language so they cannot understand one another's speech. Real diversity and no uniformity or unity. And no party.

The difference between Babel (which in Hebrew means "to confuse") and Jerusalem at Pentecost is of course the action of the Holy Spirit -- action of the Spirit to overcome diversity as opposed to the efforts of human beings to preserve uniformity. And it was, of course, the coming of the Holy Spirit that infused and transformed the disciples and created the church. The Holy Spirit is both why we celebrate and what we celebrate.

And, while there is no problem understanding the why, the what may be another matter. We might try to think of the Holy Spirit in terms of the sound of the violent wind and the tongues that look like flames described by Luke. And that is right and makes sense and is Luke's intent because the God of the Hebrew Bible appears to Moses in the burning bush and to Elijah in a violent wind. This coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost is, as Luke wishes to make clear, the manifestation of God.

But we also think of the Holy Spirit in terms John's gospel. While the Jerusalem Pentecost scene is unique to Luke in Acts, the coming of the Holy Spirit is also described in what Jesus in John's gospel tells Philip this morning:

And I will ask the Father, and [the Father] will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees [the Spirit] nor knows [the Spirit]. You know [the Spirit], because [the Spirit] abides with you, and [the Spirit] will be in you."

"I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.

Now many of you may recall that, in the King James version of the Bible, what is translated as "Advocate" was translated as "Comforter." And some of us who grew up with that language got used to thinking of the Holy Spirit primarily as a big eiderdown -- warm and down filled and comforting. A manifestation of our God intended and sent solely to make us as individual Christians feel good. When the Holy Spirit is understood and experienced only in that way, there may be much to party about in our snugness and smugness, but we have lost a big part of what the Holy Spirit is all about.

Think about what we just heard. There is a reason that we no longer hear about a Comforter when we read that gospel. The Greek word is Parakletos (some times it is just translated paraclete –ever wonder what the English word meant?). The word may be translated "Comforter" or "Helper," but even when it is, it should also have a legal connotation of being a defense attorney.

We know this because, in the other gospels, Jesus' disciples and followers are told that when they are dragged before the authorities, secular or religious,

they need not worry in advance about what to say, for it will be given to them by the Spirit, "for it is not you who speak but the Holy Spirit" (Mark 13:11) (Stendahl1999, 52)

The New Testament scholar Krister Stendahl writes:

[All this] goes a long way to warn us against thinking of the Spirit primarily as comfort for the for the already comfortable, or as belonging primarily to the realm of warm religious experiences of grace and forgiveness.

It seems that one indispensable function of the Spirit is to make our witness for Christ and the kingdom of justice and peace on earth bold enough to confront and rattle the powers that be. Then it feels good to have an able defense lawyer with you, especially for those who cannot afford the services of the legal profession. (Stendahl 1999, 53)

I have seen the Spirit at work as an unpaid defense attorney. Most memorably when the synod council (for some arguably valid reasons) put a very small, struggling African American church in our conference under synodical administration and appointed trustees who asked the congregation to disband and to sell its building (the trustees even directed where the proceeds should go!). The congregation appealed the council's decision and rejected the trustees' suggestion.

At the synod assembly that followed this decision, delegates were moved by considerations of justice and equality to lobby and speak on behalf of the congregation -- a congregation that had never really been given a chance. The Spirit was at work (and felt good!) as the assembly voted to ask the council to reconsider its decision. The powers that be were rattled. The synod council did not pursue the synodical administration, and years later, it not only survives but is poised to do exciting things. And that is as it should be. This synod is one of real diversity. By God's grace and the continued working of the Holy Spirit, it will be one of real unity, not uniformity.

And is that cause to celebrate the church's birthday today? You bet it is!

Today, as the church, we celebrate the Spirit whose presence sustains and nourishes us and makes us God's people. We celebrate a Spirit who empowers and emboldens us to empower and embolden our brothers and sisters in Christ. And we celebrate a Spirit who celebrates unity in diversity in this congregation, on this block, in this community, in this synod. Come, let's party! But also, let us pray:

We remember that your church

was born in wind and fire

not to sweep us heavenward

like a presumptuous tower

but to guide us down

the dusty roads of this world

so that we may lift up the downcast,

heal the broken,

reconcile what is lost,

and bring peace amidst unrest.

Garth House, Litanies for all Occasions

Amen

May 23, 2010

Ruth VanDemark, pastor

Wicker Park Lutheran Church