THE KIRK OF KILDAIRE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

CARY, NC

www.kirkofkildaire.org

A sermon preached by Joseph Welker, Jr.

God has not left the House

John 14:8-17;25-27

June 3, 2007

Just in case you missed it and were away on Memorial Day weekend—I want you to know it was Pentecost Sunday last week. I know for some it was the official start of Summer - beaches opening up for the summer visitors and residents. But in the church, it was Pentecost. An event that at least as the church sees it, is meant to be as high and holy a celebration as Christmas- when we celebrate the coming of God to earth in Jesus… or as Easter, when we celebrate God raising Jesus from the dead and conquering evil and sin.

Pentecost is when the church celebrates God's continuing presence among us in the third person of the Holy Spirit. Just because Jesus isn't walking and talking among us in the flesh does not mean that God has left the house so to speak.

John's Gospel especially makes the point in these farewell discourses. Today Jesus says, "I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But 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. Peace I leave with you."

So with that in mind, why is it, you think, that Pentecost takes a backseat to Christmas and Easter? Is it because we don't' have the culture and commerce to support our season. Seen any Pentecost sales in the papers? I bet there was not one Pentecost Card to be bought in a Hallmark store. Not one of you sent me a Pentecost card. My feelings are hurt!

There are no Pentecost carols or CD's to be played or bought. Mary Kay, Frank and the Choir should know that the market is wide open. I think of my friend's church where the organist and later the choir recorded a CD for Thanksgiving. I play it every year. There are very few Thanksgiving CDs out there. But there are fewer Pentecost CDs. How about it—Songs of the Spirit—could be the title. Any takers?

Maybe with a little cultural support, we could get our act together for Pentecost.

But to tell you the truth, I think there is more to it than that. Let's be honest, I think most of us don't really know what to do with something as abstract and ghostly (the Holy Ghost) as a Spirit.

I think most of us, when we think of the spirit think of Charismatic and Pentecostal congregations having cornered the market on the Spirit—hands waving, people out of control, chaotic… and well, Presbyterians aren't too good at chaos, are we. Hardly decent and in order.

I think of an old story that I heard took place in a Presbyterian church in North Carolina. A Pentecostal woman walked into a Presbyterian church during worship and made her way to a front pew. And as the minister began to preach, she began to respond—out loud… very out loud. "Amen. Hallelujah," she said. "Preach it, brother. Praise God. Yes Jesus." People around her became increasingly uncomfortable and irritated as her enthusiasm increased and her responses became louder. When she stood up and raised her hands, an usher appeared at her side and whispered, "Ma'am, is there something wrong?" "No," she said. "Nothing is wrong. I just have the Spirit." "Well," he said, "you didn't get it here!"

What makes the story work of course is that we have this image of the Spirit fixed in our minds that come from one stream of Christian faith and one understanding of Christian faith rooted in stories like the one we read last week in Acts—when the spirit comes we hear about blowing winds, tongues of fire… Rather dramatic. Christians seeming to be drunk to those who watch them. Ecstatic and enthusiastic experiences of the Spirit. [I've not seen that happen at the Kirk—no one to my mind has ever left here accused of drunken and disorderly conduct] That seems to be Luke's memory of the gift of the Spirit in Acts.

But John, (did you notice?), John has quite a different experience of the Holy Spirit. It is a quiet experience in my mind. Perhaps, a more Presbyterian experience of the spirit.

When the spirit comes, he speaks of the coming of a friend, a helper, an advocate… almost in the way we speak of offering a Stephen Minister to those who need to know they are not alone. Listen again to how John remembers Jesus teaching us about the Spirit:

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he 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 him nor knows him… I will not leave you orphaned… 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. Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."

I wonder if you hear what I hear in that passage. No rushing winds that art so strong… but a gentle breeze, a gentleness from Jesus and a gentleness to the coming of the Spirit that speaks to my spirit. It is a spirit to calm me down in my frantic and anxious life.

It is not the Spirit meant to rev me up for the challenges ahead—like God's cheerleader—though clearly I need God's spirit to energize me from time to time. The gift of this Spirit is God's gift to me when my life is filled with anxiety, fear—when the future is unknown to me—just as it must have felt to those disciples who were about to be left behind by Jesus. It is a Spirit, that if I can be still long enough, will teach me again what I need to hear from God and Christ that will guide me in the living of my life.

John Ortberg pointed out in a book that " the central promise of the Bible is not, "I will forgive you," although that promise is there. It is not the promise of life after death although we are offered that as well. The most frequent promise of the Bible is, 'I will be with you.' Before Adam and Eve ever sinned or needed forgiveness, they were promised God's presence. He would walk with them in the cool of the day… It was made to Noah, to Abraham and Sarah, to Jacob and Joseph and Moses and David and Amos and Mary and Paul and too many others to list. It is the reason for courage: 'Do not be terrified; … for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." It kept them going in darkness: 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me.'… When God himself came to earth, his redemptive name was Emmanuel- God with us. When Jesus left, his promise was to send the Spirit, so that "I am with you always, to the end of the age." [1]

Today as we share communion… I remember there is this promise that Jesus is still with us—as we take bread and drink from the cup… the reason we share communion is to share in the very presence of Christ who lives in us and among us. And it is the Spirit who makes that happen. Presbyterians don't believe the bread and the juice actually become the body and blood of Christ. What we say is that there is a real and Spiritual presence of Christ in this sacrament. The Spirit makes Christ present to us so that we can be spiritually fed for our Christian journey… fed so we can follow Christ to our lives.

I'm thinking this is the way that John must have experienced the presence of Christ… through the gentle friendship of the Spirit. He writes this gospel 50-60 years after Jesus was gone. And while John does not speak of a Pentecost worthy of a Pentecostal or so called Charismatic congregation… he speaks of a Pentecost that reminds me that the Spirit is no less present among those of us who experience the Spirit in quieter ways. For the Spirit is here—ready to comfort us when we are weary or worried… ready to teach us when we are confused or perplexed (assuming that we are ready to be taught)…

And, get this—if you need a sign of the Spirit, John seems to be saying, don't look so much at the shouting and the dramatic evidence in the life of the believers… but look at their works. For John it is the works that are the outward sign of the inward Spirit. John tells us that Jesus promises that when the Spirit comes, we will do even greater things than Jesus did. Which we have.

Since the time of Christ the Spirit has worked wonders through the lives of people who have followed Jesus Christ. Led by the Spirit, hospitals bearing the name Presbyterian are found all around the world providing healing. Public schools and colleges around the world were founded by Presbyterians who thought that it was not only important to love God with your heart but with your mind.

Over a century ago Presbyterians were the leaders in the Sunday School movement. A mind really is a terrible thing to waste… it is no less a gift of God to be used by the Spirit than the gift of the heart.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Presbyterians have been leaders in seeking justice and peace… as the Spirit reminds us that God loves justice.

We have sought to provide spiritual homes for people in the Presbyterian tradition as we started new congregations that were established not so much to save people from the depths of hell, but to gather people who wanted to find their home with God, a place that is safe to seek and grow in their relationship with God… a place to nurture their children and youth in family of faith and where we learn how to glorify God… The Kirk is one such place that didn't even exist 30 years ago.

Jesus was right, in his absence, the Spirit would be present to lead us to do even greater works than he did during his 30 years on earth as we continue his ministry in the world. I wish someone had explained this to me years ago. For can I confess to you that as a child of the church, who grew up in the church… it took me years to understand that the Spirit is really present among us in these ways more powerful than I knew. I guess I assumed that Presbyterians didn't really believe in the Spirit or that if there was a Spirit—it was down at the Charismatic Church or the Pentecostal Church or the Baptist church… at least that is what my friends told me who belonged to those churches. But I was wrong and so were they. Looking back, the Spirit of God was alive and well and very present even at old Riverside Presbyterian Church—gathering us together for worship - speaking to us through hymns and scripture and sermon… teaching us about the ways of God and Christ through Sunday School and youth group—something so routine we took them for granted like we take eating meals for granted…

The Spirit was present- sending us out to care for those God cares for- those in greatest physical and spiritual need in our world- developing ministries and missions to care for them -- from missions in the Brooklyn neighborhood in the inner city down the street … to missions half way across the world as we supported a leprosy hospital in Korea… caring for International students of all faiths during Christmas as we housed those who had no home for the holidays… so much my home church did.

Oh, how wrong I was to think that the Spirit of God was somewhere else. For the promise of Jesus was clear—that when he goes… the Spirit will come— as a friend often comes quietly—to guide, to teach, to lead and to bless—to empower us to do even greater works than Jesus did during his time on earth.

The expectation of Jesus was that, when the Spirit comes, his work would continue in the lives of his followers—not only at church but in our Monday-Saturday lives—at the office, in the home, in the school… in the boardroom, in the legislature, in the courthouse and in the classroom… in raising children at the beginning of life and in caring for those coming to the end of their lives.

The expectation and hope of Jesus was we would know that we will never be alone—for the Spirit has come and is always ready to work in the lives of any and all who love him and want to follow him. Amen.

[1] God is Closer than you Think p 15