Sermon for Pentecost C
May 23, 2010
Texts:  Genesis 11:1-9; Psalm 104:23-34,35b; Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17,25-27

Carrie, Jake, Spencer and Nathaniel,
Today you have reached both a milestone
And a transition point.

This milestone is a turning point
On a journey that began 13 or 14 years ago
When you were baptized in this church or some other church.

This journey has had some important stepping stones.
Your parents brought you to Sunday School for the first time
And maybe to Vacation Bible School.

You received a Bible,
And your Sunday School teachers or parents
Taught you how to read it.

You learned about Holy Communion
And made communion bread,
And then received your First Communion
Right here in this sanctuary. 

And then there was confirmation,
Two long years of study.
Sunday mornings with Ms. Schifferdecker or Mr. Shaffer
Tuesday evenings with me,
And various get-togethers with your mentors.

Lots of homework, Bible reading and monthly sermon reports.
Each of you has learned to be an Assisting Minister
And to help serve communion.
You’ve had lots of opportunities to be a lector.

And all of this has been done as part of a community,
A community centered on Christ and enlivened by the Holy Spirit.

When you were baptized, whether here or somewhere else,
There was a community that promised to help your parents and sponsors
Raise you in the Christian faith.

There was a community that witnessed the Holy Spirit
Entering into you as the water was poured on your head
And the cross was traced on your forehead.
There has been a community that has supported you,
In each of the steps along this journey that you have taken.

And this morning there is a community
Who will pray for you,
As you affirm the promises and commitments
Your parents and sponsors made for you years ago.

This community will also rejoice today,
As you transition from child member to adult member of this congregation.

And this community will look to you
For the new life that you bring to it.

A community is characterized by mutuality
Sometime you are given support,
And sometimes you are the one giving back. 

And this community of which you are a part,
Is not just any social community.
This is a church community gathered around Word,
Water, Bread and Wine.

This community is uplifted by the Holy Spirit,
That same Spirit who entered you in baptism,
And that same Spirit who visibly and audibly,
Energized the disciples on that first Pentecost.

Today, around the world on the Festival of Pentecost,
Christians celebrate the birthday of the church,
And the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Today, on Pentecost, in this sanctuary,
We will also pray for the presence of the Spirit in your lives,
As you affirm your baptisms.

According to John’s Gospel which we read this morning,
Jesus had promised the disciples
That the Holy Spirit would be given to them
To act as Advocate, Counselor and Guide.

The Holy Spirit would be with them
When Jesus himself was no longer around.

On that First Pentecost, according to Luke’s account in Acts,
The Holy Spirit did indeed show up.
There was a rush of wind
And tongues of fire,
And disciples speaking in ways
That people of all nationalities could understand them.

That rag tag group of demoralized disciples
Were filled with the Holy Spirit,
And new energy and life bubbled up.

The appearance of the Spirit was so dramatic
That 3000 new believers were baptized that very day.

But what does that first Pentecost Day have to do with us?

The Holy Spirit is an essential part of any Christian Community.
And as is stressed in the Acts account,
It is in community that the Spirit’s presence is made known.

It is in community that the Spirit is poured into the newly baptized.
It is in community that later in this service
We will pray that the Spirit will be stirred up in
Carrie, Jake, Spencer and Nathaniel.

It is in community that the Spirit guides our life together in Christ.

On that First Pentecost Day,
With the gift of the Spirit,
The disciples were able to reverse
The chaos that had emerged in the aftermath of the Tower of Babel.

In that early time of Babel,
God had confused the language of the people
To keep them from getting together and conspiring to be like gods.

On that Pentecost Day,
Miraculously under the influence of the Spirit
All people were able to understand in their own language the Good News,
The news about God’s deeds of power in Jesus Christ.

The power of the Spirit
Reversed the chaos caused by the ancient people’s
Desire for personal idolatry.

Today, the power of Spirit
Helps us as we deal with the chaos in our world.

The world that Carrie, Jake, Spencer and Nathaniel face
Is a world filled with more information and options
Than the people of Shinar, where the Tower of Babel was located,
Could possibly have imagined.

Like each of us,
These teens are pulled and will continue to be pulled
In an almost infinite array of directions.

Some of the options will lead us to a healthy, fulfilling God-centered life,
Others options will lead us in a search for power or wealth,
And some options we encounter could even lead us to believe
That we can be our own gods,
Much like the people of Shinar.

We face choices that can even encourage us to believe
That the God of our Fathers and Mothers is no longer relevant.

What can Carrie, Jake, Spencer, and Nathaniel
As well as each one of us depend on to keep us
On a path of choosing options which are life-giving
Rather than those that are life-destroying?

I think the texts today help us to understand
How we can make life-affirming choices,
Rather than wandering onto paths that pull from God.

When the disciples gathered in community on that first Pentecost,
The Spirit descended on them and helped them
To understand about God’s deeds of power.
The Spirit also showed them how those
Who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.

This action of the Spirit is in keeping with Jesus’ promise
That the Spirit would come as a Counselor and guide. 

So it is for us, when we gather in community
The Spirit comes among us and shows us how God comes to us.

So Carrie, Jake, Spencer, Nathaniel and everyone else sitting in this sanctuary,
The Good News for you
Is that when you stay grounded in a Christian community,
The Spirit’s presence will make itself known to you.

The Spirit will help you navigate
The myriad of choices and options that life opens up to you.
The Spirit will help you to pray and guide you to hear the small still answers . 

The Spirit will keep you connected to God
And help you to find your way to life-giving choices.