Pentecost: Unified Diversity
Sermon by The Rev. Rian Adams
Pentecost is a strange day on the church calendar because we want to celebrate, but the Acts reading about speaking in tongues and erratic spiritual experiences is a little unsettling.
I’ve learned that if we talk too often about spiritual experiences, some people want to assign “labels” to us. Last week someone blasted me on Facebook (it’s not the first time…) for a comment I made on one Bishop Curry’s preaching videos. He preached that we need to stop being ashamed to talk about Jesus, and we need to all become unified under him!
I commented, “If the rest of us Episcopal Priests will believe and proclaim the Gospel with the same conviction as Bishop Curry, our church can change the world.”
Some angry white guy said, “You’re Caucasian, so you can’t mimic Bishop Curry, don’t even try or you’ll just be a wannabe. Know your role.”
I started to get offended but then I realized his label was a badge of honor. I thought, “He’s right, last time I checked I am white. Rian can’t mimic Bishop Curry either. But more than that, he is right, I need to know my role. As a matter of fact we all need to know our role: preach the love of God and the welcome of Jesus to all people.”
That’s when it hit me, that benevolent man gave me my sermon for Sunday: Unified Diversity.
Consider the Acts reading, diverse people, from diverse cultures, men AND women, are all filled with the Spirit.
It teaches that God placed a stamp on early Christianity that read, “All are welcome here.” Even women were accepted, and invited to proclaim the Good News.
What fascinated me about this passage is when the Spirit filled their hearts, they spoke other languages. The essence of Pentecost was to proclaim the Gospel in a language the people of Jerusalem understood.
Pentecost was the moment where the disciples of Jesus learned that they could speak the message of Jesus to those around them. The Holy Spirit empowered them to, what Bishop Curry calls, “talk about Jesus.” They had the gift of open tongues.
Isn’t that the challenge today? We’re trying to figure out how The Episcopal Church can announce the Good News in a language people can hear. To do that, we listen to the Spirit and embrace the voices of our sisters and brothers.
We shouldn’t ostracize one group just because we disagree on a political or theological issue. That’s not “Pentecost.” In Acts 2 everyone had a voice. But here’s the other side of the equation; everyone knew their role, and they talked about Jesus.
Today’s sermon is about being unified in our diversity.
Let’s look at what diversity meant for the 1st century followers of Jesus.
The disciples were cultured, perhaps more than we are. In the 1st Century, the Roman Empire changed the social landscape. They were acquainted with diverse cultures around the world. In Galilee they heard at least three languages: Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic.
That diversity scared some orthodox Jews. They didn’t want outside influence to change their faith. They believed it was God’s will for them to repel the evil culture. That commitment brought a particular problem; their sense of duty isolated them.
They doubled down and built fences. Does that sound familiar? We struggle with the question, “how do we see ourselves in a cultural melting pot?” The ego has a propensity to demand uniqueness. This drives us into groups and subcultures, and finally to isolation.
When that happens, we don’t talk about Jesus. We talk about what makes us different from that other group.
Pentecost is a challenge to put differences and focus on what unites us. The early disciples didn’t hesitate to proclaim Jesus to all people. The Holy Spirit helped them conqueror their fear of the other.
Peter’s sermon wasn’t about how this group was wrong, and this group was right. He said, “What you see here is what God talked about: All people, all cultures, men and women, are of one heart and one message.”
If we want to know our role, it starts with following the example of St. Peter and finding unity among ourselves. Then we can preach the Gospel in a language others understand.
Peter even preached about us, yes, he mentioned Episcopalians in his sermon. “These folks are not drunk, it’s only 9:00 AM.” How do I know they were not drunk? I’ve spent sufficient time around Fort Hood to learn that every crowd has that one token loudmouth drunk. He’s always the one with far too much to say. Peter knew that guy too, that’s why he wanted to make sure he knew that those preaching were not tipsy, but it excited them to talk about Jesus.
From the beginning, the church was a countercultural statement against our fear of others! God knows that our xenophobia isolates the ones in need of the Gospel of Christ.
That is why the spirit of Jesus–the compassionate and merciful Christ–seeks to fill us with his love. The message of Pentecost is to be filled with love and be intentional about sharing it with the world.
Let’s jump to the Gospel reading and see what Jesus said about unity.
The Gospel reading looks forwards to Acts 2, and the Spirit’s coming. Jesus said that the “Advocate” would lead us into truth. He used a legal word to describe the Holy Spirit; a public defender. That’s a powerful metaphor! Considering Acts, we realize that the Spirit advocates for unity in a world of divisions!
We preach a lot these days about social justice, and rightfully so, but I wonder if a great part of social justice is allowing God to advocate for our unity instead of our divisions.
The coming of the spirit in Acts shows us people unified under one shared goal, as the Bishop said, they “talked about Jesus.” Then the Gospel reading shows us what happens when we follow their example: Water flows and rejuvenates the world.
-- The Fighting Monks
Last Sunday we took a comedic look at what I called “the WWF Monks of The Church of the Holy Sepulchre” in Jerusalem. If you were not here, I’ll give you the cliff notes version. Seven sects of Christians each claim right to the church of the Holy Sepulchre.
A few years ago a Coptic monk sat on the rooftop and moved his chair from the sun to the shade. But it was an infraction of catastrophic proportions! The Ethiopian monks controlled the shade. A fight broke out leaving four monks unconscious and in the hospital!
They were hitting one another with chairs Hulk Hogan style!
Well, this week I read an article in the Jerusalem Post about a Pentecost moment for these same people. Here’s the headline:
Holy Sepulchre Plans First Renovation in Generations
The Article reads:
“Various groups connected to the historic Jerusalem church, fraught with long-standing conflict, have agreed that renovations are necessary at the site where many believe Jesus was buried. There has been a stalemate on renovations that has lasted for over 250 years. The various sects that maintain chapels in the historic structure have been fearful of allowing any other group to make changes, lest it tip the delicate status quo. Now, after several hundred years, renovations may finally take place after an agreement was signed between the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian Apostolic churches.”
That speaks to me, and it says that divisions can cease. Consider this: The groups went from monks fighting over a chair in the shade, to Christians unifying under a common cause of the church.
This… this is Pentecost... this is unity.
Amen
Sermon by The Rev. Rian Adams
www.rianadamspoetry.com
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