June 4, 2017 (Day of Pentecost) – Acts 2:1-21, John 20:19-23
Acts 2:1-21; John 20:19-23
Acts of the Spirit
Day of Pentecost – June 4, 2017
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
Today we remember the first Pentecost, when Jesus sent his Spirit or Energy to the disciples,
so they could continue his ministry of feeding and healing and forgiving and blessing.
How the Spirit first came was remembered in different ways by the early church.
The big showy story is in the reading from Acts, with the sound like a rushing wind and
something like tongues of flame resting on the disciples.
A more intimate story of how the Spirit came is in John this morning,
where the Risen Jesus comes to the disciples on Easter Sunday evening,
after he was raised.
Here, he simply and gently breathes on them and gives them his Spirit.
In either case, the disciples felt empowered and energized for participating in God’s mission.
Not only did they have a purpose, they had the means of accomplishing that purpose.
Since that time, the Spirit has energized generations of Christians for ministry.
And maybe the best Pentecost sermon that can be preached is one that shows how true that is.
Pastor Michael asked you for stories this week about
how you see the Spirit at work in our congregation.
And you sent him lots of great stories – this morning I’m going to share them with you.
Some are more public and showy like the story in Acts,
and some are more intimate and personal like the story in John.
Several stories centred on experiencing the Spirit in worship when we are gathered together.
One member writes:
When I first came to First Lutheran Church, I was grieving. I had recently been through some major life changes at home and with my family and work. When I came to worship, I found I had trouble singing hymns because I was struggling to hold back tears. But I felt welcomed and supported through the community in worship at First Lutheran Church. It was as if the gathered community could sing for me at a time when I couldn’t find the words to sing myself. I soon recognized: that was the Holy Spirit, at work in the people, in the worship, in the bread and wine. I was overwhelmed again, this time by God’s love and grace. These signs at First Lutheran reminded me that I am not alone, and nor will I ever be alone when I come to First Lutheran Church.
Another writes:
For me, I experience the energy of God in the community at worship. It is challenging to get there with my two young kids; we come in late and loud, they need something every other moment which can be so very distracting, and yet we are welcomed and encouraged to be who we are and share it with the community. Warm smiles, affirmations, cheerful greetings, offers to help, room for curiosity. I feel the acceptance and love wash over us as God’s energy is shared with us.
Another member writes very movingly about experiencing the Spirit in our healing services:
Awaiting for a shoulder surgery my daughter asked me if I would like to go to church that Sunday. As it turned out, it was a healing service, and I had never attended one. Waiting in line, I knew little of what was expected. As Pastor Michael started the blessing by saying my name , a warmth started in my feet, traveling upward throughout my entire body. Never had anything ever happened like that. My eyes were closed as I felt many hands touching me. There was a feeling of warmth and a strength, that flowed throughout my whole body. Seated back in the pew, I felt completely at peace and renewed. I knew then that I had been blessed. It is something that I will never forget!
And another writes about being strengthened for very difficult times by both being served in this community and by serving:
I wouldn’t even know where to begin to find the words to express the gratitude my husband and I feel for what has held us up during this ongoing worst time in our lives. We have both been thrown into the darkest valley and sometimes the shadows are so painful. . . . I just know that First Lutheran Church has saved both of us over and over again. God speaks through Pastor Michael and I know this because we both have received unconditional love and caring from him, no matter what has happened. And whenever Susan asks me to serve Communion, it is God’s amazing grace speaking to me, too, both through me and with me.
Someone else writes about seeing how a stranger was welcomed among us:
On Christmas Eve when one of our young adults was in worship, she brought her boyfriend with her and loved how he was welcomed and the peace of the Lord was shared with him, a stranger and a Muslim.
Another member appreciates how the Spirit here has nurtured the youth through our dedicated Youth Ministry:
I’d like to submit the example of our Youth. They worked diligently with the congregation to raise enough funds to cover the entire cost of their trip to CLAY, and represented our community with such grace and presence at CLAY including how they dealt with and processed a very difficult situation that many adults would have found difficult. Then the Youth gave us a thank you lunch, and fundraised and donated that to the congregation. They are an amazing example to us all about a commitment to community and relationships.
Our Common Chest ministry – where offerings of food from members are brought forward along with monetary gifts and the bread and wine – is a very old Lutheran practice, dating to the time of the Reformation. One member sees the Spirit powerfully at work here:
I enjoy the common chest that we gather and bring forward with the bread and wine. It reminds me when I am doing ordinary things in the world like shopping that I should pick up something for those who are less fortunate than I and have a need for things that I take for granted. There was one time (perhaps after Michael had reminded us in one of his emails) when both baskets were full and we had many bags remaining so we enlisted the children of the Sunday School to help bring them forward.
The Common Chest ministry bridges our worship with the neighbourhood we serve,
as the gifts flow out from worship into the community.
And the community is served in many ways.
One way is described by this member, who writes:
FLC is a congregation that has open doors. Those doors have opened to the folks of You Can’t Spoil A Baby more than once, an organization that collects and redistributes baby care items to those who cannot afford them. In fact not only were we welcomed we were also supported by the congregation – youth group members helped sort clothes and fetched and carried. Beautiful handmade baby blankets were donated. Members stayed after church to help make gifts for families in need. At our first gift making event we were a little overwhelmed by the amount of donations we received. We ended up staying longer than we planned and we were never made to feel we had outstayed our welcome. That seems to me the work of the Holy Spirit in action.
Several members commented on how they see the Spirit at work in many of our own community ministries, like this member, who was employed by us in our Kids Club Free Summer Drop In Ministry:
Again and again when we needed help and support, FLC members provided. When a dozen boxes of cereal appeared in the kitchen. When I got a call offering fresh fruit for the children. When volunteers showed up and each added their own flavour to the day’s activities. There were really stressful points trying to organize events but we never found a breaking point because someone was always there to offer a helping hand.
The first year that I was involved with the program, there was one kid who was a real nightmare. Hyperactive, always teasing and annoying the girls, and prone to just run off. We tried our best but he was a frustrating kid to work with. He came back the next year and I was expecting the same again. But he seemed to have changed quite a bit. I learned through talking to him that he had been moved around in the foster care system to a family that seemed much happier for him. On the last day of that summer, he gave me the second key to his locket. He told me it was because he trusted me and was thankful to have had a place to go to that was constant and welcoming.
And of course many people mentioned our Food Bank and Community Meal Ministry. This story can stand for several like it, where people see the Spirit strikingly at work among us and through us:
I will give you the obvious. The serving of community meals. The serving of meals to 50, 60 or 70 of our neighbours, many of whom we don’t know; other than we know they are our neighbours. And here’s a story from one of the meals, that kind of explains why it is so easy to want to do this. At one meal, after the meal having been served, and the clean-up had started. One woman approached one of the servers and thanked them for the meal. And added the comment, that they were especially thankful, because they had not eaten in the last two days. Notwithstanding we serve the meal at 4 pm in the afternoon, for some, we are serving breakfast; and what might be the only meal of the day. Seeing how you are affecting, and helping, our neighbours in a real and tangible way – how can you not want to do that.
Finally, one member writes a better summing up of everything than Pastor Michael could ever write:
What makes me proud of this Church is the ability to live Pentecost by opening its doors to the community. We are in a really unique position. The building and community that we built can be opened and used to help those who are now making a go of it in the West End. Using our building, our home and our people to feed our community, care for its vulnerable, and develop its potential is how we can live Pentecost. On Pentecost there were all the languages of the world, but actions of love and compassion don’t require translation.
To that, we can all say, “Amen.”
Pastor Michael Kurtz
(as preached by Kyle Kempe-Collins!)
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