Sermon Tone Analysis
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Peace Out
We are nearing the end of Easter.
I know that the Peeps are all eaten (I hope they are anyway.
If you’re one of those stale Peeps eaters, I don’t know what to say to you).
I did find some easter eggs in the back of the fridge the other day, but it’s been long enough that I was surprised.
It’s strange to think that as we get so near to the beginning of summer, it’s still Easter.
That’s one thing that makes me sad about the loss of the church calendar in so many contexts.
We miss out on entire seasons of celebration!
We have 40 days of Easter.
It’s as long as Lent.
Easter is longer than Advent and Christmas combined.
Next week, we will celebrate the ascension.
Technically, ascension day is Thursday, but many churches now observe it on the last Sunday of Easter rather than hold a midweek service.
The following week, June 9th will be Pentecost.
I like to go all out for Pentecost because we don’t get a ton of “Holy Spirity” scripture in the lectionary and we Presbyterians can be a bit wary of too much Holy Spirit.
The Spirit is unpredictable and might do things the committee hasn’t approved yet!
Not only that.
We don’t have a good solid “This is what the Holy Spirit is and does” definition in scripture.
Is the Holy Spirit what makes those charismatic people put their hands in the air?
Will the Holy Spirit make the preacher preach extra long?
Does the Holy Spirit just give us words to pray with when someone asks us to pray out loud?
One of the podcasts I listen to every week is called “Lectionary Lab” and one of the hosts this week said this about the Spirit:
The Spirit will lead you somewhere you don’t want to go, because if you wanted to go there, the Spirit would not be necessary.
That is both a terrible and humbling and wonderful thought, isn’t it?
The Holy Spirit is hard to pin down.
The Spirit is elusive.
The Spirit is described as a dove, fire, wind, a guide, so many things.
Maybe that’s why peace is so elusive.
In modernity the struggle over why some believe and others do not has taken an intellectual twist.
Skeptics have asserted that all religious claims are empty because they cannot be scrutinized through any kind of public means.
The question has been raised in various forms: is religious language meaningful if it makes sense only to its adherents?
Is private truth really truth at all?
The repeated challenge of secular critics has dominated much of theology.
Trouble in the Text
So imagine being one of the disciples who have been following Jesus for a few years now and suddenly Jesus announces he’s heaving out.
Jesus is leaving.
The disciples have not yet seen him do what they thought the Messiah was supposed to do (overthrow a corrupt and oppressive government) and here he is saying he’s headed out.
They have been studying under Jesus, helping him spread the word, but they are not feeling ready to head out without him just yet.
Earlier in their time together, Jesus had sent them out to various towns to spread the good news, but they weren’t sent far and Jesus was still waiting for them when they got back.
This would be different.
he would be gone for good.
He’s not leaving them alone, but he’s leaving them with this mysterious helper.
At least when we talk about the Holy Spirit, we have the Pentecost story to look back on.
They didn’t even have that yet.
“Great.
Thanks, Jesus.
A Spirit.
That’ll help.”
They are left wondering what good this elusive, mysterious Spirit will be when what they’ve really been seeking is freedom from the oppressors.
The old ways to peace needed to change.
Grace in the Text
So Jesus says, “Look, guys.
You’ll get your peace.
The Spirit is going to be here to help show the way to it, but it’s not the peace that you are thinking of.
This is a peace that will change you.”
In the absence of a physically present Christ, our daily practice makes real the living presence and love of God.
Love in action is the route to experiencing Love’s grace-filled indwelling.
Love in action is the closest we come to evidence of God.
The problem of “Why some and not others?” is unresolved.
However, the first step in engaging it is not theory but practice, not argument but passionate love.
It’s important to remember that when John is writing this gospel, he is reflecting on his time with Jesus, based on his current context.
And John is almost certainly the newest of the gospels - it was written the longest after the events of Jesus’ ministry.
This means two things: John has had a great deal of time to think about everything, so he tends to be a great deal more theological.
He’s more ready to help us interpret things than Matthew, Mark, and Luke, who are doing more reporting or recording than reflection.
He’s also writing out of a much changed situation.
The other three gospels are writing as the early church is created.
John is writing from the context of that church.
In this context, they are in a place where the way they used to worship could not be the way they continued to move forward.
They were transitioning from being a Jewish Sect that worshipped in the synagogue to being a separate thing.
The world around them was changing dramatically and they were trying to figure out what it meant to be church in the midst of all that change.
Sound familiar?
The man doesn’t answer that he wants to be healed, he just comes up with excuses as to why it hasn’t happened yet.
Think of a good illustration of this.
The old ideas of peace and love and how to be a Christian community needed to change for John’s church, just as they do for the church today.
So the hope that John is offering that very early church is the reminder that Jesus promised the Spirit will guide them in these times of change and confusion, and disconnect.
The Holy Spirit is the stuff disturber, the wind that moves the water around so it’s not so gross to get into.
Grace in the World
It does seem like a mean trick, in these times of confusion and change, to leave us with a confusing, ever changing guide.
I remember the first time I dropped each of my kids off for their first day of preschool.
Alex cried and clung to my leg.
I had to pry her off.
Gloria was very matter of fact, adjusted her backpack straps, and just told me she’d see me after big kid school.
Levi nearly cried, but his teacher could see it in his eyes and was quick to sweep him away and help him find some fun kids and interesting learning tools to engage with.
She was a great teacher.
Levi’s preschool and kindergarten teacher Ms. L. - at Montessori they have the same teacher for 2-3 years - was a bit wacky, although that’s exactly what we loved about her.
You were never quite sure what to expect from her.
She lined the kids up by having them recite the presidents in order - these were 3, 4, and 5 year olds, mind you.
They didn’t celebrate birthdays, they celebrated trips around the sun.
She was completely unexpected and unconventional and she was wonderful.
Sometimes, when I reflect on what the Holy Spirit is like, I picture a quirky teacher like Levi’s preschool teacher.
A loving, unpredictable, wacky someone who knows us and is there to teach us how to be out on our own.
You always wonder when you take your kids to school for the first time. . .
put them on the bus for the first time. . .
leave them home alone for the first time. . .
let them use the oven. . .
help them move out on their own. . .
Are they ready?
Like really ready?
Taking your kids away to college.
But there is usually someone there to guide them.
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