(Un)Holy Redundancy?

What percentage of our churches TALKED about the Holy Spirit this past weekend, in celebration of Pentecost Sunday, without actually EXPERIENCING Holy Spirit power? I have no idea but I'd guess a fairly big one.

How come?

You're invited to weigh in with an answer to that question. But here's my two cents: Too many rules. I don't think the Spirit likes 'em very much. Makes it hard to stir up new things.

I mean, look what happened on that first Pentecost: The Holy Spirit shows up and gives Jesus' followers courage. They spill out into the streets and start telling people about what God is up to. And "those who accepted [the] message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day" (Acts 2:41).

In all my days, I've never heard anybody preach that story to help us picture somebody besides PETER preaching & baptizing. But who in the world do we think did it all?? Seriously.

Best case scenario, a couple hundred people actually heard Peter preach. What do you think, he had a sound system?! No. People who heard him preach turned around and preached to those who hadn't. Those who got baptized turned around and baptized others. Jerusalem was on fire that day. Fathers baptizing sons. Daughters baptizing mothers. Neighbors baptizing each other. Strangers from distant lands finding a common language, passing the peace, splashing around in the water of forgiveness and new life.

What do we need the Holy Spirit for, in our congregations, if we already have trained professionals doing all this work for us? I think it's just possible that our rules - and the clerical system they support - have made the Holy Spirit redundant.

Is it time to rethink both of them?

This might help. It's a photo of the Lucas Cranach altar piece (1547) in the Town Church of St. Mary in Wittenberg. On the far right panel is his rendering of Philip Melanchthon, the 16th century Reformer, author of the Augsburg Confession (one of the most important writings from the Protestant Reformation), friend of Martin Luther (buried next to him, in fact, in the Castle Church), scholar, teacher. Lifelong lay person. And in this picture he baptizing a baby at a large baptismal font.

I'm just saying.

----------------------------------------------------

POSSIBLY RELATED POSTS:

A Call For Creativity

The Church Is SO Not The Point

Making Room For Everybody

An Old Dog Can Learn New Tricks

Some Of My Best Friends Are Pastors, But...

Six Timeless Keys To Church Renewal

Comments

[Brad <><]

Don't we need those rules? What would we do if we had 3,000 people come to believe, want to be baptized and join our congregations? Where would they sit? Where would we get enough hymnals from? Who would repave the parking lot? Would you have to charging for coffee? These are serious concerns!

Sarcasm aside, outside of the rules we've established are the people sitting in the pews really prepared for the Holy Spirit to show up? I heard about a couple of different people who were upset on Sunday because I preached about Pentecost and the Holy Spirit and not Mother's Day. I can't imagine I'm the only pastor that heard that complaint.

[Brad <><]

Speaking of rules I was at a First Call event last week (I wrote about this on my blog already) there developed a conversation about what music is "appropriate" for funerals and weddings. The group seemed to want to limit it to "sacred music" only. It got me to wondering where such arrogance comes from to think we can decide where people find and/or connect with God? Isn't our job as trained theologians to be able to interpret where we see God so that we can begin to see God in more places than the sanctuaries of our congregations (and on my more cynical days I wonder if that's really the best place to find God anyway).

[Marilyn Crosby]

The Spirit showed up at Christ the King in Greenville SC on Pentecost - partially because the pastor did not and the rules were all changed. My husband and I had an accident the previous Sunday on our Vespas - a lucky to be alive accident! Bandaged from head toe, looking like Lazarus, I was unable to make it to church. So one person led the service. Another person preached - a great sermon I might add with only a day's notice. One couple brought the bread and wine to our house. I consecrated as prescribed, they communed us and them and then took the meal back to the community. Not only did we feel a part of the community that day - I have been told how wonderful everything was and how emotional and meaningful the communion was.
God has taught me that my greatest responsibility as pastor is to get out of the way and let the people do what they are charged up about and what they are good at.
I was visited by almost every member during the week and the refrigerator is stocked to the gills. They learned how to take care of one another and their pastor - and that it takes all of us to be a community. God has been and continues to transform us into the body of Christ. Praise God!

KELLY'S RESPONSE: A Vespa disaster!? Glad you're on the mend, Marilyn!

[Bones]

It would seem to me that the Holy Spirit is continually having to overcome our inabilibities and inadequacies in delivering the good news to the entire world.

Look again at the text in Acts chapter 2. We are told that people from all over the world (with names that make this reading a real adventure ;})are present to experience the power of the coming of the Spirit in an amazing way.

But check out to whom Peter addresses his sermon in verse 14 "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem..."

Say what Pete? Didn't you see what just happened? This baby is for the entire world! Not just for the people like you with a shared cultural and religious background. You say so in your quoting of Joel. What gives?

And so it has been from the beginning. The Holy Spirit working to become a part of all flesh. Not just as an idea in scripture but in practice and life. Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch, Peter and Cornelius, Paul in Athens...

Me and who?

KELLY'S RESPONSE: Nice catch, Bones! Never read the story that way, either! Thanks for pointing out we're in good company when we get it all wrong!

[Chad Kohlmeyer]

on Sunday at the parish I serve I took a big risk (at least in my context). I opened the sermon quoting Rachel Naomi Remen, saying, 'we can't walk through water without getting wet', and then moved to the fact that this happens to us when we experience the Spirit--we can't help but be affected. I then opened the floor to have folks comment on ways they have experienced the Spirit at work in their personal, family or work lives. I expected to get shut out--but there were actually five comments made and I shared a couple of others (at this service there were only 25 individuals).

Did we 'experience' Holy Spirit power? I am not sure, but I was deeply moved that a few folks responded to my challenge. I can guarantee that they had the fear of the Lord as the piped up!

I broke a rule by putting them on the spot.

Several others broke rules by talking in church.

Baby steps! Next~devotions at church council :)

KELLY'S RESPONSE: That's where it starts, isn't it? With baby steps. Little cracks in the Christendom wall. Maybe one of the most important jobs of a leader today is to be willing to help create a few cracks and/or to point them out when you see them. "Look! It's the Holy Spirit showing up!" Nice work, Chad. :)

[Chad Kohlmeyer]

In response:

Kelly, you are right--cracks are do-able. I end up shutting down when I think about trying to turn the ocean liner. Thanks.

[LauraM]

From a non-pastor pov.. the Spirit of God is always with those that are able to be with.. welcome the Spirit of God. I tend to sense that the Holy Spirit is the experience of my beliefs. When I turned from rules and doctrine and turned first toward God.. the Spirit moved in and it has been a ride ever since, let me tell you...

I don't think of 'the church' as an incubator for transformation.. maybe that is a significant issue... it used to be a given...

"Lutherans proudly proclaim both justification and sanctification as acts of God —the Spirit of God working through the Means of Grace. We tend to emphasize so strongly that faith and faith life are the work of God that we sometimes back away from anything that seems to be a call to personal renewal. Indeed, there are Lutherans who sneer at the idea of “awakening” as part of the true Christian faith. Why should this be? History, after all, does not support such contempt. If one goes back to the beginning of Lutheranism in America, one finds that the idea of awakening was absolutely central to the faith."

By Walter Sundberg (it used to be on the ELCA website)

I remember reading the passage in the bible about the 'narrow path' and many since then have defined that for me as well as for themselves as belief in and knowing Jesus.. but I know, and knew at the time.. it meant more, it was deeper... it was the inner path of transformation gifted through Grace..but I see where many of my Christian family stop at belief.

I see where Pastors, those here and others I've listen to, feel that the Holy Spirit comes or doesn't because of something external.. what is done or not done.. but my experience tells me that it's who we are(being) that welcomes the Spirit.

So, last week, like every week, those at Peace who are welcoming of the internal messiness that life in God brings knew the Spirit was abundantly with us, and those that are for sooooo many reasons unable, unwilling, to open their lives, hearts and minds to God... waited for the Spirit.

[Seth Jones]

Hi Kelly!
I had you for RTA at Luther in 2005. I am graduating on Sunday and will be serving a "multi-denominational" church in ... get this... Cooke City, Mt - way up in the mountains.
On Mother's Day, I preached about mother's day and Pentecost by talking about Perpetua and Felicitas, early church martyrs, and how the HS is messy, shows up in unexpected ways and reframes how we approach suffering and death - with joy, passion and hope. People were moved and inspired by it and it was one of my best sermons yet, but when people sang "everytime I feel the Spirit" at the end of the service, I couldn't tell if we were in church or in a mausoleum. Next time, I will stop everything and get them to start again. I realized that people in the pews have a natural desire/need/impulse to give over their leadership in Christ to whoever is up front. It was my last Sunday there, so someone else will have to train them up in the ways of Pentecost Spirit. They are a great congregation, though, and sometimes subtlety is the great art of Spirit work.
Anyway, I will be in Chicago for the SCUPE program in the first 2 weeks of June. I am looking for churches to visit on Sunday, June 8. Yours looks like a lot of fun. It would be great to see you there.
Peace of Christ to you!
Seth Jones

KELLY'S RESPONSE: MT, eh?? Sounds like an interesting mission field!

Looking forward to seeing you on the 8th...but let me know if you have time for me to buy you a congratulatory beer while you're in Chicago, too!