Holy Spirit Holes

Where are the holes in your life? Is it where a loved person has left? Is it where a child never was? Is it the loss of physical ability or memory? Where are the holes in your life? Are the holes physical, emotional, mental, spiritual?

Read Romans 8:22-27 & Acts 2:1-21 to hear about Holy Spirit holes.

For the disciples, following the Ascension of Jesus, there was a big hole in their life without the bodily presence of Jesus. Sure, he had promised to send the Holy Spirit, but what did that really mean? Where was their friend they ate with, they laughed with, they cried with, they prayed with? Where was their teacher who confused them with stories, who challenged their perceptions? Moreover, what were they supposed to do now? Their lives were so filled with holes they must have looked like Swiss cheese.

We too are in a time of disorientation, in a time where our lives both individually and collectively are filled with holes. What does church mean to people in 2013? What does it mean that Sunday mornings don't work for young families? What does it mean that our sisters and brothers go to Christ in death? Trinity is filled with holes of people who have been here and are gone - filled with holes of groups and activities that used to flourish.

In some medieval churches, there were trap doors in the ceiling known as Holy Spirit holes. On Pentecost Sunday, a few brave people would scale the roof of the church. Then, with the reading of the Scripture, a wooden dove would be lowered through that hole. And red rose petals would rain down like tongues of fire. Normally, we would say having holes in the ceiling is a bad thing. But in these churches, these were holes where the Holy Spirit would slip in, dramatically, surprisingly, with sighs too deep for words.

Like the disciples being surprised by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost - when things seemed the worst - maybe we too can be surprised by the rushing in of the Holy Spirit. The holes in our lives might just be the places where the Holy Spirit can slip in, can do something new, can radically change our plans and our lives. The problems, the challenges, the cracks in our lives are the places where the Holy Spirit can bring grace to shine through. The holes in our lives are places where God can re-create something new.

So bring your holes on Sunday. Bring your doubts, your worries, your fears, your anxieties. For we don’t have to be afraid of being broken, of holes in our lives – for those are the places where the Holy Spirit can enter to give us what we need for the next step in our life together.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kate 

Looking Up

Look up. What do you see? Blue sky? Sunshine? White fluffy clouds? Scary storm clouds? Trees blossoming their spring blooms? An office or school ceiling? Look up! Do you see anyone? A plane? Birds flying through the air? Look up! Wait, watch out for that pole! 

Read Psalm 47 and Acts 1:1-11 to prepare for worship on Sunday. 

This Sunday we’ll celebrate the Ascension – Jesus being lifted up, Jesus exalted on high, being seated at the right hand of God the Father until He comes again in glory. The Ascension rounds out our Easter journey that began 40 days ago – the ascension completes the resurrection. Jesus moves from being lifted up on the cross to being lifted up in a cloud of glory, departing bodily from the earth and the disciples. 

I can picture the disciples, jaws on the floor, one more amazing miracle they get to witness. Even after Jesus disappears from view, they are so shocked that they stand there, looking up at the empty sky. That probably explains why God sent two messengers to bring their eyes back to earth – “You Galileans! Why do you just stand here??” Have you ever felt like the church was just standing here? Have you ever asked Jesus “Is now the time? Are you going to restore the church to her 1950s heyday? Are you going to lift up the church once more as an institution to be respected? Is it time to restore the kingdom?” Sometimes we get stuck waiting, staring at an empty sky, waiting for Jesus to just do something already – forgetting His commands for US to be the witnesses, for US to claim the power of the Holy Spirit. We get caught looking up, forgetting to look around us for those in need of food, of water, of healing, of resurrection. 

The Good News is that through Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension, we too are invited to take part in life, death, resurrection, and ascension – not only at the end times but in our daily lives. We now experience what it is like to lose somebody, the mixed emotions of grief and relief, of sadness and gladness as we enter through transitions in our life. We know what it is like to be emotionally resurrected one more time. And hopefully we have those moments where, as CS Lewis describes, we are “surprised by joy” – we are lifted up into the very heart of God. 

Let us look up in awe of our risen Lord, who prays for us at the right hand of God the Father; but let us not forget to look around, to be witnesses even to the ends of the world. For we the church are charged to be Christ’s body in the world today. We are charged to testify to the power and the glory – that our Lord, who submitted to death, is now alive – that through that power the Church can be alive today too. Praise be to God for looking up and looking around. 

Grace and peace, 
Pastor Kate

Best Parting Gift Ever

When you graduated (high school/college/graduate school), what was your best ever or most meaningful parting gift?  When you prepared to take your first job, what was the most comforting gift?  When you moved into your first neighborhood, what was your most practical gift?...............As we change our neighborhoods (not just where we live, but also our community and network support system), what are our fears?  How do we cope with a perceived lack of control?  What do we experience as we change directions or change our stages of life?  Who and what do we need?

Jesus is all too aware that his processional toward death means he's leaving his disciples behind to function without him.  The Gospel of John 14: 23-29 is part of Jesus' farewell to his disciples as he makes promises to them and on their behalf.  Jesus promises his and his Father's love for those who obey his Word and follow him.  Jesus promises the presence of the Holy Spirit as Advocate - ie. Friend, Comforter, Counselor.  And Jesus promises a peace that does not mimic the world's peace (absence of turmoil, violence, and war), but a peace that is above and beyond whatever the world might provide.  Jesus promises a peace that offers both comfort for troubled hearts and courage in the midst of our fears.

Jesus' words seem unrealistic when he says, "Do not let our hearts be troubled."  Really?  In the midst of endless wars worldwide, terrorism, recession fears, fighting over immigration and gun control and abortion - we're told not to worry?  Peace as the world gives implies that all these worries will be washed away and that our fears will cease.  But  Jesus says, "My peace I give to you.  I do not give it as the world gives." Jesus doesn't promise that our fears or worries or brokenness will cease.  Instead Jesus promises that the power and presence of the Holy Spirit enables us to tread through turmoil confident that our timidity will be replaced with courage.  The Holy Spirit empowers Christ followers to cling to their faith as our driving force, knowing that we can endure and face our future with expectation about the possibilities and cling to hope, knowing we are children of God.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley

And Many Believed

Life and death.  Death and Life.  Scenes of death and destruction are infused in our consciousness from the array of media communications:  the carnage of the Boston Marathon bombings; the fire at the fertilizer plant in West, TX with flames and smoke billowing into the air carrying the dangers of anhydrous ammonia; innocent looking letters with ricin within; and of course the daily deaths throughout the world where violence prevails.  These scenes are burned into our consciousness in a non-ending stream.

So where does the resurrection of our shepherd, Jesus the Christ speak to us of the possibilities of new life conquering the pervasiveness of death?  Three weeks after our Easter celebration, we hear another story of resurrection.  The apostle, Peter is called to Joppa where the widow, Tabitha (or Dorcas in Greek, which means gazelle) has died.  Tabitha was a disciple (the first known feminine use of the word "disciple" in the New Testament) who was devoted to good works and acts of charity, providing robes and other clothing for the poorest of the poor - the widows.  In Acts 9: 36 - 43, Peter responds to the community surrounding Tabitha who have placed their hope in his healing power by washing Tabitha and laying her in an upstairs room.  Notably Tabitha's beloved friends have NOT anointed her for burial. Peter raised Tabitha from death and showed her to be alive.

AND MANY BELIEVED - PUT THEIR TRUST IN THE MASTER.

This miracle points us to the mighty power of God working in the world.  God's story does not end with the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.  The hope that accompanies healing is a powerful demonstration that God was at work through the disciples in Peter's time - and is still at work in our time today as we shepherd one another.

Alongside the images of bloody bodies and lost limbs in Boston were the first responders who rushed toward the wounded:  doctors who had just finished the race; medical volunteers; firefighters and police; and innumerable citizens who pulled off their belts to use for tourniquets as ambulances surged into the melee.  Like Tabitha who was surrounded by friends and community who took action in the adrenaline of hope, we see miracles upon miracles of people pulling together to respond - the power of a shepherding community pulling together.  Death is all too real.  But the life-giving power of the hope of resurrection reminds us that God enters into the shadows of the valley of death alongside us.  When we're able to "see and be" communities of people operating in this hope, our faith shines in the darkness.  We walk in faith and trust, and many continue to believe.  And many more will put their trust in our Master Shepherd.  And the visions of the kingdom coming slowly to realization is alive as we respond.  Revelation 7: 9-17 is a cacophany of praise to God as we stand before the throne of the Lamb singing:  "Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!"

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley

We Are Guests at the Table. We Are the Meal

Easter is two weeks gone.  Our dresses hang in the closet as we wonder how many Sundays before we can wear them again.  The lamb and deviled egg leftovers are long eaten.  The candy has been eaten or stashed away or put out on our desks for others' indulgence.  Even with the bright blooming of our yellow forsythia and redbuds, we're back to our daily routines.  We might distantly wonder about the "so-what?" of Easter if we find ourselves daydreaming.

So, it's appropriate to read John's Gospel epilogue:  John 21: 1-19.  The resurrection is over and done and seven of the disciples, wondering what's next, and having no clue, return to their livelihoods of fishing - to no avail.  Slow to recognize Jesus, their post resurrection encounter with their Lord is full of symbolism:  an abundance of fish when they follow Jesus' direction; Peter's impulse to be with his Lord by jumping right into the sea; and the communion of fish and bread awaiting them on the open fire on the beach with Jesus as host at the Table.  The climax of their encounter with the risen Lord is Jesus' command to the forgiven Peter (and to us) to:  "Feed my lambs.  Tend my sheep.  Feed my sheep."
Having been fed (literally and spiritually) by Jesus, the disciples are commissioned to go forth and care for others.  Having come to the Table as guests, they are commanded to go out to the four corners of the world and offer themselves as the meal that will open others' eyes to Jesus - as the meal that will change the world.

Having worshiped with Jesus, they are to sing the praises that epitomize a world filled with the power of God's grace as described in Revelation 5: 11-14:  "Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!  To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"

When we come to the Table and are fed, we are blessed when we become the meal for those in need.  This is discipleship.  This is mission.  This is the kingdom coming to fuller and fuller realization.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley