Knowing I've never done a sermon series before, someone could ask, "Gee, Will, you're four out of five weeks in now...are you running out of things to say?"
The answer is I'm not. To focus this series, I actually set aside significant chunks of inspiration and information from this past Penn Northeast's Annual Conference where keynote speaker Gill Rendel, whom I've mentioned in weeks past and will do so again this morning, spoke on congregations devoted to God.
This is a sermon on devotion, the fourth "D" in this series, and if I could hold up a mirror that enabled you to see only your spiritual core, I think you'd see yourselves how devoted you are, and, as importantly, see how much more devoted you can be through this Pentecost Sunday where the Spirit blows and burns a revival, a revival you long for and can accept today.
No, I'm not running out of things to say on the words decide, dare, delve and now devote. In fact, I'm thankful this series sets us on a specific course where each week we go about building a deeper, richer understanding of our relationship to God and, in turn, a deeper, richer understanding of our church life here at First Congregational-UCC. And I did say 'church life' as our church is life; our ministry to ourselves and to the world is motivated and our ministry to ourselves and the world is invigorating when we do not guide ourselves, but respond to guidance from God. Let me repeat that. Our ministry to ourselves and to the world is motivated and our ministry to ourselves and the world is invigorating when we do not guide ourselves, but respond to guidance from God.
I do have a lot to say, and here, on this Pentecost Sunday, I want to spill all of the sermon notes out first. In advance—rather than during—I want you to hear where I am heading today. In so doing, you have the opportunity to hear where God is working in this church, and specifically, if you let the Spirit move you, you'll hear where God is working within you.
I invite you to find and use your sermon notes this morning because we'll be talking about point number one, which is distance and differences can be overcome with God. The second point we'll cover today is equally important in terms of growth, renewal and regeneration. It's this. We need better things to talk about. Finally, I'll conclude our time together with our third point, which is generation zap not gap: the way to infuse our congregation is to infuse ourselves. For the third point, I'll be raising Matt Gorkos, who, as a twenty-something UCC seminarian, preached here in late April on multi-generational worship. Specifically, he challenged us to invite and listen to the generation not seen in most churches today, and that's the twenty-something set.
Our three sermon points are out. I'll also use scripture as we go along, so let's get to the first point which again is this: distance and differences can be overcome with God.
Acts chapter two verses one through twenty-one tell us that the people were together in one place. It was Pentecost, and the young ones here who are filling out their own sermon notes on peach-colored paper will be able tell you what they remember from the call to worship, and that Pentecost falls fifty days after Passover. Fifty days have passed since Passover, the time of Jesus' crucifixion.
And those who gathered in that house of worship are much like those who gather here for worship. Consider this. Maybe they found themselves in the midst of a building campaign. Maybe, like us, this group of very similar yet also very different people was experiencing growing pains like we are experiencing growing pains: the young prophesied of a church life yet to come. The daring youth saw and felt things their seniors didn't understand, and the old, in their growing pains, dreamed dreams, dreams of their church, after years of care and devotion, blooming from their faith that did not falter. See, their young and their old, like our youth and our seniors, are no different than we are: each feels the growing pains of their worship house differently, and each came up with, like we are coming up with, different solutions. These different solutions are not an end in and of themselves. In other words, we shouldn't just quit because we have different answers to the same problem. On the contrary, these different solutions are simply differences to overcome, and differences are overcome when God leads.
I do not mean to be the bearer of bad news here, and do not shoot the messenger, but more differences are coming our way as our physical building continues. Now we can bury our heads in them. Another option is to fight our way through them. Neither of those are what we are about, however, because—and this could surprise some—this is God-driven church. And in a God-driven church, simply put, distances and differences are overcome with God. Differences and differences like one group of people speaking many languages in one worship house can be overcome with God. They cannot be overcome alone; the Spirit needs to flood our space as the Spirit flooded that worship house.
And the Spirit is flooding this worship house. I shared in the first sermon in this series that if you cannot see this, then open your eyes because they have been closed. God is leading.
That said, consider these words carefully. Some may need to step out of the way for a time long enough to realize that they have not been in step with God. Some may be like those Jews in scripture who heard the news and the noise from the house of worship, but still didn't understand it.
Understand it. Then, like now, distances and differences in how the young prophesy and the old dream dreams can be overcome with God. That's point one. Here's the second. We need better things to talk about.
This is a point Gil Rendel made in one of the conversations he had with ministers and lay people through this Penn Northeast region. We need better things to talk about.
Let me take us out of church life for a moment to make my point. My experience is in an elementary school, and an elementary school is a microcosm as there are microcosms in many, many other places. This not an insult; it's a fact. Here's an example of what I mean. How easily and how quickly a teacher can become upset because one of his grade-level peers gets the math textbooks that have brand-new manipulative gizmos and gadgets, which, in fairness, are very nice. Let's say the whole fifth-grade team gets bent because their prep period every third day is three-minutes shorter than everyone else's. And it's true, those minutes do add up. But rather than spend time talking about gizmos and gadgets, rather than focus on the system itself when it comes to scheduling, isn't it time to have more important conversations? You know where I'm going with this. Isn't it time to have better, more focused, more valuable conversations about who we are reaching, how to reach them, and what it is we need to hear from them over the 'same old, same old' tried and true conversations too many have had for too long?
Decide, dare, delve and devote yourself to this and wake up. Look up. What was true then is true now: the Spirit is descending upon us like just like we find it in verse two. There is a rush of a mighty wind that fills the house where we are sitting. Rather than reports and rumblings, rather than questions over the minutes, let's decide to listen to God. Let's dare to go where he leads. Let's delve into the real work of ministry here. Let's devote ourselves to find and to name the quest where God is taking us.
Do not hold yourselves or your minister back. It is time to grow more, and, to do that, here's point two again, we need better things to talk about—better things like what are we going to do about the oil spill? How does God speak to video-game people? What is our outreach to our super seniors and to those two babies we've baptized April 18th and this past Sunday?
And finally, the way to move from a generational gap and experience a healthy generational zap is to infuse ourselves. In other words, here's point three again. To infuse our congregation we need to infuse ourselves. To do that, we need to know a few good and obvious things, and here again, I'm borrowing from Gil Rendel.
What I want to share is what Gil calls reactive space and balcony space and how these two terms define two very different generations. There are some who come to church or see church as a reactive space. This group heads off without knowing where they are going. Representing a spirituality of the now, they espouse to a God who is everywhere, including a God outside the Christian tradition. They participate rather than demonstrate a willingness to commit to any committee at any time. These folks are within a set that practice a spirituality of the journey.
There's another group. Gil describes these folks as being in the balcony space. These people, very unlike those I just described, are measured and true. They represent a GI mentality, and GI, as a military term, applies here in that it is general issue. They get the same thing. They give the same thing. Whereas the first group talked about practices a spirituality of journey, this group knows the spirituality of place, and place to them means church. The ones who take up balcony space know God is here, and, specifically, here means church First Congregational-UCC. Here means organization and structure, commitment, pledges and unilateral, unified understanding.
These two groups baffle one another, yet equally important, these two groups need each other. Notice something very important here, and then move past it quickly. Here it is. Each generation speaks poorly of the one before and the one after. Each generation turns off something from the one before, and struggles with the one just after.
In all this mix and in all this mud—much like those in our scripture who were speaking different languages—there is room for everyone. There is benefit for everyone, and what's the benefit is kitchen table wisdom.
And kitchen table wisdom is when different generations, guided by the same Holy Spirit that burns things new from sand to glass, sit down and share with one another. Different generations sit down and listen and learn from one another and infuse one another. Church is one of the last places where cultures today gather where different age groups meet—and yes, sometimes collide—under one roof.
Remember how I started this, and I hope you see that there is a lot to be said, and this is only a beginning. And this beginning, which I know you want—this beginning which I see you want—this beginning or revival (from what has been) requires you to do what you have done and will do, and that's decide to give to God; dare yourself to follow; delve further and further into God's love and guidance, and tap into your devotion.
Knowing I've never done a sermon series before, someone not here today could ask, "Gee, Will, you're four out of five weeks in now...are you running out of things to say?" I'd reply to those with devotion, and those with devotion have decided, dared, and delved deep into where they are with God and who they are to be with God, I'd ask them the same question I'll ask you: in this new-age world with many languages all speaking from God's love, are you running out of things to say?