The Rev. Kim Gilliland

June 8, 2014

Pentecost

The Rev. Kim Gilliland

SCRIPTURE:John 7:37-44

Acts 2:1-15, 40-41

With many words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. Acts 2:40 (NIV)

DRAWN BY THE SPIRIT

ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND

Two weeks ago, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of this sanctuary. I think we would all agree that it was a great celebration. The Saturday evening meal was delicious, the entertainment fun and the atmosphere very positive. I loved the harpist during the social. She was absolutely perfect. Sunday morning was amazing. The music was fabulous. Jeff Gorick was inspiring as he shared with us his long journey of recovery from a brain injury. I really didn’t know that he had not sung to a large gathering of people since his fall. Was there a dry eye in the place? Certainly mine weren’t. And Allen Warren gave us one of the best sermons I’ve heard in long time. It was a great message delivered in a very helpful way. It all fit together so well.

I was also reflecting on how things have changed over the past 100 years. Just think about the fact that our Saturday evening meal was catered by the Catholic Women’s League. That would not have happened 100 years ago. More likely that the Orangemen and the Knights of Columbus would have been throwing rocks at each other. Some things are better than then used to be.

I was particularly pleased to receive a note from Joanne Baumann that I would like to share with you. She wrote, “Thank you again for your invitation to Cottam United Church’s 100th Anniversary of its present sanctuary.

“My sister and I were very pleased to be part of the weekend’s celebrations. Saturday evening’s dinner and entertainment where most enjoyable. And I, in particular, felt so grateful for our Sunday morning worship experience. The attendance was great, the music phenomenal and the testimony of faith by everyone participating blessed my heart greatly. I still marvel at the sound of the praise music - it was glorious!

“It is a vibrant, spirit-filled congregation that you lead and I thank God that He is continuing His mighty blessings in your midst. Thank you. It was a joy and privilege to once again greet these precious Christian friends.

“With my thoughts and prayers, Joanne Bauman.”

I was truly touched to receive this note from Joanne. I think it reflected the opinion of many of us as we reflected on our centennial celebrations. I also want to tell you that Joanne said something to me as we spoke on Sunday after worship that I want to share with you. She said that if Ken were around to see Cottam United Church today, that he would be pleased. I think that for those of us who knew Ken and what Ken did for this congregation, those are the best words we could hear about how God is working in our midst.

THE SPIRIT FILLS

How is this possible? How is it that in the secular world in which we live when so many churches are going through tough times, that we feel so blessed? I think it goes back to something that Joanne said in her note. In one of the last sentences she wrote, “It is a vibrant, spirit-filled congregation that you lead and I thank God that He is continuing His mighty blessings in your midst.” I want to just further dissent this sentence and go right to the first phrase where Joanne wrote about you. She said, “It is a vibrant, spirit-filled congregation.” That is the key. The key to the success of any ministry is the infilling and the leading of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ. And that is what today is all about.

Today is Pentecost Sunday, the day when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to the young Church in Jerusalem. Most of us know the story. It was fifty days after the crucifiction. Jesus had risen from the dead and had spent time with his disciples as the Risen Lord. Then he had ascended to heaven but before he did that he told the disciples to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Their waiting came to an end a few days later on Pentecost.

Acts 2:2-4 (NIV) tells how it happened: “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest of each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. This is the beginning of the Church as we know it today. There are a few things I want to note about this passage. First, note what was filled. It was not a building. The Holy Spirit does not fill buildings. It fills people. That’s because the Church does not consist of buildings. It consists of people. The people of God may sometimes use buildings but the buildings are not the Church because without the people, a building is simply bricks and mortar.

That does not mean that our building are not important. They are. We just spent a lot of time and effort celebrating the building of this sanctuary 100 years ago. It was worth celebrating. Let’s hope that 100 years from now, people are still worshiping here. Or maybe it will become too small like the last church in 1913 and they have to tear it down to build a bigger one. Would that be okay? Sure it would because the Church is not the building.

Did you know, by the way, that there is another place in this world called Cottam? There is. I Googled it and here’s what I learned. Cottam is a hamlet and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the Yorkshire Wolds approximately 3 miles east of the village of Sledmere.

The civil parish is formed by the hamlets of Cottam and Cowlam. According to the 2011 UK census, Cottam parish had a population of 108, an increase on the 2001 UK census figure of 74. Apparently, a bomber airfield was built there during WWII but it was never used. The buildings associated with the airfield were demolished in 1980. The name Cottam is derived from the word cottage. It means a collection of cottages at the end of a lane. Cottam was previously a medieval village that was deserted. All that remains today is a small, derelict church which dates from the 19th century.

So all that’s left in the hamlet of Cottam in East Yorkshire is a derelict building. The website calls it a church but is it? I’d say no because there are no people there. It doesn’t matter what kind of a building is there, it isn’t a church if there aren’t any people. Why not? Because the Holy Spirit does not fill buildings. It fills people. No people, no Spirit. No Spirit, no church. On the Jewish feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit filled the people.

THE SPIRIT EMPOWERS

That’s the first thing. The Holy Spirit filled the people. The next thing we learn is that the Holy Spirit not only filled them, it empowered them. Remember what it says in Acts 2:4 (NIV): “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” When the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to speak in tongues. What that means is that they suddenly were able to speak in another language that they could not previously speak. We don’t talk about speaking in tongues very much in church these days, but the gift of tongues shows up in various places in the New Testament and sometimes it means different things. In Acts 2 we see a very specific manifestation of tongues. Remember that there were people from many countries in Jerusalem at that time. They spoke many languages. In Acts 2:11 (NIV), they said this: “‘... we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues.’ Amazed and perplexed, they asked on another, ‘What does this mean?’”

All of the Apostles were from Galilee. They were ordinary people with ordinary backgrounds and educations. In those days they probably spoke Greek and little Arabic. But they definitely did not speak all of the languages represented by the people in Jerusalem that day. And yet all of the people heard the Gospel message in their own languages.

How did that happen? It’s very clear. It happened because the Spirit enabled it to happen. The Spirit filled them and that same Spirit enabled them to do something that they could not do before. The other thing that I need to say about this manifestation of tongues is that it only happened that day for those people. There is no other mention of tongues being used in this way anywhere in the New Testament. That’s how special and unique it was. It is also further proof that it could not have happened apart from the Holy Spirit.

Not only did the Spirit enable them to speak in other languages, in a more basic way, it also gave them power to share the Gospel. Up until this point, the disciples had been somewhat reluctant to get out there and preach the good news as they were told to do by Jesus in the Great Commission. But that’s okay because he also told them to wait until they received the Spirit. I’m pretty sure that they had no idea what that meant but they waited. And when the Spirit came, it not only gave them the language, it also gave them the conviction, the power and the boldness to get out there and do it.

How many times have Christians had to rely upon the power of the Spirit to enable them to do what God has called them to do? Do you think the people who build this church did it on their own? On their own they would have been reasonable. Reasonable meant having a adequate sized building in which to worship. Guess what? They had one of those. When they built this building 100 years ago, they were being most unreasonable. At the time, Cottam probably had a population of about 300 people. And yet they built this sactuary to sit 400. That took vision. It took courage. This building, when it was built, was a veritable cathedral. There are at least four other United Churches in the area that were built with the same basic Methodist design: Woodslee, Trinity in New California, Trinity on County Road 1 north of Wheatley and Bedford in Old Sandwich. Of those five, this is by far the largest. That was the dream that our ancestors had. That was the dream that the Holy Spirit gave them. 100 years ago, they built this place for a grand total of $15,000 and I’m sure that there were some who thought they would never pay it off. But even here the Spirit was faithful because they had it paid off in short order. 100 years later we are still benefitting from their vision and the way the Spirit empowered them to move forward in ministry.

THE SPIRIT DRAWS

The Spirit filled them. The Spirit empowered them. The third thing the Spirit did was draw others to them. These ordinary Galileans went out into the streets of Jerusalem and shared the Gospel in many languages to all those who would hear. Then Peter gave the most amazing sermon about the life and work of Jesus Christ. What was the result? In says in Acts 2:41 (NIV) that, “Those who accepted this message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” 3,000 people came to Christ on that very first day of the Church. When you think about it, at the time of the crucifiction, Jesus had about 100 disciples. On that very first day, the Church grew by 3,000%. That’s progress. I only wish we could do that today.

3,000 people. That’s amazing! How did that happen? It began when the people in Jerusalem noticed that there was something different about the disciples. They didn’t act like other people. They certainly didn’t talk like other people. There was something different about them. The people noticed it and they wanted to know what it was.

That’s where Peter’s sermon came in. His message told the listeners why the disciples were different. It was because of their faith in Jesus Christ and what he had done for them. 3,000 people were so moved by what they heard that they gave their lives to Christ that day.

A few things come out of this for me. First, the Spirit draws people to the Church for one purpose - so that the people of the Church can lead them to Christ. That is our ultimate purpose. Yes, we are called to feed the hungry, visit the prisoners and care for the sick and lonely. Those are crucial parts of our ministry. But our greatest concern is not people’s earthly concerns for they will someday come to an end. Our greatest concern is with their eternal horizons. Where are they going to spend eternity? If we care about them enough to look after their earthly needs, then surely we should care enough about them to be concerned for the eternal ones as well. The Spirit draws people to us so that we can lead them to Christ.

The other thing that comes out of this for me is that we won’t lead many people to Christ by being just like everyone else. We sometimes get that mixed up. There are those who think that if they look and act like the rest of society, then they will be more likely to attract others to Christ because they won’t see us as a threat to their way of life.

The trouble is that I don’t see a lot of evidence to support that in Scripture. In fact, Jesus continually told his disciples not to be like other people. In Matthew 6:2, 3 (NIV) Jesus said, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, to be honoured by men.... But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” Don’t be like the hypocrites. Be different.

In Matthew 23, Jesus gave seven reasons why his disciples should not be like the religious leaders of their day. Jesus didn’t want his disciples to be like them. He wanted them to be different, more transparent, more honest, more faithful.

Jesus calls us to be different to the point that people notice the difference and wonder why we are different. Perhaps that’s our biggest challenge. When people look at your life, do they see something different from everyone else? Do they see a difference in the way you treat others, especially those who may not be treated very well by others. When they hear you talk, do they hear different language or do they hear the same profanity laced massacre of the Queen’s English that they hear everywhere else? When they see the way you operate, do they see honesty and integrity? In a world where you’re told to look after number one, do they see you putting others ahead of yourself? Do they see a difference?

If we want to lead others to Christ, then we must give them a reason to come. If we look and sound like everyone else, then where’s the draw? There is none. But if we can show people that Christ makes a positive difference in our lives, then we have a much better chance of leading them to Christ.

Having said that, I also need to say this; we don’t convert people. There is not a human being living or dead who has ever converted anyone to Christ. John Wesley didn’t. Robert Schuller didn’t. Chuck Swindoll didn’t. Billy Graham didn’t. It was even true of the greatest evangelist of all time - St. Paul. None of them converted anyone to Christ because that is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit send people to us to hear about Jesus and what he has done in our lives. The best we can do is give them the head knowledge. But is the Spirit who then works on their hearts so that they too can make a decision for Christ.

The Spirit draws people to us so that in turn we can lead them to Christ. That’s what it’s all about. Jesus said as much in the reading from John 7 that Reg read this morning. John 7:38-39 (NIV) says, “‘Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.” It is by that Spirit that God directs us and inspires us. That Spirit still fills us, empowers us and draws others to us so that we can lead them to Christ. It is by that Spirit that God enables us to be the faithful believers we are called to be.