June 8, 2014
Acts 2:1-21
John 7:37-39
When I was in
elementary school we took a class trip to Ellis Island. After a school bus ride
into Manhattan and a trip on the ferry we stood in front of this massive
building that towered over us and sparkled in the sun. We entered into the
great hall and it took my breath away.
See we had spent the
past few weeks learning about immigration and this building. We had a contest
for memorizing the poem on the Statue of Liberty. We read narratives and wrote
our own imaginary ones about the immigrant’s journey. We had written reports
about our personal ancestry and had even interviewed our parents about our
family. But nothing had prepared me for how walking into that place would make
me feel.
It was an afternoon
so the whole island was fairly vacant, and as we walked into the mostly empty
Great Hall I was in awe. The pictures didn’t make this room seem this big, the
people looked so cramped in the photos, and everything sparkled in front of me
but looked dull in the photos. Yet as I continued to walk through the various
rooms with my class I began to feel pride, pride in these people who had risked
so much for a new life, a dream. I started thinking of my great grandfather who
may have walked through some of these same rooms and how grateful I was for
him.
As I’ve reflected on
this trip as I have gotten older I realized how much that experience has shaped
me, molded my need to understand each person’s history, formed my theology.
Now my understanding
of my family’s history has been given to me through food. I grew up in a family
of bakers. My mother is the cookie queen and my grandmother made every birthday
cake for me and my sister from birth to high school. It wasn’t until college
that I learned that most people don’t cream butter by hand for chocolate chip
cookies. But in learning techniques and skills for baking I also got to talk to
my mother and learn about her childhood, her parents, her family and my
history. These unplanned moments were the best moments and they are something I
will treasure my entire life.
Yet my story is not
different from any of you here, we all come to this place with our personal
history and our emotional baggage for a similar reason, faith. Diversity is
something the Methodist church has embraced throughout it history and its
something our church here at Park Ave encompasses and its something we even see
in the early church’s beginnings. Diversity is key to our makeup and the makeup
of the church.
In our Acts passage
we are told a story, a story of the disciples being touched by the Holy Spirit.
And while that is an important part of the narrative I want to talk more about
what happened after they had been touched. Each disciple began to speak in
another language. The miracle is that NONE of them spoke anything besides
Aramaic yet here they were not just talking but prophesying to others.
I believe that each
disciple was sharing their personal testimony with those around them. We do not
know what is said! As long as this passage is there is no specific wording
until Peter addresses the crowd. I believe Simon-Peter talked about being taken
from being a fishermen on his fathers boat to a fisher of men, I believe James
talked about leaving his fathers house to go out on his own, Matthew talked
about how he cheated others as tax collector and how he has now been forgiven.
Each disciple shared their journey, their uncertainty, their fear, and the
people heard “in our own languages we hear them speaking about Gods deeds of
power.” What are the deeds that God has put in our life??
What things can we
share that make up our faith? I would share about Ms. Carolyn who encouraged
the children growing up to sing loud & proud, even if it was off-key, about
Ms. Sophine who always had a word of encouragement, Mr. Bill who was always
willing to get messy with the kids; people who have encouraged my love for God
and my desire to me in ministry.
So I ask each of you,
what are our testimonies? How do we
understand the gifts we have been given by God? How do we share the Holy Spirit
working in our lives with others???
In our John passage
Jesus talks about rivers of living water. I believe that we are each touched by
the Holy Spirit just like the disciples and moved to share our stories and our
belief; to be rivers of living water. We have been poured into by our friends,
our families, our friends, our mentors, and we are called to fill others around
us.
Why I am a Christian
is not why you are, what I believe is not identical to your belief. And that’s
ok! When we embark on this faith journey we are continually learning from
ourselves and others and we are called to fill others with the knowledge we
have.
God promises to use
us all. God promises that we all have a purpose as followers of the Most High.
“Your young men shall see visions and
your old men shall dream dreams”[1].
Let us be a people set on fire with the spirit of God to pour into others.
As our hymn says,
everything we do should glorify God! “Let
every instrument be tuned for praise! Let all rejoice who have a voice to
raise! And may God give us faith to sing always Alleluia!”[2]
