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Acts 2:1-21, Romans 8: 14-17, John 14:8-17, 25-27
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, West Valley City, UT
The Rev'd W. Lee Shaw
"Come Holy Spirit, our souls inspire, and lighten with celestial fire."
What a way to begin Pentecost: with the election of the 11th Bishop of Utah, Scott Hayashi. As with all elections, not everyone is necessarily pleased and others are extraordinarily happy. But this is not an ordinary election even though we have elected the "Ordinary" of the diocese. We believe that in the councils of the church the Holy Spirit is present to guide and direct us. We may or may not choose to listen to her promptings, but she is present for us.
At our convention at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark I did feel the presence of the Holy Spirit among us. Bishop Carolyn gave one of her best sermons and most heartfelt. The delegates from around the diocese were prayerful, serious and most of them were wearing red. As we waited our turn to vote I sat in my pew with the St. Stephen's delegation and prayed for our diocese to elect the right person for this position at this time. This was my third Episcopal election convention and it was the most formal and yet very spiritually attuned.
There were many feelings expressed last week in our town hall meeting about the nominees. We all had our so-called favorite nominee. Now we have a bishop elect. I will support Scott fully as my bishop and my pastor. I hope that we will have a visitation by our new bishop in December of this year. At least that is what I have requested of the diocese. (No matter who was elected I wanted to get them here early before they really knew what they were doing!)
The wonderful thing about today, Pentecost Sunday, is that it is not about bishops, priests or deacons. It is about the Holy Spirit and it is about the church being gifted with the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is about you.
It is about you and your faith life in the Spirit, in the church. Pentecost is not about speaking in "tongues." Pentecost is about hearing and understanding the Good News of Jesus in the language you can hear. Is that language Spanish, French, or Finnish? Or is it the language of quiet, clear assurance amid the noise of your every day life? Pentecost is not about babbling in various languages. Pentecost is about hearing and understanding the Good News of Jesus Christ, however you can hear it.
Pentecost is about you. Pentecost is about how you respond to the Holy Spirit moving in your life, transforming you, changing you. We call Pentecost the "birthday of the church." It is also our individual birthdays as part of the Church, the Body of Christ, the Household of Faith. And it matters what we do with that understanding. It matters what we do with that acceptance of God moving in our lives. It matters how we respond to the Holy Spirit.
Today you were given a gift of a "holy spirit dove" of origami made by our Sunday School class (Martha Rice!). It is a sign and symbol of what this is about....your life in community, your life in the Body of Christ.
I need you. We need you to be part of the Body of Christ at St. Stephen's. Christianity is not a spectator sport. We are an active, involved, engaged community. I invite you to be active, involved and engaged. In your bulletin is an insert asking about what ministry or ministries you would like to be a part of here. Please, complete that form and put it in the offering plate. Or mail it to me. Or put it in the plate next week. I want to know what you want to share with our community. Your gifts, your talents matter. What do you want to share with St. Stephen's?
Please, look at what you are doing or not doing at St. Stephen's. Fill out the insert. Let me know what you would like to do, feel called to do. And, yes, it will stretch you. The Gospel stretches all of us. It stretched Jesus on the cross. It stretches you and me in our life in community. I would not have it any other way.
Yes, to be engaged in ministry does stretch us and confront us with opportunities. So I leave you with a short poem:
Come to the edge.
No we will fall.
Come to the edge.
No we will fall.
They came to the edge.
He pushed them
And they flew.
Come fly with me in the ministry of Jesus Christ a St. Stephen's.