Abundant Witness - Pentecost - May 23, 2021
2 Corinthians 9:6-7 & Mark 12:41-44
Deborah Laforet
Abundant Witness
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by the Spirit and be words of wisdom for our world today. Amen.
If I left this church tomorrow, if something happened that meant I had to take a leave of absence, I truly believe that this congregation would be able do what needed to be done to keep the community functional. I’m not talking about hiring someone else to do the work. I think there is such an abundance of gifts in this congregation, that you could keep worshipping, keep connecting with the community and one another, keep having meetings, and doing the ministry you are called to do. Now, don’t worry; I don’t plan on going anywhere and I’m not trying to talk myself out of a job, but I think you would be amazed at what this community could do. Or maybe not. Maybe you already know this.
On Tuesday, I participated in the “Kitchen Sink Series” where our own Thea Sheridan-Jonah was the guest speaker. There was one point where someone brought up Jesus and how Jesus related to the topic. Thea, basically said, “Well, I’m not a minister, but…” and proceeded to talk about biblical stories that might connect with what she was sharing. As you can guess, she did a great job. Because she is a minister and she has gifts to share with the church and the world, as evidenced by being invited by Affirm United to be a guest.
God calls us all to minister to others and we all given different gifts to do so. Some of us will actually devote lives to being a minister in a church and follow that calling full-time. Some will want to minister to people in a more physical way, so will study to be a nurse or a doctor or someone who works with seniors or children. Still others feel called to teach or be a counsellor or fight for justice or save the earth. These are all ministries. Some will find others ways to minister outside of their job. They may volunteer at churches or others service agencies. They may find ways to minister to people within their employment. They may start a podcast or a blog where they help others or talk about faith. There are so many ways of ministering and serving God. What have I missed? Can you name other ways?
Paul tells us that God will make sure we always have enough and even a surplus for good works. Having enough is not always about physical resources, but about having enough love, compassion, empathy, passion, and kindness, enough for ourselves and our loved ones but also enough for good works, our ministry.
Today, we celebrate Pentecost. At this point in our gospel story, Jesus has died, he has risen, there have been sightings and some visitation stories, but at this point, Jesus has left them. He has ascended back to heaven. Although Christ is always present with us and has never really left, the disciples are definitely feeling like Jesus has moved on and left them to their own devices. They aren’t quite sure what comes next, except for some obscure promise that they don’t understand about an “Advocate” coming to join them soon.
Then, we have the arrival of Pentecost. Pentecost is a holy day in the Jewish faith, a day when people gather to offer the fruits of their harvest and a day when they celebrate the Law or the Torah being given to Moses. Many people, from many different lands, speaking many different languages, were in Jerusalem celebrating Pentecost, bringing their offerings to the Temple. The disciples, we are told, had all gathered together in a room. We aren’t really told whether they were there to celebrate Pentecost or planning their next steps. All we know is this strange story about a rushing wind and tongues of fire, and how people outside this room heard the noise of this wind and then heard the disciples speaking to them in many different languages, unusual, because all of these men were Galilean.
From there, the church is born. The disciples, now apostles, or those who are sent out, began to preach and heal and support widows and orphans, cry out for justice, and some of them will travel and spread the good news of the Risen Christ. They were a group of people with a variety of gifts, sent out to do ministry.
Which is what the church is still doing, hopefully. The Christian church has made many mistakes over its two thousand year history, and we’re still making them. Sometimes abusing power, accumulating and gaining riches, offering judgement and self-righteousness instead of love and compassion, and using self-interest and survival as it’s mission. It’s developed a bad reputation, unfortunately.
But, the church is losing its power in this more secular society, and the church has to learn to back to basics, to the original mission of Jesus and his disciples of love and justice, healing and compassion, grace and generosity. The church, we have to use our God-given gifts to bring this original mission to our neighbours and to the world.
And there are a multitude, an abundance, of these gifts, right here in Oakville and in this community of faith, this community of St. Paul’s. I am so grateful for the many who give so much to the church. I mean this financially, of course. You all have kept us afloat during this pandemic and keep us thriving otherwise with your financial gifts, but I mostly mean the many other gifts you share. Your time when you gather for meetings or lead meetings to plan events, share ideas and concerns, or to discern the direction of the church. Your time when you welcome someone new to the church or sit with someone who is ill or grieving, make phone calls just to keep in touch. Those who check on the church in the evening to make sure everything is locked up and secure, or those who use their skills to fix what is broken, or maintain the lawns, put up banners in the sanctuary to mark liturgical seasons. Those who pay bills, do payroll, and keep our finances in order. Those who sing in our choirs, who read scripture, write prayers, light candles, do announcements and write newsletters. Those who engage in studies or workshops, support church groups, guide the church in a path of justice, in connecting with our community, and in finding ways to lessen our impact on this earth.
I’m sure I could go on and on. This is abundant witness. This is a community that shares its many gifts and its call to be the church, a church of love and justice and compassion. I am honoured to be a part of that and I can’t wait to see where the Spirit, that rushing wind and tongues of fires, takes us next.
Happy birthday to the church. May we celebrate by continuing to do the work that God call us to do. May we celebrate by sharing the gifts we have been given. May we celebrate by following the Spirit towards making this a better world, a heaven on earth. May it be so. Amen.