Sunday, June 8, 2014
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people.
And kindle in us the fire of your love.
Last Sunday, at age
88, Ann B. Davis, the beloved maid “Alice” from The Brady Bunch sitcom quietly passed into the presence of her Lord,
after suffering a fall from which she never recovered.
Ann, of course was
celebrated by her role as Alice. What a lot of people don’t know is that she
was a devout Episcopalian and that for the last thirty five years of her life
she lived in a Christian Community presided by the retired Bishop of Colorado,
William Frey. She attended Church at St Helena’s, near San Antonio, TX, for the
Sunday Eucharist and a mid-week service. She also sang in the Choir.
“The woman millions thought of as “Alice” was far more
than her character on The Brady Bunch. She was the kind of person who would
spend her days hidden in the back of that homeless center quietly doing laundry
or sorting through donated clothes. You should have heard her cackle when she
finally managed to make stray socks match.”[1]
For sure, Ann Davis
will remain well cherished in the memory of the millions and millions that
watched The Brady Bunch or in one way
or other became acquainted with her. However, I’d like to speak about her
Christian witness. In many ways, other than living in a peculiar Christian
Community her life really is nothing to write home. In many ways, we can only
say that she lived a sort of unremarkable life in a remarkable spirit.
On this Pentecost
Sunday we can easily resonate with Ann’s life as a Christian – someone touched
by the loving grace of Christ. For somewhere along her life, Ann realized that
her baptism and the presence of the Lord in her life was more than a passing formality
or one more stamp in the passport of her life, but a truly living presence.
But this is not a
funeral service in memory of Ann. This is Pentecost Sunday. But her life – like
the lives of many Christians, including all of us – bear witness to the reality
of what happened to a bunch of people two thousand years ago… That indeed, it
was not something for them only to enjoy.
God’s presence is
God’s gift and grace to us all, through the ages and until the end of time. The
abiding presence of the Spirit of God in a somewhat appalling group made the
difference. And it is the Spirit abiding in us which will make the difference
in our lives, as well.
A Missionary Spirit. The reality and the message of
Pentecost is really simple – unremarkable people started living in a remarkable
spirit. Being filled and touched by the Spirit does not necessarily mean that
one may walk on water or fire somehow has to dance on people’s heads. It really
means than once the fizz is over – and it certainly, at one point or other it
will be over – the Spirit’s presence and power will continue to be “in us” as Jesus promised, to guide us
into all truth, to teach us all concerning God and, yes, to prompt us to get
out of our shells to proclaim the good news. Indeed, Jesus does not mince words
– “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending
you” (John 20:20). Thus, first and foremost, the Spirit is, if
anything, a Missionary Spirit.
This is what we just
read about what happened in Jerusalem. A prayer meeting – with just a few folks
hunkering down for fear of what it may happen – was transformed into a revival,
with Peter, proclaiming the Good News “urbi
et orbe”, to the city and to the world.
From the very
beginning, the preaching of the Gospel is at the core of being “church.”
Granted, preaching the Gospel may include using words, as St Francis hinted his
disciples, and as Peter and Philip and Stephen and Paul and many more men and
women did and continue doing in the life of the Church.
I believe that in
general, as Episcopalians – and specifically as members of St Paul’s – we’ve
got the “doing” part fairly well. There is no question that there is always
room for improvement. But, yes, we’ve got the doing part.
Where perhaps we
need to focus in is on the “proclaiming”
part of our calling. How can we be more effective in communicating the message
of love and reconciliation? How can we extend the reach of our voice? How can
we all become more comfortable in sharing God’s message of love without being
obnoxious or becoming intolerant? How can we be more confident to share God’s
grace? How can we use technology to spread the word of God beyond the Nave? How
can we tell others without being pushy?
First, and most
certainly, we must refuse and resist any call to establish a committee, to
contract consultants, or placing another burden on the Vestry’s shoulders.
Sharing the good news – if indeed they are good news – is the business of us
all. Some may have especial gifts, but it is to us all, to share what has been
given to us. There is no way out of it.
And, second, prayer.
Archbishop Justin Welby, in his Pentecost Day Message, is calling each one of
us to recommit ourselves to become active witnesses of the grace, love, and
mercy of God, and start doing so by praying. Indeed, he writes, “the essential first step” is prayer. “Prayer has to be our first priority, if
we are to call more people to follow Christ, and to invite others to share in
the story of God’s love for the world.”
And he continues, “The wonderful news is God is always ready
to hear our prayers and to send his Spirit that we may proclaim the good news
afresh. I urge every church community and individual to set aside time to pray
and to share God’s heart for all his people.”[2]
So starting today, I will add a special prayer for evangelism during our
Intercessions, and I will invite you to take it home, and pray it daily.
A Building up Spirit. Finally, the Holy Spirit is a
building up Spirit, an affirming and enriching spirit. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common
good.” (1 Corinthians 12:7). Yes, the Spirit is given to each and all of
us. But it is not a personal entertainment system. The Spirit is given to us
for the common good.
Sometimes people get
it all wrong, as our brothers and sisters in Corinth did, and as many still do
today. The Spirit of God is God! It is not God’s “Holy Play Station” for us to
entertain ourselves. We mustn’t forget the “the
Spirit is the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:17). And I believe that for the most part we
do acknowledge the Spirit’s presence in us as the very presence of our Lord and
Savior in our lives. Again, I believe that in general, as Episcopalians – and
specifically as members of St Paul’s – we’ve got the “do not play” part fairly well. And that there is no question that
there is always room for improvement. But, yes, we’ve got that.
Where perhaps we
need to focus in is on the “doing for the
common good” part of our calling. We understand that God doesn’t want us to
be robots; that He is not bossy, and that He gives us room to use the gifts and
abilities which we have been endowed as we best see fit. Yet, let me suggest
that somehow we tend to slack off! Sometimes we criticize cultures where “mañana” seems to be a preferred word,
but how are we doing?
The Spirit is always
moving us to work for the common good. Not only my Individual and favorite
common good; not only for the common group of the people I find myself more
comfortable with; not only for the common good of our local church; not even only
the common good of our community at large, but the common good of all creation!
Being “green” is not a political goal, but a
Spirit-driven imperative, for there is no larger common good that the world in
which we live in, and in Creation, we were assigned the task to take
responsibility for the world. Working together to eliminate hunger in the
world, in our nation, and in our neighborhood is a Spirit-driven imperative,
for the Lord said, “You feed them”
(Matthew 14:16). Placing our needs, our
views, and even our grudges and pains at the head of the line it is not a
Spirit-driven imperative, for the Lord came to server and not to be served, and
we are no more than our Master.
As we look forward
ahead trying to discern God’s will for St Paul’s, there is a simple test that
we may take individually and as community of faith. Whatever we do, or whatever
we may plan doing in the future – or whatever we may stop doing, does it foster
common good or stumps its development?
Whatever we do –
from being good stewards of time, treasure, talent, and creation to sorting out
clothes to find a matching pair of socks to working hard for reconciliation,
justice, and peace in Palestine or in Fairfax County, to proclaiming the good
news of God in Christ to our friends, co-workers, and beyond our Nave are all
Spirit-driven initiatives for the common good.
The message of
Pentecost is not to spend time in individual and corporate prayer until flames
spark off our hairs or people start walking on water! The message of Pentecost
is quite simple, indeed – Be open to the presence of the Spirit in our
lives so that our unremarkable lives are lived in a remarkable Spirit.
Come Holy Spirit! Fill
the hearts of your faithful people.
And kindle in us the fire of your love.
Amen.
Fr
Gustavo
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