Difference between revisions of "Sermon for October 27th, 2024"
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The pastor of a local congregation had a great idea for a new program, so he presented it to his board of elders. The eight wise elders listened without expression as the pastor excitedly laid out his vision. Then they took a vote on the new program… and only the pastor voted for it. The clerk said, "let the minutes reflect that the vote was 1 in favor and 8 against. The motion fails. Pastor, would you please close this meeting with a prayer?" The pastor stood up and earnestly prayed, "God, I know that this vision is from you. Please reveal your will to the elders of this church." Immediately at these words, the roof opened up, a blinding light shone down, and a booming voice from heaven declared "Your pastor has spoken my word! This IS my plan for the church!" Then the light disappeared and the roof closed up. There was an awkward moment of silence, then the clerk said, "Well! That changes things. Let the minutes be amended to show that the vote on was 2 in favor, and 8 against. Motion still fails." | The pastor of a local congregation had a great idea for a new program, so he presented it to his board of elders. The eight wise elders listened without expression as the pastor excitedly laid out his vision. Then they took a vote on the new program… and only the pastor voted for it. The clerk said, "let the minutes reflect that the vote was 1 in favor and 8 against. The motion fails. Pastor, would you please close this meeting with a prayer?" The pastor stood up and earnestly prayed, "God, I know that this vision is from you. Please reveal your will to the elders of this church." Immediately at these words, the roof opened up, a blinding light shone down, and a booming voice from heaven declared "Your pastor has spoken my word! This IS my plan for the church!" Then the light disappeared and the roof closed up. There was an awkward moment of silence, then the clerk said, "Well! That changes things. Let the minutes be amended to show that the vote on was 2 in favor, and 8 against. Motion still fails." | ||
| − | Reforming the church is a difficult task. Sometimes we get so invested in our way of doing things, our way of seeing God, our way of understanding the Bible, that we have a hard time seeing what God is actually doing (or saying) all around us. This has been true in every age, and it’s why being a reformer (in every age) is often a thankless job, met with criticism and persecution long before it meets with success and praise. | + | Reforming the church is a difficult task. Sometimes we get so invested in our way of doing things, our way of seeing God, our way of understanding the Bible, that we have a hard time seeing what God is actually doing (or saying) all around us. This has been true in every age, and it’s why being a reformer (in every age) is often a thankless job, met with criticism and persecution long before it meets with success and praise. When Peter and the disciples begin to speak in other languages in our scripture reading from Acts, it is easier for some in the crowd to imagine that the disciples are just drunk, rather than to actually acknowledge that God is doing something new, something miraculous. |
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| + | It’s much easier for us to see in hindsight what God WAS doing in history, because we can also look back see the ways in which the church grew and prospered as it was reformed. It’s easy to celebrate the reformation in the 16th century that gave birth to Protestant churches like ours, or the Great Awakening in the 18th century, or the Stone-Campbell movement in the 19th century. In the past two weeks, we’ve talked about the reformers who led those movements, but we’ve also seen the ways in which their work deepened and enriched our country, our culture, and our own faith. | ||
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| + | The movement I want to talk about today is much more recent—within the last 50 years, within our own lifetimes and memories—and so in many ways, the jury is still out on this one. History cannot yet say whether this movement has made the church better, stronger…or just more fragmented. And I really like the idea of ending this series on that uncertain, inconclusive note. If you look at your bulletins, just underneath the name of our church, you’ll see that we like to think of ourselves as a church for wanderers, wanderers, and wisdom-seekers. Wandering (through history, through the Bible, through life) often leads to wondering, and wondering is a way of seeking wisdom. But wondering is a two sided coin: Sometimes it means being skeptical (as in, “I wonder if they’re just drunk?”) and sometimes it means allowing ourselves to be filled with awe and wonder (as in, “Wow—that’s a wonderful new thing they’re doing, maybe it’s a God thing!). Both types of wondering can be helpful expressions of faith. And both can sometimes get us in trouble. | ||
| + | |||
| + | So. What is this recent movement in American Spirituality that might be a genuine, God-inspired reformation of the church… or might not be? It’s the Jesus movement of the 1970s and 80s. Sometimes it’s also referred to as the Charismatic movement. It was a movement that gave us (for better or for worse, depending on your perspective) the advent of non-denominational churches, urban megachurches, faith healing, the prosperity gospel, speaking in tongues, contemporary Christian music, Christian radio, television, and bookstores. On the political spectrum, it gave us the evangelical Christian right… but it also gave us the social justice movement on the left. It gave us campus ministry and a little thing called, “the church youth group.” None of these things existed—at least not in the mainstream—before the Jesus movement. | ||
| + | |||
| + | So when did it start and who started it? That’s a little bit more difficult to pinpoint—give it another 50 years and church historians will probably have it all sorted out. But popular traveling evangelists like Billy Graham and Oral Roberts are often pointed to as forerunners of the movement. In the 1950’s and 60’s they filled big tents and bigger stadiums with crowds of mostly young people, and a simple (if familiar) message of “Repent. Say the sinner’s prayer, and give your heart to Jesus.” But they also | ||
| + | |||
| + | Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar | ||
Revision as of 18:54, 26 October 2024
Acts 2:1-21
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every people under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
American Reformations: The Jesus Movement
The pastor of a local congregation had a great idea for a new program, so he presented it to his board of elders. The eight wise elders listened without expression as the pastor excitedly laid out his vision. Then they took a vote on the new program… and only the pastor voted for it. The clerk said, "let the minutes reflect that the vote was 1 in favor and 8 against. The motion fails. Pastor, would you please close this meeting with a prayer?" The pastor stood up and earnestly prayed, "God, I know that this vision is from you. Please reveal your will to the elders of this church." Immediately at these words, the roof opened up, a blinding light shone down, and a booming voice from heaven declared "Your pastor has spoken my word! This IS my plan for the church!" Then the light disappeared and the roof closed up. There was an awkward moment of silence, then the clerk said, "Well! That changes things. Let the minutes be amended to show that the vote on was 2 in favor, and 8 against. Motion still fails."
Reforming the church is a difficult task. Sometimes we get so invested in our way of doing things, our way of seeing God, our way of understanding the Bible, that we have a hard time seeing what God is actually doing (or saying) all around us. This has been true in every age, and it’s why being a reformer (in every age) is often a thankless job, met with criticism and persecution long before it meets with success and praise. When Peter and the disciples begin to speak in other languages in our scripture reading from Acts, it is easier for some in the crowd to imagine that the disciples are just drunk, rather than to actually acknowledge that God is doing something new, something miraculous.
It’s much easier for us to see in hindsight what God WAS doing in history, because we can also look back see the ways in which the church grew and prospered as it was reformed. It’s easy to celebrate the reformation in the 16th century that gave birth to Protestant churches like ours, or the Great Awakening in the 18th century, or the Stone-Campbell movement in the 19th century. In the past two weeks, we’ve talked about the reformers who led those movements, but we’ve also seen the ways in which their work deepened and enriched our country, our culture, and our own faith.
The movement I want to talk about today is much more recent—within the last 50 years, within our own lifetimes and memories—and so in many ways, the jury is still out on this one. History cannot yet say whether this movement has made the church better, stronger…or just more fragmented. And I really like the idea of ending this series on that uncertain, inconclusive note. If you look at your bulletins, just underneath the name of our church, you’ll see that we like to think of ourselves as a church for wanderers, wanderers, and wisdom-seekers. Wandering (through history, through the Bible, through life) often leads to wondering, and wondering is a way of seeking wisdom. But wondering is a two sided coin: Sometimes it means being skeptical (as in, “I wonder if they’re just drunk?”) and sometimes it means allowing ourselves to be filled with awe and wonder (as in, “Wow—that’s a wonderful new thing they’re doing, maybe it’s a God thing!). Both types of wondering can be helpful expressions of faith. And both can sometimes get us in trouble.
So. What is this recent movement in American Spirituality that might be a genuine, God-inspired reformation of the church… or might not be? It’s the Jesus movement of the 1970s and 80s. Sometimes it’s also referred to as the Charismatic movement. It was a movement that gave us (for better or for worse, depending on your perspective) the advent of non-denominational churches, urban megachurches, faith healing, the prosperity gospel, speaking in tongues, contemporary Christian music, Christian radio, television, and bookstores. On the political spectrum, it gave us the evangelical Christian right… but it also gave us the social justice movement on the left. It gave us campus ministry and a little thing called, “the church youth group.” None of these things existed—at least not in the mainstream—before the Jesus movement.
So when did it start and who started it? That’s a little bit more difficult to pinpoint—give it another 50 years and church historians will probably have it all sorted out. But popular traveling evangelists like Billy Graham and Oral Roberts are often pointed to as forerunners of the movement. In the 1950’s and 60’s they filled big tents and bigger stadiums with crowds of mostly young people, and a simple (if familiar) message of “Repent. Say the sinner’s prayer, and give your heart to Jesus.” But they also
Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar
