Sermon for October 27th, 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 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.
In fact, 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. Because in the past two weeks, we’ve talked about the reformers who led those movements, and 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.
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, wonderers, 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 open to the awe and wonder in front of us (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 actually 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. It gave us the musicals "Godspell" and "Jesus Christ Superstar." 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, Bill Bright, and Oral Roberts are often pointed to as forerunners of the movement. In the 1950’s and 60’s they filled big tents and even 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.”
Oral Roberts in particular emphasized the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian believer. He taught that if you were filled with the Holy Spirit, the evidence would be your ability to miraculously speak in other languages, or perform miraculous healings, just like the followers of Jesus did in the Book of Acts. This wasn't exactly a new thing--the Pentecostal movement had been around for several decades, but Roberts brought it from the fringes into the mainstream. He also taught that if you gave money to God, God would in turn bless you financially; and that if you wanted something, to claim it in prayer and God would provide it. This was the basis for what is often called the prosperity gospel. If you've ever watched or listened to Joel Osteen (Lakewood Church in Houston) or visited Abundant Living Faith Church here in El Paso, you have probably heard this message.
Now, before you're tempted to judge, remember that Jesus tells his disciples Mark 11:24 that "whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." And God, in Malachi 3:10 says to "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing." Basically, these ideas--while they have their critics--are not without scriptural support.
In Southern California in the 1970's, Chuck Smith was the pastor of a very small, very traditional church, of about 25 members. That changed when he started reaching out to "hippies" young people who were part of the 1970s counterculture and drug scene. When they started to embrace Christianity, Smith asked them to change their moral behavior--but not their style of music, clothing, or language. As his church grew, he became a champion for casual dress in church, for simple bible-based sermons that avoided complicated theology or doctrine, and perhaps most notably, Christian music that featured guitars and drums, and sounded like what people listened to on the radio.
Chuck Smith's church, Calvary Chapel, became the mother church of the Jesus movement, and to Calvary chapels across the country. Smith started the very first Contemporary Christian music recording label, and all his churches had special weekly meetings with Bible study and games just for teenagers--the birth of the "youth group." There's actually a movie that came out last year that tells the story--with Kelsey Grammar playing Chuck Smith--called Jesus Revolution. Full disclosure, I haven't watched it, but I'm familiar with the story.
Also in the interest of full disclosure, there are some things you might find it interesting to know about your pastor: I'm the product of one of those church youth groups: St. Mark's Methodist Church in the upper valley, where my youth directors--Janice and Bernie Page--led me in the sinner's prayer and convinced me to give my heart to Jesus. I also grew up listening to contemporary Christian music--Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Petra, and my absolute favorite... the first Christian Metal Band: Stryper (who in a freakish coincidence is playing here at the Plaza Theater this Thursday night, just in case anyone wants to buy their pastor tickets!).
And in 1993, when I graduated from Coronado High School, I moved to Tulsa Oklahoma, where I did my undergraduate degree at...(drum roll please) Oral Roberts University. In fact, Oral Roberts himself handed me my diploma when I graduated, and also a signed copy of his autobiography (which I still haven't read).
And fifteen years after that, when I finally returned to El Paso to become the pastor of this very (at the time) traditional Presbyterian Church, I introduced contemporary Christian music to its worship services. Worse yet, I wore blue jeans in the pulpit. Worse YET, most Sundays I didn't even preach from the pulpit at all, and in my sermons I would often tell jokes! Really bad ones, even!
So as you can see, the Jesus movement, the Charismatic movement, has had a pretty significant influence on my own faith journey, and the way I pastor this church.
But also (again) in the interest of full disclosure, it's more complicated than that. The main reason I went to youth group as a teenager wasn't Jesus--it's because there were girls there. And while I loved contemporary Christian music, I probably loved the old hymns in the church hymnal even more. I often tell people that while I went to Oral Roberts University, I didn't drink the kool-aid. I didn't speak in tongues, I was never "slain in the spirit," and on Sunday mornings while most of my friends attended the big Tulsa mega-churches... you would find me singing in the choir with little old ladies at the small United Methodist church down the road. When I became a Presbyterian, I made it a point to go to the oldest and stuffiest Presbyterian seminary in the country, where I discovered my favorite theologian--John Calvin, the oldest and stuffiest of all Reformed theologians.
As a Pastor, you will likely never hear me preach the prosperity gospel (though I have nothing against those who do). In fact, I like to spend a lot of time preaching about suffering and sorrow in the Book of Job--you know, the book where God takes everything away from his faithful servant. It's the anti-prosperity gospel.
The two songs we sang this morning at the beginning of worship were contemporary (guitars, drums, piano and a praise chorus) but they were contemporary arrangements of... very traditional hymns (and we threw in some timpani and handbells for good measure).
And while I do usually wear blue jeans to worship, one Sunday a year I always wear a kilt--which is not reaching forward to something new, but rather reaching back to something old. To a history and a heritage that is equally influential in my faith journey and the way I pastor this church.
In Matthew 13, Jesus says that his followers should be like "the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." What is new AND what is old. For me, this is where the crux of true reformation lies. We are not re-inventing. We are re-forming what has already been formed. We don't change for the sake of change, or just to follow the latest trend or fad that comes our way. But neither do we cover our ears and eyes to the world around us, sticking our head in the sand because we don't want to change.
Our Presbyterian motto is Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda--the church reformed and always being reformed. That's reaching forward into the future, embracing the changes that come. But there's a second half to that motto: Secundum verbum Dei--according to the Word of God. That's reaching back into the past, to our ancient scriptures, to a heritage that teaches us and guides us and propels us forward.
People of First Presbyterian Church: May God grant you the courage and the creativity to change the world; May God grant you the steadfast will to preserve what must not be changed; And May God grant you wisdom to know which is called for... at every fork in the road; through rain and fire, through rise and fall; in every reformation.
