SERMON preached on the Day of Pentecost (June 4, 2006) by Ted Berktold
Propers: Acts 2: 1-11; Ps. 104:25-32; I Cor. 12: 4-13; John 20: 19-23
Growing up a devout Roman Catholic, the story of the first Pentecost was as important to me as the Christmas story, or the events of Holy Week and Easter. I had little interest in knowing more about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the speaking in tongues and healing and miracles and prophesy. I related to the disciples who were with Jesus in the room, who received the Holy Spirit as a tongue of fire. I was taught that they were the first bishops of the Church, and that a bishop wore a miter, a red pointy hat, as a symbol of the Holy Spirit’s fire on them. The fullness of the Spirit’s presence and power was, I believed, embodied in the bishops of the Church. I still believe that a bishop is less a commanding officer, less an authority figure, than a symbol of the entire church. From that first Pentecost on, the Church was too large, too dispersed to assemble in one place ever again until we are gathered together in the Kingdom of Heaven. Until that time, in our tradition bishops represent all believers gathered together in one place, with one mind, filled with one Holy Spirit. When Christians are confirmed or ordained, they come before a bishop as a way of proclaiming their commitment before the whole Church.
When disagreements arose in the Roman Catholic Church, the bishops always stuck together. Individual Roman Catholics and even whole nations like England and Germany might leave the Church, but the bishops stuck together. I grew up on a farm surrounded by non-Catholics, our word for all other Christians, and I felt sorry for them since they had no legitimate bishops, in my view, because they didn’t have a direct connection to that first Pentecost. They quoted scripture to justify their way of being Christ’s authentic followers, but I didn’t believe their interpretation of the bible. The historic episcopacy of the Episcopal Church was a necessary ingredient for me to make the switch. Apostolic Succession might not matter to some people, but it mattered to me. I needed a church with a historic link back to that room full of disciples who were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Today’s gospel was addressed to Jesus’ inner circle of close friends in that room. Everyone should feed the hungry and care for the poor and comfort those who mourn or are in prison. But those in the inner circle are to love one another the way God loves us. Jesus gives them his peace and the power to forgive sins. Those in the inner circle are to live the good news, not just hear about it. Many Episcopalians look to bishops as that inner circle in our day. When Bishop Itty came to St. Mary’s several weeks ago, it was a special time for our parish. Bishop Thornton touches us both because of who he is as a person, and what he represents as a retired bishop.
Today Anglican bishops come from many nations and speak many languages, as you can clearly see in a photo of the bishops gathered at the last Lambeth Conference. But all is not well among the inner circle these days. They threaten to not gather together in one place like they did on that first Pentecost. Many from developing countries hold a literalist view of scripture, having been nurtured by evangelical missionaries. Some American bishops agree with them, and feel more at home among Baptists or Roman Catholics than fellow Anglicans. Like me, many Episcopalians come from other denominations. Anglicans emerging from colonial control of past ages are finally able to express their own perspective freely, and they sometimes do so with resentment.
This division of culture and economics and theology is not new. Using scripture to justify practices that would meet with disapproval even among Promise Keepers, Christian women in many countries live like African slave women once lived here. When the Episcopal Church ordained women, some members left. The Anglican Communion was strained. But the bishops stuck together, even if some provinces of our Church ordain women, and others do not. What did NOT happen thirty years ago when we ordained women was disunity among the bishops. What did NOT happen in the Church of England when an Anglo Catholic “high” church emerged along with the Evangelical “low” church in the nineteenth century was disunity among the bishops. The inner circle stuck together, despite their differences.
The bishops of our Communion are doing something totally new when they refuse to meet with one another. While some point to the Episcopal Church’s consecration of Gene Robinson and homosexuality as the source of division, it seems certain they would have had a similar situation years ago had the bishops been as culturally diverse and regionally empowered as they are today. What is new today is that those who wear the tongues of the Holy Spirit as a hat upon their heads appear not to wear it as God’s gift within their hearts. Jesus’ words, “Peace be with you,” appear to have fallen on deaf ears. For a Church which places such stock in bishops, that is a problem. Thousands of laity and clergy leaving the Church does not have the impact of two dozen bishops on the outside. If there was ever a time for us to pray for our diocesan bishop Johncy, our good friend bishop John, and all the bishops of the Church, it is this Pentecost and during General Convention this summer. Pray that they will find unity in their diversity, as they always have in the past. Pray for them.
“Your problem is you just want to be liked,” someone said to me recently, as I was trying to be open to both sides of controversy facing our church. I do want to be liked, but that’s not my entire agenda. I want us to stay together here in this parish. I want us to respect one another. I want us to act with righteousness and justice for all people, especially those we have marginalized without cause. I want us to love one another the way God loves us, with a sacrificial love. I want every person who comes to this parish to feel welcome and safe. I want our bishops to hold the Episcopal Church together and to strengthen the Anglican Communion with their combined wisdom and faith. I want each one of us to feel that we are in Christ’s inner circle. I want the fire of God’s Spirit to burn within each one of us, that we may “open the way of eternal life to every race and nation” as the Collect says, “that the gift of the Holy Spirit may reach to the ends of the earth.” That’s what I hope for and work for. That’s what I want this Pentecost.
Let us pray:
May the Spirit’s fire be in our thoughts, making them true, good and just. May it protect us from evil. May the Spirit’s fire be in our eyes. May it open our eyes to what is good in life and protect us from what is not rightfully ours. May the Spirit’s fire be on our lips, so that we may speak the truth in kindness. May the Spirit’s fire be in our ears that we may hear with a deep, deep listening
and be protected from gossip and from other things that harm and break down our family. May the Spirit’s fire be in our arms and hands so that we may be of service and build up love. May the Spirit’s fire be in our whole being; in our legs and feet, enabling us to walk the earth with respect and care and keep us steadfast on the path toward truth and justice. May it be so. Amen.