A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .

one (two) of a kind

Acts 2:1-21, Preached at Congregational Church of Boca Raton, May 11, 2008

One day a little girl is sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly notices that her mother has several strands of white hairs sticking out of her brunette hair. She looks at her mother and asks, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?" Her mother replies, "Well, dear, every time you do something wrong that makes me unhappy, one of my hairs turns white." The little girl thinks about this revelation for a while and then says, "Mommy, how come all of grandma's hairs are white?" It’s a universal truth: Mothers were once daughters too, right?

Our text is about the universal power of God. God is spirit. God is universal. God is invisible. These are telling us the same thing: God’s power is not limited to a certain time, a certain place, or a certain people with their particular language. When the Church was born, it was born a universal, invisible, spiritual Church, not limited to time, place, people or language. Pentecost is the celebration of God establishing the possibility of universal salvation, a new life with God for all people in all times and places. As scripture says, “God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who … does what is right is acceptable to him.” Acts 10:34 Moms are like this Spirit of God. They fill their children with hope, love, inspiration, and send them off to do their best. Mother’s love is universal, powerful, and can’t ultimately be contained by any human-made institutions. Mom’s love is peaceful, very moral, and tries to save us. We can’t imagine a world without moms who love us, just like trying to imagine the world without God who loves us.

Now if that sounds like a lot to put on one person then you will understand the harried mother of three very active boys. She was playing cops and robbers in the backyard after dinner while a neighbor watched them. One of the boys "shot" his mother and yelled, "Bang! You're dead." She slumped to the ground. When she didn't get up right away, the neighbor came over to see if she had been hurt in the fall. The neighbor bent over the overworked mother, who opened one eye and said, "Shhh. Don't give me away. It's the only chance I've had to rest all day." Why do you think God needed the Sabbath? Without a doubt it is moms who fulfill the scripture, “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Because of mom’s love we are bolstered and fortified for life’s journey. The undeniable and invisible strength of a mother’s caring is what carries us from womb to tomb, one human life after another after another. We should give thanks to God for the love of moms.

What we want to see this morning is that while we couldn’t make it without mom, I don’t think God could either.

A little boy had it right. He was told by his mother that it was God who made people good, but he said, "Yes, I know it is God, but mothers help a lot." Sometimes it is not mom per se, but a stepmom or an adoptive mom or a grandma, someone who steps in and who becomes mom, if mom is missing. Some of you may be familiar with the singing group, Sweet Honey in the Rock. They have a song titled, "No Mirrors in My Nana's House." One of the singers explained how this song was created. One of her friends was telling her about growing up in a very poor neighborhood. She grew up in her grandmother's house and she said, "You know, in my Nana's house there were no mirrors." Her friend asked her, "Well, how did you know what you looked like?"  "Well," she said, "my Nana told me. Every morning I would get up and get dressed and comb my hair, and then I would go to Nana and I would say, 'How do I look?' And she would tell me. She would tell me I was beautiful. She said my skin was smooth and golden brown, kissed by the sun, and she said my eyes shone like silver moonbeams. In my Nana's house, there were no mirrors, so I saw myself through my Nana's eyes who loved me and the beauty of everything was in her eyes." Wow! What a wonderful gift to give to a child. Moms give birth physically to their child just once, but the spiritual birth can happen at any time, again and again. Don’t neglect God’s gift of birthing your children, spiritually as much and even more so than physically. Help your child opt for what is truly best for her or him. Fill their heart and head with the good dreams that God desires for them. Be strong enough to steer them in the Lord’s steps. Teach your child what really matters and who really matters. If parents don’t do this, then nobody will.

In our Acts reading, it is the dawn of the day of Pentecost and the Jesus’ followers are gathered to wait and pray. The new day begins with an eruption of sounds from heaven and of wind. The same wind which on the very first morning of all mornings swept across dark waters, the wind of creation, now sweeps across the band of disciples. What was first heard is next seen—tongues like fire alight upon each man. John the Baptist prophesized that Christ “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Luke, the author of Acts, expands these tongues of fire into tongues of speaking “about God’s deeds of power,” which means that the Church’s first spiritual gift was the gift of speaking about who God is in Jesus Christ, and it is the Holy Spirit that makes this possible. As Paul said, “Nobody who is speaking by the Holy Spirit can say Jesus be cursed, and nobody who has not the Spirit within can say Jesus is the Christ.”

The primary mission of the Church was, is, and must always be, to proclaim as Christ, Jesus of Nazareth. No matter the day, without regard to the place, in spite of unfavorable conditions or circumstances, and among the vast variety of cultures, languages, and human aspirations, Jesus Christ is still Messiah, God’s anointed, the Lamb of God, the true light, the bread of life, and the Prince of Peace. It is by speaking of Christ that we show Christ, and in showing Christ we reveal God, and in revealing God we open hearts to the work of the Holy Spirit, and by opening people to the Holy Spirit, the Church is born again and again and the love of Church comes alive. It is the one who believes in Christ and who speaks of Christ who gives birth to the Church and to the love of Christ, one person by one person.

God desires a universal Church, not a national or ethnic one, so on the Church’s first day the Holy Spirit directs the disciples to speak to those who surround them but who come from many nations. Of course almost nobody can believe such “crazy” stuff, that these Galileans are able to do such a thing, and they begin to laugh at Jesus’ disciples, sneer at them and deride them, saying they’re just a bunch of drunks. And then what happens next? I love the first two words of verse 14: “But Peter…” But Peter. The outside world is laughing at the Church. God’s Spirit has worked a miracle but the world is rejecting it. Eleven or so people, with only an invisible God on their side, face off against people from every nation, the vast majority who are incredulous and suspicious. Now what? That’s why we should love the word, “But,” because it means, “Nonetheless.” So what if all the cards are stacked against you—Nonetheless. So what if you can’t see where this road is going to take you—Nonethess. So what if you haven’t ever done what is now your task—Nonetheless. What must be said will be said, what must be done will be done. What is God’s will is God’s will, and so Peter stands. The Spirit has awoken in Peter the power of nonetheless. The Spirit has turned the  cowardly one into the courageous one, and so he stands, to defend his friend, Jesus, to proclaim Jesus as Christ, to lift up the life of God in this one who can save them all, and first of all to set the record straight as to the power in his fellow disciples. They aren’t crazy; they have the Spirit of God in them. Thank God someone does!

There is a story from Ghana, West Africa, that tells of three women who very much wanted children. They had tried every means they knew to get pregnant and had no success. As a last resort, they decided to go to a local medicine man, to see if he could help them. When they arrived and explained their problem to the medicine man, he told them that he could help them, but there was what we would call a catch to his medicine, a side effect. He explained that they would each go mad when they gave birth so they needed to think about this decision carefully. The three women thought about what they had been told and then returned to the medicine man. Two of the women decided that, yes, they wanted the medicine. But the third woman said no. If it would make her go mad, she wanted no part of having a baby. So the man gave the medicine to the two women who wanted it and all three women returned to their homes. Sure enough, in due time the two women who took the medicine gave birth to beautiful babies. They waited several months after their infants were born waiting to lose their minds but nothing happened. So they went back to the medicine man and asked, “When are we going to go crazy?” The medicine man asked them if they were not already crazy and they said “no.” Then as they talked, their babies began to fuss. So both women began to sway and bounce to calm the babies. They began making funny noises and strange expressions. The medicine man began to laugh. “Look at you,” he said to the women. “Who is making the music you are dancing to and what are the strange cooings you make, the faces you distort and your smiles without reason. Is this not craziness?” he asked. “And I tell you, they will make you even more crazy with each passing year. You will make fools of yourselves in public and private.” When the third woman heard this story she went back to the medicine man and said she too now wanted to have a baby, but he told her it was too late. Her fear of what others might say about her, her unwillingness to risk the unexpected had prevented her from her deepest‑most desire.

A certain mother always treated her son like her baby, no matter what his age. After turning 30, he purchased a computer and learned to use it. Thinking he'd impress her with his skill and maturity, he sent her a well-written letter, complete with computer graphics, borders and an elaborate typeface. He phoned to ask what she thought of the letter. “It’s lovely, dear,” she replied. “I have it hanging on the refrigerator for all the neighbors to see.”   

The love of God will make us do strange things compared to other people who are missing that love. But there is nothing to be ashamed of because you come from a long line of distinguished fools for Christ. So let the Holy Spirit in. Love the Lord and find the power within to change within. Give the Lord the chance to make a holy mess of your life because it’s not too late to get it right. And find the courage to speak in gratitude for what God has done for you through the power of  his Holy Spirit and the grace of Jesus Christ.  

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