Sunday, May 11, 2008
Preacher: Pastor Gary Johnson
Readings:
Acts 2:1-21
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
John 20:19-23
Audio sermon link: http://fileresource.sitepro.com/filemanager/74/filecollections/422/7219B46F-94B2-F409-F5F4-C9D82E328734.mp3
“All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”
I am going to leave you now, but I will be leaving you the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the Comforter. Why? Well, maybe because He’s like the teaching assistant. The lecture’s over, but the learning is still to take place. And we’re all going to need the help.
Have all of us not done something we wished we hadn’t done, said something we wished we hadn’t said, were in a situation we wished were weren’t in? For all of our sinfulness and rottenness and shortcoming, how does Jesus welcome us? With messages of how far short we’ve fallen? No … but rather with “Peace Be With You”.
The kids, aka the apostles, thought school was out, finals were over. But we’re not being graded (yet) – we’re just beginning. And it’s not just a beginning, it’s a Grand Opening. Pastor Johnson illustrated the moment with images of driving through the streets of Detroit late at night following the search lights arcing through the night sky, driving around trying to locate them. Today, we’ve found the place that’s open! Our hearts and minds can be opened by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Preacher: Pastor Gary Johnson
Readings:
Acts 2:1-21
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
John 20:19-23
Audio sermon link: http://fileresource.sitepro.com/filemanager/74/filecollections/422/7219B46F-94B2-F409-F5F4-C9D82E328734.mp3
“All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”
I am going to leave you now, but I will be leaving you the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the Comforter. Why? Well, maybe because He’s like the teaching assistant. The lecture’s over, but the learning is still to take place. And we’re all going to need the help.
Have all of us not done something we wished we hadn’t done, said something we wished we hadn’t said, were in a situation we wished were weren’t in? For all of our sinfulness and rottenness and shortcoming, how does Jesus welcome us? With messages of how far short we’ve fallen? No … but rather with “Peace Be With You”.
The kids, aka the apostles, thought school was out, finals were over. But we’re not being graded (yet) – we’re just beginning. And it’s not just a beginning, it’s a Grand Opening. Pastor Johnson illustrated the moment with images of driving through the streets of Detroit late at night following the search lights arcing through the night sky, driving around trying to locate them. Today, we’ve found the place that’s open! Our hearts and minds can be opened by the power of the Holy Spirit.
If you’ve ever spoken words you know you didn’t speak, spoke up for someone who couldn’t speak up for themselves, were visited at 2 a.m. in your kitchen by someone who came to comfort you, you have been visited by the Advocate. Who doesn’t want to spread that Word??
Today, all divisions – race, gender, age, ethnicity, denomination, religion, country – all divisions are antithetical. There are no more divisions, only community.
To God, there are no foreign languages. The Word of God is not spoken in English. The Living Word must be spoken in all languages. It is not one that reminds us of who’s out and who’s in, who’s down and who’s up, who’s bad and who’s good. There is, today, no longer East or West, slave or free, man or woman. There is no one part of the body to be judged any less worthy than another. Leave the judgment to God. Judgment will block the entry of the Holy Spirit. Each instrument was created to produce a unique sound, its individual contribution to the orchestra, each as pleasing to God as the other.
We hear today “Are these not Galilleans?” The Galilleans were known for not being smart enough to be erudite in many languages. There was prejudice against them and their accents. And these are the very ones God chooses to spread His Word.
Pastor Johnson pointed out that in their home, everyone contributes uniquely in accordance with their gifts: Hannah bakes, Caleb’s the techno-geek, Professor Scott Page of the University of Michigan recently published his research on the power of diversity in human working groups. His research has shown that a group comprised of a diverse set of people and talents statistically solve problems faster and better than a comparable size group of “the smartest people”. This, he surmises, is because diverse groups bring more and different ways of seeing a problem to the table. Professor Page states:
“Any one of us can get stuck. If we’re in groups where everyone thinks the same way, everyone will get stuck in the same place.”
Garrison Keillor has said it similarly when he said,
“Four wheel drive only allows you to get stuck in more remote places.”
The empirical data shows that more diverse cities are more productive, more diverse boards of directors make better decisions, and the most innovative companies are the most diverse in makeup. Even social science mathematical models developed by economists at the Loyola University in Chicago show that diversity trumps ability, that diverse groups of problem solvers outperformed the groups comprised of individuals deemed the best problem solvers.
We all have different gifts and we’re should be spending our time wisely to use them rather than judging which of ours is most beneficial overall. We are often too quick to tout strength as an asset. Yet the propeller on a boat is spared costly and irreparable damage when a shear pin fails. When the pin fails, the design and the overall mission succeeds! The shear pin’s the Galillean in the design and God sees their value in the grand scheme.
It’s the Grand Opening and the Holy Spirit announces:
There are No More Rules!
You thought it was for one people – but it’s or all peoples.
You thought there was but one language, but there are all languages.
You thought it was just America, but it’s for all countries.
We have work to do, but it’s fun work – to find our common ground. Pastor Johnson shared a warm story about Caleb’s summer job cutting grass at a country club, working with nearly all older Mexican workers. They weren’t the same age or marital status, they spoke different languages, ate different food, had very different names. But they once saw Caleb forget his lunch, and they reached in their lunch pails and shared theirs. For days afterward, when they rose at 3 a.m., they made sure they packed an extra bit for the kid who might, again, forget his lunch – the kid 'whose name we can’t pronounce'. They always made sure there was something extra for Caleb. The one thing they did have in common was knowing what it was like to be a young boy who’s hungry.
We have a lot in common: work, school, suffering, hunger, our aches, our pains, and our dreams. Let’s not exploit our differences or judge each other for them. Let’s instead, exploit our differences for the greater good of all.
We have to work so we can reach out to one another, in each others’ languages and say to one another … “Peace Be With You”.
The empirical data shows that more diverse cities are more productive, more diverse boards of directors make better decisions, and the most innovative companies are the most diverse in makeup. Even social science mathematical models developed by economists at the Loyola University in Chicago show that diversity trumps ability, that diverse groups of problem solvers outperformed the groups comprised of individuals deemed the best problem solvers.
We all have different gifts and we’re should be spending our time wisely to use them rather than judging which of ours is most beneficial overall. We are often too quick to tout strength as an asset. Yet the propeller on a boat is spared costly and irreparable damage when a shear pin fails. When the pin fails, the design and the overall mission succeeds! The shear pin’s the Galillean in the design and God sees their value in the grand scheme.
It’s the Grand Opening and the Holy Spirit announces:
There are No More Rules!
You thought it was for one people – but it’s or all peoples.
You thought there was but one language, but there are all languages.
You thought it was just America, but it’s for all countries.
We have work to do, but it’s fun work – to find our common ground. Pastor Johnson shared a warm story about Caleb’s summer job cutting grass at a country club, working with nearly all older Mexican workers. They weren’t the same age or marital status, they spoke different languages, ate different food, had very different names. But they once saw Caleb forget his lunch, and they reached in their lunch pails and shared theirs. For days afterward, when they rose at 3 a.m., they made sure they packed an extra bit for the kid who might, again, forget his lunch – the kid 'whose name we can’t pronounce'. They always made sure there was something extra for Caleb. The one thing they did have in common was knowing what it was like to be a young boy who’s hungry.
We have a lot in common: work, school, suffering, hunger, our aches, our pains, and our dreams. Let’s not exploit our differences or judge each other for them. Let’s instead, exploit our differences for the greater good of all.
We have to work so we can reach out to one another, in each others’ languages and say to one another … “Peace Be With You”.
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