Pentecost

           Sunday in the liturgical calendar of the church year is Pentecost Sunday. The feast of Pentecost is a holy day in the church that commemorates and celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit onto the apostles of the church after Jesus’ ascension. The church is to be decorated in festive reds, oranges and yellows to symbolize the tongues of fire that were over the apostles’ heads during the Pentecost experience. During this experience, which can be found in Acts, the apostles started speaking in different tongues.

            Some of the tongues that were spoken were from regions such as the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs. I bring this to your attention to point out the diversity of faith, which goes beyond just the Jewish community of the day. The grace of God was extended to everyone in attendance and beyond.

            All the way in Boone I have heard stories of the Klu Klux Klan meeting that will occur in Northern Iredell County tomorrow (Saturday). I would encourage each of you to be in prayer for members of this organization, that God might be at work in their lives, changing, restoring and transforming the broken nature of racism that we see.

            I have been an advocate throughout my column’s articles on an inclusion of love and an exclusion of hate, but it seems that some residents of the great county of Iredell feel that hate is more important than love. How do we respond? How do we fight the evil powers of this world?

            We stand, together. Beyond the lines of denominationalism, nationality, race, gender, and clan, we give a resounding yes to the world’s no. Where the world says we can’t, we say we can with the power of the Holy Spirit that was present those many millennia ago.

            Tomorrow (Saturday) I will be praying for the people who will participate in the cross-burning, I will pray that the same grace that transformed us to transform them, so that one day the transformation in all our lives will be complete. I look to a wonderful man by the name of Martin Luther King Jr.  who said so eloquently, “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” People of faith that is what Pentecost is about.

            Pentecost is about the life-changing act of the individual becoming the communal; it is about grapes and wheat becoming the bread and wine that grace our table. Pentecost is the resounding grace that conquers the bonds and chains of racism. Pentecost is the speaking in tongues that changed the course of those apostles’ lives, and ever more presently changes our lives as well. In that we can say, “Thanks be to God”

The Nature of God

             I recently saw the blockbuster hit, The Avengers. It was an incredible take on the superhero cohort of greats such as Captain America, Iron Man, and the Incredible Hulk. In the movie, Captain America is having a conversation about the demi-god Thor, and he exclaims, “there’s only one God, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.” It got me thinking, what in the world might God wear?

            The idea of what might God wear on the surface may seem like a simplistic question that isn’t theological in anyway, but deep down below the surface the question asks what we believe is the nature of God. Who do we believe God is? What do we think the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of the world might look like? The idea of God is seen in people, places and things we have experienced. The very existence of God is proven to us through those situations we live out.

            But let me warn you, it is dangerous for us to picture God exactly like us, believing everything we believe and subscribing to everything we feel is the right way. The God who calls us to live for God is also the God who challenges us to live according to the Gospel. This Gospel we are called to live out is one that challenges us as well. For instance it would be wrong for us to picture God a certain nationality, race or even gender. God is bigger than all of that and we are called to live out a life that is full of that God.

            The God of all grace who establishes us and strengthens us is far more concerned with the love that abides through Christ, than God is about making God like us. If we’re more concerned with what God might wear, then we definitely are not part of what God is calling us to be. If we’re more concerned with what God might look like, then we’ve forgot the mission of the church.

            I’ve always found it fascinating to see the pictures of Jesus in churches I preach at. Jesus is simply and directly a white man, who looks American, and is clean cut even with his long hair. Jesus certainly doesn’t fit into the stereotypes we would want him to fit in, because Jesus was never part of the status quo.

            So this week, consider the nature of God, but always remember that God doesn’t fit into our box. God is amazingly better than any box we have. It is in that hope that we can say, “Thanks be to God.”

Love Will Conquer Amendment 1

                 In the circles in which I associate myself with, there is a lot of talk about love, what it means to love, and who is called to love each other. All of this seems to be in light of the recent passing of Amendment 1. Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets have been used in a way to communicate happiness or frustration over the passage of the amendment.

            While I have elected not to weigh in on the amendment itself, it does call into question the reality of our calling to be a people of faith amidst a politically charged world. More importantly, what does it mean to love in a world bent on hatred of the other political party or ideology.

            The important thing to remember as a person of faith who is involved in a political world is to never legislate our faith-charged beliefs upon others. Just because our train of thought might be the majority or the minority, we should never try to create rules and regulations that create an air of hatred, intolerance or an unwillingness to work side by side with each other.

            Even more imperative for us is to remember that we are all called to be a people of love. 1 John gives the perfect example of this, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.”

            This week as you hear arguments for/against the amendment, as to why it was the best or worse thing that happened to North Carolina, remember that God calls us to love. We are to love beyond measure, with a grace-filled love. Next time you need encouragement because the politics of the day didn’t go the way you wanted to, turn to 1 John 4 and remember that we are called to love, love and then love some more. We are called to love beyond politics, and in that we can say, “Thanks be to God.”