Dear Friends,
I do hope this finds you well. Thank you for receiving and responding to these weekly messages of hope and hospitality for “lo these many years.”
As you may know, this is my last sermon for a while. I am going on Disability starting Thursday, June 1, which is a profound and generous gift of the congregation. None of us know how short or long this will last; we do know its purpose is for healing from the colon cancer metastasized across my chest and abdomen. I worked full-time throughout 30 chemotherapy treatments over 18 months. So, I’m taking a professional break to focus on rest, health, and family.
Our church staff and eldership are solid and will do a great ministry. First Christian Church of Decatur is my healing community.
I am grateful for you and your prayers; you are in mine. May the blessings and peace of Christ be with you and yours.
Shalom,
James
May 27, 2023
“Gifted With the Power of the Holy Spirit”
Sermon for First Christian Church of Decatur, GA
Pentecost Sunday, May 28, 2023
James L. Brewer-Calvert, Sr. Pastor
Holy Scriptures: Acts 2: 1-6, 14, 17-21, 37-42
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
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 nation 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.
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them.
“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 servants, 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.’
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”
40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Sermon
They say a preacher was having trouble discerning
what to say on Pentecost Sunday.
The preacher decided to wait until stepping into the pulpit,
trusting that the Holy Spirit would provide a message.
On Pentecost Sunday the preacher stepped into the pulpit
and silently prayed for a Word to deliver.
A celestial voice whispered, “Tell the Church you are unprepared!”
A Tale of Two Stories,
which are actually one,
for the stories overlap and are intertwined,
one with the other.
The first may sound like my story,
and the second like your story,
yet we are one in the Spirit, one in the Lord.
Not too long ago, just pre-Covid,
our church hosted a gathering of Disciples clergy
from across the Atlanta and North Georgia area.
Our Pathfinders Room was filled with more theological degrees
than the Vatican.
20 or so pastors shared sandwiches and cookies,
and we updated each other on our lives and ministries.
Regional Minister Denise Bell called us to attention,
and suggested an opening exercise.
Now, I have gotten permission from Dr. Bell to share this with you.
She asked us to pick one of the following
that best describes our call
in our role and responsibilities in our ministerial setting.
Are you a Pastor, Preacher, Priest, or Prophet?
Are you a Pastor, Preacher, Priest, or Prophet?
Select the one that best describes your current call and role.
Well, I took a quick look around the room and saw that of the 20 clergy,
I was in the middle of the circle around the table.
I had a couple minutes before my turn.
As always, I had my trusty legal pad and pen.
Skipping lines between each one, I wrote down…
Pastor
Preacher
Priest
Prophet
Then made quick notes beneath each heading.
As the ministers responded, everyone claimed one title,
saying a couple words why they identify
with either Pastor or Preacher.
No one chose Priest or Prophet.
I offer this without judgement. Just the facts, Ma’am.
Come my turn, Dr. Bell said, “James, how about you?”
“I am all four, Pastor, Preacher, Priest, Prophet.”
“No, no, no, you have to pick just one,” she said.
“With all due respect, I am all four.”
[If you know me well, then you already know I just can’t help myself,
constantly, continually drawing outside the lines.]
I then shared with the esteemed collection of clergy
what I had jotted down on the ever-present legal pad.
As a Pastor,
I shepherd a flock of church members and friends
and folks in the wider community,
here, there and everywhere.
I pastor a significant congregation week in and week out,
serving and being served
as shepherd, guide, spiritual counselor.
And if you haven’t noticed,
Jesus shows up all the time, at any time,
and has yet to make an appointment!
As a Preacher,
I step into the pulpit, look folks in the eyes,
and deliver the Word,
faithfully serving as a channel for the Spirit,
seeking to connect the whole people of God
with the love and grace,
the teachings and healing power
of Jesus the Christ.
There are no extensions.
No excuses for being unprepared.
No yard signs that say,
Our-preacher-isn’t-ready-so-come-back-next-week.
A congregation will forgive a preacher once for being tired in the pulpit,
but won’t indulge a steady diet of a tired preacher.
Therefore, as Preacher
I invest many hours in prayer, Bible study and careful word-crafting
to be fully ready for weddings, funeral eulogies,
and Sunday morning gatherings in this sacred and safe space.
Ideally, hopefully there is a synergy between the preacher and the people,
and that is where the magic happens.
When this happens,
we get out the way and let the Spirit do its thing!
As a Priest,
I love to craft liturgies and plan worship services,
weaving together the Bible, the wisdom of theologians,
and offerings from modern poets and prophets,
involving in each service of grace
many voices and experiences and dreams,
seeking to connect with as many generations
and walks of life as possible.
I find this priestly duty
fun and meaningful and relevant.
Good liturgy has the power to redeem and save,
to heal and help.
Incorporating, weaving, melding music and prayer and spoken word
leads us to a place of Kairos,
where time stops and we discover that we are in a sacred zone.
We crave this holy experience, and there’s nothing like it anywhere else.
As a Prophet,
I stand on the Watchtower and proclaim what I see,
whether a warning of danger
or a sign of hope
or an affirmation to continue to fight the good fight.
I read recently that most ministers start out full of vim and vigor,
eager to be a prophetic voice for truth and justice.
However, once they become pastors to local congregations,
they fall in love with their people, which is a positive,
and – not wanting to hurt the feelings of people they love –
they release their inner drive to be prophetic.
Allow me to say
that it is because I love my people in the church and city
that I am a prophet,
continually keeping aglow this holy spark.
It is because I love you and love God’s Church,
that I share a divine vision, an unrelenting will and a holy spark
for what it requires for us
to build together the Beloved Community.
Our salvation is linked, one to another.
A soul arrived in heaven and God opened wide the gates.
Then God looked around and asked,
“Where is everyone else?
Where are those you were called to care for, to bring with you?”
You see, we are linked, tied, bonded together
by a covenant of love in heaven and on earth.
The prophet in me bears witness to the Truth that
to create the Beloved Community
means we first must acknowledge and confront and deal with
our personal prejudices
and systemic racism, sexism,
antisemitism, homophobia and transphobia.
Rozella Haydée White said:
“I’ve been participating in an online conference this week
called The Wellness of We.
“One of the presenters said,
‘I am not interested in allies.
I have erased this word from my vocabulary.
I am interested in folks who understand
that our liberation is interconnected.” [Anasa Troutman]
“When I heard these words, my spirit leapt and I was instantly reminded of a quote that is credited to Lilla Watson, an Aboriginal activist from Australia:
“If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time.
But if you have come
because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
[Aboriginal Activist Groups, Queensland, 1970s.]
Our liberation, our salvation, our sacred deliverance are interconnected.
We are called to practice a Social Gospel,
through which we unearth the faith and strength and love
to right the world’s wrongs,
to witness human suffering,
to reset our priorities.
It is Jesus Christ and the Prophets who call us
to identify income inequality and corporate greed
and unspeakable violence as sin, as abhorrent,
as an afront to God and anything good and just,
while at the same time
to see ourselves
as a people who have been given the Holy Spirit
to make a difference, together.
And that is why I am all four!”
A Tale of Two Stories,
which are actually one,
for the stories overlap and are intertwined,
one with the other.
The first may sound like my story,
and the second like your story,
yet we are one in the Spirit, one in the Lord.
Our liberation and salvation and deliverance are interconnected.
Your story is one of prayer, passion, purpose.
The power of the Holy Spirit dances atop your body and soul,
blessing you with the gifts of the Spirit.
Here the Bible enlightens us,
informing and inspiring us
with the variety and vastness
of the gifts of the Spirit,
gifts that undergird our stories and songs.
“Now there are varieties of gifts,
but the same Spirit;
and there are varieties of service,
but the same Lord;
and there are varieties of activities,
but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit
for the common good.” (1 Cor. 12)
“Having gifts that differ
according to the grace given to us,
let us use them:
if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
if service, in our serving;
the one who teaches, in his teaching;
the one who exhorts, in her exhortation;
the one who contributes, in generosity;
the one who leads,with zeal;
the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”
(Romans 12:6-8)
“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…”
(Galatians 5: 22-23a)
Which one or two or three or four are you?
Which gifts of the Spirit are you most aware of, proud of, frightened of?
and which are just now starting to bud and come into fruition?
When you and I allow the gifts of the Holy Spirit to come to fruition,
to embolden us, to sustain our life story, to sing and preach and teach,
it is absolutely amazing
how far and wide the ripples of grace reach.
A little boy was admitted to the hospital to have his tonsils removed.
He was so nervous and frightened
that the operating doctor advised the child’s parents
to not come hear him until afterward.
When they approached him after the operation,
they expected to find him upset and distressed.
To their amazement he was sitting up in bed,
eager and excited to tell them what had happened.
As they walked in the room he blurted out,
“God was there! I saw God, and God talked to me!”
His mother said, “Well, of course God was there, darling.
But you did not see God, and God did not speak to you.”
“God sure did!” insisted the boy.
His father asked, “Well, what did God look like?”
“God was all dressed in green and I could only see God’s eyes.
God had a green dress and a green cap
and a green mouth covering.”
“I see,” said his father, “and how did you know that this was God?”
At this point the child sat up even taller in the bed.
“Well, you see, Daddy, there were these three angels all around me
dressed in white,
and two of them were girl angels and one was a man angel.
The man angel asked me to open my mouth.
He looked in and whatever he saw he called to the one in green,
and he said, ‘O God, come and look at these tonsils.’
So, God came and looked in and said to me,
‘Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.’
So, I wasn’t a bit afraid because God was doing the job.”
God is on the case, at work in and through God’s servants!
Do not be afraid of the flames that dance above your head!
Or of the spark that is aglow in your soul!
Or the passion that drives us ever forward, ever onward
to help, to heal, to make a difference, together!
Rest assured that the gifts of the Holy Spirit
are yours and mine and ours, together.
God is on the job,
the Holy Spirit is present,
and the Christ in you is all in.
All power be to the Creator, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!