Spirited Change

Genesis 1:1-5; Acts 19:1-7; Mark 1:4-11

God’s Holy Spirit is an important presence in our readings this morning. The opening lines of Genesis start with God creating the heavens and the earth. The wind/breath/spirit of God blows/breathes/moves over the water.

The book of Acts is often labeled the Acts of the Apostles. It could more appropriately be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Paul asks the believers in Ephesus if they had been baptized. Yes, they said, with John’s baptism. So, they had repented, they had been immersed into some water, and had begun a new repentant life.

But they had not been baptized with the Holy Spirit. When Paul lays hands on the Ephesian believers they receive the Holy Spirit, and respond the same way the folks did at Pentecost, speaking in tongues and sharing the good news about Jesus.

… How many of you make New Year’s Resolutions? What do you resolve to do? Lose weight, stop spending money on things you don’t need, kick an addiction, pray more, get to church more often.

Is this not like what John the Baptizer is calling folks to do? John the Baptizer is at the Jordan River, calling all to repent and be baptized by being immersed into the water. Repent, change your ways, he calls. Let the water wash away your sins so you can start anew.

John draws a crowd, with his intentional resemblance to the Prophet Elijah. According to the gospels of Matthew and Luke, he is boisterous, at times offensive, and will lose his life for his words. He is preparing the way for someone else, for Jesus, who draw even larger crowds, and will send the Holy Spirit after his death and resurrection.

… A while ago, Mike and I had a conversation about the Holy Spirit. Since he’s Presbyterian, he didn’t grow up with going to catechism class like Lutheran youth have done for decades or centuries. Lutheran youth spend a whole year on the study of Luther’s Small Catechism, memorizing the explanations of the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Ten Commandments. We learned what it means to be baptized and to receive Holy Communion.

So when Mike asked, “what do Lutherans believe about the Holy Spirit”, I was able to pull up my memorized catechism about the Apostles’ Creed. How many of you remember what the Spirit does? Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies us.

The Holy Spirit calls to our hearts, reaching beyond the mind into our core being. Lots of the time, we push God’s Spirit away, not wanting to respond, to be changed. But when we accept the Spirit’s call, exciting things can happen.

The Holy Spirit gathers us together for worship, for Bible studies, for conversations about justice, and for actions based on our conversations.

The Holy Spirit enlightens us, opening our minds to new thoughts and beliefs. Some may call it being awakened (dare I say “Woke?”) to the injustices that are all around us.

The Holy Spirit sanctifies us, makes us holy, without our action, without our repentance. Yet, the realization that we are holy people of a holy God makes us seek to be more holy in our lives.

… How do we live this out? We will each have a different answer, of course, because we all have different gifts. Here are some stories.

Brenda Doxtator is an elder in the Milwaukee Indigenous Community who wanted to combine Lutheran worship with Indigenous ceremonies. A church was planted, based on that vision, and after 10 years, has its first full time pastor. At Lutheran Church of the Great Spirit, worship begins with smudging – the use of fragrant smoke and prayers in the four directions. The sermon honors the Talking Circle, which invites input from the community. Holy Communion is shared in a great circle around the altar.

The members hope to grow their ministry by buying a food truck to take their food into the community and develop programming for the neighborhood so that local youth can more easily participate.  

… Samuel Jones grew up in the projects in Rochester, NY. His mother worked two jobs to provide for Samuel and his brother. One day, Samuel noticed two “little old white Lutheran ladies” wandering the streets with flannelgraphs. They said they were looking for a place to do a Bible study. After checking with his mom, he invited them to his home and they met there every Monday evening for several years.

Decades later, Samuel says that he is a Lutheran because he loves Martin Luther, and because he always remembers those two little old ladies who wanted to teach him about the gospel.

… Carlo Gebler is an author, novelist and playwright. His grandfather was imprisoned for five years when Carlo’s father was a child, so they never bonded as fathers and sons are meant to bond. Carlo and his father struggled to have a strong bond as a result. Dysfunction and brokenness repeats in families unless there is an intentional effort to change, to begin again.

As an adult Carlo was invited to teach creative writing in a prison. He imagined that the process of writing could help to repair the relationships the prisoners had with their own sons. He has been doing this for almost 30 years , and is constantly reminded of the chaos that caused the brokenness, as well as the brokenness that resulted from the prisoners’ own brokenness.

He learned that it was necessary to allow the prisoners to choose to make changes in their lives. He could not force them to change, but by inviting them to write about their own brokenness, occasionally change, repentance, has indeed happened.

… Three stories of people responding to the call of God’s Holy Spirit to repent, to make change happen, to make living better for some other folks. Very different ways in which they responded to Spirit’s calling, gathering, enlightening, and making holy.

How are you responding to God’s invitation? We all have a fresh calendar, a new diary for a new year. This week, I hope you will listen for the Spirit to nudge you to do something new and say “Yes, with God’s help, I will do that!”

Amen