Sunday, May 5, 2024

Holy Interference

Acts 10:44-48; John 15:9-17

 Amazing things happen when the Holy Spirit gets involved. The reading from Acts is a small portion of a larger story. It begins with Peter having a dream or vision of a tablecloth covered with foods good Jews don't eat. Peter had this same dream three times, until he finally got the message God was trying to give him. “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”

Before long, Peter realizes that God is not really talking about food, but people. Now he is ready for his next encounter, with Cornelius, a Roman centurion and his family. Peter introduces himself, saying normally Jews and Gentiles don't associate with each other, but he has been sent to Cornelius by a message from God. He then asks what Cornelius needs from him, and Cornelius says, “I have been told by an angel that you have a message for me.”

So Corny and Peter have both had Holy Spirit messages putting them together. Peter tells Corny about Jesus, and Corny responds by asking that his whole household is baptized.

It's similar to last week's story of the Ethiopian eunuch asking to be baptized by saying, “Look, here is water!” and Peter says, “What would prevent these people from being baptized?” And so we have another instance of people outside the Jewish faith believing in Jesus and being baptized into the community.

And it's another instance of baptism happening before extensive training can happen. But then, Peter stays with Corny and the family for several days to help them understand the whole story.


… In Otsego Michigan, a small city of 4,000 people, the paper mill employed a hundred local workers.  It was the last paper mill in the region, because businesses found it was cheaper to buy and ship from China than to make paper in America.

When the news was confirmed that the plant would close, several pastors put together a service of lament. It was attended by about 300 people from the area. The food pantries put out pleas for more food and for donations to help with paying bills for unemployed workers. And city leaders worked to find a new firm to take the place of the closed business. It was a Holy Spirit moment to hold the service of lament, something the city needed, providing a way to grieve and yet hope for a better future. Within a year, they were successful, although the new firm was smaller, and needed fewer employees. At least it was something, and the same church leaders held a welcome celebration for the new business. ... However, when I checked this week, the paper mill has been torn down and is a toxic clean-up site. 


… Holy Spirit moments give us the opportunity to hear and think new thoughts. When we are open to different viewpoints, we can say, “Hmm. I never thought of it that way before.” We don't have to agree with this different point of view, but the Holy Spirit helps us appreciate a variety of ways approaching life and questions, and even facts. Looking at facts differently can lead to the invention of a life-saving device or carry us to Mars.

Holy Spirit moments may be quite personal. Charlie was criticizing his daughter for getting in trouble, because she had made some poor choices that would alter her life forever. Before long, Charlie remembered  some of his own choices, made as a young man, that altered his career path forever. It was through the prompting of the Spirit that Charlie repented of being so “judgy” and soon found ways to support his daughter along her new path in life.

… It's through God's Holy Spirit that we understand what Jesus means when he tells us to love one another as he loved the first disciples and all he encountered, and as God our Holy Parent loves us. It’s through God's Holy Spirit that we learn loving doesn’t have to mean liking. We can love all people even though they get on our last nerve, because we remember that they are God's children, and as imperfect as we are.

We also need to remember that we need God's help to love all, because we are human and we tend to judge others. It's in our DNA to determine if others are safe or may harm us, and we usually make that distinction by checking if others are like us or different from us. In ancient times, this meant shaking hands to prove we aren't holding a weapon, but today, it comes to some other factor, like the color and texture of their hair, the accent in their speech, or the political shirt or cap they are wearing.

If we trust the Holy Spirit to help us listen, we may learn that we all want the same things, though we go about accomplishing them differently. It's through the Spirit that we listen with open hearts and minds, the way Cornelius and Peter did two thousand years ago, the way Charlie did with his daughter.


This week, I hope you pay attention to the Holy Spirit in your lives. Watch how open or closed you are to new ideas, to welcoming other people, to seeing life through another's eyes. You don’t have to agree, but I suggest you try to understand and appreciate other opinions. When does the Holy Spirit prompt you to try something different, something new? How is God’s Holy Spirit guiding UELC through this transition?

Amen

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