Come Home

Instead of preaching a sermon in worship yesterday, Pastor Taylor and Pastor Susan lifted up in prayer the 251 communities across our country that experienced mass shootings in 2019. The was our first step in creating an action team that will discern how we as a community of faith will respond to gun violence. However, before the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, this sermon was written by Pastor Taylor. “Come Home” was written to be preached at Sunnyside Presbyterian Church on August 4, 2019. This sermon was inspired by Scripture, commentaries, childhood, songs, and poetry.

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Hosea 11:1-11

1 When Israel was a child, I loved him,

    and out of Egypt I called my son.

2 The more I called them,

    the more they went from me;

they kept sacrificing to the Baals,

    and offering incense to idols.

3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,

    I took them up in my arms;

    but they did not know that I healed them.

4 I led them with cords of human kindness,

    with bands of love.

I was to them like those

    who lift infants to their cheeks.

    I bent down to them and fed them.

5 They shall return to the land of Egypt,

    and Assyria shall be their king,

    because they have refused to return to me.

6 The sword rages in their cities,

    it consumes their oracle-priests,

    and devours because of their schemes.

7 My people are bent on turning away from me.

    To the Most High they call,

    but he does not raise them up at all.

8 How can I give you up, Ephraim?

    How can I hand you over, O Israel?

How can I make you like Admah?

    How can I treat you like Zeboiim?

My heart recoils within me;

    my compassion grows warm and tender.

9 I will not execute my fierce anger;

    I will not again destroy Ephraim;

for I am God and no mortal,

    the Holy One in your midst,

    and I will not come in wrath.

10 They shall go after the Lord,

    who roars like a lion;

when he roars,

    his children shall come trembling from the west.

11 They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,

    and like doves from the land of Assyria;

    and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord.

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Colossians 3:1-11

1 So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3 for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. 7 These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. 8 But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices 10 and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. 11 In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

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I really love our two passages today. The reason I love them is because not only what they say individually but together as a pair.

Now, of course, this was intentional by the creators of the revised common lectionary, there is usually a uniting theme for the five or so passages assigned to each Sunday. The five or so passages include a few from the Old Testament (a.k.a. Hosea) and a few from the New Testament (a.k.a. Colossians) and a Gospel reading (a.k.a. some story from Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John that we did not choose to use today).

Now a smart trick of the trade when using an Old Testament reading (a.k.a. Hosea) and a New Testament reading (a.k.a. Colossians) but not the Gospel reading as your passages for a sermon, look at that Gospel reading anyway and see if it’s a parable. If it’s a parable, rewrite and retell that parable in a modern way, using modern characters, places, images, and themes. Boom, instant story to use as an introduction for your sermon.

So I of course I did that; I also looked up the gospel reading for this Sunday’s assigned lectionary and it is Luke 12:13-21: The Parable of the Rich Fool. Not the most well-known parable, but a pretty easy parable to retell; all I would need to do is a tell a story about a rich fool..

So let me tell you one. This is the story of Lester.

Lester was given a magic wish

By the goblin who lives in the banyan tree,

And with his wish he wished for two more wishes-

So now instead of just one wish, he cleverly had three.

And with each one of these

He simply wished for three more wishes,

Which gave him three old wishes, plus nine new.

And with each of these twelve

He slyly wished for three more wishes,

Which added up to forty-six -- or is it fifty-two?

Well anyway, he used each wish

To wish for wishes 'til he had

Five billion, seven million, eighteen thousand thirty-four.

And then he spread them on the ground

And clapped his hands and danced around

And skipped and sang, and then sat down

And wished for more.

And more...and more...they multiplied

While other people smiled and cried

And loved and reached and touched and felt.

Lester sat amid his wealth

Stacked mountain-high like stacks of gold,

Sat and counted -- and grew old.

And then one Thursday night they found him

Dead -- with his wishes piled around him.

And they counted the lot and found that not

A single one was missing.

All shiny and new -- here, take a few

And think of Lester as you do.

In a world of apples and kisses and shoes

He wasted his wishes on wishing.

This poem is called “Lester,” written by Shel Silverstein. In addition to “Lester,” this is the author who gave us such works as “The Giving Tree” or “Where the Sidewalk Ends.” I grew up reading the poems of Shel Silverstein. I remember that even as a child I could understand the simplicity of his words, yet the complexity of his topics. He could speak to people of all ages, from faking sick to skip school or describing anxieties and worries through the whatifs. Shel Silverstein could describe the world and all its wonders and fears to any child and to any adult.

And here, Silverstein is describing greed. Lester was a man who wanted more wishes. And he spent his life collecting them; cleverly and slyly wishing for more… and more.. and more.. until all he had was his pile of wishes… and while he missed apples and shoes and kisses. Because of his greed; because of always wanting more of just one thing, Lester missed out on what God offers us in life through human connection: smiling and crying and loving and reaching and touching and feeling. Lester just had his greed.

Colossians states that greed is an earthly trait, a part of our identity that redirects us away from Christ. In addition to greed, there’s impurity and evil desires and wrath and abuse and lies and malice—all of this can lead us away from Christ. And Colossians knows this is a part of our earthly identity, which means things such as greed and impurity and evil desires and wrath and abuse and lies and malice all come naturally to us; that if we don’t constantly set ourselves with a mind directed to Christ, we will naturally reveal traits of earthly sin.

I think that’s why Lester describes greed so well. The poem itself describes greed not as dark plague that one day suddenly choked the life out of Lester… but rather as something that came light-hearted, playful, and whimsical… something that was always there, from the beginning to the end, but out of ignorant fun, grew and grew and grew. Here, greed is described almost through a childlike lens.

Which is why the metaphor in the book of Hosea is so important. Hosea, like the other prophets found in the Old Testament, is filled with metaphors, but Hosea has among the most interesting symbols he uses to describe God and the people’s relationship with God. Our metaphor for today, a parent with a disobedient child, is among the mildest in terms of weirdness but among the most significant in terms of relatability.

Through Hosea, God calls Israel her child; someone that she nursed and coddled, held and kept close. As Israel, God’s child grew; as they were delivered from slavery and became more independent; Israel began turning away from God. Through worshiping idols, sacrifices, greed, and wars; Israel not only turned away from God but soon began refusing to even returning to God.

And God, with her anger – I’m saying her because Hosea uses a nursing feeding metaphor which describes more of a mother than a father – God, with her anger, wants to punish her child for their disobedience, for their rejection of her. But after wrestling with herself, while still angry and hurt, God chooses to show compassion rather than wrath.

And through this act of compassion, mercy, and grace shown by God; God knows that her children will return to her, like a lion cub or a puppy, tail between our legs, ashamed and a little bruised, but home once again with our Parent.

When considering this metaphor of a parent and disobedient child, it’s a pretty easy one for us to relate to; to find ourselves as one of the characters. For those of you who are parents, I’m sure you can easily think of example of a disobedient child. But in this metaphor, you’re not the parent. We’re all the disobedient child, refusing to return to the goodness of our great Parent.

I read a few articles on this passage and several commentators wrote about children who run away from home or get caught up in using drugs as good examples of disobedient children. And while that’s true and horrible, most of us in this room have never run away from home and got lost in a world of drugs. They’re disobedient children too, but friends, so are we. I think most of us in this room are more like Lester, which what made us disobedient didn’t come on suddenly but rather, it came out of playful, childlike ignorance.

So today’s your day of reset. God is calling you to come home, child. Although we have hurt our God our Parent, she has chosen to show us compassion, she calls for us to return to her. You’re at a crossroads; will you continue to disobey or will you direct yourself back to God? Will you die on a pile of wishes or will you seek God’s wish to be in love with you? Will you come home? For God your Parent is waiting for you, open doors and open arms, with a table set, full of nourishment and grace.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

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No Turning Back

“No Turning Back” was preached at Sunnyside Presbyterian Church on June 30, 2019. This sermon was inspired by Scripture, commentaries, Immigration Sunday in the PC(USA), the current heartbreaking border crisis in the USA, and several articles on families separated (especially this one and this one).  You can listen to an audio clip of this sermon here. You can watch a video of the entire worship service here. You can find more resources on immigration through the PC(USA) Office of the General Assembly here. 

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1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21

15 Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.

19 So he set out from there, and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was plowing. There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him. 20 He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” Then Elijah said to him, “Go back again; for what have I done to you?” 21 He returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

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Luke 9:51-62

51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53 but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 Then they went on to another village.

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

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I remember the day that I accepted and followed the call of God to seminary vividly—the day that I left behind all that I had known and all that I had to move across the country because this is what God wanted of me.

I spent the few days before the move packing. I couldn’t honestly take all of my possessions, so I was ready to follow the call of God by parting with them. But then I thought to myself, well I need some of these things to take with me: my clothes and my books, a tv, a mini fridge, my Xbox of course. So I would take just the necessities, and follow the call of God by parting with everything else.  Like did I need to bring my entire DVD collection or my posters of favorite rock bands from high school or the cheap trinkets I received from way too many college fairs that I only went to for the sake of receiving these cheap free trinkets. But then I thought to myself, well what if one day I want to watch that movie I bought that I never watched or what if one day I want to play with the collapsible Frisbee with the name of some unknown insurance company across it. Well, I guess I can’t part with those either. So I’ll just shove those in a closet at the house I grew up in to, of course, one day possibly come back for them. Or at least let my parents deal with those things.

Speaking my parents, I guess I needed to follow the call of God and leave them behind too. It sounds painful, but it was what I was called to do. I could do it! Well, except I needed a ride to the airport that was two hours away. So not yet, I can’t leave them behind just yet. But once we got to the airport, I would do it. Two hours more with them wouldn’t stop me from following the call of God.

But then along the way we got hungry and there’s a Chili’s conveniently located on the interstate we take to get to the airport. A Chili’s my family eats at almost every single time someone is being taken to or from the airport. Hey, your family has your traditions, and we have ours. We eat at Chili’s. So what’s another hour to stop and enjoy each other’s company and greasy quesadillas and cheap margaritas. I’ll follow the call of God after that.

So we stop and we eat, but then we’re back on the road and the airport is approaching. It’s time to leave my parents behind. I’m supposed to be leaving my former life behind to go to seminary. This is the call of God.

But! Oh wait! I have a lot of luggage. That tv and mini fridge took up a lot of room. I could probably use the help of at least one of my parents. So I guess I’m leaving my dad behind and my mom is now going with me, to help me move across the country. “Bye dad; thanks for the ride!”

So now my mom and I are carrying my luggage across the country. We take a flight to Newark Airport and then a short train ride to Princeton. At least I followed the call of God by leaving my car behind back in Colorado. While walking from the train station to the seminary campus, which is less than half a mile, one of the plastic tires on one of the suitcases breaks and so does the handle on another one of the suitcases so it won’t go up. So on that walk, as we’re struggling, apparently we also left our dignity behind.

But eventually we made it and it was time for me to leave my mom behind. Or really, for her to leave because she was the one who came with me all the way to New Jersey. But not until she helps me unpack everything, all my clothes and my books, the Xbox of course; that’s a priority. Not until she helps me do all of that. Then I can leave her behind or whatever. So we do that, my mom stays for a few days to make sure I’m settled, and then she goes back to Colorado.

There, I did it. I followed the call of God. I left everything behind to move to seminary. I left all my possessions behind… except for my clothes and my books and my tv and mini-fridge and Xbox. I left my family behind… except for I called them later that week to tell them how my first week of classes went. I left my car behind… except I actually took my car to seminary the next year. And I left my dignity behind… okay, that one I really did leave behind; never really sure I got that one back.

That’s the story of how I was called to leave everything behind and follow the call of God to seminary.

Now let me tell you another story:

This is the story of the Mutu family. Married couple Vasile and Florentina grew in up in a small hillside village in Romania, where in their own earliest years as children, helped their parents beg for money. You see, Vasile and Florentina were both born into the Roma minority group. In Romania, the Roma were enslaved for over 500 years. Violent attacks against the Roma still persist to this day throughout Europe and even more common, the Roma face exclusion against schools, jobs, and social services. These exclusions included the Mutu family as they couldn’t find or hold a job that would provide enough resources for their family. It is also documented by several human rights groups many cases in which Roma women are forced into sterilization procedures when they go into hospitals for something even as small as a fever.

Florentina, while giving birth to their youngest child of five, Constantin, needed an emergency C-section. Vasile quickly sold two pigs and a cow to pay a doctor to do the procedure. It was when Florentina returned to the hospital to check on her recovery that she was told by another hospital employee that the doctor had performed a tubal ligation, sterilizing her.

Devastated, Vasile and Florentina formed a plan: they would try to seek asylum in the United States with their two youngest children and send for the others when they were settled. Maybe God was calling them to this, to leave everything behind, their home, their country, three of their children, because the United States, with job opportunities and humane medical practices, must be better than what the Mutus were currently experiencing.

The Mutus sold their home and paid a man to get them into the United States through Mexico. With one suitcase for the four of them, the Mutus set off. While traveling, Constantin, now four-months old, started running a fever. When they all arrived in Mexico City, Vasile and Florentina had no choice except to split up and look for medicine for their sick baby. Vasile took Constantin with him, and Florentina took their four-year-old. Vasile found the medicine Constantin needed, but when he returned to where he was supposed to meet his wife and other child, the two were gone. After looking frantically and unsure of what else to do, Vasile paid a cabdriver to take him and Constantin to the foot bridge into the United States. There, he told the officer, that he lost his wife and son after the four of them were fleeing persecution in Romania and that he was now seeking political asylum.

Within moments, Vasile was shackled by his hands and his feet, while other officers took Constantin into another room. Some way, somehow, border officials were able to get ahold of Florentina’s mother, who then called Florentina, explaining what was happening to Vasile and she too would be arrested if she tried to seek asylum. Desperate and scared, Florentina flew back to Romania with their four-year-old but without Vasile or Constantin.

Four-month-old Constantin was taken from his father that day, transported all the way from Texas to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he was placed with a foster family. Vasile was still in a Texas immigration detention center, where he was driven, from constant beatings from his cell mates and from a lack of sleep and food, into deep depression and suicidal thoughts. After two months of this, an immigration officer came to him, offering him the chance to give up his claim for asylum and to be deported back to Romania with Constantin. Vasile agreed to this. However, the moment Vasile signed a document stating this, he was forced unto a plane, without Constantin, and he was flown back to Romania, without his son.

Constantin lived in Michigan, forcibly separated from his parents who were now back in Romania, for five months (more than half of his life!) before the government declared that he should be reunited with his parents. After all the trauma, of being arrested and separated, the Mutus were back where they had started, with nothing more than PTSD and a greater financial debt.

So we have two stories: one of which features a young man who didn’t feel the need to leave everything behind to follow God and now lives a wonderful life and the other story which features a family who did actually leave everything behind to find a better life for themselves and instead faced only hardship and heartbreak.

And then in our two scripture passages today, we also have similar yet different stories.

In our story from 1 Kings, Elijah the prophet is told by God to fill three holy roles, one of which would be the successor to his own role as a prophet. Elijah sets out and finds the appointed, Elisha, plowing in his family’s fields. Seeing that it is him, Elijah puts his cloak over Elisha. Elisha understands what this means and runs after him, ready to follow him as his servant and the next would-be prophet. But the moment Elisha catches up to Elijah, he asks Elijah if he can turn back and say good-bye to his family, not quite ready to leave everything behind. And Elijah gives him permission to do exactly that. So Elisha goes back, prepares a meal for his family, says his good-byes, and the accepts the call to follow Elijah, and therefore follow the call of God.

In our story in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. After facing rejection from a village of Samaritans, Jesus enters into another village. As he was on his way, people start following him. Three different people actually tell Jesus that they are ready to follow him, once they each finish something that they need to do. But Jesus denies this. To the first, Jesus says that person must leave behind his home. To the second, Jesus says that person leave behind the sacred rite of burying his dead father. To the third, Jesus says that person must leave behind his family without saying good-bye. Jesus says to all of them and the surrounding crowds, that none of them can look back; they must only look forward and they must be willing to leave everything behind if they want to follow the call of God.

Friends, I’m confused, and I need your help with this. Elijah a prophet of God allows Elisha to not leave everything behind and still follow the call of God, and that’s what I did when I went to seminary, and everything turned out in my favor. Jesus who is God does require the crowds to leave everything behind in order that they may follow God, and that’s what the Mutus did, and nothing worked out in their favor.

Which then makes me think it’s all just situational. That sometimes God calls us to leave something behind in order for us to follow God and that sometimes we don’t actually need to leave something behind in order for us to follow God. And that sometimes thing work out in our favor when we follow the call of God and that sometimes things don’t work out; that things can actually be quite difficult or even traumatic when following the call of God.

And if it is all just situational, then none of us are truly wise enough to know when things will work out and when things will not work out based on if we do or do not leave something behind. And if we don’t know when or if things will work out for even ourselves, then we don’t know if they will for others, especially strangers. And since we don’t know for these people that we don’t know, then maybe there’s just something we can do to make everything just a little bit easier on all of us. Maybe what we really need to do is be a little more supportive and affirming and loving for the people who are willing to leave everything behind to follow the call of God, praying and hoping and helping to make sure it does end up working out in their favor, which therefore works out in favor of the kingdom of God, which therefore works out in favor of all of us.

Because in our story for today, what does Jesus end up doing for the crowds of people who were called to leave everything behind and follow him? He cared for them. He taught them. He fed them. And then Jesus died for them. Then, he rose for them. And he defeated death for them. He forgave their sins, and he gave them eternal life with him. He did the same for us, and we weren’t even the ones who left everything behind…

Next, Sunday in the Presbyterian Church (USA) is Immigration Sunday. Not Independence Sunday; not USA Sunday. It is Immigration Sunday. I wonder how many churches will preach on immigration with Independence Day on Thursday. I wonder if we will remember that we are a nation built on immigrants. I wonder if over the next week we will pray for… Franklin, an 11-year-old Honduran boy, and his 7-year-old brother Byron as they sleep on the floor in their cage shivering under a thin foil-sheet? Or 16-year-old boy Sergio, separated from his Father for over 45 days? Or Dixiana, a 10-year-old, whose meals each morning were frozen, blackened ham bits? Or the 6-year-old boy who recounts seeing his father shackled by his hands and feet right in front of him? Or the case worker who said she saw officers take a 6-year-old girl’s doll before putting her in room of so many other girls that all they could do is stand? Will we this week pray for the many named and unnamed children and their families at our borders who are still in cages and detention cells and shackles?

Did you know in confirmation class we teach our youth that to truly read and understand scripture, they must see the heart of the message that beats throughout its entirety? That to grasp what God is saying to us in the Bible, they must see the many streams of thoughts coming together to one as living and flowing holy river— the Holy Word? We also teach that are 66 books in the Bible (because there are) and that they are divided into seven sections, from the Pentateuch to Historical Books to Wisdom Literature to Prophets to the Gospels to the Pauline Epistles to the Rest of the New Testament?

Guess what is mentioned multiple times in each of those sections? The Holy Word, the many streams, coming together letting us know exactly how we should treat our immigrant neighbor. In the words of Jesus that paraphrases all the other passages on how we should treat our immigrant neighbor, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me… Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

Friends, what is God calling you to leave behind so that you too can help every child and family be freed from the cages we have put them in? People who literally have left everything behind so that they too can have a better life. We can’t turn our back on them now for helping them is the proclamation of God’s kingdom here on earth.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.  

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Listening for Your Voice

“Listening for Your Voice” was preached at Sunnyside Presbyterian Church on June 9, 2019. This sermon was inspired by Scripture, commentaries, pilgrimage, and Pentecost.  You can listen to an audio clip of this sermon here. You can watch a video of the entire worship service here.

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Genesis 11:1-9

1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” 5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

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Acts 2:1-21

1 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. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, 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 slaves, 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.’

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There’s 15 of us young adults who have felt the call and have chosen to respond to a holy pilgrimage. While we call these young adults Sunnysiders; there’s more to our story. In our 15 young adults journeying on our pilgrimage, our youngest participant is 19 while our eldest is 31. We have eight married people and seven single people. We have some who are in college, some who are grad school, and some who are in their careers. We have a few that grew up here at Sunnyside and others who grew up in North Carolina, Michigan, North Dakota, Colorado, California, Virginia, Canada, and Malawi. We have some who will continue with us at Sunnyside after the trip and some who are, with our blessing, moving away from our community. While all of our young adults attending this Pilgrimage are members of Sunnyside and therefore “Presbyterians,” we have some who were raised Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, Evangelical, and Lutheran. Gosh, we even have two people going who have two kids of their own! So here we have 15 people with different backgrounds, upbringings, traditions, cultures, and stories. Sure, we speak the same language, but these people are the modern day Pentecost story; people from different backgrounds coming together in the name of Christ hoping to understand one another.

In four days, our modern day Pentecost group – our 15 young adults – will be driving 115 miles, flying on two flights for 4347 miles, riding three buses for 158 miles, taking two ferries for 13 miles, and then hiking 1 mile (just for good measure!) to take a holy pilgrimage to Iona, Scotland. That is a total of 4634 miles and over 24 hours of travel. We’re flying out of Chicago in the afternoon on June 13^th and we will be arriving on the Isle of Iona in the afternoon on June 15^th, with only a brief overnight pit stop in a coastal town along the way. Fifteen of us are literally traveling by air, land, and sea to retreat with a holy ecumenical worshipping community on a small island in Scotland. On the week of Pentecost, we are gathering in one place with strangers across the world. You see the parallels, right?

We’ll be spending 6 full days in Iona as part of our 10-day pilgrimage. Six days in which we are retreating from the world; retreating from our busy lives; work, school, or family; to spend time with one another, with strangers around the world, and with God. We’re going to be with God and with the people of God to hear of God’s deeds of power. This is Pentecost! Sounds wonderful, right?!

And it is wonderful! Wow, it is wonderful. And a gift and a blessing, and I’m sure I speak for all the young adults when I say we are grateful for this opportunity.

But just as excited as I am, I am nervous. And most of you know me by this point, you know I’m a nervous guy, a nervous pastor. Not to the point where I’m crippled by fear, but just enough to considerably and noticeably care for what’s about to happen in next couple of months, weeks, days, hours, or even minutes. Whether you want call it nerves or not, I’m sure some of you have noticed a difference in how I “feel” before a Sunday morning worship service and after a Sunday morning worship service. And trust me when I say, telling this nervous pastor not to be nervous isn’t going to make me any less of a nervous pastor. Besides, I kind of like being nervous about certain things; it’s my way of saying those things matter to me, and I like it when things matter to me.

So yes, although excited, I, for one, am nervous for our ten-day pilgrimage and our thousands of miles of travel by air, land, and sea. But it’s not the length of our trip or where our trip is taking us or even how we are getting there; it’s because I’m convinced that while we are there, the Spirit will intercede and we will experience a moment of Pentecost. And I’m nervous for this Pentecostal moment to happen because let’s be honest, when the Spirits feels called to intercede, it’s usually at moment when we are exhausted, vulnerable, emotional, uncomfortable, and desperate.

We’ve all been in a moment where the Spirit interceded, and sure, we might have known, “yes, I need that,” but if you’re like me, at one point, you may have groaned and said, “but no, I don’t really want that.”

So yes, I’m nervous because I think the Spirit will intercede and the young adults will experience a modern day Pentecost and all of us in our different backgrounds will come together and fully understand one another and bond tremendously and probably cry and laugh but at the same time, I’m like God, I’m exhausted; I don’t want to cry because I don’t want to feel exhausted, vulnerable, emotional, uncomfortable, and desperate because that’s just really too much right now but I guess you’re saying we need that, so I’m doing my best to be okay with that, so I’m just going to listen and follow your lead and know that it needs to happen and that it needs to happen because it matters and because it matters, I’m going to be nervous about it. All right, God, here I am; I am listening!

Hmm. Moment of Pentecost are tough.

But I feel like I get why they have to be; why moments of Pentecost are tough.

The first Pentecost was. There were a group of people from all over gathered in one place. Suddenly, a sound like a violent wind rushed through them and tongues of fire danced on each of their shoulders. People began speaking in different languages, and the crowds were bewildered. No part of this story is “calm” nor “collected” – violent wind and fire, unknown languages and large crowds – friends, this is the definition of tough.

But in this chaotic moment, as they each spoke in different languages but yet still understanding each other in their own languages, they were amazed and astonished and perplexed. This moment was so chaotic that some thought everybody had been drinking too much wine. It’s a humorous moment; in the chaos, in the wind and the flame and the different tongues, people were like, “Hold up; it’s cool; they’re just drunk. Ignore the wind and the flame and the tongues because look, wine does that to people.”

But it wasn’t the wine, after all it was nine in the morning; yes, nine in the morning, this is what the text says. It wasn’t the wine.

Instead, Peter, with the eleven other disciples by his side, addresses the crowd and he announced that was happened was the fulfillment of the prophesy spoken by Joel, in which the Spirit would be poured out among all flesh, men and women alike, old and young, everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord; the Spirit will come to them and they will come together.

This is Pentecost. This is the start of the church. And as I said, this moment was tough. Full of confusion and chaos, shouts and crowds; probably high emotions and exhaustions, the Spirit interceded. The moment was tough; Pentecost is tough.

One of the most profound theological statements, in my opinion—one of the most profound theological statements is something Jesus says as recorded in the Gospel in John. In Jesus’ declaration of himself as the gate for the sheep; Jesus concludes this by saying, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Abundantly. Not perfectly or beautifully or divinely. Abundantly.

I’ve understood this as life that comes with all the joys and wonders and celebrations along with all the moments of roughness and toughness and exhaustion. To experience life abundant, we don’t get be complacent and enjoy just the good things. To experience life abundant, we must work through the toughness to enjoy the better things. We must experience tough moments in which we need the Spirit to intercede for the Spirit to intercede.

We see this in story from Genesis. God’s people have settled in the land of Shinar, all of them. This is a direct rebellion of what God has commanded of them; to “spread out and fill the whole earth” – three times in the previous chapters of Genesis, God says this to the people, “spread out over the earth!” So what did they do? The exact opposite and they stayed in one place. Here, the people are trying to make a name for themselves and they attempt to build a tower so tall and so great, that all who see it and hear about it will speak of their glory. Not God’s glory; their glory.

And everything is so easy for them that they quit listening to God all together. They quit listening.

So the Spirit intercedes; and their language became languages and they were confused. And because they were not able to listen to one another, they listened to God. And by listening to God, they were scattered and spread across the earth, like God had intended.

That moment, like our other moments mentioned today, must have been tough. To once understand but to no longer. To be so desperate to understand that all they could do was rely on God.

But immediately following the spreading of the people across the land, God blesses them through Abram as God’s chosen people. Once again, something tough was experienced for something better to follow.

I still think that happens today.

Maybe it makes sense that different languages aren’t the only thing that divides us today. Maybe it’s important that sometimes we don’t connect on generational topics or words. Maybe it’s necessary that not everyone believes the same things when it comes to politics. Maybe God wants us to have deep ecumenical and interfaith conversations about religion. Because if we always just understood each other, so complacent and carefree, would we be willing to listen for other voices? Would be willing to listen for God’s voice? Would we want the Spirit to intercede? Would we let it? Would we be willing to be challenged to learn and grow and make progress for everyone if we were already okay in the first place?

Friends, I’m saying, Scriptures shows to us that we are not always going to understand one another, not just in our languages but in our beliefs. And that’s okay because when we don’t understand one another and experience the toughness that life throws our way, the Spirit will intercede and then we will understand one another. And because we experienced the moment in which we didn’t understand each other, the moment we finally do will feel even better; more beautiful, more divine, more perfect because it wasn’t something we always had but something we had to strive to be given.

But friends, and this is important, to let the Spirit intercede so that we might understand each other; to let the Spirit intercede, we must listen. Having a voice doesn’t mean we are always speaking. Finding your voice happens when we listen for God. Listening for your voice is how we understand one another. That’s the modern day Pentecost.

As I wrote this sermon, I became a little more okay and accepting of the Spirit interceding. At this point, I might even say not only do I need the Spirit to intercede, but also that I want the Spirit to intercede. As we leave this for Pilgrimage, I’m praying and pleading; bring on the Pentecost!

For our young adults, traveling across the world by air, land, and sea to retreat on a small isle for six days as part of a ten-day pilgrimage, knowing it will bring out exhaustion and vulnerability, might be the tough thing we have to endure. But we all know, it will be worth it for what God will do for us there, hopefully bringing a new sense of renewal, rest, and fellowship to our community. So we hear this call, we are willing to be challenged, we are listening for the Spirit to intercede.

So for the rest of you… what is calling to you? What toughness must you endure? How can you be challenged? Do you need the Spirit to intercede? Will you let the Spirit intercede? Are you listening? Friends, are you listening?

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

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