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With the rush of a mighty wind, Luke
records the first day of Pentecost, then the second or
Gentile Pentecost, and so the journey begins. The Book of
Acts is really a travelogue or, in our day, a “blog”…not
unlike the blog our Ghana team is maintaining this week, or
the journal our choir will keep while traveling in Russia,
Finland, Estonia and Latvia next week.
The travels of Peter and the journeys of
Paul; the coming and going of Barnabas and Silas; the
church-building missions of Lydia and Aquilla and
Priscilla—these Pentecost pilgrims are not unlike another
band of lovable pilgrims on their own yellow brick road, on
their way to see the wizard, “the wonderful wizard of Oz.”
This story also began with a rush of mighty wind, and
suddenly Dorothy found herself in a strange new world with a
strange new mission and an odd assortment of traveling
companions.
And they are not unlike us—pilgrims
seeking a Pentecost of our own, sojourners in search of the
kingdom, roaming disciples following a dream on the yellow
brick road to Pentecost. Like Dorothy and her companions (I
am going to assume we know the story of the “Wizard of Oz,”
perhaps better than we know the story of Pentecost!), we too
are seeking the answers to our deepest questions, the
fulfillment of our deepest needs.
1. LIKE THE SCARECROW, WE JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF A BRAIN.
In the Old Testament, the Bible talks a
lot about “wisdom,” using feminine imagery—“Sophia.”
Wisdom is right thinking, clarity of mind, God’s true
wisdom, an understanding of the world and God’s will in it.
How we need wisdom today.
Quite frankly, when you come to church,
you don’t check your brain at the door. The journey of faith
is a journey of questioning, seeking, exploring. It’s okay
to ask tough questions, to struggle with difficult issues,
to try to connect the dots between the world of science and
the world of religion. We all need a brain…wisdom,
knowledge.
Faith and science are really dealing with
two different kinds of knowledge, two different aspects of
wisdom. Theology and faith are attempts to deal with the
“why” questions: Why creation in the first place? Why
something rather than nothing? Why am I here? Why do I live?
Science and technology are attempts to deal with the
“what” and “how” questions, and together they
lead us to “Sophia”…to wisdom.
That’s why the debate between “science”
and “religion” leaves me so baffled. If we as Christians
honestly believe that all creation is God’s creation; if we
really believe that all truth is God’s truth and that God is
the creator of it all; if we really believe God is larger
and greater than all our knowledge, then we do not need to
fear the scientists, the so-called “evolutionists,” the
scholars, the researchers. It is possible to believe in God
and knowledge, science and faith, creation and evolution. We
can hold our faith and still acknowledge the worth of
science. We can affirm God as creator and still deal with
the discoveries of archeologists and biologists. We can
believe in God and still use our brains.
It was 36 years ago when Bishop Roy
Nichols placed his hand on my somewhat empty head and
ordained me as a deacon in the chapel at Grove City College.
Back then, a candidate for ministry was ordained as a deacon
during seminary, and since every ordained minister needed an
appointment, we seminary students were listed under the
category “Appointed to Attend School.” Regretfully, I am not
sure it made any difference in my grades. But it did make a
difference in my attitude. I remember going back to seminary
that fall knowing I had been appointed to study, to attend
school. And though it might not show on my transcript, it
made a difference in the way I approached my work.
As disciples/learners/students of Jesus
Christ, we have been “appointed to attend school”—learning,
growing, seeking wisdom and understanding. Like the
floundering scarecrow on the yellow brick road, we all need
a brain…we seek wisdom.
2. AND LIKE THE LOVABLE COWARDLY LION, WE SEEK COURAGE.
What a contradiction. What an oxymoron.
The very idea of a cowardly lion is a great irony. The lion,
by his very nature, is supposed to be a model of courage and
strength. In his cowardice, he was, in fact, denying his
very nature. And there they were—the first witnesses to the
Resurrection, called to proclaim the great good news. But
instead they were afraid, trembling, in hiding. What an
oxymoron, what a contradiction, denying their very identity
as witnesses to the power of God in Christ. Until the day of
Pentecost came. Then they were filled with the Spirit, and
with it, courage and hope, boldness and strength to overcome
their fears.
Peter and John go out preaching, and Luke
says, “When they saw John and Peter’s boldness, and
perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they
wondered and recognized that they had been with Jesus.”
(Acts 4:13) Their boldness, their courage, convinced the
crowds that, in fact, they had been with Jesus.
And in our fearful, troubled day, we,
like the cowardly lion, seek the gift of courage. In a day
when fear is the great motivator, a day when there is plenty
to fear (including fear itself), we need the calm courage
which comes to those who trust their lives and futures to
the hands of a gracious and loving God. It’s the courage
that comes from knowing the presence of a living Christ in
the midst of a troubled world, the courage to be the people
of God and live in the spirit of Christ, regardless of the
cost. Otherwise we are, in fact, the great oxymoron, like
cowardly lions, denying our very identity as the children of
God, the sons and daughters of light, the people of the
Resurrection and the Spirit.
Like
the scarecrow, we need a brain/wisdom.
Like
the cowardly lion, we need courage.
3. AND LIKE THE TIN MAN, WE NEED A HEART.
If the boldness of the disciples caught
the attention of the crowd, it was the love which marked
them as disciples. Luke records that the crowds looked in on
the common life of the disciples and were amazed. They said,
“Look how they love each other.” Look! See how they
love us. Look! See how they love the world. The
hallmark of the Christian life, the evidence of the presence
of Jesus in our lives, is the gift of love.
In his letters, John writes: “In this is
love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and gave
his son as the expiation for our sins. Brothers and sisters,
if God so loved us, we ought to love one another, for God is
love.” (I John 4)
At the
heart of the Gospel is the great heart of God…giving us a
new heart.
The
scarecrow, the lion, the tin man…
4. AND DOROTHY? WHAT DID SHE SEEK? SHE WAS SEEKING A HOME.
An orphan in the care of her aunt and
uncle, she was seeking a place to belong, a community of
grace where she knew she was accepted and loved, a home.
Some years ago, Robert Fulghum wrote a
little book called Everything I Need to Know I Learned in
Kindergarten. Do you remember his story about hide and
seek? He says he was watching some children playing hide and
seek, and one little boy was so well hidden, no one could
find him. Finally Fulghum says he stuck his head out the
window and yelled: “HEY, KID! GET FOUND!” He says:
I scared him so bad, he probably wet his
pants and ran home to tell his mother.
Better than hide and seek, I like the
game of sardines. In sardines, the person who is “it” goes
and hides, and everybody comes looking for him. When you
find him, you hide there with him. Pretty soon, everybody is
piled up together in a small place like puppies in a pile,
and pretty soon somebody giggles, and then everybody
giggles, and everybody gets found.
That’s
grace.
That’s
church.
That’s
home. It’s the place where we pile up on each other like
puppies in a pile, and everybody giggles and everybody gets
found!
Anne Lamott, in her wonderful book
Traveling Mercies, describes her little church home. She
says:
When I was at the end of my rope, the
people of St. Andrew’s tied a knot for me and helped me hold
on. (Page 100)
No matter how bad I am feeling, how lost
or lonely or frightened, when I see the faces of the people
in my church and when I hear their tawny voices, I can
always find my way home again. (Page 55)
The scarecrow sought wisdom, a brain, and
so do we. The lion needed courage in the face of fear, and
so do we. The tin man yearned for a heart of love, and so do
we. And dear Dorothy dreamed of home. We are all pilgrims on
the yellow brick road, seeking the fulfillment of our
deepest needs. We approach God, all too often I suppose,
like the wizard of Oz, expecting him to work magic for us.
But what does the wizard do? He doesn’t give them what they
asked for. Instead, he gives them what they need.
5. THE WIZARD GIVES THEM A TASK.
“Go, get the witch’s broom.” And
lo and behold, in the going and the doing, they discover the
gifts they have been seeking all along. When the Spirit came
on the day of Pentecost, the first thing he gave them was a
task: Go! Preach! Teach! Heal! Serve! Build! Love! Feed!
Clothe! House! And they went and did it. And in the going
and the doing, they discovered the gifts—wisdom, courage,
love, community—and they found the power to be all God
intended them to be.
I’ve seen it happen over and over again.
People are turned in on their own sorrow, focused on their
own fears, centered in their own deep needs. Then one day
they discover a task, a mission, a purpose which calls them
out of themselves to touch the needs of others. And lo and
behold, in the going and doing, they discover the answers to
their own needs, as well.
And the biggest surprise, as Dorothy
discovered, is that it can all be found right under your
very nose, right in your own home. Right here. Right now.
May it be so in our lives, right here, right now…today.
Amen. |
