Sermon for Pentecost 2014

Preached at Canadochly Lutheran Church on June 8, 2014
Sermon text: Acts 2:1-21

A few years ago, my lovely wife Sarah bought me a present. She got me a Sirrius satellite radio system. This gift was a godsend, for two reasons. One, as you might imagine, living in WV means that radio reception is rather spotty because of the mountains. Two is because those few radio stations you can get have only both kinds of music: Country and Western. For this child of 1980s punk rock and new wave music, getting to listen to the music I love was wonderful.

Now I also took advantage of the opportunity this little bit of technology offered. Literally any kind of music or radio is available over their network. You want Conservative talk radio? They have a channel for that. Liberal talk? That too. Jazz? What kind? Classical? Again, what kind? Baroque? Romantic? Of course, every kind of rock-n-roll you can imagine. Many of which I sampled. I’ve got a new list of favorite bands and favorite songs that five years ago I didn’t even know existed.

One of those songs is by the band Against Me! It’s called “I was a Teenage Anarchist.” Now on the surface, from that title, you might think this is a typical punk rock song; full of anger and rebellion. But it’s actually the story of an older and wiser punk looking back on his younger years with a sense of nostalgia and disillusionment, talking about all the things he once believed in have proven disappointing. He talks about how the revolution was a lie and that the politics of his youth were simply convenient. But despite his disenchantment, he still pines for those times long past. The chorus asks a question that highlights this desire: “Do you remember when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire?”




Well, in response to the singer’s question, yes, I do remember. Perhaps you do too. I grew up, as i implied, in the 1980s. Tail end of the Cold War. I saw the villainy of the Soviet Union. I watched with disillusionment as own government often sacrificed its ideals in order to best those villains. It was easy to think that the best thing to do was to just tear down the whole thing and start over.

That was then. Twenty five years ago. I'm older now, wiser, more mature. I've learned a thing or two. Gotten wise to the world. Come to realize that people are people. There aren't really any white hats or even black hats in the world, just various shades of grey. Many of those evil Soviets were just ordinary folks who wanted what we all want, just to get through life and find a measure of happiness. And the heroes of my youth who so disappointed me, well they were human, prone to mistakes and vices, everyone of them doing the best they could, but were still far from perfect.

Recognizing that reality made me realize something. You see, revolution, change, transformation, setting the world on fire won't work, won't really work so long as it is human beings driving it, because such change will be imperfect, flawed, and probably corrupt. It will fail and eventually turn into something not all that unlike what it replaced. That's one of the more painful lessons of history.

But there is one that won't. It's a different kind of revolution, but it will set the world on fire. It is a revolution based not on human desires, but on God's desire. It is based not on hate, anger, and frustration, but on compassion, justice, and love. It is the revolution that began 2000 years ago in an upper room in Jerusalem with the rush of a mighty wind and tongues of fire alighting on 12 men (and perhaps others present with them.)

Fire's a good metaphor, because it has more than one meaning. We can think of it destructively, burning and destroying, perhaps to restart anew. But there's another kind of fire, the fire of passionate caring love, the kind of love that God has for our world. You want to talk about songs and music? How many songs do you know talk about love as something burning, something hot and fiery? That's how God feels for our world and for all of its people. The songwriter wanted to set the world on fire. I wanted to set the world on fire. Well, we’re in good company. So does God and on Pentecost, it began.

It's no coincidence the crowd that is summoned by the noise of that upper room is diverse in its origins. That crazy list of nations and lands represent the width and breadth of the known world of those days. God's fire isn't limited to one person or one race or one nation or any of that. It burns for all and he calls us to likewise burn for others as he does.

You want to start a revolution? Start treating people the way God would. Start loving them the way he does. They won't know what to do with themselves. Most people have never had that in life. This world tears us down. It beats us up and leaves us wondering if we've of any value at all.

I was passing through the living room the other day and my mother-in-law was watching one of those documentary specials Oprah puts out on her network. It was talking about a church camp and they were showing one of the rituals they did at this camp. The counselor would hold up a mirror and have each camper come forward. He would have the camper look at their reflection and he would repeat the same thing over and over again. Look at yourself. You are a precious child of God. You are loved. You are beautiful. You are worth more than words can say. The creator of all that is cares about you so much that he paid the ultimate price to have you beside him.

We don't hear that enough. We don't say that enough. But it's true. Every word of it is true. And if you want to see this world catch fire, that's how it's done. Tell people that. Live into that. Believe it in your bone of bones. Because every word of it is true. God loves you beyond words. God loves everyone you meet beyond description. God wants you and everyone to be a part of his family. He gave Jesus over to death for that to happen. He brought him again from the dead so that he would never have to live without us. And he sent his Spirit on Pentecost to see that the world knows it.

“Do you remember when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire?” Yeah, I do remember.  But not only that, I still want it. I want the world to know because the same love with which God embraced me and made me his own he holds for all people. And if and when we live that truth out, we will see this world burn with the fire of God's love and we will see lives transformed. I want the fire of the Spirit to come upon all humankind and set the world aright at last. I pray you do as well. Amen.