HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR CHURCH
A sermon preached by
Rev. Dr. Randle R. (Rick) Mixon
First Baptist Church, Palo Alto, CA
Sunday, May 23, 2010
This shorter sermon or reflection was used in an intergenerational service in which children were present.
Texts: Acts 2:1-21
So, how old is the church? Somewhere between 1,970 and 2,000 years. How old is our congregation? 117 years. And how old is our church building? 61 years. Did anyone in our church family have a birthday this week? Oh yes, Melanie Ramirez. Her mother said that Melanie was just 30. I’m not sure that’s exactly right. It may be a little more than that but we won’t push it today. All of these dates are a long time ago, though some are clearly further in the past than others. They all are special days. Why do you suppose we celebrate birthdays?
It is a way of acknowledging a new life. It is a way of marking the passage of time. It is very often an excuse for having a party. It is a way of setting aside a special time to celebrate someone that we love. The birthday song wishes that person happiness and tells them that they are dear to us. “Happy birthday, dear Melanie. Happy birthday to you.”
But, why would we celebrate the birthday of the church? It seems like a funny thing to do. A church is not a person. A church can’t eat cake and celebrate with its friends and family, can it? How can it be happy? How can we call it “dear”? Oh, I forgot the song we sang earlier when we were looking at the pictures the children took of all the different people in our congregation holding signs saying “I am the church” and “We are the church”. The children brought us all a very important lesson. “The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people.” Does that mean us, you and you and you and me? Wow! You mean we are the church together? So a church may not be a person but a church is a people, which is a whole bunch of persons.
Well then, of course we can have a birthday and a party! It’s true that we may not know the exact time and place the church was born – the church universal or our congregation. After all, we are all different ages and come from all kinds of places. Did you hear the different languages used in the beginning to say “Happy birthday dear church”? I heard Spanish and Burmese, Arabic and French, Haitian Creole and Japanese, Chinese, German and even Texan. One verse of “We Are the Church” that we didn’t sing says “I count if I am ninety, or nine or just a baby; there’s one thing I am sure about and I don’t mean maybe: I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together.”
We come from so many different times and places, yet here we are, just one group of people – the church together, gathered this morning to say happy birthday to us. I think we deserve some happiness, don’t you? I think there is a whole room of dear people gathered here today, don’t you? We need to celebrate ourselves at least once a year, and probably more often than that.
You know I think God, a long time ago, decided that the church was important. That story from the book of Acts that we read earlier when we were playing all those instruments, waving our streamers, making a joyful noise and celebrating the Holy Spirit, that’s a story about how important God thought the church could be. First God sent his son, Jesus, to live with us and show us how God wants us to live in this world. God sent his son, Jesus, because he loved us so much - yes, you and me. He loved us so much he wanted us to be his children, too. “Come, be a part of my family,” God said. “Share all the joys and the challenges of life with me. Jesus will show you the way.”
It’s a very sad and strange thing that some people did not like that message from God. They did not want to accept the invitation to God’s party. They did not want to celebrate life with God. So they tried to kill Jesus to shut him up, but they just couldn’t do it. He was God’s son. God raised him up and God took him home to be with God. But before Jesus left, he made sure that there was a source of power to keep God’s children going. On Pentecost, he sent the Holy Spirit to give people the power, the strength to keep living in God’s way. He sent the Holy Spirit so that people would know that God and Jesus are always with us; that we are never alone, even when times get tough, when we’re hurting, lonely or afraid. We can feel their presence in our lives and know them in our hearts. Remember the words at the beginning of the bulletin today. Look at them. Read them with me. It was a high school girl named Jenny who prayed, “The light is so bright and warm. It is overwhelming and so welcoming. I walked in and felt your power, God. Thank you.” That’s what it’s like when God sends the Holy Spirit.
So, lots of people, all around the world celebrate this day as the birthday of the church, because this was the day that many people, for the first time, understood what it means to be God’s children, what it means to walk in the way of Jesus, what it means to feel the warmth and power of the Holy Spirit. Maybe it’s also the birthday because it’s the day that God gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit in a new and exciting way that makes us just want to have a party. It seems to me like a pretty good reason to celebrate. What do you think? Amen.
1-4 When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.
5-11There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck. They couldn't for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, "Aren't these all Galileans? How come we're hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?
Parthians, Medes, and Elamites;
Visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene;
Immigrants from Rome, both Jews and proselytes;
Even Cretans and Arabs!
"They're speaking our languages, describing God's mighty works!"
12Their heads were spinning; they couldn't make head or tail of any of it. They talked back and forth, confused: "What's going on here?"
13Others joked, "They're drunk on cheap wine."
14-21That's when Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency: "Fellow Jews, all of you who are visiting Jerusalem, listen carefully and get this story straight. These people aren't drunk as some of you suspect. They haven't had time to get drunk—it's only nine o'clock in the morning. This is what the prophet Joel announced would happen:
"In the Last Days," God says,
"I will pour out my Spirit
on every kind of people:
Your sons will prophesy,
also your daughters;
Your young men will see visions,
your old men dream dreams.
When the time comes,
I'll pour out my Spirit
On those who serve me, men and women both,
and they'll prophesy.
I'll set wonders in the sky above
and signs on the earth below,
Blood and fire and billowing smoke,
the sun turning black and the moon blood-red,
Before the Day of the Lord arrives,
the Day tremendous and marvelous;
And whoever calls out for help
to me, God, will be saved."