Pentecost. The
birthday of the church--the day that has proven to be the most important
in the life of the church. But almost as soon as the church tried to live
the life given it at its birth, it began to experience fracturing,
division, and dissension. Pentecost—the day God gave unity to the Body of
Christ for the continuing ministry of Jesus in the world—was unfortunately
also the last day the church actually had the unity given it by God.
Now every church, every
denomination, has its own peculiar, particular understanding of what
happened that day and what it now means for us in the present. There are
congregations that find this experience so significant that the word is
included in their name: “Pentecostal,” for example. But the experience
of Pentecost is not limited to those denominations that include this term
in their name. Pentecost is central to all Christian churches. And it is
central to United Methodism.
What was it that
happened to them when the church was born? As Jesus’ disciples were
waiting in Jerusalem, just as their risen and ascended Lord had instructed
them, they remained right up until the Jewish harvest festival called
Pentecost. This Jewish holiday is called Pentecost because it occurs 50
days after Passover. It was at the Jewish Pentecost celebration when they
heard “a sound like the rush of a violent wind.” Then they saw tongues of
fire among them, and each fiery tongue rested on each of them. At that
moment they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in
other languages, languages they didn’t even know. With this new gift of
language they were able to share the Good News of Jesus Christ to all the
Jews who had come to Jerusalem from so many cities and countries in their
own native language. By the gift of the Holy Spirit such unity was forged
from such diversity. The gift of the Holy Spirit changes hearts. At
Pentecost hearts came together as one by the blessing of God. That’s what
happened to them.
If that is what
happened to them then, what has happened to us since? That blessed unity
granted by God did not take long to find fracture. Very early on in the
church a disagreement arose over the acceptance of Gentiles, or non-Jews,
into the Christian faith. Those Christians of Jewish origin felt that new
Christians must also accept Jewish practices as a part of their new-found
Christian faith. Christian missionaries among the Gentile population,
however, disagreed with this. And this was just the beginning of the
divisions and separations the church has experienced since its birth.
By now it will not
surprise you that there is a quite distinctive United Methodist
perspective on all of this. United Methodism, taking our cue from the
founder of the 18th century English movement that became our church,
believes that the Holy Spirit is still present, active, alive, and
changing hearts today. Through God’s sanctifying grace hearts are
continually formed into the image of God in which we were created. For
John Wesley and for United Methodism, it’s always a matter of the heart.
That’s just how much we believe in love.
In his sermon entitle
“Catholic Spirit,” (the word “catholic here meaning “universal”) John
Wesley quotes the Old Testament passage:
If your heart is as my heart… then take my hand.
(2 Kings 10:15)
What does he mean by this? In his sermon he answers:
I do not mean, “Be of my opinion.” You need not. I do not
expect or desire it. Neither do I mean, “I will be of your opinion.” I
cannot; it does not depend on my choice…Keep you your opinion; I mine, and
that as steadily as ever. You need not even endeavour to come over to me
or bring me over to you. I do not desire you to dispute those points or to
hear or speak one word concerning them. Let all opinions alone on one
side and the other: only, “give me (your) hand.” I do not mean, “embrace
my modes of worship” or “I will embrace yours.” This..is a thing which
does not depend either on your choice or mine. We must both act as each
is fully persuaded in his own mind. Hold you fast that which you believe
is most acceptable to God and I will do the same. I believe the Episcopal
form of church government to be scriptural and apostolical. If you think
the Presbyterian or independent is better, think so still and act
accordingly. I believe infants ought to be baptized, and that this may be
done either by dipping or sprinkling. If you are otherwise persuaded, be
so still, and follow your own persuasion…I have not desire to dispute with
you one moment upon any of (this)…Let all these smaller points stand
aside. Let them never come into sight. “If (your) heart is as my heart,”
if (you love) God and all (humanity), I ask no more: “Give me (your)
hand.” John Wesley, “On the Catholic Spirit,” John
Wesley, ed. by Albert C.
Outler (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), p. 99.
What does it mean to give your hand
to John Wesley? He means, “loves me; commend me to God in all your
prayers; provoke me to love and good work; and love me not in word only
but in deed and truth.” This sense of our connectedness with other
denominations and churches is at the very heart of what it means to be
United Methodist.
Although we United
Methodists surely grieve over the divisions and fractures in the body of
Christ that so many different denominations and traditions represent, we
also celebrate the rich diversity and the unique gifts of the vast
tapestry that is the church today. The church does not have to be the
same in order to have unity. The church can have unity without
uniformity. The church can unite in love without joining under the same
governance. The church can share a common mission without insisting on
the same liturgy and same spiritual experience. We believe it is all a
matter of the heart. That’s what we mean when we say, “we believe in
love.”
This must be why
persons of so many denominational and church backgrounds have found such a
good “home” in our church. In many ways our United Methodist experience
is a unique blend of the church’s broad spirituality. That’s because we
benefit historically from both the liturgical as well as the more “free
church” traditions of spiritual experience.
John Wesley was raised
in the very rational tradition of the Church of England—he knew and
followed its doctrine (as we essentially do today), carried on its liturgy
as we do today, followed the church calendar with the seasonal colors and
biblical texts as we do today. But John Wesley also had an experience he
never forgot. He was sailing through rough seas on his way to his
ill-fated mission to the Indians in Georgia (our Adult Fellowship visited
that site just two weeks ago). As the sea roared and the ship was tossed
to and fro he noticed a group of Moravians on the ship seated calmly in
prayer—quite a contrast to his own fearful demeanor. As he talked with
them he began to appreciate their more enthusiastic, spontaneous, and
obviously confident spirituality. This may have laid the groundwork for
his heart-warming experience on Aldersgate Street in 1738 when finally his
heart caught up with his head in not only knowing in his mind but
feeling deep inside his heart the love of God. Through the years
his own spiritual life and that of his followers began to grow out of its
more “proper,” subdued, and thoughtful Anglican tradition to a more
spontaneous, joyous, spirited expression.
That is why you find in
our worship, as in everything we do as United Methodists, it’s the heart
that counts. When United Methodists worship, we worship from the heart
without losing our heads. The praise of God brings joy as well as
spontaneity to our worship. United Methodism, you see, shares a bit of the
best of both worlds. Whether we worship in the fellowship hall or in the
sanctuary we are never so still, liturgical, and orderly that we subdue
the spirit in our hearts nor are we so enthusiastic, spirited, and
spontaneous that we lose our heads. We United Methodists, we believe in
love. And love is enthusiastic but it is never irrational. It is our
unique experience that love makes you change your heart, not just your
mind.
A family had a
cherished mirror in their home that had been passed down from generation
to generation. It had hung on the wall in an honored place in the homes
of ancestors as far back as they could remember. It had hung in its own
special place above the mantel in their home, until somebody dropped it.
There it lay, broken and shattered on the floor, a gift of the ages
destroyed. They gathered the pieces together and finally made that
fateful telephone call as they tearfully reported to their children and
grandchildren that this was one gift they simply were no longer able to
pass on to them as they had received it. The children and grandchildren
knew the pain in their elders’ hearts, and their tears touched them
deeply. So they asked, “Can we have the pieces?” The family gathered one
day and with the remnants of that cherished heirloom before them,
proceeded to break the larger pieces into smaller ones. Then they took
the pieces and created things of beauty, creative art, inlaid hangings,
so many of them that before they were finished there were more than enough
for them all today to find special places for these gifts of the ages.
United Methodists, as
all Christians, believe that Pentecost is central. What was it that
happened to them when the church was born? The church was born by the
gift of the presence of God in the hearts of believers through the Holy
Spirit. What has happened to us since our birth? Have we been faithful
to the unity forged among us by the Spirit of God in the beginning? No,
we haven’t. Has God given up on the church in our utter failure to keep
ourselves together in the mission to which we are called? By no means.
If the world was saved by the broken body of our Lord Jesus Christ upon
the cross then the divided Body of Christ in the world today will never
deny the fulfillment of God’s purpose in creation. If God first so used
the broken body of Christ, God can do it again. God’s sanctifying grace
has always made a blessing of that which is broken, divided, and
fractured. That is true of you, isn’t it? That is true of me. That is
true of our world. That is true of the church.
