Trinity
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
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May 2002 (click here to return to "May
2002 Sermons" page)
Pentecost Sunday (May 19, 2002)
“At What Cost?” Dr.
Van Kemper
Texts: Acts 2:1-21, John
20:19-23
SERMON
When
this congregation was contemplating its centennial celebrations in 1990 [check
date], a major project was the renovation of this sanctuary – including the
creation of the beautiful stained glass windows. I wasn’t here in those days, but many of you were – and I
imagine that you had some spirited debates about the high cost of creating,
installing, and maintaining the stained glass windows.
Today, on this Day of Pentecost, a day that marks the fiftieth day after Easter
Sunday in our Liturgical Calendar, I invite our special attention to these
windows, particularly the one here in the southwest corner that points to the
event of Pentecost and to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
This window is not only a work of art, it also is a symbol of who we claim to be
as the Church. After all, when the
Choir assembled a set of favorite hymns into a compact disc collection a couple
of years ago, the Pentecost window served as the cover art for the CD.
And, by the way, I am told by reliable sources that a very small number
of those CDs are still available for purchase – so get some to send as gifts
on this Day of Pentecost.
Whether on the CD cover, or here in person in the sanctuary, we see very
familiar symbols when we gaze upon the Pentecost window: the dove at the top;
the flames coming from the mouth of the dove and descending upon the world
below; and then the Seal of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which itself
contains the dove and the flames as integral elements.
The dove, of course, is a traditional representation for the Holy Spirit, as
reported in all four Gospels regarding the baptism of Jesus, as we can see in
another window in this series (point to the window at the back on the south
side). For instance, Luke’s Gospel (3:22) reports, “The Holy Spirit
descended upon him in bodily form like a dove....”
It is interesting that the report in Acts 2:1-4 about the Day of Pentecost does
NOT mention any dove! Instead, the
assembled folks “... were all together in one place.
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....”
So, perhaps it is with a certain artistic liberty that the stained glass
window portrays the “rush of a violent wind” in the bodily form of a dove
– but it certainly makes for a nice parallel with the baptism of Jesus window
at the other end of the sanctuary.
This brings us to the flames. As
Acts 2:3 reports, “Divided
tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of
them.” These flaming tongues provide the basis for the Day of Pentecost being
the main occasion during the liturgical year when red is the color of paraments
and stoles. The other principal
purpose of red vestments comes on the occasion of ordinations – since the
“calling” to ministry is understood to be a witness to the Holy Spirit’s
sustaining role in the Church.
And finally we come to the Seal of the PC(USA) at the bottom of the window.
You can discern the dove serving as the top part of the blue cross and
you can see the red flames on both sides of the cross.
According to the Office of the General Assembly, “The flames themselves
convey a double meaning: a symbol of relevation in the Old Testament when God
spoke to Moses from the burning bush, and a suggestion of the beginning of the
Christian church when Christ manifested himself to his apostles at Pentecost and
charged them to be messengers of the goodness of God’s love. (http://www.pcusa.org/oga/seal.htm).
Dove, flaming tongues, and the Seal of the PC(USA) – enough with the
symbolism, you might say. But, if
we stopped here in our appreciation of this artistic rendering of Pentecost and
the Presbyterian Church, we would fail to comprehend the role of the Holy Spirit
in our individual lives and in the corporate life of the Church.
So, let us take a few more moments to reflect on what else the passage in the
second chapter of Acts reports about Pentecost. “Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a
tongue rested on each of them. All
of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages,
as the Spirit gave them ability.” Sure
enough, the word play we hear in English was also present in the original Greek
text – “tongues of fire” and “speaking in tongues” both involve the
same root glossa, from which we get our English word “gloss.”
This Pentecostal scene of “speaking in tongues” is the cause of great
concern among commentators on the Book of Acts.
Indeed, the development of the Pentecostal Movement and Charismatic
churches is tied directly to the phenomenon of “speaking in tongues.”
It was only a century ago – on January 1, 1901 when Charles F. Parham
founded Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas and with a small group of
disciples sought consciously to recover the gift of speaking in tonuges.
In the first decade of the 20th century, the message spread to Texas and
on to Californa, and since then around the world.
In the second half of the 20th century, Pentecostal churches in the
United States (e.g., Assemblies of God and the Church of God in Christ) have
grown dramatically in size – from about 1.6 million adherents in the 1950s to
nearly 10 million faithful followers in the 1990s.
In addition, churches of a Pentecostal bent are growing rapidly in Latin
America, Africa, and in Asia/Pacific. Their
dramatic growth took place at the same time that the Presbyterian Church (USA)
declined by more than a million members!
No one has an easy explanation for the growth of Pentecostal churches and the
decline of the PC(USA), but it is noteworthy that the artist who did our
stained-glass window has taken a very Presbyterian approach to the phenomenon of
speaking in tongues. It is simply
absent from the representation of the Day of Pentecost in the upper part of the
window, just as it is absent from the Seal of the PC(USA) in the lower part of
the window!
But, surely you say, it must be more than just speaking in tongues that accounts
for the amazing growth of the Pentecostal churches and it must be more than just
a lack of speaking in tongues that accounts for the continuing decline of
the PC(USA) membership in general and of many of its specific congregations.
Perhaps if we understand “speaking in tongues” as a metaphor for inclusivity
and diversity within the church we will be on the right track for understanding
what is going on. The story of the
Day of Pentecost is not about a few individuals who have the “Church”
delivered unto them as a neat package deal reserved for that few.
On the contrary, the event of Pentecost is for everyone – “they were
all together in one place” ... “All of them were filled with the Holy
Spirit.” Not just a few, but all
of them!
We need to take seriously our relationship with the Holy Spirit, within the
mystery of the Trinity. Perhaps, a
little story will help here.
A few weeks ago, a Trinity member of long-standing asked me “Why are we now
using the ecumenical version of the Apostles’ Creed as our Affirmation of
Faith in worship services? One simple response, of course, would be to observe
that, for some time, we use the ecumenical verion of the Nicene Creed as our
Affirmation of Faith when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper – like this
morning.
But there is a more profound reason that goes to the heart of our Presbyterian
need for a greater appreciation of the Holy Spirit.
If you recall the words of the so-called “traditional”
English-language version of the Apostle’s Creed, the final section goes “I
believe in the Holy Ghost, etc.” The
ecumenical version, in contrast, requires an affirmation that “I believe in
the Holy Spirit, etc.” The only
difference in the final section of the Creed is between “ghost” and
“spirit.”
This is a huge difference. A
“ghost” is a mere apparition, something unreal, and insubstantial – as
when you say to someone that he has doesn’t even have a “ghost of a
chance” to win the lottery. On
the other hand, a “spirit” is a positive force, at the root of our
“inspirations” and our “aspirations.”
An understanding of God involving a “ghost” is much less adequate than one
built on a “spirit.” And a
Church that depends on a “ghost” is much more likely to vanish into thin air
than one that is filled with the Spirit.
If we here at Trinity fail to find an appropriate role for the Holy Spirit, then
we may not have a “ghost of a chance” in surviving the race for people’s
hearts and souls in today’s world.
The Holy Spirit came upon the folks all together in one place on that Day of
Pentecost. As we celebrate this event – which many see as the birth of the
Church in the first century – we need to be mindful of being called by God
into the Body of Christ that is the Church, where we are promised to be
sustained by the Holy Spirit, our Advocate.
The church is not ours; it is God’s. The
notion that we are NOT in control of everything in sight is very un-American.
To be dependent on God or any force is against our cultural grain, but
this is absolutely necessary if we to be the body of Christ in this broken
world.
To understand how our dependence on God can be a positive feature of who we are
here at Trinity, let us contemplate the windows once more.
On this beautiful morning, we sit in the pews and admire the windows for the
brilliance of their colors. But have you ever looked at them from the outside on
a sunny morning? They are dull and
dreary, a far cry from the brillance we witness here as the sun light beams
through to illuminate the stained glass. And
then at night, the situation is reversed. After dark, the bright interior lighting lets the brilliance
of the stained glass be seen by the community beyond the sanctuary, even while
we can dicern little from the inside looking out.
In effect, the windows offer two opposite perspectives, depending on where the
light comes from and where we are located to view the stained glass images.
This may serve as a useful metaphor for seeing ourselves in this
community here in Oak Cliff. We
best can see the story of the life of Jesus and the establishment of the church
when the light comes from the other side of the stained glass windows from where
we are located. For the people of
our neighborhood to see the story of Jesus and to know that we are “church”
we need to shine our light out through these windows to all those who live
around us.
But there is more to say. What
makes these windows so beautiful and so spectacular is that they
are constructed of many small panes of stained glass, combined in artistically
sensitive ways to tell the story of Jesus and the church.
Imagine how boring and uninviting these windows would be if the panes in
the windows were all the same color, the same size, and the same cut.
In fact, you would not be able to discern what the artist’s intention
was – you would not be able to see any picture at all – the scenes would be
virtually invisible!
Another point about the windows: the staining and the imperfections in the
different pieces of glass is not accidental.
It is part of the design of the scene.
If all of the glass pieces were “perfect”, they would be much less
interesting to look through – they would all transmit the light in precisely
the same wave lengths. Again, it is
the imperfections and the variations that make the windows beautiful.
Look closely, and you will see one more element in the stained glass windows.
Actually, it is the part that you are supposed NOT to see – I refer, of
course, to the lead between the different sections of stained glass panels.
The lead is important in holding together the pieces of the stained glass
in the window. It provides a
framework for the pieces; it keeps them in order.
But the lead is not the beautiful part of the windows. In fact, if all that you had in the window was the lead, it
not only would be deadly dull; it would be heavy, and impervious to penetration
from the inside or the outside.
I hope that we all can agree that the pieces of the window that matter, the
parts that tell the story, are the stained glass pieces. The lead is NOT what matters.
So, here is another part of the metaphor for our church.
I cannot tell you how many times during my three years here at Trinity
that I have heard folks proclaim, “We can turn around the situation of our
membership decline, our finances, our lack of young people, etc., etc., if only
we were just led.” ... Just “led.”
Just another word play you say – just like the “tongues of fire” and the
“speaking in tongues” in the second chapter of Acts?
Listen carefully. Playing
with words can be a powerful tool for social control and for ministry.
If you come here every Sunday and look at these windows and then remember
that you just want to be “led” – then these Pentecostal words may yet work
a miracle here at Trinity. It is
not the “lead” that matters – or the leader either – in sustaining the
church. It is the Holy Spirit that
sustains the church as the body of Christ in this broken world.
All of us, pastors and parishoners alike, need to be more “transparent,”
that is, more willing to let the sun light pass through us in showing the gospel
message to the community beyond this sanctuary.
We need to be more aware of our imperfections and our stains as we
witness to the life of Jesus in this community. And we need to be committed to making this a more beautiful
place by being inclusive of all who would participate in our ministry here.
The Pentecost window and all of the other stained glass windows are beautiful
indeed. It must have cost a lot to
build and install them. To honor
the centennial of Trinity Presbyterian church in this manner speaks volumes
about who we have been as the people of God here in Oak Cliff
On this Day of Pentecost, we
can ignore the implications of this Pentecostal window for who we have become a
dozen years after its installation, we
can deny the need for transformation in this congregation, we
even can resist the the excitment, fervor, and passion that the Holy Spirit can
breathe into all of us in this place.
But, I ask us all to consider, ... at what cost?
Amen.