Texts: Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:25-35, 37b; I Corinthians 12:3b-13; John 20:19-23
Isn’t
it amazing what God has done?
God
took the stuff of the earth, and formed a people in his image, to be his
friends and fellow workers in the business of creation. He breathed into the
earth, and we became his image on this earth, to be his people, working and
living for God’s pleasure, in the midst of the glory of God’s handiwork—the
world around us. We are dust and to dust we shall return, but while we breathe,
we are God’s holy people. Dust imaging God! Dust made to glorify God!
That’s
amazing!
Isn’t
it amazing what God can do?
God
took a dispirited, discouraged, disorganized, dysfunctional, dis-this and
dis-that bunch of Galilean fishermen, Jewish zealots, former tax-collectors and
other sinners and hangers-on, and turned them into the most powerful force in
human history. And it started when one of them stood up in front of the people and
spoke the truth about their departed leader. Peter raised his voice, no longer
denying Jesus, but proclaiming him as God’s anointed one—the saviour of all
humanity.
And
that too is amazing!
Isn’t
it amazing what God continues to do?
God
still takes human beings of every race, language, age and ability, filling us
with the power of the Holy Spirit, forming us into a mighty band of faithful
followers, companions on the way, proclaiming his love and mercy, and the
salvation of the world through the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.
Truly,
this is all amazing!
And
yet…
Do
we not sometimes take it for granted?
Do
we at times put our own needs ahead of the needs of God’s creation?
Do
we at times give lip service to the power of the Holy Spirit, forgetting that
it was given to us ours to use for God’s work?
Do
we give greater honour to the church’s institutional history and life than to
its continuing mission?
All
too often, we keep our heads down, going about our daily business, not taking
the time to reflect on the amazing things God has done and continues to do.
It
is truly amazing what God can do!
All
we have to do is let it happen—open our hearts to the movement of the Holy
Spirit, setting free the gifts God has imparted to each and every one of us, looking
with ever-fresh eyes at the world, at God’s people, and at the mission God has
entrusted to us.
The
church never fails to amaze me, in its wonderful and sometimes exasperating
diversity, in the bounty of gifts among its members, in their devotion and
humility. Yes, we sometimes fall short, finding things not working quite the
way we think they should. But God has a way of taking the most commonplace
materials and making something beautiful and marvelous out of them.
God
has a way of amazing us—filling us with awe and wonder and holy energy—if we will
just lift our eyes and our hearts to behold the wonders he has set before us.
Take a look around the church today. Look at all these people who have joined
together to celebrate this holy feast. We’re just ordinary people, each with
our own tics and foibles, our likes and dislikes, our abilities—and our
disabilities. God has called us together on this day to be the people of
Pentecost—divinely gifted and inspired for the work of ministry, raising our
voices to proclaim God’s amazing deeds, and in Thomas Merton’s words,
… committed to the
belief that Love and Mercy are the most powerful forces on earth.
Isn’t
that truly amazing?
Surely
we must be filled with awe and wonder that God could send ordinary people like
us out to do the most important work in the world!
Let
us never believe that we can not do God’s work. We have every gift required to
accomplish the task to which God has called us. We are filled to overflowing
with love and mercy, with faith and hope, with wisdom and knowledge, with all
that is needed for the mission of the Church.
Isn’t
it amazing what God has done and continues to do?
Isn’t
it amazing that God equips us and sends us forth to carry on his work?
Now
let’s get out there and do it!
And
let’s amaze the world with the power of God’s love and mercy.
Amen.
