WHO DOES GOD=S WORK

(Preached on Sunday, May 11, 2008)

But Moses said to him, AAre you jealous for my sake?  Would that all the Lord=s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!@

-Numbers 11:29

 

Who does God=s work?  That is the question here.  Is it just a hand-picked chosen few?  Just those with special credentials and certificates of ordination?  That is what Joshua thinks.  That is why he is so upset that there were two men back in camp acting like prophets, like God=s chosen leaders, at the same time that 70 hand-picked men were out by the Tent of Meeting receiving a special outpouring of God=s Spirit, receiving their ordination and installation credentials. 

 

It is what Moses initially thought, which is why he had been carrying the burden of leadership since before they fled Egypt and got out from underneath Pharaoh=s taskmasters.  Not that he wanted the burden.  He had tried to refuse the call at the burning bush.  And earlier in this chapter, just before this story of the choosing of the 70 elders, Moses had again been complaining to God about this great burden of leadership.  Listen to his complaint: AWhy have you treated your servant so badly?  Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of this people on me?  Did I conceive all this people?@  Can=t get much more vivid than that: AAm I their father?  Why am I responsible for them?@  So, God decided to ease Moses= burden by appointing 70 elders to assist him in leading this numerous crowd.

 

But when the Spirit of God breaks out of the designed boundaries and includes two men not among the 70, Joshua gets upset and demands Moses to censor them!  Of course, Moses will have none of that attitude.  His response is to voice his true desire: AWould that all the Lord=s people were prophets, and the Lord would put his spirit on them!@  Moses does not want to be stingy with sharing the work load.  He would rather all God=s people were prophets!  He would rather all God=s people were engaged in doing God=s work!

 

Well, Moses must be rejoicing in heaven!  Because today we celebrate the answering of his prayer.  That=s what Pentecost is C the answer to Moses= prayer.  At Pentecost the Spirit of God was poured out upon all God=s people.  In fact, Peter suggests that it was actually the fulfillment of the prophet Joel=s vision, and the Spirit of God was being poured out upon all people.  Not just the powerful, politically placed; not just the properly educated, properly credentialed, properly certified, but on all people.  Including the typically voiceless C old women and old men,  young people out of work, maids, janitors.  People who never appear on the pages of the New York Times, those who never ask to say a few words at the microphone, they shall speak for God. 

 

That is one of the clear, central messages of the day of Pentecost and the scripture: people get the Holy Spirit in order to speak about God.  That is what Eldad and Medad and the 70 elders of Israel did when the Spirit of God came upon them.  That is what Peter and the first disciples did on the day of Pentecost.  That is what Jesus did.  Early in his ministry he went to the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth and was invited to read the scripture.  He read from the prophet Isaiah the passage that said: AThe Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach the good news to the captives, deliverance to the oppressed, recovery of sight to the blind.@  The Spirit of the Lord was upon Jesus so that he might speak about God and tell of God=s mighty works.

 

So, to answer the question at the beginning of the sermon, AWho does God=s work?@ it is the Holy Spirit that does God=s work.  But the Holy Spirit does that work through God=s people.  And not just a few, specially chosen people, but all God=s people for the Spirit of God has been poured out upon all people. 

 

Let that sink in.  You realize what that means?  That means you, and you, and you, and me C all of us are the one=s who do God=s work.  Why do I say that?  Because each of us has received the Spirit of God.  When?  At our baptism, just as Jesus did. 

 

Now I realize that is undoubtedly an uncomfortable idea for most of you.  Believe me, it has never been a very comfortable idea for me, and I am seminary trained, with 28 years experience as a pastor, having preached over 1200  sermons.  Plus I have a certain protection because we all understand that is why we are here and why I am here, to hear the word preached and for me to speak about God.  For you, when you get to work tomorrow, in the classroom, or the boardroom, the office, or over the kitchen table, speaking about God is even more difficult.

 

Nevertheless, by the grace of God, you are able to do it.  That=s got to be one of the main points of the Pentecost story.  When the followers of Jesus received the Holy Spirit they spoke out C boldly.  Their fear fell away.  When they spoke, people heard and understood and were moved.  Their communication transcended limitations of language, culture and the human tendency to misunderstand one another.  Spirit within spoke to spirit within the other.  True connection was made.  The reality that God=s loving presence was at any moment making all things new came across clearly, and all who heard them comprehended.  It was the work of the Holy Spirit, bringing things to speech, and doing the work of God.

 

That Holy Spirit is active and present in our lives today.  When everything is falling apart, and yet somehow you are able to hold it together because you sense that God is with you, supporting and comforting you C that is the Holy Spirit.  When you have done something terribly wrong and cannot rest or get it out of your mind until you have confessed it to God, and have tried to make things right with the person you have wronged C that is the Holy Spirit.  When you are trying to make a difficult decision, and you realize that God has given you the ability to sort through the options and make a good choice C that is the Holy Spirit.  When you see someone struggling, and you know you ought to do what you can to help out C that is the Holy Spirit.  As a church, when we sense God in our worship, as we meet together to comfort the grieving, when we pray for each other, when we move out into our community to do God=s work or when we have a decision to make together C that is the Holy Spirit.   Indeed, the Holy Spirit is with us, active in our lives, in many powerful ways.

 

That Holy Spirit is what gives us the gifts, the abilities, and the power to be God=s witnesses in the world C to speak about God and to be about God=s work.  Trust that Spirit and trust your calling.  It is the work of God, after all, and God=s Spirit will be about it when it needs to through you.

 

You work next to him at the office.  You said that he was rather quiet and you actually did not know him that well.  But one day you found him over in the corner by the filing cabinet, crying.  You asked him if you could help, if anything was wrong.  Then he confided in you.  He told you that he had, the weekend before, written his parents that he was gay, that he was coming Aout of the closet.@  His parents had screamed at him, said that he had broken their hearts, and told him that he should not set foot in their house again as long as he had these feelings.  You reached out, put your arm around him, and said, AI am sorry that happened to you.  Your parents probably love you, but they just don=t know how to love you at this moment.  I am a Christian, and we certainly don=t feel this way about you.  God loves you as a treasured creation.  Please know that, remember that, and cling to that,@ you said.  Now how would you, a rather conventional and ordinary human being, be able to say something that courageous and comforting?  Well, AThe Spirit of the Lord is upon you to preach.@