"Spiritual Conversations" - 6/9/2019

One day, a priest from the local Roman Catholic Church and a pastor from the local Baptist church were standing by the side of the road holding up a sign that read, “The End Is Near! Turn yourself around before it’s too late!” They planned to hold up the sign to each passing car, until the first driver sped by and yelled, “Leave us alone you religious nuts!” From around the curve they heard screeching tires and a big splash. “Do you think,” said one to the other, “we should change the sign to just say, ‘Bridge Out’?”
Today is the birthday of the church, when on that first Pentecost, we are told that the church began to speak in a variety of languages; enabled to voice the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Over the past fifty days since Jesus’ resurrection the disciples had lived in fear, with occasional appearances from the risen Christ to strengthen them and help them understand scriptures. Now Jesus had ascended and as they feel that fear return the Holy Spirit came, and sparked them to speak. In today’s Acts reading, our first lesson, we discover that the apostles “were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” We are also told that the international Jewish community in Jerusalem was bewildered by this, “because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.” Using a variety of languages, the apostles started to talk publicly about “God’s deeds of power.” And Peter, who a little more than 50 days ago, had denied Jesus now felt able to raise his voice and boldly proclaim that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
On Pentecost with the help of the Holy Spirit, the followers of Jesus Christ now talked openly about God’s deeds of power and about the salvation offered by Jesus. On this day, the birthday of the church, it learned how to speak, then, as now, God-talk has the power to change lives.
But it appears that we are losing our voice in this nation, and I am not speaking about some urban myth about Christians being persecuted in this nation. Hardly. Rather, little less than a year ago in The New York Times, the religion writer Jonathan Merritt reported that it’s getting harder and harder to talk about God. And it’s not for what you may think. Merritt pointed out that although more than 70 percent in the United States identify themselves as Christian, and we live in a free nation, yet most do not feel comfortable speaking about faith. It has less to do about feeling one can’t say anything and more to do with fear. Granted we are starting from a deep hole as Christians because if anything is said all it we may repeat stuff that’s not in even in the Bible. For example, nowhere in the Bible does it say “The Lord works in mysterious ways;” nowhere does it say “moderation in all things;” or “This too will pass.” Or we may repeat scripture out of context like “Charity begins at home” or “God helps those who help themselves” neither is what the Bible really says.
Merritt’s main point however is that according to a recent Barna survey, more than three-quarters of Americans do not often have spiritual or religious conversations at all. Six in 10 say that they have spiritual conversations only on very rare occasions and only a mere 7 percent of Americans say that they talk about spiritual matters on a regular basis. To put it bluntly, we can’t blame those many silent nominal Christians who we rarely see in worship rather, Merritt points out that it is practicing Christians who attend worship weekly who don’t do much better than the general population.
So why do we struggle so badly with God talk? Jonathan Merritt says that today, “work often takes precedence over worship, social lives are prioritized over spiritual disciplines and most people save their Sunday-best clothing for Monday through Friday.” Certainly, God talk can be tricky — no doubt about it, but on this Pentecost let us take just a moment to remember that we are to speak of our faith and we need to find ways to communicate it.
Thankfully, the apostle Paul gives us some guidance in his letter to the Romans, which he wrote to those small churches in the capital of the Roman Empire. He knew in that day and age in that context spiritual conversations could create tensions and arguments. Paul was well aware that Christians in Rome could come across as weird and peculiar. So the language he uses is very carefully chosen.
Like Paul, we need to be careful with the language we use in conversations about faith. J.R. Briggs, author and pastor outside Philadelphia says that if you ask someone with no church experience what it means to “feel called,” they might think you’re “referring to the phone vibrating in their pocket.” Although Briggs has been a pastor for more than 15 years, he still doesn’t know exactly what people mean when they say goodbye with the words, “Be blessed.” He is also aware that phrases from Scripture can be confusing --- being healed “by the blood of the Lamb” and giving your “tithes and offerings” are religious jargon that can be mystifying to people outside the church.
Return to the jargon of by the blood…it’s fine to talk about being washed “in the blood of the Lamb” with someone who knows that you can’t quote Revelation with knowing Leviticus, that the blood and Lamb has deep historical and theological meaning. So no wonder telling someone that their sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus to a neighbor who’s just moved in next door, maybe not a good idea. Two people with MBAs might discuss the difference between a Roth and regular IRA, but when they’re explaining to a friend what they do, they’re likely just to say that they are accountants or financial planners.
Fortunately, Paul does not make such mistakes in his God talk to the Romans. Not only is he careful with the language he uses, but he also talks about values, not dogma, faith not rules.
What can we say about God directly in 21st century US? Paul assists us by referring to family. God is like a parent who’s adopted us to be his children. This means at least three things for Paul: We are chosen; We can talk to God; We are heirs. What does this mean? Basically, Paul is telling those early Christians, we can’t pick our brothers and sisters, or how God sparked them to join this community, but what we can say is what God has done is by adoption.
Let’s look a little more deeply at each of these and perhaps learn some new vocabulary as we are inspired to share our faith:
We are chosen. According to the Roman legal concept of adoption during the time when Paul wrote, an adopted child has a whole new identity, status and set of relationships. One’s biology does not matter. Rather an adopted child is chosen to become part of a new family. “Because the Spirit makes us God’s adopted children,” writes professor of biblical studies Richard Carlson, “we are empowered to address God in intimate and direct parental terms: Abba, Father.”
Therefore, let me connect that meaning with someone today who may ask about your conception of God. You can reply: “God is like a parent, like a mom or dad, who’s adopted me --- and go from there. So let’s practice. What is God like? God is like parent! God adopted me into God’s family.” Once again, no mystifying religious jargon: God is in an intimate and direct parent-child relationship.
Second, for that reason, Paul says we can talk to God. No fancy, strange language that one has to learn. Rather because of this close kinship, we can approach God with any concern and do so at any time, just as a child can do with a loving parent. When we come to God in this manner, “it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” Paul says (vv. 15-16). The Spirit of God makes it possible for us to experience a new identity, a new status and a new set of relationships as members of God’s family.
Furthermore, in a world of so many dysfunctional families, the family of God is always going to be an attractive topic of discussion. And this is key, although we say God is like a parent, in this family, God shows us unconditional love and unlimited grace. Our values come from who we are, adopted children from God, not from what we do. There is truly nothing we can do to make God love us more, and nothing we can do to make God love us any less. Rather, in this family, the Spirit bears witness “with our spirit that we are children of God” (v. 16).
Third, in addition, Paul says we become heirs --- “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (v. 17). This means that we will be “fully conformed to the glorious image of God that now exists in God’s Son, Jesus Christ,” says Carlson. We will find ourselves side-by-side with our joint heir Jesus, the one who is “the firstborn within a large family” (v. 29).
I don’t know about you but being an heir is nice; an inheritance! But being a joint heir with Jesus does not mean instant luxury and ease, an RV with the bumper sticker reminding everyone that we are spending our children’s inheritance. Just the opposite, Jesus emptied himself, so this inheritance is crazy stuff like loving our neighbor. This inheritance is no gold or diamonds in some Swiss vault, rather it is love, mutual affection, honor, passion, hope, perseverance and hospitality.
I know it is challenging, but all of this can be spoken by any of us. Let’s review: Paul talks about values, not rules; Paul talks about God by once again referring to family; God is like a parent who’s adopted us — chosen us — to be his children. This means three things:
—We are chosen; and so are others. Don’t worry about who is! It’s not our problem.
—We can talk to God; and so can others. Don’t worry if there is perceived silence on the other end. It’s not our problem.
—We are heirs; and so are others. Don’t worry about why bad things happen to good people. It’s not our problem.
On this day of Pentecost, the church celebrates God talk. Let us begin to speak of faith, not shy away from what the Holy Spirit has taught us. Let us not speak with religious jargon, but with clear words about what it means to be chosen, children of God, led by the Spirit of God with an inheritance. Each of us has been adopted by our loving God, and out of that love we can serve God right alongside our brother Jesus. So, when we speak of love, honor, hope and hospitality — and, better yet, when we back up our words with our actions — guess what, I think the world will get the message and will know what we know, we are not religious nuts, just loved and forgiven by a loving God. Amen.