For those who were not able to attend services at Advent and for those who would like to experience the sermon and readings again, Reverend Robin Martin's sermons and the Lessons and Collects will appear on this page.

The Collect and Scripture Readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 4 th, 2008

Celebrant:  The Lord is with you.
People:  And also with you.
Celebrant:  Let us pray.

COLLECT:  O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

FIRST LESSON:  Acts 1:6-14  
When the apostles had come together, they asked Jesus, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."   Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

Reader:  Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s People
People:  Thanks be to God.

PSALM:   Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36
1
Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered; *
    let those who hate him flee before him.
2
Let them vanish like smoke when the wind drives it away; *
    as the wax melts at the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
3
But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; *
    let them also be merry and joyful.
4
Sing to God, sing praises to his Name; exalt him who rides upon the heavens; *
    YAHWEH is his Name, rejoice before him!
5
Father of orphans, defender of widows, *
    God in his holy habitation!
6
God gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners into freedom; *
    but the rebels shall live in dry places.
7
O God, when you went forth before your people, *
    when you marched through the wilderness,
8
The earth shook, and the skies poured down rain, at the presence of God,
 the God of Sinai, *
    at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9
You sent a gracious rain, O God, upon your inheritance; *
    you refreshed the land when it was weary.
10
Your people found their home in it; *
    in your goodness, O God, you have made provision for the poor.
33
Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth; *
    sing praises to the Lord.
34
He rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; *
    he sends forth his voice, his mighty voice.
35
Ascribe power to God; *
    his majesty is over Israel; his strength is in the skies.
36
How wonderful is God in his holy places! *
    the God of Israel giving strength and power to his people! Blessed be God!

SECOND LESSON:  1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11  
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

Reader:      Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.
People:      Thanks be to God.

Celebrant:   The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
People:        Glory to you, O Christ.

GOSPEL  John 17:1-11
Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. "

Celebrant:     The Gospel of the Lord.
People:          Praise to you O Christ.

The Sermon for the Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 4th, 2008

Reverend Robin Martin

As we sat down after the Wednesday Eucharist to ponder the readings for this morning, I reminded everyone that, since that day was the eve of the Ascension, we were entering the last days of the Easter season, forty days after Jesus rose from the dead and ten days before the receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  I also asked that we pay attention to these readings through the lens of the baptism we gather for this morning.  Almost before I got this out of my mouth and before we ever got to hear the readings, one of the group had this to say: Before we start, I have a question that doesn’t really have anything to do with this.  How do we know when someone has received the Holy Spirit?  Do they look different?  Or is it something more personal that happens inside people?  How can we tell?  I can no longer remember whether I insisted that we read the lessons first or not, but whatever the order in which we did things, this question generated a very lively discussion.

The more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realized that these questions which engaged us so on Wednesday are not at all beside the point given the fact that we will baptize young Abigail this morning.  They’re not beside the point because one of the things we claim is that she will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit this day.

The “history” of the Holy Spirit as manifested in the world and in human beings is instructive.  As I’ve said before, in the Hebrew Scriptures the Spirit of God came to rest on individuals and sometimes on groups of individuals for a period of time and for a specific purpose, after which, it returned to God.  It happened this way with Kings Saul and David, and it happened this way with the prophets, among others.  The Spirit was given, often with ecstatic signs like dancing or singing or prophetic utterances.  And when the task for which it was given was accomplished...or when the person failed to do and be as God commanded, the Spirit returned to the giver.  But, as we will remember and celebrate next week, at Pentecost it was a different matter.  However, as we heard last week in the Acts of the Apostles, Luke tells us that prior to leaving them, Jesus promised his disciples that the Holy Spirit would come to live in and among God’s people forever as their Advocate and guide.  On all these occasions, including the first Pentecost, the reception of the Spirit was accompanied by signs, sometimes visible to any who were around to observe, and sometimes, it seems, in times and places that only the individual was aware of.  So what about the question that was raised on Wednesday?  How do we or anyone else know when the Spirit is in us?  How can we know when it’s in others?

I assume that Abigail, like most infants who are baptized, will look and act the same at the end of this day as she does at it’s beginning.  At this stage of life, her awareness of what is happening in and around and to her is limited to how full her belly...and her diaper are, and whether she is lovingly and dependably cared for.  I assume the same was true for all of us who were baptized as infants.  In some other traditions than ours, great emphasis is placed on the signs, the manifestations I mentioned before that something extraordinary has happened to the individual.  So how do we, in our tradition “know” that the Spirit is in us and will be in Abigail in a few minutes?

One of the touchstones for me in any discussion of the Holy Spirit is the first creation story in the Genesis 1.  The first two verses of the entire Bible read: In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.  The Hebrew word translated here as wind is ruach.  The corresponding Greek word is pneuma, as in pneumonia.  They both mean “breath” so the writers of Genesis are claiming that God breathed the divine breath, what we call the Holy Spirit over the primordial soup at the beginning of creation.  What that says to me is that the Holy Spirit infuses all of creation, including you and me and all of humankind.

If I’m on the right track about this, what we’re dealing with is the mystery of that Spirit which is already present in us as a part of creation and the paradox that in baptism the Spirit is present and active in a different and more intentional way, a way that requires a response, an openness, an intentional living into the gift.  It’s kind of like when we got our first pair of roller skates or our first bicycle.  It was exciting...and it was challenging.  We could imagine what it would be like to skate or cycle down the sidewalk because we’d seen others do it.  But it wasn’t until we risked our bodies to the discipline of learning to balance on wheels that we could truly feel the speed, the freedom of flying around faster than our own two legs could carry us.  It takes courage to live into the gift of roller skates or a bicycle.

Peter writes today to people who are suffering mightily.  He assures them that their suffering is connected to the suffering that Christ endured, and exhorts them to turn over their anxiety about what is happening to God because God does care for them.  He promises them that this same God will restore, support, strengthen and establish them.  So maybe one of the ways we can recognize the Holy Spirit at work in other people and in ourselves is in the courage they show when things are really bad.  So courage is an indicator, but I’m guessing it’s more than that.

What we’re doing here today is baptizing Abbie into a way of life, a way of being. We are promising to teach her a bunch of stuff:

• to value and participate in the community of faith wherever she finds herself for the rest of her life;

• to be self-aware, acknowledging her failures to be the person God created her to be and always looking to try anew to be that person;

• to explore her faith and to be willing to risk sharing it with others;

• to recognize and treasure herself as a human being and to recognize that same treasure in everyone around her...in fact, in every human being on the face of the earth;

• to be political, to advocate for others even as the Holy Spirit serves as an advocate for her.

How do we know when someone has received the Holy Spirit?  Well sometimes they exude a serenity, a calmness of spirit that is strikingly noticeable.  Other times they may risk their comfort, their safety, their reputation for the sake of the gospel.  Always, always they are tenacious, getting up after they fall, dusting themselves off, and climbing back on the bike.