What is that Noise?

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
May 23rd 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-11
Pentecost
“What Is That Noise?”

Every year about this time we bring out the Pentecost passage and talk a bit about the Holy Spirit. There are plenty of jokes about Presbyterians lacking spirit and being afraid of the spirit. I am sure I could parade them out and we could all have a good laugh at us. But this year, we will not do this. It is not because I have lost my sense of humor but I believe there are more important issues at hand.
Have you heard all the noise? The noise of the politicians, the noise of business leaders, the noise of religious sectarians, the noise of the non-stop news talk, it is so loud most of us would like to go into hiding, or we find ourselves so drawn that we forget most of it is noise. However, in the midst of all that noise is a story of good news, if we just have ears to hear and hearts to believe.
On the first birthday of the church there were more than a dozen different nationalities gathered for worship. It was the celebration of fifty days after the Passover and on that celebration where they had gathered many times before something new was about to happen. The only problem is that we human beings do not like new. Despite our lip-service to the contrary, we prefer our routines left alone. Unfortunately, Pentecost is simply not routine. It was noisy and disruptive, but with those who had ears to hear and hearts to believe, the noise was a sign of God’s new life.
In years past this news that a new day was coming is something that we celebrated. The year 2050 lay on the horizon where white people will no longer be in the majority on the United States. As a Pentecost people we already know this story and look forward to it, at least in theory. But things have changed and the news has become a scary noise, at least in our culture. The changing face of the United States has brought forth, not joy but, fear and even hate mongering.
In the last few weeks it has become clear to me that there is a backlash in our society to the changing face of the United States. Law’s which target people based on the color of their skin and assumed nationality has taken root in one state, which may soon be debated in our own. A Senatorial candidate in Kentucky openly opposes the civil rights act. And even when he back peddles, it is clear that this will actually get him more votes in a growing number of circles. And the continued calls for a return to the America we grew up with, is just another in a long line of code words which are steeped in racism. I suppose to hear this for what it really is, also requires ears to hear.
Only a short time ago the excitement about calls for hope and change seems to have been replaced by despair and cynicism. The war’s rage on, we continue to torture in the name of security, and the economic collapse is crushing many while a few are paid great bonuses. It is enough to make you angry, or simply go into hiding and hope it all goes away. But with those who have ears to hear and hearts to believe, there is no place to hide. That may not sound like good news but I believe it is.
When the church of Jesus Christ was birthed on that first Pentecost, the world was a volatile place. Revolutionary fervor was high, the roman occupation was at its peak, the religious leadership was corrupt, and Jesus had been executed as an outlaw. In other words, it was not a time of peace. And despite this, the church is called into being through the disruptive and noisy spirit. The church of Jesus Christ, will be a church for all people, not bound by culture, or language or nationality. In the midst of the noise all around them, God had to speak more loudly inside the faith community because they seemed least able to understand what had happened through Jesus. So the good news on that day came with enough fanfare to be heard through the storms of the day.
So into what storms is God speaking today? Where is the church of Jesus Christ being called to follow the noisy Spirit? As a people, as a community, founded in a diversity of everything but faith in Jesus Christ, we must go to the places where division is used as a weapon. At Pentecost, the “natural” divisions of the world founded in Babel, have been broken down and shown not to be God’s final word. The Gospel was not a call for retreat into like minded homogeneous enclaves but a call for us to seek out those who are different from ourselves in thought as well as culture.
Today we celebrate the sacrament of baptism. It is a joyous day where we celebrate where we have had ears to hear and hearts to believe. We celebrate God’s spirit at work again here, even among us. Today we join with generations of Christians who have had ears to hear and hearts to believe that what is happening is not a disruption or people being drunk on new wine, but the Spirit of God. May the Spirit of God continue to show up in the most unexpected ways, and may we continue to have ears to hear and hearts to believe. Amen? Amen!