Living With Spirit: PROCLAIM -Acts 2: 14-21; Jeremiah 20: 7-9 - June 7, 2009­

Cicero United Methodist Church - Everett J. Bassett

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            In tough times, people can get pretty creative. Driving through the Midwest a couple weeks back, Sharon and I spotted a car whose owner had mounted a small three-sided billboard on top of the roof. Two sides had advertisers, and the third said, "Your Ad Can be Posted Here, Call __________" That's one way to fight a recession.

            A man named Andrew Fischer, of Omaha, Nebraska, took an even more personal approach. He auctioned off his forehead on eBay. The highest bidder was a company that manufactures a snoring remedy called SnoreStop. Snore Stop was advertised on Andrew's forehead for one month. You may say, "Why in the world would someone do that?" Well, they paid him $37,000. How much is your forehead worth?

            Actually, it's a different question I'd like to ask us today - and that is, What is written on your forehead? Nobody is digging for a mirror, so I'm sure you know I'm talking figuratively. But your forehead is very important in faith. Consider this from Deuteronomy 6: 6-8: "Keep these words that I am commanding you," (says the Lord)

" .. .in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away ... Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

            Other places in the Bible lift up the forehead: In Exodus 28, Aaron is told that he must always have the words 'Holy is the Lord' displayed on his forehead, as a reminder to the people. On the other hand, a woman convicted of loose morals was often marked on the forehead; in the book of Revelations, a mark on the forehead will distinguish the people of God from the people of the Beast; and in Ezekiel 3, God promises that he will protect his people from disaster by making their foreheads 'harder than flint.'

            We keep that significance in the practice of our faith - expressed strongly in the symbol of baptism, which is most commonly administered, in our tradition, by the water on the forehead, often in the shape of a cross. This is a way of saying that once we are baptized, we have vowed to wear Christ in a visible way. On the last Sunday of the year, when for several years we have been reaffirming our baptisms, those of you who have come forward have received the sign of the cross on your brow. If you come to our monthly Service of Prayer and Healing, you might receive healing oil on your forehead. And of course, on Ash Wednesday, we wear the ashes of our mortality there. The forehead is a symbol of public faith, because it is easily seen (at least in most hairdos), it's one of the most sensitive areas to the touch, and it expresses what is on our minds.

            What's the message that's written on your forehead? I'd like to answer that question in light of Acts, chapter 2 - the story of Pentecost. If you were here last week, you know that our scripture reading left the disciples babbling in all kinds of languages, and acting like they were drunk. Or so people thought. We know that what was really happening was that the Holy Spirit was flowing. New joy, new life had arrived in the Church.

            The very next thing that happened was extremely significant: Peter stepped forward and began to preach. "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and listen to what I say. Indeed, these (people) are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel." And then Peter gives the first sermon in the history of the church.

            Last week I started a sermon series entitled 'Living With Spirit,' suggesting that the first thing the disciples did, and we can do, to introduce more spirit into our lives, was to gather together - to be in fellowship and mutual encouragement with one another. This week, we see that once the Spirit had arrived, the immediate response was to proclaim it - to let everyone know, so they could choose to be a part of it too. God's party isn't just for a select few, it's for everybody. That was Peter's message, and his reason for quoting the prophet Joel, whose words were, "In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh ..." This is a party for everybody! And if you're in the joy of God's party, and you realize that this is the greatest thing that's ever happened, the first thought is, "Oh, I gotta go tell ... " Well ... everybody. This is something that cried out to be proclaimed.

            Someone once told me about the joy they took in their little toddler having learned the word, "Look!" And with childlike wonder, this little child was pointing with awe at every butterfly, flower, and cloud. Look! Look! Look! This parent said that through the discovery of that child, everything was a marvel for both child and parent.

I think that's the spirit of Pentecost. That enthusiasm might be lost a little in Peter's erudite words in Acts 2 - but that must been the mood of the moment: that mighty wind didn't just go away. Those tongues of fire didn't just burn out. The disciples were overjoyed by the presence of God. The air must have been electric - or why would 3000 people join the church on the spot?

            So here's what I learn from Pentecost. If you want your life to be filled with spirit - ­with joy, passion, enthusiasm - then make sure you are wearing something good on your forehead. Make sure your life is proclaiming something hopeful and joyful about God. If you have experienced grace, you have a message for the world. You are that child saying, Look! Look what God is doing!

            For Peter, his way of doing that was to preach, And when we talk about proclaiming God's grace, some people may look at Peter and say, "Well, that leaves me out. I'm not going to stand up and preach." I go through that myself about once a week. But preaching is just one way of proclaiming - and probably not nearly the most important way. There are hundreds of other ways. I heard once that one sermon lived is more powerful than ten sermons preached. And I believe that. It's not about what I say up here. It's about what the world sees on your foreheads when you go out of here -- to the mall, or to the office, or to the store, or to the dinner table. There are too many foreheads advertising irritation, discouragement, crudeness, meanness, dishonesty in this world. There's another way to live. Those who have faith in the salvation and love of Jesus Christ can be those who say Look! Grace! Look! Spirit! Look! Hope! What are you advertising? What are you proclaiming?

            I think that makes a huge difference in whether you are living with spirit or not. It seems counter-intuitive, but it proves true again and again. If you live your life focusing on your own happiness, and drawing things to yourself that you think can give you joy ­then most likely you will end up frustrated and unsatisfied. But if you proclaim something worthwhile with your life - if your living adds to the goodness and peace and justice and love in this world - then you will most likely live with a spirit of purpose and accomplishment, because you will be part of the great thing that God wants to do in this world. Some people get to see the results of that - they can look at a program or a project or at generations of people that they have touched, and they can know they made a difference. But most people, I think, get only a vague inkling of the impact they have on others. I've witnessed this over and over: someone saying, "I'm not a leader. I'm not the talented one, or the vocal one. Other people can do that better than I can." Meanwhile, I know that this is a person who is touching dozens of lives - just by what is proclaimed in the faithful, quiet way they are living every day.

            A person who comes to mind is Blanche. Blanche was a very shy, unassuming woman who held no office, never spoke in public, was not outgoing or attention-getting in any way. But love was written on her forehead. And every Sunday, she brought flowers for the altar, and after services, she took them and delivered them to someone who was sick or shut-in. This was probably unnoticed by most, taken for granted by others. But she did it week after week, year after year, for the sheer joy of it.

            Blanche died suddenly, and at her funeral we celebrated her ministry of visiting with flowers, and I think all of us were surprised at the extent of it. And the next Sunday, six different people brought flowers to church. And the story was the same for each of them. "I know Blanche was gone, so I didn't know if there would be flowers." And after they chuckled together, they said, "Why not take these out to people like Blanche did?" And so they went out to six different elderly shut-ins. And the next week, it happened again. And before we knew it, that seed of love that Blanche had humbly nurtured for almost two decades, blossomed into a fun-blown care ministry. What Blanche proclaimed in her unassuming way changed lives.

            That's what the Holy Spirit does. When someone is touched by Easter faith and Pentecost Spirit and says, "I must proclaim this wonderful grace," God uses that person's unique gifts in a powerful way. Right now God is nurturing gifts in you that can be shared, and the sharing of them in God's love is what brings spirit to your life.

When I was a little boy in Vacation Bible School, one year we learned this song: Do you know oh Christian, you're a sermon in shoes/Do you know oh Christian, you're a sermon in shoes/Jesus counts upon you to spread the Gospel news/So walk it, and talk it (Preach it/teach it; live it/give it; know it/show it)/ A sermon in shoes.