Sermon – Ezekiel 17:22-24 – Riddles

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Ezekiel 17:22-24 – Riddles

Beaver Dam and Pitts Creek Churches

10^th Sunday of Ordinary Time

June 17, 2012

We all love riddles. Riddles are stories with obscure meanings. We hear riddles and try as we might we just can't figure them our ourselves. But once someone explains the riddle to you the meaning is obvious. Let's try one and see what happens. It is on your bulletin insert. “My thunder comes before the lightening. My lightening comes before the clouds. My rain drys all the land it touches. What am I?” (http://www.riddles.com/) Can't figure it out? We will get back to this but first, let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

The Bible is full of riddles, stories whose meanings are difficult to discern, but once explained they make a lasting impression. Riddles are often used in times of oppression and persecution to conceal what you are writing from those who could hurt you. Jesus loved to speak in riddles. We usually call his riddles, “parables”. Jesus spoke in riddles to communicate to his followers truths that had to be kept secret from the authorities. In the same way the prophet Ezekiel had to speak in riddles to hide what he was saying from the Babylonia occupiers of Jerusalem. Here is one of Ezekiel's riddles.

Ezekiel 17:3 A great eagle, with great wings and long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors, came to the Lebanon. He took the top of the cedar, ⁴ broke off its topmost shoot; He carried it to a land of trade, set it in a city of merchants. ⁵ Then he took a seed from the land, placed it in fertile soil; a plant by abundant waters, he set it like a willow twig. ⁶ It sprouted and became a vine spreading out, but low; its branches turned toward him, its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine; it brought forth branches, put forth foliage. ⁷ There was another great eagle, with great wings and much plumage. And see! This vine stretched out its roots toward him; it shot out its branches toward him, so that he might water it. From the bed where it was planted ⁸ it was transplanted to good soil by abundant waters, so that it might produce branches and bear fruit and become a noble vine.

So, what does this riddle from Ezekiel mean? An eagle transplants a tree and it prospers in it new location. Then it plants a vine in fertile soil near a source of water. The potential is there for it to grow. Then another eagle appears and the vine expects it to water it. Will this eagle care for the vine or will it let the vine wither and die? Of course it is impossible to solve this riddle unless you know what the eagles, the transplanted tree and the vine represent. The meaning of the riddle is hidden, unless these things are revealed to you. And thankfully God revealed the meaning of the riddle to Ezekiel and Ezekiel wrote it down for us.

The first eagle represented the king of Babylon who came to Jerusalem and conquered the city. The transplanted top of the tree represented the king, his offspring and all the men of Jerusalem who had been taken into exile. The vine represented the remnant left behind and a puppet king who was to rule Jerusalem as a province of Babylon. The second eagle represented the Pharaoh of Egypt who was seen as the savior who would free them from Babylonian oppression. And the riddle asks the question, would the Pharaoh of Egypt save them, or would Jerusalem wither and die? The prophecy of Ezekiel was that Pharaoh would not save them. Asking Egypt for help was futile, and since it broke the covenant between Babylon and Jerusalem the puppet king of Jerusalem who broke the covenant would die. So the future of Jerusalem seemed hopeless. Egypt was powerless to help them. And Babylon felt betrayed and was determined to destroy them. There was no savior coming to rescue them. They were doomed.

Isn't this the way it is for us too. We spend our last nickel and the bills still come. We've spent hours receiving chemotherapy but the cancer keeps returning. We pray for our children over and over but they keep getting in trouble. We try to save ourselves and our loved ones from calamity, but it just doesn't work. We try to be the savior, or find something or someone who will save us. But we find it doesn't work. We need to find a savior who we can count on when the going gets rough. We need a savior we can depend on. But where would we find a savior like that?

I recently met a woman who needed to be saved. Her landlord had sent her a 60 day eviction notice. She had to move. Although she had family in the area no one was able to take her in. She had no money for a security deposit on an apartment and no way of moving her furniture. Her monthly disability check would just cover rent with nothing left over for food. She needed a savior. Members of her church helped her to find an affordable apartment in Snow Hill. And several volunteers from her church came over with a pickup and helped her move. She had found a savior, Jesus Christ working through a small local church.

I also know of a man who was recently released from jail on parole. He's been in jail for a while and his family in West Virginia was struggling. He was required to remain in Pocomoke until the paperwork was finished. He's been here now for weeks, unable to work, and struggling to pay for a hotel room. He needed a savior. As a Christian he knew where to look. He used the phone book and called local churches. A pastor responded and the church fed him and helped out with food and money for the hotel. He also found a savior, Jesus Christ working through a small local church.

The people of Jerusalem found their savior too. Listen to what Ezekiel says.

“Ezekiel 17 ²² Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of a cedar; I will set it out. I will break off a tender one from the topmost of its young twigs; I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. ²³ On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar.”

So who is the savior that was coming to save the people of Jerusalem? This is no riddle. Ezekiel speaks plainly. The Lord God was their savior. God promise to preserve a remnant. God promised to restore the nation. And so too for us. It doesn't matter what problems we face, whether they be financial, or heath, or relationship, whatever they are we have a savior. We have someone who will be there with us to comfort and strengthen us. We have someone who will save us. Our savior is Jesus Christ.

But Ezekiel does have another riddle. Listen.

Ezekiel 17: 23b “Under it every kind of bird will live; in the shade of its branches will nest winged creatures of every kind. ²⁴ All the trees of the field shall know that I am the LORD.”

So what could this mean: “every kind of bird” and “all the trees of the field”. To understand this riddle we have to figure this out. Let see. God is planting a tree which we know is a new kingdom. Let's call it God's kingdom. And who might be the subjects of that kingdom? Ezekiel says every bird and all the trees. The key to understanding this riddle is to focus on the words “every” and “all”. The kingdom of God is for everyone, not just the people of Jerusalem. This means that Jesus is the savior of the whole world and everyone in it. And we are a part. God is working though us, the local church, to save those who desperately need a savior.

And to understand this universal aspect of God's new kingdom. Ezekiel has one final riddle.

Ezekiel 17: 24b “I bring low the high tree, I make high the low tree; I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I the LORD have spoken; I will accomplish it.”

So there are high and green trees. There are low and dry trees. And these trees will be reversed. Answer the riddle. The low and dry trees are those who need a savior, the sick, the poor, the disabled, the widow, the orphan. In the kingdom of God they will be lifted up. Jesus will save them. And those who oppress them, those who take advantage of others, those who use dishonesty to enrich themselves, these will find themselves brought low and dried up. God's justice will prevail. We have learned from Ezekiel that God will save us from whatever is threatening us through Jesus Christ and work of the local church so that the kingdom of God grows. And we are called as the local church to be the instruments Christ uses to save everyone in our community and in the world.

Finally, let's solve our first riddle. Remember what it said. “My thunder comes before the lightening. My lightening comes before the clouds. My rain drys all the land it touches. What am I?” (http://www.riddles.com/) And the answer is: a volcano. Let's pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for coming to save us. Whatever problems we face we know that you are there to strengthen and comfort us and help us through the church. We pledge to be your body in this world doing your will to save others in your name. Amen.

Sermon – Genesis 3:8-15 – The Devil Made Me Do It

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Genesis 3:8-15 – The Devil Made Me Do It

Beaver Dam Churches

10^th Sunday of Ordinary Time

June 10, 2012

Last week we looked at Isaiah 6 and talked about what it means to worship. We found that our worship is modeled on Isaiah's vision. Worship happens whenever we come into God's presence. In worship we join our voices with the heavenly choirs praising God. We express our unworthiness by confessing our sins. We hear the good news that we are forgiven. We listen to God's voice through the Word of God read, sung and proclaimed. We find out that God is recruiting us to follow Him into the world. And we respond in prayer, generosity and mission. It is truly amazing that all of this happens right here every Sunday morning.

But we know that even though we are participating in worship this morning there are many people not worshiping. Recently I heard a story about a family. For generations this family provided leaders for the church. They were extremely faithful. But today, a couple of generations later, this family now knows nothing about worship. Their grandchildren and great grandchildren assembled for a memorial service recently and they didn't even know to bow their heads in prayer or when to stand and sit or even how to use the bulletin. A generation has lost contact with the church and the faith of their parents. They no longer worship. It is as if they are hiding from God. We will talk about this today, but first lets pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

If worship consists of coming into God's presence then not worshiping is like hiding from God. Hiding from God is the situation Adam and Eve found themselves stuck in. Let's look at this closely.

Genesis 3:8-15 ⁸ They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" ¹⁰ He said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."

The first thing we learn in this passage is that humankind was created to worship. God made us a worshiping people. He gave us a place where we could regularly come into God's presence and God set a time when He and His people would gather in this garden. Worship happened every day at the evening breeze. This teaches us that we too must regularly come into God's presence. Like Adam and Eve we should worship every day. You can do it in the evening like Adam and Eve, or like Jesus worship early in the morning. Any time and place is acceptable provided that it is part of a regular discipline of daily prayer and meditation on scripture. I start each day in worship coming to Pitts Creek church every morning at 6. Sometimes a group assembles and we worship together. Sometime I worship alone. But it is crucial for me to begin each day in prayer allowing God to speak to me through scripture. You are invited to join me in this practice of early morning prayer, or find your own time and place to come close to God. The important thing is to pray and meditate on scripture every day. Calvin suggested that we pray when we get up, pray when we go to bed, and pray before and after each meal.

When we engage in daily worship we come into the presence of God as God created us to do. But not everyone worships every day. One day Adam and Eve decided that they didn't want to worship. So they tried to hide from God. God came into the garden looking for Adam and Eve at the usual time and found that they were not there. God cried out “Where are you?” as he looked for His beloved creation. Adam cried out from his hiding place, “I'm afraid”. This is why people do not worship. They fear coming into God's presence. We fear God because God unmasks us. Normally our unworthiness is concealed by a thin veneer that makes us look ok. We know that just below the surface that we are messed up and not worthy to be in the presence of God. But God sees through our masks and sees who we really are. This terrifies us. It keeps us from worshiping and so we hide from God.

God knew that the only thing that could keep us from worshiping was the great evil that opposed His mission on earth. God knew that this evil had to be destroyed so that His people could worship Him daily without fear. God needed to deal a mortal blow to his opponent and restore the relationship he had with his people. So God began to ask some questions.

¹¹ He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" ¹² The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate." ¹³ Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."

We learn two things from Adam and Eve. The first is that way to restore a broken relationship with God is not to hide from him by avoiding worship, but to confess our sin directly to God in worship. That is why it is crucial to be in church each Sunday. Here we come into God's presence and bow our heads in confession to begin the process of restoring our relationship with God so that we no longer fear Him and can come into his presence daily. So if you find yourself hiding from God unable to pray and meditate on scripture every day then attending worship on Sunday is crucial for you and God to get back together.

The second thing we learn from Adam and Eve is that the great evil in the world that prevents us from worshiping God is a serpent, a snake that talks. There are two ways to think about this. One is to believe that this as a real snake that tempted Adam and Eve. The other is to see this snake as a symbol of the devil. I think it can be both. A real serpent tempted them, and this serpent represents Satan who is still tempting us today to keep us from worshiping God every day as we were created to do. The serpent/Satan/Devil does not want us to worship, come into the presence of God, and so he tempts us to do things that we shouldn't do so that we will be ashamed of ourselves and afraid to come into God's presence every day.

But God will not tolerate this situation. God does not want this great evil to prevent us from worshiping Him as we should. So God acted with a proclamation.

¹⁴ The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. ¹⁵ I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."

So God's solution is to put enmity between the serpent and the seed of Adam and Eve. There are two ways to think about this too. First, the seed of Adam and Eve could refer to all of us. And God is referring to what we experience today. The serpent continues to strike our heads trying to prevent us from daily worship, but we can fight back. We have the power to step on the serpent and worship daily if we choose. The second way that we can think of this is that the seed of Adam and Eve is Jesus Christ who has dealt a mortal blow against the devil. Again I think both of these are true. We are the children of Adam and Eve. We experience the great evil trying to prevent us from worshiping daily. But we have the ability to overcome this evil and worship God though daily prayers and meditation on scripture in spite of what the serpent is trying to do. And we have the assurance that Jesus Christ has dealt this evil a death blow through his resurrection from the dead.

The devil in dying, but he is still dangerous. So we have to protect ourselves by coming into God's presence every day. We need to pray and meditate on scripture daily. It doesn't matter when or where you do this. But you must because you were created to worship God every day and the great evil that wants to prevent you from worshiping as you should has been defeated by Jesus. So there is no longer any reason not worship God every day. Just confess what you have done. Tell God “The Devil made me do it.” You will be forgiven, your fear of God will go away, and you will enjoy His presence forever. Let's pray.

Father in heaven, we have come to worship today in spite of the Devil trying to stop us. We have confess our sins to you and know that in Jesus Christ you have forgiven us. So we are no longer ashamed of what we have done. And we no longer fear you. We ask that you be with us every day as we worship you in prayer and meditation on your Holy Word. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ who made all of this possible. Amen.  

Sermon – Isaiah 6:1-8 - Worship

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Isaiah 6:1-8 - Worship

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Trinity

June 3, 2012

This morning we have gathered for worship. From time to time it is appropriate for us to pause for a moment and think about what worship is. Why do we worship? Whom do we worship? How do we worship? What is worship all about? Worship is an inner need that all of us have because we were created to worship. God made us a worshiping people. To not worship is a sign of great evil preventing us from doing what we were designed to do. So worship is as natural as eating or breathing.

As Presbyterians we have always valued our freedom to worship as we choose within biblical parameters. We reject any attempt by government or the denomination to tell us how to worship, what prayers to say, what songs to sing, what scripture to read. We believe that all of these choices are the work of the Holy Spirit acting though us bringing us to meaningful worship of our creator. But our freedom to worship as we choose is limited by what scripture teaches about worship. The Bible talks a lot about what it means to worship God. And they key text upon which we model worship comes from the sixth chapter of the Book of Isaiah. We will get to this, but first let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

^NIV Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." ⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. ⁵ "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." ⁶ Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." ⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Isaiah's vision of heavenly worship begins with the death of a king. This is important. King Uzziah had been an extremely popular king. His 52 year reign coincided with the period of greatest prosperity and longest peace for the Kingdom of Judah. People had amassed great wealth. There were good reasons why the people of Judah might want to worship their dead king. But Isaiah saw a different picture of worship in his vision. The object of worship in heaven is not of an earthly king. Isaiah did not see King Uzziah sitting on the heavenly throne. In fact King Uzziah was nowhere in sight. The person sitting on the throne and the object of our worship is not the king, but God. Any other object of worship besides God will one day die, cease to exist. Only God, the creator of the world, can be our object of worship for eternity. Our understanding is that worship occurs whenever we come into the presence of God. Whenever we come for worship here at church we need to be prepared to be lifted spiritually into God's presence at the foot of his throne.

As Isaiah approached God's throne he heard the heavenly choirs singing “Holy Holy Holy”. Why would they sing “Holy” three times? Our understanding of this is that heavenly choirs are singing to the three persons who constitute our triune God. We have one God, in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And so the heavenly choirs are singing “Holy” for each person of the trinity. Whenever we worship we join our voices with the heavenly choirs singing praises to God. We praise God silently during our prelude, we listen as our choir sings praises to God, we speak praises to God responsively in our Bible song, and we sing our praises to God in our opening hymn. God hears our praises and accepts us into worship.

When Isaiah realized that he had come into the presence of God he knew he had a problem. God is holy and he was not. It is not permissible for sinners to come into the presence of God. Somehow we must first be cleansed of our sin. Isaiah realized that he was unworthy to come into God presence. And so he did the only thing he could do at that point. He admitted his faults, and confessed his sins to God. Whenever we come into God's presence in worship and join our voices with choirs of angels we must also examine ourselves to see if we are worthy to be there. If we are honest we must conclude that we are not worthy to be in God's presence and are taking a great risk to be there. So we do the only thing we can do and that is to confess our sins and ask for forgiveness.

God granted Isaiah's prayer for forgiveness and God purged his sin away with a hot coal. Likewise when we confess our sins we too are forgiven and our sin is purged away by the blood of Jesus Christ. So in worship we are made holy by God and made worthy to be in His presence.

Once Isaiah received the gift of forgiveness and was made holy he started to hear God speaking. This happens to us too. After we have confessed our sins we begin to hear God's voice speaking though the word of God read, sung, and proclaimed. Through our scripture reading and my sermon you hear God's voice communicated to you by the Holy Spirit. Listening to God's voice in worship is transformative. It leads us to new life. We will never be the same after hearing God speak. That's why it is crucial for us to be in worship every Sunday. Worship is not entertainment which you can take or leave, come and go as you like. Rather worship is a gift from God that transforms you into what you were created to be. But this doesn't happen all at once. Transformation takes place step by step for a lifetime. Each time you come to worship God you make a stitch in the fabric that will become your life. It will be tempting this Summer to miss worship as you enjoy camping and vacations. Resist this temptation. Make sure you go to church wherever you are. And if you stay here in Pocomoke don't miss worship this Summer.

As Isaiah listened to God's voice he must have been surprised by what he heard. God wasn't talking about the mysteries of creation or revealing the future. What God was doing was recruiting people to do His work in the world. You see God needs people who will pray for others. God needs people who will contribute financially to support church workers. God needs people to go into the world to proclaim the good news. So in worship God recruits the people he needs. This means that we are the people God is recruiting today. God wants us to pray. God wants us to tithe. God wants us in the world proclaiming the good news. So in worship we have time to pray, an opportunity to give and are prepared to be sent into the world to do God's work. These are all appropriate ways to respond to God's voice in worship.

When Isaiah heard God recruiting people for his mission on earth he quickly and enthusiastically spoke up. “Here I am. Send me.” Will this by our response today? Will we hear God's call in worship and respond in a life changing way? The answer is yes, if you have been in worship because there is no other response. When our creator asks us to do something how could we refuse?

So today we have gathered around the Word of God in praise. We have confessed our sins and have been forgiven. We have heard the Word of God read, sung and proclaimed revealing God's claim on our lives. And we have responded to this claim by confessing our faith, praying for others, and giving our tithes. And we are prepared to go into the world as God's own people do His will. This is what we were created to do. This is worship.

Father in heaven we thank you for allowing us to approach your throne of grace. We have joined our voices with the choirs of angels to sing your praises. We have confessed our sinfulness and received your forgiveness. We have heard your voice through the work of God read, sung and proclaimed. And we are now ready to go into the world as your people to pray, give to those in need and proclaim the good news of your kingdom. This we pray to the Holy Father, the Holy Son and the Holy Spirit, Holy Holy Holy. Amen.

Sermon – Acts 2:1-21 – Amazed and Perplexed

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Acts 2:1-21 – Amazed and Perplexed

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Pentecost

May 27, 2012

Fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ and just ten days after his ascension to heaven his followers met in an upper room somewhere in Jerusalem. The group numbered 120, roughly the same size as the combined congregations of Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam. They had been told by Jesus to go back there and wait. The great crowds that had followed Jesus in his ministry were gone. They had expected Jesus to be the messiah and lead a military revolt against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire. They had seen his miracles and listened to him teach that the Kingdom of God was near. But all this seemingly was not to be. Jesus had been arrested and crucified. Some rumors went around that he had been seen alive, but how could these be true? So all that was left was around 120 people, about the same size as Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam churches.

The remnant of the followers of Jesus were filled with fear. If they ventured into the world they might be arrested as followers of Jesus. They might be ridiculed by others for continuing to believe in a rabbi who had been executed by the authorities. They were afraid that maybe their faith was based on a fantasy. They didn't know what to do. They were stuck. As they waited they did the best they could. The retold the stories of Jesus' life on earth. They did what Jesus did and searched the Old Testament for clues about what his life, death and resurrection were all about. They broke bread and drank wine just as Jesus had told them to do. And, of course they elected officers and formed committees just like any church waiting Jesus to return.

This should all sound pretty familiar. We are still waiting for Jesus' return. We gather each Sunday morning to retell the stories of Jesus and search the scripture for meaning. Once a month we break the bread and drink the wine just as Jesus told us to do. And, of course, we elect officers and form committees. The 100 Presbyterians in Pocomoke are not very different from the 120 followers of Jesus who met in that upper room as the feast of Pentecost was beginning. Just like them we fear to bring our faith into the community around us. Just like them we fear that we will be ridiculed and made fun of. So we come to church on Sundays here in this room, but remain silent about our faith the rest of the week. We are just like the 120 who gathered in that room and like them we need to pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

All of sudden something happen which changed everything. It strengthened them and empowered them just Jesus had promised. So what happened to this group of 120 followers of Jesus? Listen to the account in the second chapter of the Book of Acts.

^NIV Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. ⁵ Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶ When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷ Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? ⁹ Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-- we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" ¹² Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" ¹³ Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."

So the thing they feared the most happened. The Holy Spirit came and empowered them to proclaim the gospel to everyone regardless of language or ethnicity. And when they did people made fun of them and called them drunks. Isn't this our greatest fear? If we leave church and witness to others sharing our faith and proclaiming the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal life aren't we afraid that we will be ridiculed, made fun of. Won't modern people call us stupid for believing in miracles? Won't people be offended if we offered to pray with them? Won't the atheist try to stop us from proclaiming the gospel in the public square? According to scripture the answer is yes. We will be ridiculed. We will be made fun of. We will be called stupid. But if we are filled with the Holy Spirit none of this will matter because the Holy Spirit strengthens us and directs us. With the Holy Spirit we are empowered as witnesses of the resurrection of the Christ in spite of the ridicule we will receive. With the Holy Spirit we will leave this worship space and go into the world as ambassadors of Christ and the leading edge of the kingdom of God.

You can see all of this through the example of Peter. Peter was just an illiterate fisherman. On the night of Jesus' arrest his courage failed when his sword was taken away and three time that night he fearfully denied that he even knew Jesus. That was just 50 days ago. But now Peter is empowered by the Holy Spirit. His fear is gone. The ridicule doesn't affect him at all. The possibility of arrest doesn't concern him. He had strength and courage that not even he would have expected. And he did the most unexpected thing: he proclaimed his faith in public.

Act 2:¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. ¹⁵ These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! ¹⁶ No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ¹⁷ "'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. ¹⁸ Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. ¹⁹ I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. ²⁰ The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. ²¹ And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

With boldness Peter declared that the prophesy of Joel had been fulfilled. The Holy Spirit of God had come into the world. And now everything was about to change. The Holy Spirit had come to transform the world into the Kingdom of God just as Jesus had promised. The Spirit's had begun transforming 120 follower of Jesus into leaders of a movement that would change the world.

What if the Holy Spirit did the same the same thing right here in Pocomoke? What if the Spirit filled us with the ability to witness our faith in Jesus Christ? What if the Spirit calmed our fears so that we could proclaim our faith even in the midst of ridicule? What if the Spirit strengthened us, the Presbyterians in Pocomoke, to begin a transformation that would change the world? All of this is possible if we allow the Holy Spirit into our hearts.

The Holy Spirit comes into our hearts through worship and daily practices of prayer and meditation on scripture. Do these thing and your fears will melt away. Your faith will be strengthened. Your hearts will be filled with God's Spirit. You will pray for healing and people will be healed. You will proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ and promise of eternal life to everyone you know. Through your proclamation people will come to Christ and the church will be full. You will reach out to people of other ethnic groups and who speak different languages. Your will church will be united with one mind. You will be able to withstand the evils powers at work in the world trying to stop you. You will be able to do all of this because the Holy Spirit of God is in you and with you.

So I urge you today to pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Dedicate yourselves to regular prayer, worship and meditation on God' word. The Spirit will come upon you just as it did to those 120 follower of Jesus some two thousand years ago, and through you the Spirit will transform the world. Let's pray. Holy Spirit, on the Pentecost Sunday we pray that you enter this church just as you entered that upper room. Fill us with the ability to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ and promise of eternal life with boldness. And use this proclamation to bring people to belief in our Lord Jesus Christ so that more and more people will experience your transforming power. This we pray in the name of the one who sent you, Jesus Christ. Amen.