SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the First Love Church podcast.
SPEAKER_01: This is a collection of Sunday teachings inspired by the revised Common Lectionary and recorded weekly in Ocala, Florida.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for being here in presence this morning on this Pentecost Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: Just don't get too worried about it.
SPEAKER_01: It Pentecost is more than just one Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: It's an entire season.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, it is an entire lifetime for us that we would be animated by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: But this season is in the church calendar and it reminds us, pay attention to the gift of the Holy Spirit that has been given to you.
SPEAKER_01: And I am excited to share the word with you this morning, but to also be in the presence of you, the light that is in you.
SPEAKER_01: The light that is in you greets the light that is in us, and the Jesus in us greets the Jesus in you.
SPEAKER_01: And so this morning, as we celebrate the spirit that is given to us, that actually birthed the church, we come with gratitude.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I was waiting for you to jump in there.
SPEAKER_00: And John.
SPEAKER_00: I should have shown up for a rehearsal this morning.
SPEAKER_01: And John chapter 20.
SPEAKER_01: On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, peace be with you.
SPEAKER_01: This morning, wherever you are, I remind you that where Jesus meets these people is in a lot of fear.
SPEAKER_01: And in grief.
SPEAKER_01: And many of us look around at the world and say, What is happening?
SPEAKER_01: And there is fear.
SPEAKER_01: And I am so excited this morning to hear these same words that in these places, even where you've locked yourself away or you've locked your grief away, that the presence of Jesus shows up and says, Peace be with you.
SPEAKER_01: So this morning, the same is true for you.
SPEAKER_01: Peace be with you.
SPEAKER_01: And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
SPEAKER_01: And the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I want to remind us too.
SPEAKER_01: These people had gathered in fear, but they had also gathered in this grief.
SPEAKER_01: And their grief was marked by death.
SPEAKER_01: The death of their Jesus, the death of their friend, the death of their rabbi.
SPEAKER_01: And when Jesus shows up and shows them that death doesn't have the final word, in lots of translations, in this translation, it says they were glad when they saw the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: But in other translations, it says they were ecstatic, they were exuberant.
SPEAKER_01: They were so surprised.
SPEAKER_01: And I remind you, they had heard that Jesus was alive.
SPEAKER_01: The women had come and told them, but here they were seeing it with their own eyes.
SPEAKER_01: And there was such a relief to them.
SPEAKER_01: There was such a peace to them that came in recognizing death didn't end the story.
SPEAKER_00: So I think right in the middle of fear, which feels a lot like defeat, and uh fear feels a lot of like absence of God, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Um but right in that place is where the spirit will come and meet us.
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, I I think a better way to look at it is is maybe uh don't let fear overtake you.
SPEAKER_00: You know?
SPEAKER_00: You you're you you're fear is going to be like I think we get the idea once we're experiencing that fear or that overwhelming sensation that maybe somehow we've missed God and and we failed.
SPEAKER_00: But in in that, I want you to look for God.
SPEAKER_00: Because in that place is where He says, don't be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: Well, why?
SPEAKER_00: Because they were.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Jesus is manifesting in her locked room.
SPEAKER_00: That's a cause to be a little concerned.
SPEAKER_00: It would be weird if you didn't.
SPEAKER_00: And so in your walk, there's gonna be things that are going, it would be weird if you weren't afraid.
SPEAKER_00: But what if we could look past that and see where Spirit is?
SPEAKER_01: I want to ask us to consider this is a version of in John's Gospel of another version that you've read in the second chapter of Acts, where there's fire, where there's loud noises, and there's wind.
SPEAKER_01: And John shows us a completely different version of this.
SPEAKER_01: Both of them true, different experiences.
SPEAKER_01: So I remind you this morning that your particular experience is valid, that how you have experienced God may be very different than the person next to you and how they have experienced God.
SPEAKER_01: But there is an invitation here into recognizing presence that is gifted to us in our grief and in our fear.
SPEAKER_01: And when he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
SPEAKER_01: He showed them that death does not have the final word.
SPEAKER_00: I would like to just talk about for a minute that how unique and separate all of our experiences are with the Holy Spirit, and that there isn't just that one way.
SPEAKER_00: You were what four or six when you got four five.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, close.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's close.
SPEAKER_01: Between four and six.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, and I was uh about twenty, and I was in a just a prayer room with a few or at somebody's house having a prayer meeting with just a few people, and they gathered around me and said that they really thought that I needed the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And those people were right.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, because all of us need the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: I really know what they were talking about, and I began to just weep, and out of my belly came a tongue, and it was it was it just felt like it was like a fire hose.
SPEAKER_00: Just I couldn't control it if I wanted.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I guess I could have, but it just felt so beautiful, you know.
SPEAKER_00: And then uh Pastor Lee shared with me that you're in a hotel room in some other country, Vietnam.
SPEAKER_00: Vietnam.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm glad you don't have to find some weird people in Chicago and go to their house or be five or go to Vietnam, but then in all those unique ways, I want you to see God will uniquely bring the spirit to you in an abundant way.
SPEAKER_01: And the invitation is consent, the invitation is acceptance.
SPEAKER_01: When the angel shows up to Mary and says, God has a plan.
SPEAKER_01: God has a plan, and God would like you to be a part of the plan.
SPEAKER_01: And Mary goes, Okay, be it unto me according to your word.
SPEAKER_01: This, whatever the Holy Spirit is gonna do, she didn't ask, could I please see a diagram?
SPEAKER_01: Could I please see how this is gonna work out?
SPEAKER_01: Can we see spreadsheets?
SPEAKER_01: Is this, you know, can we make sure that this is gonna have the outcome?
SPEAKER_01: She just said, All right, be it unto me according to your word.
SPEAKER_01: And so this is an invitation, this practice of inviting ourselves to consent to the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: I consent to this being different than I thought it was going to be.
SPEAKER_01: I consent to the miracle, I consent to whatever it is that this is offered.
SPEAKER_01: You mentioned um Lee's experience with the Holy Spirit in a hotel room by himself.
SPEAKER_01: And there are many people that experience the Holy Spirit when they're by themselves, but there are also people who have a friend who says to them, Carol, that was yours experience.
SPEAKER_01: A friend said, Hey, hey, I know that you're struggling.
SPEAKER_01: I know where you can get some power.
SPEAKER_01: I know where there is a source.
SPEAKER_01: I know where you can be filled with something other than self.
SPEAKER_01: And and the invitation, and so that is our invitation as beloved friends, as sisters, as brothers, to not hoard the spirit, to not hoard the power, but that we would give it away, that we would say, Oh, are you struggling?
SPEAKER_01: I know that there is a spirit that can help.
SPEAKER_01: I know that there is a path, that there is a way, that there is an understanding that can enliven you, that can animate, that can change this situation.
SPEAKER_00: And I 100% agree with what you're saying about the consent.
SPEAKER_00: Although I do see Mary at first going, how could this be?
SPEAKER_00: You know?
SPEAKER_00: So I mean, it's okay to ask questions, but there really is an importance of you being able to consent and recognize that you do need some help.
SPEAKER_00: And so, some of you, I know your stories, and it's difficult what you're going through.
SPEAKER_00: The the thing that you've asked yourself to do, or others have asked of you, or it's been thrust upon you, is a difficult road.
SPEAKER_00: And God has not left you alone.
SPEAKER_00: And if you feel overwhelmed or this struggle seems too much, I would submit for your consideration that there is some more Holy Spirit that is available to you to sustain you and to strengthen you for this journey.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And it does involve, you know, it's okay to ask questions, it's okay to doubt.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe your um upbringing, uh, your family of origin or your uh religious background uh casts a shadow of question about the Holy Spirit and and it and and and uh Holy Spirit's function uh for today.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's okay.
SPEAKER_00: Ask questions and and find the answers in scriptures that have satisfied satisfied so many.
SPEAKER_00: And then I love the idea that a person with an experience is never at the mercy of a person with an argument.
SPEAKER_00: So if someone can tell us all the reasons why maybe the Holy Spirit wouldn't be for today or not for you, or somehow you you miss the mark or don't deserve it, or you you know you get you missed the cutoff date or whatever.
SPEAKER_00: You're talking about changing the retirement thing.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know, I guess I don't want to even want to look to see if I'm missing the cutoff date.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm glad there's not a cutoff date when it comes to the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And so ask the questions, but but but uh allow that to lead you to a place of consent because so many of us uh right here in this place, you're you're thirsty, you're dry, and you need the water and the washing of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: I remind you that the Holy Spirit is the initiator of all of creation.
SPEAKER_01: In the scriptures, it says that there was chaos and darkness and waters that covered the earth.
SPEAKER_01: Anytime that you have chaos in your life or in your surroundings, that is a perfect place for the Holy Spirit to come.
SPEAKER_01: And so invite the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: It says the Spirit of God began brooding over the face of the waters.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit began brooding, and then creation starts coming forth from the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit over and over again has this beautiful imagery that reminds us that things that were one way are absolutely transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, can I say something that was such an experience this morning when I woke up?
SPEAKER_00: Because we we planted a bunch of plants and so we've been watering like crazy because it's been so dry, uh unseasonably dry.
SPEAKER_00: And we got all these trees, so it's requiring so much extra and every and I can't even do it out there barefooted because the ground is so hard and dry and dead.
SPEAKER_00: And we had that rain last night.
SPEAKER_00: And we woke up this morning and looked down the field, looked out our yard, and our yard was angry yesterday, and it's been angry and mean looking and dry and brittle.
SPEAKER_00: And this morning I woke up and it said, All is forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: I'm green, I'm happy.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because it got that water of the whole uh of from from heaven to earth, and I want you to consider what would it be like for you to not be dry and angry and brittle.
SPEAKER_01: I'm reminded of the verse when you say that it's not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, by this renewal that the Spirit brings to us.
SPEAKER_01: Beloved, this is a season of renewal.
SPEAKER_01: And if there is places in your life where you feel like this needs transformation, this is a perfect place for the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And this is for us to remember, this is the message of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Behold, I am making all things new.
SPEAKER_01: How is the newness going to happen when everybody conforms?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, this is the invitation, when everyone allows the spirit to do what the spirit intends to do, which is make all things new.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said to them again, peace be with you.
SPEAKER_01: I love that there's a second time, there's a third time, there's a fourth time.
SPEAKER_01: For as many times as you need Jesus to say to you, peace.
SPEAKER_01: Peace be with you.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, peace was what Jesus said when they were all in the boat and they were sure they were going to drown.
SPEAKER_01: They were sure they were going down, everything was vigilance, weren't they?
SPEAKER_01: And they were sure Jesus wasn't even interested in their plight.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus said, Peace.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm sure when he came into that room and they had an inner storm, and Jesus said peace, I'm sure they remembered when he stood at the end of the boat and stilled the storm, and he said, Peace, peace be with you.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
SPEAKER_00: They would have had confidence that that he was going to bring peace and calm that inner storm because they've seen him do it before.
SPEAKER_00: And I I want you all to have confidence in knowing that when uh you uh ask for that peace, when when you draw upon that, that you can have peace in the middle of a storm.
SPEAKER_00: You know, when Heather and I started the church, uh, we we didn't really need a lot, just whatever it took for our little family to eat and the$800 a month it took to rent that little building that we started out in.
SPEAKER_00: And uh there were times where Sunday morning, you know, we had a young church.
SPEAKER_00: We were like the for a while until Pastor Lee and Carol came, we were the oldest people at the church, and we were 31 and 33.
SPEAKER_00: And so we we were here at this or the other building.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a couple years, but not much.
SPEAKER_00: You couldn't tell.
SPEAKER_00: Uh but the the the point is, uh, we would uh there'd be just not enough in the offering.
SPEAKER_00: And I remember we would have the choice, like we could freak out right now because God called us to do this and now there's no money to do it.
SPEAKER_00: But we would just look at each other and start laughing.
SPEAKER_00: Well, God, because we were so confident that He brought us here, and we just know, well, you know, I don't know what you're gonna do, God, but and it would be the most amazing things.
SPEAKER_00: Monday morning we'd get up and there'd be a check from somebody.
SPEAKER_00: I I know you don't know us, but we ran into your mother and she said you have a church, and I'm between churches, so we thought we'd tithe.
SPEAKER_00: Or I remember this one old man every once in a while, but I'd we'd pack up everything and be in the parking lot, and and he'd be out in the parking lot.
SPEAKER_00: I'd be why didn't you come to church?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: He well, then why are you here?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm supposed to give you this.
SPEAKER_00: Because the Lord told me to do something, and he would have a check and it would be the money that we needed, you know.
SPEAKER_00: And it's like we we we just refused to to get afraid because you know it just it don't it doesn't produce anything in us, you know, and you make that choice, and and it is a choice, it's a decision, and and you gotta flip a switch, you gotta decide to do that.
SPEAKER_00: But uh, but in that, I think, I think as you do it, and that's my point, right?
SPEAKER_00: The disciples they saw that over and over and they began to get confidence in it.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm telling you, it wasn't perfect, we were perfect at its first day, but this is a practice that is a practice.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to know it's a practice in Holy Spirit that is a work of the Holy Spirit for you to not have to be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: I want that for you.
SPEAKER_01: But here, I want us all to look at this.
SPEAKER_01: The not have to be afraid doesn't mean that you don't have the fear, but that you recognize the presence.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus with you.
SPEAKER_01: You are never alone.
SPEAKER_01: There will never be a moment in your life that you are going through something and you are going through it alone.
SPEAKER_01: The presence of God is with you.
SPEAKER_01: And so the invitation of the Spirit is to become aware of the presence that is already in you.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said, the kingdom is so close to you, it's as close as your breath.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says to them, peace.
SPEAKER_01: And then Jesus says, This as the Father sent me, so I'm sending you.
SPEAKER_01: A part of this call, of this new creation, of this church that Jesus is forming is recognizing that we are the sent ones, we are the people who love like Jesus loved, who lived in the world as Jesus lived in the world.
SPEAKER_01: And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: There's so much beauty in this particular verse, but this gift, receive it.
SPEAKER_01: This is how we receive even holy communion.
SPEAKER_01: It's already prepared.
SPEAKER_01: The spirit has already been given.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said, It's better for you that I go away because I'm gonna send a comforter.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna send a paraclet, I'm gonna send a helper, a companion, a guide.
SPEAKER_01: You will have inner wisdom, you will have an inner teacher.
SPEAKER_01: This is hope for you.
SPEAKER_01: But he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: I think that's really important this morning to remember because it's not based on your hard work.
SPEAKER_01: You didn't earn the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus just freely gave it.
SPEAKER_01: Receive the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Here is the Spirit for you, for today, for now, for transformation, for the miraculous, receive the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Every good thing comes from the Father of light.
SPEAKER_01: Every good thing, every gift that we had comes from them.
SPEAKER_01: And this is for us a remembering.
SPEAKER_01: This is for us a hope that when in the receiving of the spirit, we would remember that we have the teacher within us, that we have the power within us, the source of all life lives in us, the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, the apostle says this to us that same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives and dwells in you.
SPEAKER_01: That's hope, beloved, that's goodness, that's how we can face anything that we face, recognizing the source of this power is in us.
SPEAKER_01: We pause here for a moment to thank you for joining us today.
SPEAKER_01: If you're finding this episode meaningful, would you take a moment to share it with a friend?
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SPEAKER_01: If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church and the continued work of our podcast, visit us online at firstlovechurch.org, reminding you to like, follow, and subscribe.
SPEAKER_00: My friend had this uh van, this conversion van.
SPEAKER_00: He bought it for his family, and uh he had it all these years, and uh he was getting ready to sell it, so he pulled out this book about the van, you know, and it said uh it said that uh underneath the driver's in the passenger seat are these big storage bins.
SPEAKER_00: He had the van for 10 years, and he didn't have any idea that they were there, so he sells the van, and as he sells the van, he goes, Hey, this got these really good storage bins, and the people are like, Oh, that'd be so great, we could use it.
SPEAKER_00: And he thought to himself, well, I could too for 10 years with a bunch of kids and saying, But because he just didn't know what was there, he never got uh took advantage of it, you know?
SPEAKER_00: And uh and it's a silly little story, but uh for us to think about like you know, the you you have the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Those of us who who have called on the name of the Lord, that has the spirit has been given to us.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I do believe there's a separate experience of of the you know, just that overwhelming fill it fill uh filling of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: But all of us have the spirit and that that breath of the spirit, something that we didn't earn.
SPEAKER_00: I love that point that you made there, that gift received it, you know, because we were taught, uh, some of us uh back in the day that you tarry for the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: You have to wait because they waited for a while in the room, but they waited and the spirit came, so there's no more tarrying.
SPEAKER_00: That's where that doctrine got a little off uh put.
SPEAKER_00: But the point is it kind of communicated that you got to kind of earn it.
SPEAKER_00: And I remember people like, you know, uh you gotta speak in tongues.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't speak in tongues, you're not filled with the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And then people are like, Well, I don't speak in tongues.
SPEAKER_00: So why is God withholding this gift of the Holy Spirit from me?
SPEAKER_00: Because they're not speaking in tongues.
SPEAKER_00: Well, you may not be experiencing a gift, but you've received the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: But you, if you didn't know it, you're not using those drawers in your van, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so I just I This, I think uh what Heather said, if you could not not for if you could just remember one thing today, it's that you would I and I love this experience.
SPEAKER_00: As much as I try to do it as a follower of Christ, Heather is such a great example for me.
SPEAKER_00: Because she she'll she'll say, What does spirit say?
SPEAKER_00: Or let's ask Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Because my first thing is to be frustrated when I lost the tool that I was just working with.
SPEAKER_00: It was just here a minute ago.
SPEAKER_00: My first knee-jerk reaction is still to get frustrated.
SPEAKER_00: Heather says, Well, let's ask Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to go, but I know it's right, I can't argue with her.
SPEAKER_00: So I'll ask Spirit, and then sure enough, reach back and grab it and keep going.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's like, God, you know, when you recognize you have Holy Spirit, God's given us this power, it begins to be incorporated.
SPEAKER_00: But you, if you know, if you're not aware, you're not in tune to practice.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for the remembrance that it is a practice.
SPEAKER_01: And the Holy Spirit's not just there so you know where your keys are.
SPEAKER_01: But what Dennis is actually reminding us is that we do have the answer.
SPEAKER_01: We are connected to the source of all things.
SPEAKER_01: And by taking a moment and pausing and asking the spirit, we are actually calming ourselves to a place where we can say, it's not all on me.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever felt overwhelmed like everything is on you?
SPEAKER_01: You have to make all the decisions, you have to find all the things, you have to do all the stuff.
SPEAKER_01: That is a feeling that ends up with despair.
SPEAKER_01: And the invitation is life in the spirit means freedom for us.
SPEAKER_01: I'll take a moment and I'll think about it.
SPEAKER_01: I'll take a moment and connect with the source of all life.
SPEAKER_01: I'll take a moment and connect with God who is in me.
SPEAKER_01: I'll take a moment and I'll connect and I'll wait and I'll ask.
SPEAKER_01: There is so much beauty, and that's why I'm so excited that Pentecost is an entire season and we get to practice together.
SPEAKER_01: And all of this leads us to this next part of the verse.
SPEAKER_01: When he said this, he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And then he said, If you forgive the sins of any, see, Jesus knew that forgiveness was going to be really hard and something that we might not be able to do without empowerment, without connection to the source.
SPEAKER_01: If you forgive the sins of any, now Christ is reminding us that there is a higher way to live, that we would live as people who forgive sins.
SPEAKER_01: As the Father has sent Jesus, Jesus is sending us, that we would be people so connected to the source that we would live unchained by offense, that we would live freely, that we would live lightly, that we would live in the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said this to us.
SPEAKER_01: Are any of you tired?
SPEAKER_01: Are you burnt out?
SPEAKER_01: Are you worn out?
SPEAKER_01: Are you tired of religion?
SPEAKER_01: Then come to me and I will show you the unforced rhythms of grace.
SPEAKER_01: I will teach you how to live freely and lightly.
SPEAKER_01: Beloved, how to live in freedom is to live in the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And living in the Holy Spirit means forgiving the sins of any.
SPEAKER_01: If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: I remind you, sometimes I think we are in an illusion where we think we are powerless in this world.
SPEAKER_01: Beloved, we are full of God's power, the power of radical love, the power to forgive sins.
SPEAKER_01: And if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.
SPEAKER_01: In Eugene Peterson's translation, he says, if you forgive the sins of any, they're forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: And it says, and if you hold on to anyone's sins, what are you going to do with them?
SPEAKER_01: And I loved that idea.
SPEAKER_01: What are you going to do with everyone's sin?
SPEAKER_01: Why hold on to it?
SPEAKER_01: Let it go.
SPEAKER_01: Forgive it, give it to Jesus, who can do something with it.
SPEAKER_01: But if you hold on to those sins, then all you would do is walking around burdened.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the invitation to live freely and lightly.
SPEAKER_01: Don't withhold forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: Give forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: Walk freely and walk empowered by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I think I think that message translation uh helps clarify some things because I think that sometimes in this translation, it's the idea that you forgive, or for some people, you're just not going to forgive.
SPEAKER_00: But really, it's the idea of either forgive or you're going to be stuck with it.
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's that's a better translation, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Uh because there's such a human, uh, natural human instinct for us to why would we forgive someone that's hurt us so bad?
SPEAKER_00: And we're not suggesting that you would put yourself back in that situation, or that somehow we're saying what they did doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: Because that's not at all what forgiveness is.
SPEAKER_00: What forgiveness is you taking that sin and allowing it to go where it needs to go in God's hands to deal with.
SPEAKER_00: But when we hang on to it, we what what are we gonna do with it?
SPEAKER_00: You know, I I've heard it said, you know, that hanging on to that unforgiveness is like having this little monster.
SPEAKER_00: It's clawing you to bits, but you're hanging on to that unforgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, it's just gutting you, but you like that little demon, and so you're gonna hang on to that thing, you know.
SPEAKER_00: But when when we release it, we're free, you know, and and so, and and there's just that sense that I don't want to free that other person.
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh, and what I I say it this way, they're free to be dealt with by God, how God is gonna deal with it, and I'm saying I'm not gonna get involved in that.
SPEAKER_00: You know, God can be judge over what goes on with there.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just going to do my part, which is, and it's gonna take the power of the Holy Spirit, but I'm going to choose to forgive, and that is release.
SPEAKER_00: And that is really to say, on the day of judgment, I hold no grievance against this person.
SPEAKER_00: That's a practice.
SPEAKER_00: You know, when you've been physically and sexually abused, when you've been verbally abused, when you have been stolen from, when you have been treated the way so many of you have been treated, I understand I'm asking you one of the hardest things in the world to do.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we need the Holy Spirit, but I'm also saying it is for your benefit, not the person that has harmed you.
SPEAKER_01: And let's be very clear with what forgiveness is, at least in our understanding of it.
SPEAKER_01: It is giving something over to God.
SPEAKER_01: And when you forgive something and forgive someone, it doesn't mean that you reconcile with them.
SPEAKER_01: Forgiveness and reconciliation are two completely different things.
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes it is best for you to allow that person to be forgiven and carry on with their life and have nothing to do with you.
SPEAKER_01: And there is a grace in that, and there is a hope in that.
SPEAKER_01: And that is when we need discernment of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Is this something that I need to reconcile, make amends for?
SPEAKER_01: And you cannot just forgive someone, let them in your life without amends being made.
SPEAKER_01: That's foolishness.
SPEAKER_01: And the Holy Spirit within us is wisdom, so we're not gonna be asked to do something foolish.
SPEAKER_01: But the invitation is that we don't have to hold someone and figure out how the justice is gonna come for them or figure out how they are going to change, but that we would say, I recognize this as an offense.
SPEAKER_01: And I release myself from that.
SPEAKER_01: I give you over to God, who is faithful and who is just.
SPEAKER_01: And so we give it to Jesus and we forgive.
SPEAKER_01: But this is why this is so essential when we look at this this morning, this beautiful invitation into a new way of being.
SPEAKER_01: This is the church of Jesus Christ that is being born here.
SPEAKER_01: This is a new way of being where there were laws and separation.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit was given for unity, for inclusion, for this new way of living.
SPEAKER_01: And beloved, this place where they are met in grief and they are met in fear.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus speaks to them and says, Peace, peace be still.
SPEAKER_01: As the Father is sending me, so I am sending you.
SPEAKER_01: And forgive, forgive it all, forgive.
SPEAKER_01: This is how we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we we had an event a while back at the church, and uh, way more people showed up than they said they were gonna show up.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's difficult for us in the leadership because we buy food for those of you that would say that you're gonna be there.
SPEAKER_00: So so many more people were there, and so we were kind of freaking out, Heather and I.
SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, we'll just tell our kids not to eat, and maybe we'll go out to dinner afterwards, or we're just trying to figure it out, you know.
SPEAKER_00: And then the food didn't come, the food didn't come, and it's like two hours we ordered, you know, this from the time the food was supposed to be there.
SPEAKER_00: And we call the place, they're like, we can't find you.
SPEAKER_00: We're just like, right, you know, it's the house it's always been that you deliver to.
SPEAKER_00: So all this stuff.
SPEAKER_00: So then all the people are getting restless, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00: They're waiting for all this food.
SPEAKER_00: There's all these people, you know, uh, and it's like locusts or no, I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_00: But uh that so then, so then finally, after two hours, this this lady comes in.
SPEAKER_00: You know, that's a lot of pressure on you as a host.
SPEAKER_00: You got these people wanting the food, the food's not here.
SPEAKER_00: You did everything you could to order it, and you did everything you could to order the food that you thought for the beat, and now there's all these extra people.
SPEAKER_00: So it just it felt like it was just such a setup for failure.
SPEAKER_00: And uh then uh this lady walks in and she goes, you know, that our company said because we were two hours late and we couldn't find you, that the the food the food is free.
SPEAKER_00: And we're like, well, you know, at least not enough food isn't gonna cost us anything, you know.
SPEAKER_00: And and uh uh uh and you know, and you know, when you're you can't have feelings of aggravation towards this person who couldn't find the house.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's not a trick, it's not a Rubik's Cube to find my house, it's an address, and you go drive to it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm you know, I could figure it out.
SPEAKER_00: But anyways, the long story short is uh Heather walked up to her and paid her the money and paid her a tip.
SPEAKER_00: And she said, No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: We can have it free.
SPEAKER_00: And she said, Well, then you keep this.
SPEAKER_00: And she says, and I don't deserve it.
SPEAKER_00: And Heather said, I know, but I I want you to have it.
SPEAKER_00: And the woman looks like right in the lit the kitchen of our house there, in front of this.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, not in front, because people were just kind of there's like a storm of people running around, you know.
SPEAKER_00: And she's just there in the kitchen just weeping.
SPEAKER_00: It was the most beautiful thing.
SPEAKER_00: She goes, Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: You know, she was she was so nervous because she failed and felt so bad, and she was probably in trouble with her bosses, and now there's no money, and and now is she gonna have her job and all this stuff, and she needs the money and she can have, you know, and all this.
SPEAKER_00: And then she had, and then she was just so grateful.
SPEAKER_00: And I gotta tell you that all those feelings of frustration, I was like, you know, I allowed the people to put a pressure on me that they maybe weren't even putting on themselves.
SPEAKER_00: I put it that that they needed that food then.
SPEAKER_00: The food comes when the food comes, right?
SPEAKER_00: You know, and and if there's not enough, there's not enough, you know, it's not good.
SPEAKER_00: So it's like all that was just released in this joy of just being able to let Holy Spirit do, because you know, once I'm telling the story, you know that's the right thing to do.
SPEAKER_00: It feels good.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm telling you, everybody lined up, got their food, went back and had seconds and thirds, and there was still food in that pan after my kids ate and everybody extra that was there.
SPEAKER_00: And I felt so embarrassed for thinking, well, you know, resentful feelings towards, you know, these people that didn't tell me they were gonna come and they're gonna come, you know, and all this stuff.
SPEAKER_00: And and it's like there's there's in I and I want you to see that it's in everyday practices that we can invite Holy Spirit to.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we you know, it's all great in church.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, we have a holy moment.
SPEAKER_00: I'm asking the Holy Spirit to go, you know.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm talking about where the rubber meets the road, in these situations where you are freaking out, you're frustrated.
SPEAKER_00: You know, pray and let Holy Spirit lead you in this, and you can have peace in the middle of pressured storms like that, because you're gonna have your own set of storms like that.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to remind you, oh yeah, call on the Spirit to help me with how this is gonna work out.
SPEAKER_00: And I promise you, you know, I see it over and over.
SPEAKER_00: God just makes a way where there seems to be no way.
SPEAKER_00: God has given us Holy Spirit because God loves you so much, doesn't want you to be stressed, doesn't want you to have to exhaust your own strength and then have a lack.
SPEAKER_00: But what there's an abundance for us, amen.
SPEAKER_01: And the invitation for us is in the gathering, is in again, the people were together in one place, and and Jesus appears to them, but Jesus also appears to people when they're by themselves.
SPEAKER_01: And so the invitation is to make a space for the spirit, to allow in your own self a space for the spirit to connect, to bring you peace, to bring you grace.
SPEAKER_01: This morning, um, I want to read a blessing over you.
SPEAKER_01: One of my friends was asking this week about something terrible that we were both aware of.
SPEAKER_01: And she said, I don't know even how to live in the world right now.
SPEAKER_01: This is so terrible.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how you're even, you know, like functioning.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, You know what I'm doing?
SPEAKER_01: I'm blessing everything.
SPEAKER_01: This is what I'm doing.
SPEAKER_01: By the Holy Spirit, I am alchemizing this.
SPEAKER_01: I look at Mary and she did this at the cross.
SPEAKER_01: People were angry and horrible, and Jesus was being crucified, and she practiced this forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: You can give horrible things to Jesus, and Jesus can make them new, completely new.
SPEAKER_01: So I've been practicing blessing, blessing everything.
SPEAKER_01: If it looks like a curse, if it looks harmful, I'm gonna turn it around and bless it.
SPEAKER_01: And so I offer to us this morning a blessing, a Pentecost blessing.
SPEAKER_01: So if you would for a moment take um your hands and put them on your knees, or as close as your knees you can get them, on maybe that's your thighs.
SPEAKER_01: But I just want you to feel your knees for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: And then you can sit back up and just breathe in.
SPEAKER_01: And feel your feet on the floor, and just remember that you are safe, you are safe in the house of the Lord, and that the spirit is here this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Just like the spirit was there on that evening.
SPEAKER_01: May the same spirit that stirred and brooded over the face of the deep move gently through you again.
SPEAKER_01: May the Holy One who leaned close to the clay of the earth and breathed humanity awake, breathe once more upon all your weary places, your grieving places, your hidden places that are still waiting for resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: And may you remember that Spirit comes not as violence, not as spectacle, but as intimacy, as the warmth of breath shared between beloveds, the nearness of God filling the lungs of creation with loving mercy.
SPEAKER_01: May the Christ who entered the locked room of fear enter now to the shuttered rooms within you.
SPEAKER_01: And may Jesus breathe peace into all the spaces in you that are clenched in sorrow.
SPEAKER_01: May Jesus breathe courage into all that has forgotten how to live.
SPEAKER_01: May Jesus breathe fire into the tender tinder of all of your longings until your heart becomes a small sanctuary of holy flame.
SPEAKER_01: May the winds of Pentecost unbind your tongues for blessing.
SPEAKER_01: May it open your ears to voices that have long been silenced, to languages not your own, to the sacred sound of humanity crying out for belonging.
SPEAKER_01: And may the Spirit teach you again and again that difference is not division, but the wild, wondrous music of God.
SPEAKER_01: Many voices carried on one breath, many bodies woven into living communion, many stories gathered into one great river of love.
SPEAKER_01: And may you feel the breath of your neighbor as kin to your own.
SPEAKER_01: And may you remember that your life is not separate, not from the earth, not from one another, not from the holy presence that pulses through all things.
SPEAKER_01: So, Mary, the very breath of God move through this community, the winds through the cedars, like flames dancing in the dark, like waves returning again and again to the shore.
SPEAKER_01: And may you become today more fully alive, breathing deeply, loving expansively, creating fearlessly, welcoming freely until every table becomes wide enough, and every stranger becomes the beloved, and the whole world shimmers awake with the Spirit of the Living God.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: We hope you've enjoyed this week's sermon.
SPEAKER_01: If you would like more information about us, visit us online at firstlovechurch.org.