Acts 2:1-21
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Romans 8:14-17
John 14:8-17, 25-27

Mt. Zion UMC, Stokesdale, NC

27 May 2007

Pomp, Circumstance, Parchment, and the Holy Spirit

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of watching my wife, Cathy, graduate from UNC with her doctorate in Audiology. There was pomp and circumstance... Quite literally, they played it over the sound system. Cathy looked right in her doctoral robe and hood. They had a good key-note speaker. They had the hooding ceremony and presentation of degrees. Yes, it was a fitting end for Cathy's four long years as a doctoral student.

Similar ceremonies have been held at various universities, colleges, and secondary schools not only throughout the nation, but throughout the world this month. I'm sure Megan and Maranda, as well as their families would say that their graduations were also fitting ends for their years as students as well.

This past Monday, I had the pleasure of watching Cathy go off to her first day of work as Dr. Cathy. That's when it struck me... Graduation wasn't simply an end to school, but it was also the beginning of the next stage in Cathy's life.

This all made me think of my own graduation from Duke University last May. It was essentially the end of nine years of fulltime higher-education. But it also was just the beginning of the next stage of my life. Graduation doesn't simply mark an end. It also marks a beginning. And therefore, marks a transition in life - moving from student to practitioner.

Today is Pentecost; the fiftieth day of Easter. On this day, we remember the Pentecost as recorded in Saint Luke's book of Acts. Often, we call this day the Church's birthday. Although this is an appropriate analogy, this year I see Pentecost more like the Church's graduation.

Think about how I just described graduation... It marks a transition - moving from student to practitioner. At Pentecost, the Disciples moved from simply being disciples to Apostles. They moved from simply being students of Christ's ministry to practitioners of Christ's ministry. They move from sitting at Jesus' feet hearing the Truth of God to having others sit at their feet as they share the Truth of God. Just as graduates receive the authority of their degrees, the Church received the authority of the Holy Spirit. This was a transition into a new era for not just the Church, but for the entire world.

But what "new era" is it that the Church and world is moving into? Saint Peter, just like a good key-note speaker at a graduation, directs our attention to this new era. In our reading from Acts, Peter quotes the prophet Joel: "In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" [Acts 2:17-21]. Joel's prophesy is a prophesy of the coming of God's Kingdom. Peter is saying that God's Kingdom is here! This new era for the Church and the world is an era that realizes and proclaims the Kingdom of God.

Yes, the Kingdom of God is here! And yes, there does seem to be a lot of work to do. After all, tomorrow is Memorial Day; a day this nation has set aside to remember those who have died for this country. It stands as a stark reminder that there is still war... that we still live in a fallen creation... that we still have more to learn and more to do. If this is the case, how can I see Pentecost as the Church's graduation?

Just because we've graduated doesn't mean that we've learned all that we need to learn. I graduated from Duke over a year ago. In this past year I've continued to learn. I actually do much more reading and writing now than I did in school. The first thing that Cathy bought with some of her graduation money was books - professional books for Audiology. But didn't UNC say that Cathy was qualified to be an Audiologist? Didn’t Duke say I had the education to be an effective pastor? Yes, but to be qualified is not to know all there is about what your qualified for; it's about having a good foundation to begin and knowing the means in which to build off of that foundation. I did not graduate from Duke with all the knowledge and skill to be an effective pastor; I graduated with a good foundation in pastoral ministry to build off of and to grow from. Maranda, who graduated with an education degree, graduated with a good foundation to start teaching, but more importantly, she graduated with a good foundation to build off of to become an even better teacher. Megan graduated with her High School diploma, a degree that has laid a foundation for a variety of options that all include continued learning, whether it be more formal education, or job training, or both. Likewise, the Church graduated with the essential foundation to continue Christ's ministry in this world, to proclaim the Kingdom of God. Just because we become practitioners, doesn't mean that we cease to be students. Although I am a pastor, I will never cease to be a student of pastoral ministry. Just because the Church has become a practitioner of Christian ministry and proclamation, we will never cease to be disciples. At Pentecost, at the Church's graduation, we became ministers as well as disciples.

One thing that I vividly remember about my classes at Duke, is my professors saying, "When you're in your appointment...” and then they would impart some useful insight or wisdom. Some of which I've already experienced even in just my first year of pastoral ministry! Some of which I'm still eagerly anticipating. Regardless of actually experiencing these things or not, they stand as encouragement and guidance even more so now that I've graduated and am now a practitioner than when I was simply a student. These statements help give me direction now that I'm in my appointment - they help me understand not only what I should do, but also what I can do. As I address a post-Pentecost Church, a Church that has graduated and is to be a practitioner of Christ's ministry, let me remind us of one of these kind of statements Christ gave to us before Pentecost. In our reading from Saint John's Gospel, Jesus said, "Very Truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father" [John 14:12]. Jesus is telling us that the vocation the Church is being trained for is to continue Christ's ministry in this world - to do the things Jesus did: to feed, heal, bless, forgive; to proclaim that the Kingdom of God is at hand! We are to be practitioners of feeding, healing, blessing, and forgiving in our proclamation of the presence of God’s Kingdom. Saint Francis of Assisi is credited with saying, “Preach the gospel and if necessary use words.” The ministries of Christ, the same ministries the Holy Spirit has given the Church authority to perform, are the primary ways we are to proclaim the gospel, the good news of the presence of the Kingdom of God here and now.

As I think more about my graduation from Duke, I think about the fact that I and all of my classmates received the same degree. Although each of our degrees had our own individual names on them, they were all the same Masters of Divinity degree from Duke University. In a sense, we are all bound together through sharing in the same degree and the same authority that such a degree bestows on a person. Christians share something similar. Although Christ calls us all to specific ministries by each of our names, we all receive the same Holy Spirit. Although our individual ministries may differ, as the Church, together we realize and perform the ministries of Christ in this world and time.

Graduation is not only an end, but also a beginning. It's a transition from simply being a student to being a practitioner as well as a life -long student. Pentecost is very much like the Church's graduation. We received our "degree," the Holy Spirit - the authority and the source of power by which we are practitioners of Christ's ministry in this world - a ministry of feeding, healing, blessing, forgiving; a ministry proclaiming the Kingdom of God is at hand.

SDG