Mission Impossible???

Mission Impossible???

Day of Pentecost (NL3) John B. Valentine
Acts 2:1-4 May 28, 2023

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE??

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Seriously ... if you have figured it out by now ... today IS the birthday of the Church.

If my math is correct ... the Church of Jesus Christ was called into being today ... one thousand nine hundred and ninety-three years ago!

And that’s a good reason to celebrate!

But this whole ‘church’ thing which we celebrate today is a funny thing.

You see ... this church thing that we talk about:

It isn’t just an “It” ... it’s an “Us”.
It isn’t just a “Them” ... it’s a “We”.
It isn’t just an “Us” ... it’s a “Me”.

It’s “Us” individually.
It’s “Us” together.
It’s “Us” across the country.
It’s “Us” across denominations.
It’s “Us” across the planet.
It’s “Us across generations.

It’s the whole Christian Church on earth ... the whole catholic and apostolic Church ... it’s the followers of Jesus in every time and every place.

Then again ... this church thing that we celebrate today isn’t just something that “Is” ... it’s also something that we DO!

Because that verb “follow” isn’t a so-called “state of being” verb ... a something that just IS.

It is an “action” verb ... a something that we DO.

And so today is a good day to think about just HOW we do this “being the church” thing.
As our Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton is wont to say ... it isn’t just about ‘being church.’ but:

• It’s about being Church together ... and

• It’s about being Church for the sake of the world.

Living into ... and living out ... the abundance of God’s amazing grace.

+ + + + +

Actually ... if we want to think about Pentecost ... and being the church and all ... I can think of no better story than that of a twelve-year-old boy by the name of Ryan Tripp.

Any of you know ... any of you remember the story of Ryan Tripp???

I didn’t think so.

You see ... it was like back right before the turn of the millennium ... that this twelve-year-old boy ... Ryan ... made the news when he was moved by the plight of a little girl named Whitnie from his small-town hometown in Utah.

• Whitnie desperately needed a liver transplant ...

• And Ryan wanted to raise some money to help her.

So Ryan dreamed up this scheme whereby he would undertake a fund-raising journey ... and get sponsored by the mile on his adventure.

∙ He decided to go from his home town all the way to Washington D.C. ... and ...

∙ He decided to travel a rather circuitous route that would take him three thousand, one hundred and sixteen miles ... and ....

∙ And he decided he would do it riding on his lawnmower!

Sounds pretty much like an impossible task?

A twelve-year-old wanting to set the world’s record for distance lawnmower riding ... and raising money for a neighbor girl in the process ...

But ... believe it or not ... for forty-two days ... Ryan rode his riding lawnmower along the shoulder of our nation’s highways and by-ways ... at a speed of about ten miles an hour ... all the way to Washington D.C.

And when he got to the nation’s capital ... he was given permission to mow the lawn in front of the U.S. Capitol building with the lawnmower on which he’d rode all those miles.

It was a GREAT story.

But ... when the newspapers reported that story ... they conveniently forgot to really mention one significant aspect of Ryan’s sojourn.

• Ryan’s dad and his grandparents drove the whole way down the road with him ... in front of him and behind him ... and ...

• Each evening his dad serviced the lawnmower ... and ...

• Grandma and Grandpa made sure that Ryan ate well ... and slept well ... and had everything that he needed ...

• While more stayed at home with Ryan’s siblings.

Now granted ... the presence of his dad and his grandparents didn’t make Ryan’s impossible journey a complete walk in the park ...

But he couldn’t have done it without them ... for they provided everything he needed along the way.

+ + + + +

Now what ... pray tell ... does the story of Ryan Tripp’s lawnmower trip have to do with Pentecost?

Anyone want to venture a guess??

I’ll give you a hint.

Pentecost Day ... this day that we set aside to celebrate the Spirit of God ... is a day to remember the day when God first sent the gift of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ first friends and followers.

You see ... after God Almighty had raised Jesus from the dead ... but before Jesus ascended into heaven ...

He had called his disciples together and given them what seemed like an impossible task:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Go and make disciples of all nations????

Wait a minute ... Jesus!!

• You’re not talking about a highly trained group of commandos and insurgents here.

• You’re not talking about a group of degreed and credentialed teachers.

• You’re not talking about any graduates of this, that or the other business school.

What you’re talking about is handing off the responsibility for continuing the world-saving work of Jesus to a group of fishermen and farmers and carpenters and tax-collectors and housewives and the like ...

A group that hadn’t shown any previous predilection for anything of the sort!

And yet it was them that Jesus called to be the ones to turn the world upside down!

Sounds pretty much like an impossible journey ... does it not?

And ... you know ... it would have been impossible ... if they imagined thy could do it on their own.

Truthfully ... the way the gospels tell it ... that particular cast of characters couldn’t really have done too very much of anything if they been doing it on their own.

But they weren’t relying on their own resources.

The day of Pentecost rolled around ... and God gave them exactly what they needed to get the job done ... even as Ryan’s dad and grandparent’s gave Ryan all the support and assistance he needed to complete his cross-country journey on a lawn mower.

And turned that impossible journey ... that “Mission Impossible” ... into a mission made possible ... by God ... the one who provided what they needed to do what they heretofore could not even have imagined.

+ + + + +

You know ... deep down ... that statement ... that declaration that “God is the One who provided what they needed to do what they heretofore could not even have imagined” ... contains within it both an amazing promise and an amazing challenge.

We began our time of worship this morning with ... what I trust ... are some now familiar words:

How ... the last time Jesus was with His disciples, he told them: "When the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world."

How the Spirit came among them ... and they began to speak to their neighbors about the amazing love of God.

How the Spirit stayed among them ... and they devoted themselves to learning and fellowship, to worship and prayer.

How the Spirit wove them together ... and they supported one another as they could, and were thankful for what they had.

How the Spirit called them into action ... to speak the truth and to speak for God.

How the Spirit challenged their assumptions ... and their eyes were opened to new possibilities.

How the Spirit invited them to journey ... and how ... wherever they went ... they spoke of the mighty acts of God.

AND we prayed that that same Spirit which called, gathered, enlightened and sanctified those first Christians be present with us.

The CHALLENGE ... as it were ... is that we are still called to daunting tasks.

The PROMISE is that we too are provided with what we need to do what we heretofore could not even imagine.

Pentecost means that the challenge of being God’s instruments of grace and hope and peace in this world is a daunting one ...

AND it means that we do not face that work alone.

+ + + + +

So let me leave you this one last thought.

Ryan’s journey ... that three-thousand-mile journey across country ... wasn’t ... at the end of the day ... a journey about Ryan.

It WAS about a young girl named Whitnie ... Whitnie Pender.

• Whitnie was three-months-old at the time of Ryan’s journey ...

• Whitnie needed a liver transplant and her parents couldn’t afford it ...

• And Ryan’s cross-country journey raised fifteen thousand dollars to help pay for Whitnie’s surgery ...

• AND Ryan’s journey generated heightened awareness all across the country about the need for people to check that little box on your driver’s license application that says you consent to being and organ donor

• AND ... it turns out ... Whitnie is alive and well today ... in no small part because of Ryan’s journey.

May we live into both the challenge and the promise of Pentecost ... folks.

To know that we are still called to daunting tasks ...

And to know that we are still provided with what we need to do what we heretofore could not even imagine.

Amen!

“Mission Impossible???” was a sermon preached by Pastor John Valentine on the Day of Pentecost — the birthday of the Church.  The text upon which it was/is based is the overarching story of the Book of Acts.  To access a copy of the worship bulletin, click here: Worship Order 20230528