01/12/2025 ~ Baptism of the Christ ~ First Sunday after the Epiphany ~ Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 ~ YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSMFwOYWxzo
VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1047882907

Inviting the Spirit

“Upon arriving, Peter and John laid hands on the Samaritans, and they received the Holy Spirit.” — Acts 8:17.

This may or may not be a confession. Bonnie and I are cat people. Of course, we do not own a cat since cats do not have owners. Cats have staff.

For sixteen years starting when we were in Bangor, we had two cats: Topsy and Turvy. These two passed over the Rainbow Bridge a long time ago.

A year later Tigger and Tortie adopted us. I know— these cat names all start with ‘T.’ Unfortunately Tortie has joined Topsy and Turvy in catnip heaven. But Tigger still rules the roost.

Now, we are not anti-dog. We like dogs. When we were young both our families had dogs. So, here’s a Connolly family dog and cat story. (Slight pause.)

At one point my family had three cats. One of them— Tinker Tim was the alpha cat, the one in charge of the other two— Tick and Tocc. Yep— three more ‘T’ names for cats.

In fact, a friend nicknamed Tinker Tim “Rex Pussy-catus”— king of the cats— and stuck a label with the title Rex Pussy-catus near the house doorbell. Why there?

When this cat was out in the back yard but wanted to be let into the house it often came to the front door, jumped on the banister of the stoop and rang the doorbell. We would go to the door expecting a person. What we would find was one very smart cat.

Then we got a border collie. If you don’t know about border collies this might help you understand the breed.

How many border collies does it take to change a light bulb? You line is “‘How many.” (The Congregation responds: ‘How many?’)

Only one. Why? A border collie’s reaction to changing a light bulb is immediate and simple: “Only one light bulb? No problem! I’ll also replace any wiring not up to code and put in new light fixtures. Can I, can I, can I do anything else for you?”— that’s the attitude of border collie.

And so, here you have a dog who is eager and compliant inserted into a house with three cats, one of whom is an alpha cat. What happened?

First, the dog discovered it could not come near the cat food. It would be swatted. Also, a normal perch for the alpha cat was on a dining room chair. If the dog walked near the cat, in a leisurely fashion just to let the dog know who was in charge, would reach out and swat at the nose or tail of the dog, depending on which end was close. Cats and dogs— alpha cats— they’re dangerous. (Slight pause.)

These words are from Luke/Acts in the section of that work known as Acts: “Upon arriving, Peter and John laid hands on the Samaritans, and they received the Holy Spirit.” (Slight pause.)

Sometimes an Affirmation of Faith is a part of a service. Today we recited the covenant of this church. That is an Affirmation of Faith.

However, I think our society becomes attached to, ensnared by and enmeshed in literal content. We take words too literally. Words do have the power. Words have the power to persuade, influence, cajole, but also have the power to damage, inflict pain, be used as cudgels, weapons.

The bad news: our tendency is to give words more power than they really have. Here’s a church example: many recite the Affirmation of Faith known as The Nicene Creed as if it was not filled with paradox and contradictions, as if it is to be taken if not literally at least at face value.

Not only is this ancient creed filled with paradox and contradictions. The people who wrote it knew it was filled with paradox and contradictions. They did not think it should be taken literally. In fact, this creed is in the Pilgrim Hymnal— reading number 52. But I asked Stephanie to put it in the bulletin so you could readily see it.

That brings us to the story we heard in Acts. Some folks in Samaria had accepted the Word of God. What does that mean, that Samaria, the Samaritans accepted the Word of God?

From the perspective of the Jews, Samaritans are outcasts, an inferior branch of the tribes of Israel. That’s why the parable of The Good Samaritan is noteworthy.

But Samaritans are Jews. So, in the context of this time and this place accepting the Word of God means acknowledging God is in covenant with the people of God and has sent Jesus to be the Messiah.

This is also clear: these Samaritans have used the right words, preformed the right acts. They got Baptized in the Name of the Christ. Perhaps it could even be phrased this way: they understood the covenant and the Messiah in a literal way so they did everything right. They did veverything by the book.

Then Peter and John show up and lay hands on the Samaritans who suddenly receive the Holy Spirit. So did Peter and John have some special magic?

Well, no. That takes the story too literally. Just like giving words too much power, to take this story literally gives humans and human action— actions of both the Samaritans and the Apostles— too much power.

In case no one has ever told you this secret, we humans seem to like power. Why? We all want to think we are “Rex Pussy-catus,” an alpha cat, king of cats, in charge— we’ll fix anything.

That leads to a pair of questions: first, who is in charge? (Slight pause.) God is in charge. The Holy Spirit moves when and where the Holy Spirit moves. We need to wait on the Spirit. Waiting on the Spirit is not easy. It would be silly of me to say it is.

Second question: what are we called to do? (Slight pause.) We are not called to be “Rex Pussy-catus,” alpha cat, king of cats, in charge. We are called to do the will of God and walk in the ways of God. Great. How?

Well, what do we really mean when we recite some form of an Affirmation of Faith, some statement of belief, some creed? Are we to take affirmations literally or is something else going on, another way to understand what it means to believe? (Slight pause.)

I’ve said this here before: the word creed comes from the Latin word credo. Credo means I believe. But at its root, credo also means heart, trust, entrust, confide in, have faith in.

Credo means I, we, give our hearts to God. We entrust our hearts to God.

What credo does not mean is that any statement of belief we make is an absolute, provable thesis. Credo does not mean we are trying to finalize something. Credo does mean we affirm our trust in God, proclaim our trust in God. (Slight pause.)

So for Christians, God is in charge. Therefore, how do we, humans, need to understand that, grapple with that? (Slight pause.)

First, obviously, we need to grapple with the idea that we are not God— we are not God. That’s a hard task for some. Second, we need to know God chooses we humans to be conduits of grace. Third, we humans need to strive to be open to the Spirit of God as the Spirit works through us. (Slight pause.)

That brings us back to the Samaritans. We do not know what Peter and John said to the Samaritans. Perhaps all Peter and John did was suggested the Samaritans open their hearts to God, be conduits of the Spirit. (Slight pause.)

I think that is the issue for each of us— be open, be conduits. That is the issue for this church here, right now, today— to be open, to be conduits of God’s Spirit.

That is the issue for all who say the Spirit of God is with us. The question we need to ask ourselves is this: are our hearts open to the Spirit of God, God who seeks to work with us, work among us, God who seeks to be present, real among us?

When our hearts are open we can be empowered to recognize God’s Spirit as present. When our hearts are open we are empowered to work with God. When our hearts are open we can strive to accomplish the will of God. (Slight pause.)

The last time I looked the will of God had to do with some simple precepts: justice, equity, peace, freedom, hope, joy, love. And that’s not just any justice, equity, peace, freedom, hope, joy, love. That’s God’s justice, God’s equity, God’s peace, God’s freedom, God’s peace, God’s hope, God’s love. God is in charge. Amen.

01/12/2024
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest and theologian. She recently said this about being An ordained pastor. ‘Being ordained is not about serving God perfectly but about serving God visibly, allowing other people to learn whatever they can from watching you rise and watching you fall.’— the words of Barbara Brown Taylor. We who claim to be among the priesthood of all believers— we need to understand inviting the Spirit also means we shall rise and we shall fall. And we most assuredly we will never be alpha cats. And yes, people may be able to learn from us just because they see us rise and fall. But we shall rise and fall if and when we are open to the Spirit.”

BENEDICTION: Depart in peace for God’s promised covenant is real and is forever. And may the love of God guide us, the word of the Christ empower us and the gifts of the Spirit dwell in us, this day and forever more. Amen.