Pentecost C-
May 19th, 2013 – Rev. Kimberlynn McNabb
As you most
of you know, this morning Pastor Kimber is running her first full
marathon. She prepared this sermon while
finishing her training, and found that there were lots of connections to be
made between running and the festival of Pentecost. For our inspiration she has placed her
training shoes in front of the altar.
Note the colour; they are the same as the ones she is running in right
now: FIRE BERRY.
If
you had asked Pastor Kimber in her 20’s, if she thought she would ever run, let
alone run a marathon, she would have told you that you had holes in your
head. Growing up an uncoordinated child,
clumsy beyond belief, one who ran into things and fell all the time; one who
was not adept at sport; and who had asthma and allergies, often huffing and
puffing from a quick walk...who would have thought running 42kms or 26 miles
was a possibility.
If
you had asked the disciples in the fifty days after Jesus’ death, if they
thought that they would spread out from Jerusalem and enter all the known world
with the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection; they would likely have told
you that you were a dreamer with ridiculous ideas. Most of them growing up around the sea of
Galilee, fishermen; good at physical work, not so adept at public speaking;
knowing Aramaic and being able to take their turn reading the ancient Hebrew of
the scripture scrolls in the synagogue...who would have thought it possible
that they would preach to a large crowd, so that the crowd heard the message in
their own languages, and that their words were persuasive enough to cause
thousands to want to be baptized.
For
eight years, Pastor Kimber has been training for a yearly race in the
BlueNose. Since January she upped her
training, running 30-75kms a week. She
took time to stretch and rest, to strengthen her core with Pilates, to soak in
Epsom salt baths, to imagine herself running the route, broke in a new pair of
running shoes, did speed and hill work, carb loaded, and focused her mind.
For
three years, the disciples have been training for the day when Jesus would not
be with them, not that they knew they were in training. They took time away from their occupations to
walk with a teacher for three years.
They strengthened their knowledge and practice of the Jewish faith. They learned to interpret the Law in a renewed
way. They had been taught to pray, to
confront the religious leaders who chose to debate with Jesus, to talk of God’s
kingdom with new images, and practiced the ministry of healing. They had been sent off in twos to preach the
Good News and then come back to report to Jesus.
How many
years have you been attending church?
For this
many years, you have been in training. You have lived among God’s faithful
people by being part of this community.
You come to church to hear the Word of God and partake in
communion. You have learned the Lord’s
Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and have read the Bible. You have nurtured your
faith. You worship and pray. You have participated in community. In this way you have learned to trust God, to
care for others and the world God made, and to work for justice and peace.
And it is
in the training stage that many get stuck.
There are
runners who run and never enter a race, giving all kinds of reasons and excuses
why races are not for them. There are
all kinds of disciples of Jesus, people in the church, who believe and never
enter into preaching, giving all kinds of reasons and excuses why preaching and
telling the story is not for them.
To this I
would say, put on some “fire berry” shoes. You are done training. Go out and be whelmed by the Holy Spirit.
That
first 10k race, or the first half marathon, and hopefully the full race
–although Pastor Kimber doesn’t know for sure until after today -gives a runner
what is called a runner’s high. It is
the experience of running with so many others, having the crowd cheering
–people you don’t even know; it is going out and having fun after so much hard
work, it is seeing the fruits of one’s labour;
it is living the training in a
way that invigorates, stimulates, and makes one feel good all over. It is an experience that causes the runner to
return to training with renewed passion, with a desire to run more races, to
experience as often as possible that “feel good” moment.
That
first Pentecost gave the disciples, now called Apostles, a higher calling and
purpose. It was the experience of the
Holy Spirit, filling them through wind and tongues of fire, in the presence of
a whole crowd. It was speaking together
of the amazing Good News that God had conquered death, that God’s kingdom
had come and will continue to come. It was sharing hope with those who were open
to hear. It was living their training in
a way that invigorated, stimulated, and made them feel good all over. They were so inspired that Pentecost was not
a one time event. The Apostles kept
preaching, teaching, and healing with passion.
That
first time you step out from being a disciple, a learner, and move to being an
Apostle –a bearer of the story, not just in actions but in words –what an
experience. Have you had this
experience?
It would be
one that would be so exhilarating that you would want to replicate the feeling
again and again. You wouldn’t be able to
contain your excitement, joy, and need to tell another. You would be passionate; living and breathing
the Good News.
The hardest
part of running is putting on the shoes and going out the door.
When in the
house one can convince themselves of the reasons not to go: tired, too much to
do, someone might see my butt wiggle, the weather isn’t quite right. But once you’re outside, with the door locked
behind you and you take the first few steps, you just keep going.
The hardest
part of being an Apostle is getting out there by putting aside all the excuses.
Come race
day, in fact weeks in advance, Pr. Kimber’s head works overtime, figuring out
the exact combination of clothing to wear for every scenario of weather that
might be encountered on race day.
She then,
the night before the race, checks the weather, lays out her clothing choice,
sets out the safety pins ready to bin on the race bib, and has pre- and
post-race clothing in a bag. Runners all
have their pre-race rituals. Maybe this
is where disciples get stuck. We have
rituals for training, for being in this place called church, but have not
bothered to picture ourselves out in the world as Apostles.
The last
leadership event Pr. Kimber went to, one of the conversations was around, after
feeling a call from God, what is it that gives leaders a sense of authority and
a voice, so that they speak the truth in their places of service? At the top of the list were phrases like:
“putting on big boy or girl panties”, “having a power suit”, “wearing devil
kicking boots.” We’ve all been called
through baptism and called to vocations of bringing God’s reign to earth. Moving from being a disciple to an Apostle is
really all in the head, and it has to do with perception.
Pr.Kimber
has laced up FIRE berry shoes this morning.
She is going to run like fire.
Her bright coloured shoes leading the way, setting the mood, and the
tempo.
What are
you waiting for Apostles? Lace up your
fire berry shoes...shoes whelmed by the Holy Spirit; and step outside. Trust that the Spirit is outside waiting to
catch your feet on fire, and to give you the confidence and words to bewilder
the crowd, such that a fiery passion for God grows in the hearts of the world.
