Acts 2:1-21 Baptized in the Spirit: Starting the Conversation 5 20 18

One of the many benefits of being a healthy congregation is that we are

blessed with people among us who are in formation for ordination in the United
Church of Christ. Catherine Watkins, our reader today, has been through most of
the process already – a seminary education, licensing as a Clinical Professional
Counselor, approval of the Council and the Committee on Church and Ministry of
our regional Chicago Metropolitan Association. As for all of our Ordination
candidates, (Members in Discernment), there is a 20 page paper on theological
knowledge and reflection to be written. As I read Catherine’s paper, I was
impressed with her insights, one of which is particularly appropriate for us today.
In her writing about the sacrament of Baptism, she spoke of it as the beginning of
a conversation. That concept does at least three things: it piques the imagination,
affirms our congregational experience, and places a focus on the future of the
community.
If baptism is part of a conversation, what else can we imagine might be
included? Singing a hymn might be part of a conversation with God. What about
having dinner together – not the words exchanged at the table, but the sitting
down and passing plates, and lifting utensils, and filling glasses? The action of
having dinner together is part of a larger human - and sometimes human and
divine - conversation. That conversation is expanded when those around the
table have different customs, or no place to live, or who struggle with engaging in
daily life. We can imagine that perhaps, when it is intentional, all of our actions
can be part of this conversation that begins with baptism.
In addition to piquing our imaginations, Baptism as the beginning of a
conversation is reflected in our congregational experience. It is our hope that

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since Allison and James made a public commitment to raise their son, Henry, in
the Christian faith, and since we also committed publicly to help in that process,
that we will have the opportunity, as we do with all the children here, to learn his
name, Ooh and Aaah at his artwork, hug him and bless him, teach him about
God’s love, and listen to his questions. We already experience how our life
together is a conversation, whether it is discussing ways in which we can be more
welcoming and warm to all who come through these doors, or wrestling with the
theological concept of the holy Trinity.
Baptism is not a one-and-done proposition. Neither is Confirmation, nor
communion, nor ordination. We are a living conversation, speaking and listening
as a whole, ebbing and flowing with individual people and ideas, expanding and
contracting, hushed and exuberant. Our worship, at its best, is a conversation
with God – an offering of ourselves in thanksgiving in the form of music, word,
prayer and the longing of our souls.
Many people have had the experience of reconnecting with someone you
haven’t talked to for a long time, and you feel as though no time has passed since
you last spoke. You are able to “pick up where you left off” and continue the
conversation. Ideally, this is the feeling connected to our ongoing conversation
with God. Even if there are months that pass between times we are able to be
together in this place, we can pick up with God and with each other where we left
off. No judgement, no expectation or apology, simply the willingness to keep the
conversation going.
Finally, after piquing our imagination and experiencing together the
beginnings of conversation, the idea of ongoing conversation plants the seed for
the future of the community.

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You and I can imagine that at the time of the first Pentecost celebration when
Jewish people from all over came to the Jerusalem center of worship and trade
for the harvest, the disciples must have been quite daunted at the prospect of
talking to people from other countries about what they believed to be true about
Jesus and the risen Christ. Here was a golden opportunity to bear witness and
preach to hundreds, maybe thousands, of people, but the disciples weren’t sure
where to start. How could there be a future of the faith community when there
was limited ability to understand each other?
And then they were baptized in the Spirit. In wind and flame, invisible and
glowing, uplifting and intoxicating, the Spirit of God alit on all the people gathered
and removed every limitation. Fear was replaced with anticipation, silence with
giving glory to God, single language ceding to multiple tongues, and shyness
overcome with bold proclamation. This new kind of Baptism had nothing to do
with human choice, and everything to do with God’s power. This is the source of
our hope for the future of humanity and the future of the community of faith – it
is not about us. It is about what God is doing – already doing – in our midst, so
that we can continue the conversation. The Spirit of God is alive and well in all
places, and we had nothing to do with it. We can open ourselves today to receive
the rush of the wind, the fire of inspiration, and the everlasting Word of God. Let
yourself be filled with the power and glory of God. You will be amazed at what
comes next.
Amen.