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GREATER THAN JESUS
(A Sermon preached May 27, 2007, Pentecost, at University United Methodist
Church, East Lansing MI by John Ross Thompson)
Scripture Texts - Acts 2:1-21, John 14:8-17, 25-27
On this Pentecost Sunday, we, like that first Christian congregation, have the
joy of being an ethnically diverse congregation. We are reminded of how God’s
Holy Spirit came for all people.
Pentecost was originally a Jewish festival celebrating the early harvest, 50
days after the Passover. Jews celebrated the giving of the law, but it became
for Christians a celebration of the giving of the Holy Spirit.
Today, we celebrate that we also have the life and power of the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps you noticed my sermon title, “Greater than Jesus.” It sounds like
blasphemy, yet it is from Jesus’ own words in John 14. Jesus said, “You will do
greater works than I do, because I am returning to God.”
Perhaps all of us at one time or another have had a desire to walk with Jesus of
Nazareth.
What would it have been like to be physically present with him, at his side,
listening to his words, watching him minister to others, doing miracles?
Jesus had a better plan. Something greater is promised. God’s Holy Spirit,
unlimited by time or space, was to be God’s gift to us. This spirit was to be
within, not beside, us.
"At first, in the story of the Exodus, God is revealed as a God-for-us, guiding
us out of our slavery with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by
night (Exodus 13:21). Later, in the story of Jesus of Nazareth, God is revealed
as a God-with-us (Matthew 1:24), accompanying us in solidarity and compassion.
Finally, in the story of Pentecost, God is revealed as a God-within-us, who
enables us to breathe the divine life ourselves." – Henri Nouwen, "The Fullness
of Divine Love"
God-for us.
God-with-us.
God-within-us.
How can we do greater things than Jesus?
One obvious reason is that we have each other, the church.
Together, people of faith have a synergy that is impossible to predict, but very
real.
Is this not, in the final analysis, the key to those last words of the Gospel?
“Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even
greater things than these.” What was begun in him was, on the one hand, also
finished in him. Yet it will never be completed until he returns. “Because I am
going to the Father” is a way of saying, “You must continue that which I have
begun, for you will become my body on this earth, making it present throughout
the world. Continue that which I have begun . . . healing the sick, caring for
the poor, loving the unlovable, pouring yourself out for the untouchables of the
world. These, my works, are to be carried out by you until the end of time.”
Mark Ralls, a UM pastor in North Carolina, recalls the incident of a boy scout
becoming separated from his troop while camping. He wandered alone for nearly
three days in the NC mountains. When he was discovered, CNN was there to share
the good news with the world. As the story was told, the boy’s father was asked
how the scout had become separated from his troop. The father told them he left
the campsite voluntarily and was trying to find the nearest highway so he could
hitchhike back to Greensboro. “And why was he doing that?” the reporter wanted
to know. “He was homesick,” his father replied.
The pastor makes the point that all of us are homesick. The Old Testament talks
about us longing to “dwell in the house of the Lord.” Jeremiah says we are
“cracked cisterns that can hold no water” when our yearnings are not fulfilled.
In Walker Percy’s novel The Gramercy Winner, Will Grey confides in his
psychologist:
“What’s the matter, Willy?” “I don’t know, doctor. I’m homesick.”
“How long have you been homesick?” “All my life.”
God knows our deepest longings. When we lose our way, it can be a misdirected
attempt to satisfy our homesickness. God does not leave us alone in our
searching. God does not wait for us to find our way back. God sends the Son, and
the Son sends the Spirit, perhaps something like a divine search party. Part of
the message of Pentecost is this: God comes to us. God finds us where we are,
and then that place—wherever it happens to be—begins to feel like home.
When we are at home, we are more comfortable with who we are and what we can do.
Add to that the fact that God empowers us through the Spirit to do bold new
things, and we discover that the “sky is the limit.”
In Christ we find who we are and to whom we belong.
When we feel the power of the Holy Spirit, we TOGETHER can do even greater
things than Jesus did. Jesus works today THROUGH us.
Especially this year at UUMC, listen to the stories of the last 50 years that
will be told as we celebrate our 50th anniversary. In essence, these are stories
of how God’s Holy Spirit has moved in our midst.
However, today is a time to create new stories.
Jesus promises us two things:
We can do greater things than he did.
Whatever we ask in his name, he will do.
What can we do in his name?
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