Millbrook Baptist Church

I suppose what I am saying is that I don’t necessarily believe Jesus’ last words were about what we are supposed to do, or how we are going to do it, or when and if he’s coming back. Yes, we have been given instruction. But more importantly, we’ve been given affirmation and assurance. God has empowered and blessed us. And whatever the task, whatever the time, whatever the result, wherever the place, whenever the hour, God will be there with us. Today is also Trinity Sunday. And we do our best to explain this miraculous God of ours – God is a Father or Parent, and at the same time a Son or the Christ, and further still God is Spirit – creating, redeeming, sustaining. And I won’t argue the point – God is all of those things and more. But on this Trinity Sunday, I choose to stick with another name: I AM WHO I WILL BE.

When the choir sings, when the people smile, when the peace is passed, when the ushers and greeters offer hugs, when Dorcas completes another quilt, or Gerald files another of Gloria’s treasures into the library catalog, or Ellen flies by us like a hummingbird seeking to beautify the next thing that needs tending on the grounds, or we hear crockpots clanking at the potluck supper, the Spirit has new voice, new expression, new language. The winds blow at our backs, the flame warms our hearts, the ground shakes beneath us. Easter, and Ascension, and Pentecost are as new as ever. Good news, Millbrook, the Spirit has arrived, the Church has been born. It’s our birthday! We can celebrate in every language, every day of the year. May we speak this good news this day and every day.  Amen.

The Ascension was not the conclusion of the redemptive work of Jesus. It marked the handing over of his mission and ministry to his disciples and in turn to their disciples and on down the line to include each of us gathered here. It is an opportunity for all of us, generation to generation, to share the love of Jesus with someone else. Today we focus not on Jesus’ departure from us but on his continued presence among us. That is the paradox – in his ascending we know the presence of Jesus through the gift of the Holy Spirit that descends on us and blesses our lives.