Pentecost 2018
What is the Kingdom of God like? With what shall we liken it?
It is as if a playground were built in a shady place behind a church and a fence were put around it with metal gates.
When the day came that the playground was complete and the fence and metal gates were in place, and the locks were in hand to lock the gates so that only certain people could use the playground, the kingdom of God is like choosing — not to use the locks.
The kingdom of God is as if suddenly a light came on and someone said, “What if we didn’t lock up the playground? What if we let everyone use it? What if this is God’s playground and our job is not to lock it up but to keep it open so that all children can play in the shade?”
The parable of the playground. It happened here at Grace Church. A God thing. A shift in the state of mind, in perspective. In the language of the parables, we came to ourselves.
All Churches are constantly given choices with many temptations. To reach out, to look outward, to invite in, to make room or to turn inward and become self-interested, protective, to exclude, to ignore, to merely manage and maintain.
It is a never-ending struggle, a great battle and so many churches give into the tempter.
Grace is a Spirit-filled Church, when those choices come, not always, but most of the time, we go with the parable of the playground.
We make it happen, rather than make excuses.
Pentecost. Whitsunday. The gift of the Spirit. We sometimes call it the birthday of the Church. It is the birthday of mission. The birthday of the Church and the birthday of mission are the same thing.
A people sent, outward, with the message and the ministry of changing minds and hearts, of coming to ourselves, of the church rather than being a private chapel for me and my friends, it becomes a house of worshiping and serving God for all, and our job is to make sure that happens. We become preoccupied with not wanting anyone to miss out. Preoccupied with the right thing.
It isn’t our playground. It is God’s playground.
It isn’t our church. It is God’s church.
The gift of the Spirit, turning our hearts and minds away from walls, and fences and gates and locks and turning us toward keeping the doors open, of planting more trees to bring shade, of making homes for homeless families.
We have another parable being written, over the past three years, eight homeless families have broken free from the shackles of homelessness because of the Sunshine Houses and our partnership with Family Promise. That is an amazing thing that has happened because of the Spirit directing us to take that risk and that cost of reaching out.
Images of the Spirit, parables of the Spirit, we are overwhelmed with these today.
Breathing life into the dead, proclaiming the Gospel in every native tongue, opening gates and making homes for the homeless.
To speak of Jesus, to follow Jesus is to keep coming to ourselves, to always put the locks and keys away.
Jesus is harrower of hell, the one who knocks down the gates of death, who lifts the prisoners up by the hand and leads them into freedom.
The Holy Spirit is that mighty wind that breaks open every prison, always turning us outward, always bringing us to ourselves.
We believe in that Holy Spirit who is the Lord the giver of life.
Keep the feast, keep that feast.
Be that parable of God’s playground, be the parable of the Spirit.