Worship Journeys, Meditations and Stories: May 23, 2016 - Pentcost Sermon

When the day of Pentecost had come, [the apostles] were all together in one place. As a congregation we are acutely aware we are not gathered in one place right now as we work towards hybrid church; online and in person worship.

Juan Carlos spoke from his heart in the sermon today about what came to him as he read today's Gospel reading from John 15.

I wasn't sure when he started where the story he was telling was going to to tie in with the Gospel. On September 26, 2014, students from a teacher training school in rural southern Mexico commandeered some buses. Their ultimate destination was Mexico City for a demonstration. But those buses never arrived. And 43 of the students went missing along the way and were presumed killed in and around the town of Iguala. Their remains have never been found, their deaths were variously blamed on corrupt local political and police officials, as well as higher-ups in the Mexican military and the government and, of course, the drug gangs. These official versions were unsubstantiated or obvious fabrications.

This story came to him as he read John 16:7, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you." What happened to these 43 students made people marching at the demonstration realize there were more. This same thing had happened to thousands in the past. When sorrow filled the disciple's heart when Jesus was killed; the broken, hidden stories of others were also able to become close to their hearts. They heard the Advocate or Holy Spirit.

A powerful, natural purpose for the church is to weave stories of injustice and marginalization into the predominant history of the culture. This allows what is said in John 16:13 about the Spirit of Truth to come to pass.

I have been asked why the church should retell and come to grips with what we have uncovered in our Land stories over and over again. Ultimately these "Land stories" connect us with a past that contains stories of people that have been denied or buried. This is a natural purpose to the Christian church because this is what we have done through the ages with the story of Jesus.

We celebrate the truth of his story in communion.