Albert D. Mosley - "Receive It... And Believe It" (June 3, 2001)

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-	I will ask the Father, and he will give you	0:15
	another advocate to be with you forever.	0:19
	Happy birthday to the church.	0:26
	In the lectionary cycle, today marks the anniversary	0:30
	of the birth of the church in Jerusalem.	0:33
	And, as with any birthday or any other celebration,	0:37
	there is to be great rejoicing.	0:40
	Gifts are received.	0:43
	People gather from various places.	0:45
	But there's something different	0:48
	about this particular birth celebration.	0:50
	Let us review the events that have led	0:54
	to this occasion for a celebration.	0:56
	50 or so days earlier, Jesus was crucified.	1:00
	And now his disciples are faced	1:05
	with living their lives without his physical presence.	1:07
	How are they to cope	1:11
	with the numerous forces stacked against them?	1:13
	What will they do to make sure that they do not regress	1:16
	to what they were before Jesus entered their lives?	1:19
	How are they to continue living,	1:24
	without Jesus there as a guide and as a teacher?	1:26
	The answer lies in something Jesus said	1:31
	to his disciples before his death.	1:33
	He promised his followers that they will be accompanied	1:37
	in their life and mission in the world by another counselor,	1:39
	an advocate, who is the spirit of truth.	1:44
	The risen Lord then instructs the disciples to wait	1:49
	in Jerusalem for this power and this spirit from on high.	1:51
	The disciples watch and pray in the upper room.	1:57
	Nervously and perhaps even a bit fearfully,	2:00
	expecting this counselor or this advocate	2:03
	that Jesus promised to send them.	2:06
	In the tradition of the Black Church, there's a phrase that	2:11
	is often used to signify believers waiting upon the spirit.	2:13
	We call it tarrying for the Holy Spirit.	2:18
	At prayer meetings and revivals, believers would	2:22
	literally fast and pray for hours upon hours,	2:25
	waiting upon some manifestation of the Holy Spirit.	2:28
	Usually the most visible sign for this setting	2:33
	was when a person began to speak in tongues.	2:35
	So as the disciples were tarrying for the Holy Spirit,	2:40
	a very large crowd had gathered in Jerusalem.	2:44
	They had come from faraway places to celebrate	2:48
	the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, or as it was known	2:50
	in the Old Testament, the Feast of Weeks.	2:53
	People had gathered from Asia, from Egypt,	2:57
	from Cappadocia, from Judea, and from numerous other places.	3:01
	They came to mark the end of the celebration	3:06
	of the spring harvest, just 50 days after the Passover.	3:08
	But their celebration was interrupted,	3:14
	and a new and different kind of celebration was ushered in.	3:16
	Here in Jerusalem, here in Zion, here in the City of God,	3:22
	the place where Jesus was martyred,	3:27
	here in this place something happens.	3:30
	New life is brought forth.	3:33
	The day of Pentecost is that moment	3:37
	when gestation ceases and birthing occurs.	3:39
	New life is brought forth, new life for the church,	3:43
	new life for the individual believer,	3:47
	and most importantly, new life for the unbelievers.	3:50
	This new life is made possible because of the Holy Spirit.	3:56
	Easter itself is completed at Pentecost.	4:01
	Without Pentecost, Easter means the departure of our Lord	4:04
	Jesus, leaving behind confused and uncertain disciples, who	4:07
	can do no better than return to their former ways of life.	4:11
	But, with Pentecost, with the sending of the Holy Spirit,	4:16
	Jesus's promise not to leave his disciples orphaned	4:21
	in this world is kept.	4:24
	Pentecost brings meaning to it all.	4:27
	Jesus is taken up from us, but there comes another who will	4:30
	be with us forever, who will teach us all things and who	4:33
	will empower us to fulfill the mandate of the Gospel.	4:38
	A professor here in our Divinity School once related a story	4:43
	about a student who, in normal fashion for most students,	4:46
	had rushed to complete a paper	4:49
	just a night before it was due.	4:50
	In his haste, the student made several glaring errors.	4:53
	He wrote that Jesus came to take away our quilt,	4:57
	as opposed to our guilt.	5:01
	In response to this, the professor wrote,	5:04
	that's okay, he promised to send us a comforter.	5:05
	(congregation laughs)	5:09
	One of those glitches	5:12
	that even the spell checker will not catch.	5:15
	Well, that promise was realized on the day of Pentecost.	5:19
	Because on this day and every day thereafter,	5:22
	we, as Christians, are now able to claim	5:26
	an abiding presence in our lives.	5:29
	We have a right to celebrate on this day.	5:32
	We have a right to be joyful.	5:36
	We have a right to be happy.	5:37
	Even though our Lord Jesus has been taken away,	5:40
	there is one with us now who will never leave.	5:43
	There's one with us now, in the person of the Holy Spirit,	5:47
	who will lead us and direct us in all things.	5:51
	This is reason enough to celebrate.	5:56
	The celebration in Jerusalem that day	6:00
	was a pulling out of all the stops.	6:02
	There was a heavenly sound, like a rushing wind.	6:05
	There was a descending fire.	6:07
	People began to speak in diverse tongues.	6:09
	Men, women, and children were ecstatic	6:12
	at the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon them.	6:14
	We attempt to relive that celebration here today.	6:18
	Children have a prominent role in our worship	6:21
	on this day to indicate our belief in the life-giving	6:24
	and renewing power of the Holy Spirit.	6:27
	God's word is read in different languages on this day,	6:31
	as a way of showing the world that the Gospel mandate	6:34
	to go to all corners of the earth is being accomplished.	6:36
	The service has dancers and spirit-filled music	6:41
	to show that we are a people of joy.	6:44
	We are a people who have reason to celebrate.	6:47
	We are a people who have been made alive	6:50
	by the power of the Holy Spirit.	6:51
	In a few moments, we will baptize two children,	6:55
	a further sign of the newness of life	6:59
	that only the Holy Spirit can bring.	7:01
	In the midst of our celebrations, however,	7:05
	let us bear in mind that the promise of the spirit	7:08
	is a promise filled with both hope and threat.	7:10
	Yes, the Holy Spirit will be with us forever.	7:15
	Yes, the Holy Spirit will be our counselor.	7:18
	It will be our advocate.	7:20
	Yes, the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth.	7:22
	But the Holy Spirit will also be our judge.	7:26
	The Holy Spirit will keep the church's feet to the fire,	7:30
	especially when it wanders into accommodating paths	7:33
	in search of an easier way.	7:36
	The Holy Spirit will hold us, the church, accountable	7:39
	when we forsake the way of the cross	7:43
	for the ways of this world.	7:46
	The Holy Spirit will prod us.	7:49
	It will hit us with a reality check when we fail	7:51
	to embrace the distinctiveness of being the people of God.	7:54
	For some, life is not made any easier	8:00
	by the presence of the Holy Spirit.	8:02
	Because the Holy Spirit, as I said last week,	8:04
	requires something more of us.	8:06
	The Holy Spirit requires us to live a life that is holy,	8:09
	a life that is congruent with the Gospel,	8:13
	a life that is in harmony with the teachings of our Lord.	8:16
	This is what Pope John Paul II calls a lived witness.	8:21
	The Holy Spirit is associated with the believer	8:25
	who lives what he professes with his lips,	8:27
	the believer who's not only willing to speak the truth	8:31
	but to live the truth.	8:35
	This comforter that Jesus promised to send us	8:38
	will make many people uncomfortable.	8:40
	It will make them uncomfortable because it would force them	8:43
	to change their ways and to embrace a new life,	8:45
	a life that is governed by God's spirit.	8:50
	Many of us, just as the disciples, have been watching	8:55
	and praying in the upper room.	8:59
	We've been waiting for something to happen.	9:02
	Perhaps even we, like those 12 men of the inner circle,	9:04
	have wondered how we would live our lives	9:07
	without the physical presence of Jesus.	9:10
	How are we to be true representatives of Jesus to the world?	9:13
	From where will we receive the strength	9:18
	to teach the nations and to proclaim the Gospel?	9:20
	We receive it from the spirit, but not just any spirit.	9:25
	On the day of Pentecost,	9:30
	the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples.	9:31
	It gave them the necessary light and strength	9:34
	to teach the nations.	9:36
	It was here that the church was born.	9:38
	The church was born and lives in the fruitful tension	9:42
	between the upper room and the world,	9:45
	between prayer and proclamation.	9:48
	Our lives are to be centered the same way.	9:51
	Our lives are to be centered such that we are in a constant	9:55
	mind of prayer and watchfulness	9:57
	and that we are ready to proclaim God's good news.	10:00
	That same Holy Spirit that descended upon those	10:04
	gathered in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago	10:06
	will descend upon us and help us	10:10
	to further accomplish our Lord's mission.	10:12
	Receive the Holy Spirit in your life	10:17
	and believe in its transforming, life-giving,	10:20
	heart-changing, and soul-stirring power.	10:23
	Amen.	10:28

Item Info

Title:

Albert D. Mosley - "Receive It... And Believe It" (June 3, 2001)

Description:

Pentecost is the day of brith for the church and should be a day of great rejoicing for Christians. For on Pentecost, we, as Jesus' disciples, received the gift of the Holy Spirit who will lead us into all truth and keep us accountable to walk in the ways of Jesus. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 00:15. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 10:30.
Key quotation: “Yes the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. But the Holy Spirit will also be our judge. The Holy Spirit will keep the church’s feet to the fire, especially when it wanders into accommodating paths in search of an easier way.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4571831j

Date:

June 3, 2001

Speaker:

Mosley, Albert D.

Liturgical Calendar:

Pentecost

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-1070
ref10297_atr
uachapelsermaud
duke:321004
dcrau001714
ark:/87924/r4571831j
3a67b8d0-5934-412b-94f4-c1611c4dbe5e

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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