McPhail Baptist Church

Sunday May 31st, 2020

"For Your Gift of God the Spirit"

Sue Sparks

For your gift of God the Spirit, power to make our lives anew,

Pledge of life and hope of glory, Saviour, we would worship You.

Crowning gift of resurrection sent from your ascended throne;

Fullness of the very God-head come to make your life our own. 

He, himself the living Author, wakes to life the sacred Word;

Reads with us its holy pages and reveals our risen Lord.

He it is who works within us teaching rebel hearts to pray, 

He whose holy intercessions rise for us both night and day.

He, the mighty God, indwells us; his to strengthen, help, empower;

His to overcome the Tempter, ours to call in danger’s hour.

In his strength we dare to battle all the raging hosts of sin,
And by him alone we conquer foes without and foes within. 

Favourite Hymns 

Ernie and Lynda Cox 

Come, Christians Join To Sing

Come, Christians, join to sing, Alleluia! Amen!

Loud praise to Christ our King; Alleluia! Amen!

Let all, with heart and voice, before his throne rejoice;

Praise is his gracious choice: Alleluia! Amen!

Praise yet our Christ again, Alleluia! Amen!

Life shall not end the strain; Alleluia! Amen!

On heaven’s blissful shore, his goodness we’ll adore,

Singing forevermore, Alleluia! Amen! 

Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;

Wean it from earth, through all its pulses move;

Stoop to my weakness, mighty as thou art,

And make me love thee as I ought to love.

Hast thou not bid us love thee, God and King,

All, all thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind?

I see thy cross there, teach my heart to cling;

O let me seek thee, and O let me find.

Teach me to love thee as thine angels love,

One holy passion filling all my frame;

The baptism of the heaven descending Dove,

My heart an altar, and thy love the flame.

How Great Thou Art

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder,

Consider all the worlds thy hands have made.

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout  the universe displayed. 

Refrain:

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee:

How great thou art, how great thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee:

How great thou art, how great thou art!

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!

Then I shall bow in humble adoration, 

And there proclaim, “My God, how great thou art.”

Meditation: Seeing the Unseen 

Rev. Steve Zink

Special Music: "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" 

Ernie Cox and Rennatha Bernadin 

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Acts 2:1-11  (NRSV)

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”

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"The Smothering of the Spirit"

Rev. Ernie Cox

Today is Pentecost Sunday. It marks the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Church which happened 50 days after Easter Sunday. Someone has pointed out that churches which observe Pentecost Sunday, are not always comfortable with the word “Pentecostal” but churches that are called “Pentecostal” don’t usually observe Pentecost!

I think if we’re honest we have to say that not all of us are comfortable with the biblical account of Pentecost, complete with what the Bible says looked like “tongues of fire” that came to rest on the people gathered in the house, along with a violent wind, and the rather strange phenomenon of people speaking in different languages, yet without having been taught a different language. Yes, strange indeed.

But in some ways, what’s even stranger is trying to understand the meaning of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Father and Son we can somewhat grasp, but then what are we to make of the Holy Spirit?  A person, a force, a spirit, a presence?  

The late Bishop Pike used to say that the Muslims are winning because they offer one God and three wives, whereas Christians offer three Gods and one wife! But that’s not actually true. When we use the word Trinity, we’re not saying we have three Gods, rather, we worship one God. However, we teach three sides to this one God. God is the creator of the world. God comes to the world in Jesus.  Jesus leaves this world, but leaves us His presence, the Holy Spirit. We experience God in three different ways. 

One commentator points out that when the Council of Nicaea came up with the idea of The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit having the same “substance”—that was a mistake. No one can speak of the substance of God or the Holy Spirit.  When we talk about the Trinity in today’s time we think more of relationship—the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

But let me ask the question, what do we mean when we say the Spirit of God? And to answer that, perhaps we should first say what we don’t mean. When we talk about Spirit in the Christian sense, we’re not talking about something we call “Team spirit” or, “Esprit de Corps,” or “School spirit.”And when we use the word Spirit in the Christian sense, we shouldn’t confuse it with the word “spiritual.”

And when we use the word Spirit, neither are we talking about a memory, where we remember the spirit of Lincoln, or the spirit of Shakespeare, rather, what we mean when we refer to the Spirit of God is that we are referring to not just a memory, but a Presence, and that this Presence is active in the world today. 

Now, of course, we also have to say that the notion of spirit, let alone a Holy Spirit is absolute nonsense to many scientists, philosophers and psychologists, of today. Those who are engaged in the study of consciousness, for instance,  are determined to prove that consciousness arises in the brain and that there’s nothing outside the brain.  

Materialism is the dominant viewpoint of most scientists today, the physicists, biologists, and those mentioned above who study the mind and the brain, known today as the mind-body problem. Materialism is the view that there is nothing in the universe other than that which is physical. 

But I have to say, that I don't take my instruction from those who believe that this reality we exist in is the only reality there is.  Rather, as the poet Lowell writes, “I believe the poets; it is they/Who utter wisdom from the central deep/And, listening to the inner flow of things/Speak to the age out of eternity.”

It was the poet Coleridge who said that “an undevout poet is an impossibility.” That may be an overstatement, but another poet puts it like this, that, “No true artist could be a materialist, because the source of their art is too deep for a materialist to explain.”  All great artists, whether they’re religious or not, know that the artistic gifts they possess, whether it’s poetry, music, painting or literature, as someone has said, “it doesn’t come from their giftedness alone, but from somewhere else.” 

John Ruskin, the great art critic, said of the artists that they should never be conceitedly proud, because their greatness was not so much in them, rather it came through them.

Someone has written that “Music is an echo of the invisible world. What can wake the souls’ strong instinct of another world, like music?” Imagine if a music critic heard a performance of  Beethoven’s Ninth and wrote that “All I could hear were wave motions.” Certainly it’s true to say that music, is in part, wave motions. I used to be a piano tuner in my younger days. Most people don’t realize that when you tune a piano you don’t really tune by the sound of the notes, but by the waves of the strings beating together. When you eliminate the beating of the wave that comes from the two strings being played together, the note is in tune.  But when I would finish a tuning and then sit down to play the tuned piano— the music became much more than just waves.  Just as Beethoven’s Ninth becomes more than wave forms when the orchestra plays together with the interplay of instruments, the harmonies, the dynamics, rhythm, and so on. 

But even more than that, there exists a series of symphonies and many other works from Beethoven, and a body of astounding work from Bach, which cannot be fully explained with the word “talent.” I believe that Bach himself, knew that the music didn’t just come from him, but also came through him. 

And so, for me, the ultimate source for all things creative, is the creative Spirit of God. 

But let me tell you where my sermon title came from. You might remember that poem by Stephen Spender that came to be associated with the Challenger Disaster of 1986,  especially the lines, “Born of the sun they travelled a short while toward the sun/ And left the vivid air signed with their honour.”

  

But in that great poem, there are another two lines that caught my attention, especially for our theme today, where Spender writes, “Never to allow gradually the traffic, to smother with noise and fog the flowering of the spirit.” 

We’ve already touched on how a scientist who’s a materialist, can readily dismiss the notion of Spirit. Let me suggest to you that another way in which the Spirit can be smothered is when someone insists on always being right. 

In one of her books, Anne Lamott writes of how it’s so easy to break connection with the Spirit. She writes that one of the ways in which we do that is to be convinced that we are absolutely right, and everyone else is wrong. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,” says a verse in 2 Corinthians. Someone has commented on that verse in saying, “The Spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is always right.” 

You’ve heard me say before that within a marriage there are two phrases every husband should learn to say. The first is, “I love you,” and the second is, “Maybe you’re right.” Nothing will smother the spirit of a marriage faster than one person in the relationship insisting on always being right. 

And let me say that there is nothing more smothering for a church where someone in a position of leadership thinks he/she is always right. Some of the self-described “bible-believing” churches, although they wouldn’t admit it, some of them seem to elevate the Bible over the Jesus of the Bible. The Bible is sometimes used or misused with a chapter and verse mentality, which can serve to smother differing opinion and points of view. 

The Pharisees in their dealings with Jesus were good at this. They were always pointing to a scripture or a law from the Torah which didn’t allow for this or that. Jesus respected the scriptures and the Torah, but He always chose to elevate the law of love, and not the love of law. For too often, the love of law as shown by the Pharisees, smothered the Spirit, whereas Jesus was all about the Spirit of liberty. 

When someone tells me, “I live my life by the Bible,” I have to say that I’m not always impressed by that statement. Because, often what they’re really saying is that they live their lives by their particular understanding of the Bible, and often expect you to affirm their understanding of the Bible. But, we are not to live our lives just by the Bible, rather, “We’re to live our lives by the Spirit of Him who inspired the pages of the Bible, that He might live through us.” And that makes all the difference. 

Let me also suggest to you another way in which the Spirit can be smothered, which is, when we fail to accept others.

For the life of me, I can’t understand how anyone can do an honest reading of the gospels, and not conclude that one of the things about Jesus that makes Him so unique and authentic, was that He accepted people, and didn’t prejudge them.

Helmut Thielicke was a German pastor and theologian. He writes that, “All those who came into contact with Jesus—the harlots, the publicans, the outsiders, the insulted and the injured, were made dignified by His grace and His love, and they grew into that dignity. They did not have to qualify themselves in order to become worthy of the love of Jesus, rather, they were made qualified by His love.”

Thielicke refers to this as “a creative breath that blew upon them.” And that breath was the accepting, non-judgmental breath of the Spirit of God as found in the person of Jesus.

At the beginning of the sermon I mentioned the passage taken from Acts chapter 2 where there is wind, fire, and speaking in different languages to mark the coming of the Spirit to the Church. But the miracle in that passage is not in the wind, or the fire, or in the speaking in different languages. 

Rather, the real miracle in the passage is the coming together of so many different people 

from different races and backgrounds, different languages and customs, but all coming together to be the Church. And isn’t that what the Church should be? A joining together of different groups, a Church held together with one common language, the language of acceptance and love. 

So then, I finish with this.  

                                         

A woman waited around after a church service to speak to the minister. She was dressed in what we might call "value village" clothing. She said her name was Mildred Cory. 

She told the minister that her daughter Tina had just had a baby, and would the minister baptize the baby. The minister suggested that Tina and her husband should call him and they would talk about baptism. 

Mildred hesitated, and looking down at the floor, she said, “Tina’s got no husband. Tina’s just 18 years old. She’s too scared and embarrassed to come and talk with you, but she wants to have her baby baptized. The baby’s name is Jimmy.”

The minister said that he would take the request to the Session of the church for approval. At the next meeting of the Session, the minister brought up the request for baptism. 

          

Someone said, “Who’s the father? Will he help in raising the baby and keep the commitments of baptism?” Some people in the room knew that the father was Jimmy Hawthorne, who was now in basic training at Fort Bragg.

Someone else said, “If we baptize Tina’s baby, will we ever see her and the baby again?”

But after the questions died out, they took a vote,  and everyone approved the request to baptize Tina’s baby, little Jimmy. 

The day for the baptism came, and the minister was somewhat concerned, because for every baptism in his church, there was a question he asked of everyone, and the question was; “Who stands with this child?” He was worried that because Tina and her mother Mildred were not really known to the congregation, that only Tina’s mother Mildred would be standing for the baby. 

The church was full. One of the elders read the card the minister had given him. “Tina Corey presents her son Jimmy for baptism.”

Tina came down the aisle, shaking slightly with her month old Jimmy in her arms and a pacifier in his mouth. The minister began the ritual. “Who stands with this child?” He nodded at Mildred, gently coaxing her to her feet. She rose slowly.

The minister was ready to keep going with the baptism service when he noticed some movement in the pews. A member of session, Angus McDowell, was standing with his wife Minnie beside him. Then a couple of other elders stood up, then the sixth grade Sunday school teacher, then a new couple, and soon, the whole church was standing with Tina, baby Jimmy and Tina’s mother, Mildred.

                                       

Tina was crying, and so was her mother Mildred, along with many in the pews.  And at that moment, everyone knew that because of the love of Jesus, Tina Cory and her little baby Jimmy were accepted, and that the Spirit of God was present in that baptism. 

And so, Who has seen the wind?/Neither you nor I./But when the trees bow down their heads,/ The wind is passing by. And who has seen the Holy Spirit? Neither you nor I. But when there’s love in the Church, we know the Spirit is there. 

Thanks be to God. Amen. 

Prelude on "Morecambe" 
(Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart) 
Arr: William France

Sue Sparks

Coping with the Corona Crisis

(A series of responses from our McPhail congregants)

The Zink Family 

            Heidi, Jacob, Lindsay, Liam, Ezra, Steve

 1.) All of us are confined to our homes. How are you spending your time?

We are blessed in that we have a big family and they keep us busy!! We keep the kids on a relatively strict schedule (for our own sanity) - which includes a lot of reading, creative time and outdoor play - and of course home schooling! Steve and I have taken up biking - and are looking to start mountain biking in the near future - hopefully all goes well with that. Ha.

2. How are you staying connected?

We are using Zoom, Facebook and the odd “driveway beverage” to keep in contact. We have weekly chats with our families and even have a trivia game planned this week with Lindsay’s family.

3. Some people have stopped following the Coronavirus news, suffering from an overload of information, much of it not encouraging. How are you handling all the news? 

When this all first began we were watching the stats daily. As the days went on - we realized that the only way to get out of this with any sanity was to focus on living our lives and making the best of it for our crew. We keep up on the news - but only look for major changes (the drive-ins open this week!) and ignore the daily numbers. 

4. Have you been able to find a silver lining in the current situation?

Good timing. The kids were asked this week, as a school assignment, to list what they believe to be the “good” that came out of the Coronavirus. Their answers included: getting to enjoy their brand new home (building forts, nerf gun fights, basically making a mess…), more family time, less homework, Mommy (Lindsay) and Daddy (Steve) get to work from home. I’d like to say they were ecstatic over me cooking daily meals - but they recently complained that they didn’t get cereal for breakfast anymore…so…

Home cooking aside, we’d be hard pressed to disagree with the rest. 

5. What things do you especially miss?

Of course our McPhail family. I feel blessed to be connected with many of you through Facebook but it isn’t the same as seeing everyone each week. Restaurants - we were avid “happy hour” go-ers and miss that socialization. Other than that - we are okay with the new normal. We remind our brood on the daily that they are lucky we are such a big family and that many people are enduring this virus alone.

We hope you are all doing well. But if you aren’t - please remember to reach out anytime. We miss you all and would love to hear from you anytime. Truly.

Steve, Lindsay, Heidi, Jacob, Ezra, Liam

Postlude: "Come,Thou Almighty King" 
Arr: Healey Willan

Sue Sparks

Did you know you can mail in your regular financial contributions to McPhail? Faith communities, along with cultural institutions and many businesses have had to close temporarily. Nevertheless, normal operational expenses continue as usual. In the light of this, do please consider continuing your support of McPhail by mailing your offering to: 249 Bronson Ave, Ottawa, ON. K1R 6H6