Sticky Rice and Spirit
Our Impulse for Community • Sermon • Submitted
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· 12 viewsThe Spirit is the glue that keeps our communal life vibrant, God-like, and orderly.
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Conflict
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What the Spirit did to Ananias and Sapphira sends shivers down the spine.
Chilling. Unnerving. Unsettling. Couldn’t the Spirit have been more lenient?
This unsettling feeling follows this story wherever and whenever it is told.
Even Uncle Arthur’s mild interpretation.. On Wednesday evening, I read this story to my kids for family worship. Midway through the story, I looked up to see that my daughter’s eyes were dilated. Her eyes opened wide, but not in delight. In shock. So I braced for the inevitable.
“Daddy, why did God do that?”
“Well, babydoll...”
And so started me and my wife’s defense of the Spirit’s action.
And the result of the awful event, when it first happened, must have been more shocking, terrifying, scary. And so it was.
The Spirit’s action had a chilling effect: ,
,
,
Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.
Complication
Complication
Unpredictable, Restless Spirit.
Reminds me of the time when the Spirit was restlessly hovering over a dark, unformed, and restless mass of sea. This was the beginning of our human story. How restless the Spirit was!
Oh, but how restless the Spirit was!
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
“Hovering over the waters” fails to capture the Spirit’s movements there in .
I was waiting for the start of my son’s orchestral recital one evening. Outside Haskell Hall, on Weimar’s campus, some months ago. When I hear constant drone of a small engine. Look around. All the cars are parked. Look up and there above the pines is a white drone, hovering, keeping an eye on things below. I had seen this same drone on campus before. I wonder what the owner is up to. I think we were being spied on!
Saw a young bald eagle on Bear River last week doing a flyby passed our spot. Lou Cuccia says it’s a young ‘un, since the head has turned white, but not yet the tail. I’ve seen eagles, or falcons, or even vultures hover up there. Looking for prey down here. Smooth, elegant movement. Hovering.
But the movement of the Spirit in is more like that of a hummingbird, darting to and fro between flowers or, if you’ve been to Keith and Adrienne Brower’s porch, between feeders. Quick, sudden movements.
Darting to and fro is a far better phrase to describe the Spirit’s action in .
A restless Spirit?
It appears that in the Spirit is darting to and fro once again. But why?
Shift
Shift
Restless? Fidgety? Cranky? Having a bad day in that deep, chaotic darkness?
In , the Spirit’s movements were the very creative movements of God. Darting to and fro, the Spirit pushes back the primordial deep darkness and chaotic sea. To create living space. To create order.
The Spirit was darting to and fro as He began to push back the deep darkness and the chaotic primordial sea in order to create and to create livable space. In order to create creatures to inhabit this livable space.
By the sixth act—the sixth day—the Godhead confers amongst each other. Are we ready for the coup de grace? , “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness...” ().
And He did in seven movements. In seven acts.
By the sixth movement—the sixth act—Father, Son, and Spirit confer:
Couldn’t stand deep, dark chaos.
“Is everything ready? Check? Check! Check? Check! Check? Check! Good. Are we ready for the Magnum Opus?
“Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness...” ().
“Yes,” say all three of them. Thousands upon thousand, and ten thousand times ten thousand angels looking at this seven-movement symphony, gasp.
“Alright then,
Genesis 1:
“Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness...” ()
And the storyteller picks up the story:
,
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
On the Spirit’s sixth movement, humanity was born. On the seventh and final movement, humanity was set for a life of harmony and peace.
Unfolding
Unfolding
This is what the Spirit does. He darts to and fro. As he did at creation. As he did at the beginning of the new creation—at the birth of the church. As he does today.
Like the Fralick’s Old English Shepherd dog, Tucker, whose basic instinct is to nudge you back to the pen. Like the Krussow’s dog Kayia—good old, faithful Kayia, may she rest in peace—who for many years stood guard in the front lawn come rain or shine to make sure the family is safe.
The Spirit is like a shepherd dog, herding a chaotic scene of bolting in every direction.
Why? To kill the erring sheep? To make an example of them?
No.
To protect the integrity of the fold! To protect its unity, solidarity, cohesion. To protect the very quality of its life. And,
To restore in the church the marred communal image of the Trinitarian God.
He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.
To restore in us the lost communal image of the Trinitarian God.
And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
,
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
“So babydoll,” I said, “God is so loving, and his sense of what’s right and what’s wrong is always up, that He will always protect the integrity of those who love Him. ”
“What’s integrity, Daddy?”
The Spirit darted to and fro at the Cross. Waiting. “Come on, Jesus! You can do it! Yes!” Forty days after Jesus went back to heaven, the Spirit gives birth to the church in style! Tongues of fire. Original. Everything is fresh. The memory of the crucified and risen Christ. One miracle after another. Dramatic growth. Unheard of spirituality.
“Integrity it the quality of being honest, undivided, and pure.”
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.
44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.
45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
This is what the Spirit was protecting in . This sticky quality of life.
This is what the Spirit is seeking to restore here and now.
Anecdote about Sticky Rice
Anecdote about Sticky Rice
Two weeks ago, my kids and I went camping with the Ferolinos, their extended family, and some friends. I was glad to be in the Filipino scene once again, if only for a short time. Suddenly, I was back in a very communal culture. Where sticky rice is always at the center of every gathering.
Where rice is king. I mean I knew this very well. We fried rice for breakfast. Steamed rice for lunch. Boiled rice for supper. Baked rice for desert. We ate rice with impunity. We ate rice with fish. We ate rice with fruit. We ate rice with vegetables. We ate rice with meat. We ate it at home. We ate rice at work. We ate rice at school. We ate rice everywhere. They ate it when camping.
We fry rice for breakfast. We steam rice for lunch. We boil rice for supper. We bake rice for desert.
There once was a people who ate rice all the time. They fried it for breakfast. They steamed it for lunch. They boiled it for supper. They baked it for desert—and for snacks. They ate it with fish. They ate it with fruit. They ate it with vegetables. They ate it at home. They ate it a work. They ate it when camping.
We eat rice with impunity. We eat rice with fish. We eat rice with fruit. We eat rice with vegetables. We eat rice with meat. We eat rice at home. We eat rice at work. We eat rice at school. We eat rice everywhere.
One day
Rice makes every Filipino gathering sticky.
Jim calls me on Thursday afternoon, before leaving for the campground: “Pastor Mel, can you make sure to bring your rice cooker?”
“Sure!” And I’m like, what in the world would we be doing with a rice cooker while camping?
We arrive at camp first. When Jim arrives, he brings a Honda generator, a portable AC unit, and an ice-shaving machine for Halo-Halo.
Jim gets a call from one of his friends. On their way from the Bay area. I over hear the conversation: “There in two hours. Can you make sure to cook rice? We have all the food, but no cooked rice.”
Jim says, “Don’t worry. The pastor brought his rice cooker.”
We go home for Friday, planning to return that Sabbath afternoon.
Jim calls me, “Pastor Mel, we’re running out of rice. Can you bring extra rice? ”
“Sure, Jim.” So I brought my own stash of rice (show black rice container).
And we ate rice with reckless abandon, as if there would be no tomorrow. And the communal spirit was very palpable. Why this disturbing story of Ananias and Sapphira? It’s because of this:
Acts 2:
44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.
45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Back to Havilah’s Question
Back to Havilah’s Question
“So babydoll,” I said, “God defends and protects the integrity of the people he loves and who love him back. ”
“What’s integrity, Daddy?” And Julie answered our daughter:
“Integrity is the quality of being honest, united, and pure.”
The Spirit was protecting His people’s integrity in .
This is what the Spirit is seeking to restore here and now.
The Spirit is seeking to restore this integrity here and now—and to defend and protect it.
Our Small Groups
Our Small Groups
Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to Auburn Church.
Our Small Groups are a means to an end.
We wish to imitate God’s life. We want to imitate the life of the early church. And the plan is simple.
Fill out the Small Group insert in the bulletin
Be at the training seminar next Sabbath at 3 pm
We’ll take a month to form the small groups
We’ll start after we get back from Fallen Leaf
To get us all started, the Small Group studies will follow each Sabbath’s sermon handout.
Once a month, all the small groups will gather together with me at my house—or somewhere big enough to hold us all together.
When the sermon series is over. We’ll rest for a few weeks.
Then start again.
That’s it.
Questions for Discussion
Questions for Discussion
What would it take to restore the communal image of God in you? In your family? In your church?
How may today’s small groups replicate ?
What role might you play in the Spirit’s work of restoring and protecting the integrity of Christ’s people?