The Spirit Moving: The Spirit Stirring Up Trouble - Acts 14: 1~7 - August 1, 2011- Cicero United Methodist Church - Everett J. Bassett

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            A preacher from Nacogdoches, Texas wrote about a young woman in his church named Mollie, who graduated in June after a tumultuous senior year. At the beginning of the school year, before a football game, her school had a huge pep rally. Here's how that preacher, Kyle Childress, describes what happened: "At one point the cheerleaders started their weekly skit about how the Dragons were going to defeat their opponents that night. Several kids came in dressed in the colors of the opposing team. Our cheerleaders went behind each of the opposition kids, tied that kid's hands behind her back and had her kneel down on the floor. Then our cheerleaders took out toy pistols and acted out walking behind the kids and executing them. When the cheerleaders dragged the mock-executed kids to a pile ... the crowd of students, teachers and parents hollered and screamed and clapped their approval."

            As many know, in Texas you don't mess with high school football; for that matter, in Texas you don't mess with high school cheerleading. But Mollie went home very upset at the violent performance, and sent an e-mail to the principal of the school. Nothing came of it. So, she and her mother went to complain personally. "You and your daughter are the only ones complaining," the principal told Mollie's mother. "No one else thinks anything was wrong with the skit."

            That turned out to be not quite true. First Mollie circulated a petition condemning the skit; many students signed it. Then she examined the school by-laws, and found language explicitly prohibiting guns, including toy guns, on school grounds. Then she and another girl wrote a column for the school newspaper, questioning both the cheerleaders' sponsors and the school administration for doing nothing about the skit. The school principal censored the letter, but Mollie and her friends circulated the full version independently. All the while, the social pressure on Mollie built. And the principal continued to insist that it was all much ado about nothing.

            What finally turned the tide was a front page article in the local newspaper. That got national notice, and then national news services were calling Mollie for interviews. The next week the school administration issued an apology and promised that such skits would not be tolerated again. The administrators acknowledged that Mollie and friends were correct to hold the school accountable.

            One of the names you can imagine applied to Mollie - perhaps by the principal, or the cheerleading coach, or one of those sponsors - was Trouble-Maker. ‘It was an innocent skit; everybody cheered. Why couldn't Mollie just leave it alone? Chill out. Don't be so uptight.' From Mollie's perspective it would be easy to just play along. 'It's her senior year. She'll be gone in June. Why not have fun, instead of stirring up this hornets' nest, and making herself so unpopular?' I don't have Mollie's words about this to share with you, but for anything I read from her pastor, the answer to those questions would have a great deal to do with Mollie's devotion to a personal Lord and Savior who gave his life on the cross, and told his disciples that if they truly loved him, they too would carry crosses in this world - even deny themselves. Mollie was ready to carry a cross to stand up for what was right.

            These last few weeks, we have been reading in the book of Acts in the Bible, about Jesus' disciples as they began the work of spreading the Christian message. And it is clear is that in the Book of Acts, the disciples do not act alone; they act in the power of the Holy Spirit - every step of the way. And the Spirit is doing some beautiful things that we've been talking about - healing people, breaking down walls, building up the church, setting captives free, revealing the truth, lifting up scripture. Those are wonderful things that bring us comfort. But we would not be accurately depicting the full scope of the Spirit's work if we didn't point out something else the Spirit does - something that is not so popular or comfortable. And that is, that when the Spirit is moving, the Spirit is stirring up trouble. The Holy Spirit is a trouble-maker.

            On the surface that doesn't sound so good. We associate Trouble-Maker with other things. For example, the time in my childhood Sunday School when someone glued my next-door neighbor's popsicle stick church to the top of the table, and my little sister pointed out a big dollop of Elmer's glue on the front of my little sports coat, I was called a trouble-maker over that, but I really think the name should also apply to little sisters who get other people in trouble.

            But the trouble that gets stirred up by the Holy Spirit is about more than Sunday School pranks. It's more about the clash between the absolute grace of God, and a world that has very little place for absolute grace. It's about the kind of trouble that Jesus stirred up just by preaching love, in a world that crucifies love. It has to do with a young woman who witnesses something totally outrageous, like a depiction of mass murder in a high school gym, and realizes by her faith that this time something must be done about it. That's the kind of trouble the Spirit stirs up, and the book of Acts is full of examples.

            Acts 14 tells of the ministry of Paul and Barnabas in the bustling Galatian city of Iconium - a place well known for its abundance and natural beauty. But nothing is said about this beauty in this scripture. What we have instead is a city torn apart. After the apostles preached to many receptive ears in the synagogue at Iconium, turmoil followed. We read that the city was divided, and the rulers of this lovely place must have wondered how all this trouble arrived. The fact is, whenever the Spirit was moving in the New Testament, it trouble followed - status quo was upset; enemies attacked; cities, houses, places of worship were divided. And Jesus predicted that this is just what would happen. He said, 'I came not to bring peace, but a sword.' Why would God cause so much trouble? Because we live in a world where evil is fierce, and doesn't give up its hold without a fight. And those who, like those first disciples, want to declare boldly a message of life-changing, world-changing love will find there are many opponents to such a message, if it is truly lived out. Trouble will follow.

            I was reading this week about the spread of Methodist faith in America. The early 1800s saw a great religious revival across our country, and in many areas, Methodist circuit riders led the way. This church is a result of that movement. There was a great part of that revival that took place in the Southern states, where slavery was a very sensitive issue. Methodist preachers were especially aggressive in confronting slavery. One Methodist assembly stated that slaveholding was 'contrary to the laws of God, man, and nature, and hurtful to society, contrary to the dictates of conscience and pure religion.' As many as a third of all new Methodist converts in many areas were slaves. Things started to get heated.  Slaveholders had immense power, and even non-slaveholders saw slavery as essential to their way of life. Demonstrations against Methodists took place. For example, there was a burning party in Charleston, with Methodist literature being thrown on the fire. The Methodists were causing trouble, and slaveholders wished they would go away.

            Eventually, in a way, they did. While many of the preachers kept up the battle, gradually you start seeing official statements that the purpose of the Methodist movement is not to end slavery. And by 1830, the official Methodist stand in the South was that it was alright to own slaves, as long as you exercised Christian mercy toward them. You see, following a crucified Savior and a trouble-making Spirit is pretty uncomfortable - it makes waves, and complacency can be so much more attractive.

            Meanwhile, the song of freedom and hope continues on. The church may lose its nerve, but the Spirit keeps moving, stirring things up. One of the beautiful songs that came out of those slave days was, Wade in the Water. It's in our Faith We Sing songbooks, and we'll sing it in a moment. 'Wade in the water/Wade in the water, children/Wade in the water/ God's gonna trouble the water.' It is an old, old African-American spiritual, and the legend is that it was a signal song for escaping slaves. If you waded in the water, a bounty hunter's bloodhounds would lose the trail. But the song also has two very strong scriptural points of reference. The first is the Old Testament story of the exodus of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt behind their leader Moses, through the Red Sea. Because the Spirit troubled the waters, there was freedom and salvation. And the second scripture is about that pool we read about in Siloam, where an angel came down each day and riled up the water, and then there could be healing. You see, when you are enslaved, literally by slaveholders, or figuratively by the shackles of addiction or evil thoughts or despair - there is great hope in knowing that God's Spirit is ready to trouble the waters. And We believe that God is still stirring up trouble, looking for disciples who will preach against the evil
powers of oppression and slavery and hatred in this world.

            This morning we celebrate Holy Communion, and that represents many things to us. It represents healing of body, mind, and spirit. It represents hope for those who are desperate, and strength for those who are struggling. It represents reconciliation with enemies, and a connection with Christians around the world. It represents the forgiveness of sins, and a new start in life. It signifies closeness to God like few other acts can. But it also represents a God who doesn't sit back while the world cries out in agony. God sent His Son into this world, into the midst of those cries. And that caused trouble for a lot of people, and Jesus was crucified. And the bread and the cup, with all the other wonderful things it represents, also signifies a Savior who gave His life because sometimes faith stirs up trouble. And part of sharing at this table means that we who commune with Christ will follow that trouble-making Spirit, and hit injustice head on. It means we may be the ones called to speak up when outrageous things are happening; we might be the ones called to pass a petition to stop evil. And sometimes we'll be surprised to find that many people were wishing for just such a daring love to surface. But other times we might hit a stiff wall of opposition - and body and blood will be threatened. But that's okay. We've already seen that the Spirit is pretty good at breaking down walls.

            When I was a teenager in college, a popular poster said this: "All that's necessary for evil to triumph is for enough good people to do nothing." Christian faith doesn't allow us that luxury; it is a call to action. We are confronters of evil, because we partake of the symbols of the Body and Blood of our Savior, and that's our declaration that wherever it leads, the message of love must go forward. And we are the messengers; and this we know absolutely: that following such a Savior will be more than worth the trouble. We will share in the triumph of Easter, and be part of the Kingdom of hope that Jesus announced.

            The great Christian teacher Karl Barth wrote, "To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder in the world." God is calling us to pray; and then to rise up and act for goodness and love's sake.