Link: Doves and Dragons, Pentecost 2014

Summary of what I was saying and why:
Early in the week I got lines from Josh Ritter’s “Girl in the War” stuck in my head. I listened to it over and over again and thought about doves, and dragons, and The Holy Spirit. Then I started writing.

Theology: Pneumatology (Holy Spirit)
Jesus Count: low
Good News: Pentecost is the passing of the torch to us.

What did I change on my feet?
I didn’t change a lot. I wrote this sermon really in verse and I kept editing it on my feet.
What didn’t work/what did I miss?
I don’t know. It seemed to work better at the early service than the late service, but I’m not clear on why.
What did work?
Everything clicked when I realized that this needed to start with the Dove at the baptism.

Other sermons I liked:

Priest Garner, Spirit’s Pull
The problem with people who exhibit the gifts of the Spirit is that they’re usually pretty strange. At the very least, by definition it isn’t normal, and it’s often downright weird. That’s because the Holy Spirit usually works in ways that we don’t understand. Sure, there are some Spirit-filled people whom we admire—like quirky authors and exuberant preachers—but lots of them just scare us. Have you ever had a stranger come up and offer to lay hands on you? You know those guys who walk down the street talking out loud to Jesus? Does anyone really enjoy the bullhorn-prophet who calls the world to repent? What are we supposed to make of people who claim to have the Spirit working within them when it seems to be working in a way that we don’t like?

Priest Sherer, Let it go, let it flow
We have all been made to drink INTO the interior of the Spirit. This is God’s goal for us. When we drink, we enter into the Spirit’s womb where we are re-created, where new life is created and nourished in us.

Priest Baum, Pentecost 2014
The disciples didn’t do anything to become these brazen apostles in the street. In fact, they were still hiding from the world. Since Easter! The disciples have not been to rabbinical school. They have no knowledge of God’s power. You’re going to listen to a bunch of scared losers who thought Jesus was the Messiah? What are you, on crack or something?

(Here’s the list of people I usually listen to. Am I missing someone?)
The Anglican Church of Canada uses the Roman Ordinary Time numbering system instead of numbering the Propers. Because all of this is new to me, I’m now indicating both numbering systems.