This is going to further some people’s perception of me as being hopelessly square, but my favorite kind of music always has been classical. Part of that may have to do with the fact that as a child I also liked television. Remember those early days of television when much of the background music was classical? Cartoons used Wagner and Beethoven. Every time I watched the Lone Ranger, I heard part of the William Tell Overture by Rossini. If the producers of those cartoons and television shows were trying to condition young minds to appreciate the musical classics, I’m here to tell you they succeeded!
Do you remember the Lone Ranger? He was the man in the Old West who devoted his whole life to seeing that justice was done and peace restored. When someone had taken advantage of a widow and her son, or a bank was robbed, or someone was embezzling money, the Lone Ranger, whose identity was always concealed by a mask, would show up and set things right. Whatever the problem was, no one could solve it until the Lone Ranger, with his silver bullets and his horse named Silver, arrived on the scene. Order was restored, the villains captured and delivered to the authorities, justice was done. The beneficiaries were always grateful to the unknown crusader. At the end of each episode, someone always asked, “Who was that masked man?” “Why, that was the Lone Ranger,” someone would respond. And from the distance you could hear the sound of a horse galloping away, a voice saying, “HiO Silver!,” and the orchestra playing again Rossini‘s William Tell Overture.
The Bible has a series of a kind of Lone Ranger, chosen by God to help his people. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Miriam, Elijah, Deborah, David, Isaiah and Jeremiah; these were individuals to whom God gave his Spirit to convert, direct, and counsel his people. They were called to save the day and bring God’s people back to him. The Holy Spirit was present and active in them, as God chose to give his Spirit to particular persons in order to accomplish his purposes.
What’s different at Pentecost is the gift of the Holy Spirit to all of the apostles at one time and from then on to everyone who was baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The people of God are no longer to be led by a series of Lone Rangers; we no longer can know God only through someone else telling us of him, for we know God ourselves because he dwells within us.
God has given to each one of us who have been baptized his Spirit. The Holy Spirit isn’t given only to those who are ordained, or to those who had a particular experience in which they felt keenly the presence of God. If you’ve been baptized with water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, you’ve been baptized by the Holy Spirit. Why were you given that gift? “For the common good,” Saint Paul says in First Corinthians. Then he mentions a variety of gifts: the utterance of wisdom, of knowledge, faith, healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, the ability to distinguish between spirits, various kinds of tongues, the interpretation of tongues.” In other words, St. Paul is telling us that God, through his Holy Spirit, will provide everything the Church needs for her life.
This is what God intends the Church to be: a united community, working together to his glory, each person contributing to the mission of the Church and all persons being indispensable according to their gifts and graces. Sometimes that’s really what the Church looks like. All too often, however, the Church appears to be something quite different. Too many people, even Christians, see the Church as just another volunteer organization, with paid professionals to keep it all going. If one of the volunteers begins to feel especially committed to God, we too quickly jump to the conclusion that person must have a calling to be one of the paid professionals. Especially larger parishes, like Redeemer, too easily fall into the trap of preferring Lone Rangers, both lay and ordained, who will take care of the work of the Church and let them alone to do other things that are more important.
Yet the picture we have in scripture is much different. Clergy and laity alike are to have the same quality of commitment to the work of the Church, and by quality of commitment, I mean total commitment. Of course, that doesn’t mean we all do our work full-time on church property. What it means is that every Christian is called to further the Church’s mission wherever he or she is. If you’re a doctor, carry out your Christian vocation through your ministry of healing. If a lawyer, carry out the business of law within the context of your Christian calling. If a teacher, a businessperson, a construction worker, a person in any other kind of work, allow the Spirit dwelling in you to guide and direct your dealings in the world.
The gift of the Holy Spirit implies something else as well. Each one of us has a gift for the benefit of this particular community of faith. Have you taken your place in the work of Redeemer, and if not, why not? Don’t wait to be asked. Try to discern, through prayer and through talking with other Christians, what gifts you have to offer to this particular community of faith, and then offer yourself for that ministry. You’re a part of Redeemer for a purpose, God’s purpose; and if you’re not involved, something that God intends for this parish is going unfulfilled.
The Church is not intended to be a place for Lone Rangers. It’s to be something like an orchestra that plays fine classical music, with every instrument playing its part.
Sermon preached by the Rev. Dr. Fredrick A. Robinson
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
9 June 2019