Fairhaven UMC

2415 Saw Mill Run Blvd.
Pittsburgh, PA 15234
Sunday 9:30am Worship

    • Fairhaven Sermon 5-31-2026

      Summary

      In this week’s service, Rev. Dylan Parson explores the profound mystery of the Holy Trinity through the joyful metaphor of a wedding dance. Moving beyond confusing doctrines and historical debates, the sermon introduces the concept of *perichoresis*—the idea that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in a dynamic, rhythmic relationship where each person makes space for the other. This “divine dance” serves as the ultimate model for community and perfect relationship.

      The message further connects this Trinitarian movement to the creation story in Genesis, where God’s collaborative nature is revealed from the very beginning. As humans created in the image of a relational God, we are called not to be mere spectators on the edge of the dance floor, but active participants in God’s work of love, care, and creation. Through the life and example of Jesus, we are invited to learn the “steps” of faith—learning to make room for others through service and grace—until we are finally united with Christ in the eternal celebration to come.

      If you’ve been to a wedding reception, which pretty much everybody has at some point in their lives, you know the moment when the energy of the thing shifts. The ceremony’s done, dinner’s over, you’ve managed to slog through all the trappings and traditions, you know, the cliched maid of honor speech, right? For those of you who don’t know me, I’m the bride’s sister, best for whatever. And then the sometimes moving dances with the bride and groom and their parents. Various other speeches, right? The cakes happened, probably. And then knowing that it’s time to shift gears, the DJ plays one perfectly targeted song to try to get everybody going. These days, maybe it’s the Cupid Shuffle or the Wobble, right? 20 years ago, it might have have been the electric slide. Changes generationally. But the evening with this song has moved into its final act, the one that everyone’s been waiting for patiently. The dance floor starts to fill up, which is the whole goal right here. People who hadn’t moved all night, who were starting to maybe drift off, get up out of their chairs. And there is this collective sense of joy and rhythm that takes over.

      There’s this collective flow, this shared movement of community. And now you might perceive me as graceful and elegant, which I appreciate, but I am not myself much of a dancer. Still, by this and the point in the reception, even people like me, with a glass or two of wedding champagne, can usually get into the flow of the wedding dancing, maybe the Macarena, right? But even if you are sitting on the perimeter of the room or you stay in your chair, there is something that’s really joyful, that really catches you about watching this crowded room swirl and step and laugh in alignment. You know, the line dances are cool to watch, even if people aren’t good at it.

      And this is an image that the early church used to describe one of the deepest mysteries of faith, and that’s the Holy Trinity. It’s Trinity Sunday. I don’t like Trinity Sunday because I don’t want to talk to you about doctrine for 20 minutes, but dance makes it a little bit different. The ancient Greek theologians used a specific word to describe the way all the persons of the Trinity related to each other, and that word was perichoresis. And if you break that word down literally, what that means is to make space around. There’s this idea that each person of the Trinity is active and dynamic, and each one of them moves to make room for the other one to move. And the word is related to choreo, you know, the root word of choreography, you know, planning a dance, right? And so whenever the early church theologians looked at God, they didn’t see an equation or something they had to write out as a proof. We get this image instead of this ballroom dance of flowing where everybody knows all the steps, everything just flows perfectly. Each footstep, each movement of the hands is organic and natural, but precise. And these early theologians argued that God existing as three in one, three equals who comprise one God, is perfect relationship. That’s what perfection and community looks and looks like.

      But if you’re like most Christians, if someone were to come up to you after church and ask you to explain the Holy Trinity, you would find yourself feeling very uncomfortable. And I think pretty much every pastor would tell you the same thing. I told you I dread Trinity Sunday. And whenever we get questions about the Trinity, you know, how is it that God can be both three and one? How could the Son have been there from the beginning when Jesus wasn’t born until 2,000 years ago. What exactly is the Holy Spirit? All that stuff. We start to sweat a little bit. And there’s a joke among preachers and theologians that Trinity Sunday or really any kind of discussion about Trinity in general, always dangerous because you’re always skirting the edges of accidentally saying something heretical by trying to make this mystery explainable. And the moment we try to break it down into a nice little analogy, you know, a children’s sermon kind of thing, we usually end up accidentally repeating some ancient heresy that a church council condemned over a thousand years ago, right? Oh, the Trinity is like ice, liquid water, and steam. Nope. Modalism, condemned by the Council of Rome in 382 AD. Not like that.

      And there has been so much wrestling and fighting about this throughout the history of the church with good reason. This is what’s important. Because is there a whole lot more important for faith than knowing who we’re worshiping? And the early church, recognizing that God had taken on flesh in Christ, and that God is one being in three persons, they had all these mind-blasting puzzles to try to get a handle on. And they hashed it out over the centuries, with dozens of bishops and theologians wrestling over it via letters, going back and forth across the Mediterranean. They’d have councils where the church leaders from across the whole world would gather to figure it out. And it took centuries to arrive at consensus, and a lot of the time this could get literally violent. There’s a famous story about Nicholas of Myra at the Council of Nicaea, who slapped a rival in the face for arguing that the son was created by the father. Nicholas of Myra, this guy who slapped him, was later made a saint, Saint Nicholas, who became known later as Santa Claus. So the story is literally that Santa Claus once literally punched a guy at a church business meeting over the doctrine of the Trinity.

      And later, the Roman Catholic Church’s addition of one little line in the Nicene Creed has been this key factor in keeping us out of communion with the Eastern churches for over a thousand years. And this notorious phrase known as the filioque, we heard it in one of our hymns earlier, but in the Western church, we say that the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, proceeds from the Father and the Son. And in the Eastern church, they leave out that and the Son. And that’s been enough to keep the church split in half for a thousand years. That’s how important this is, because so much of what we understand and worship about God comes out of who God is, and especially in the way in which not just the Father, and also the Son and the Spirit are also God. And it can seem silly, but this is why they’ve spent thousands, hundreds of years hashing this out.

      But some of these minute details probably don’t feel all that immediately relevant to you, do they? To the Christian who’s not teaching and preaching, let alone to the Christian who is. And yet so many people, and so many people do wonder, so what on Trinity Sunday. Eyes glaze over. Why would a historical debate over a single Latin word ever possibly matter to your life? And the key is exactly what we see in Genesis 1. That the Trinity is not some external abstract concept, it’s God. It’s not a philosophical discussion, even as we get bogged down in the words of the creeds or defining what it is and what it isn’t. It’s a relationship, that old cliche, it’s not a religion, it’s a relationship. Well, Trinity literally is. God is community. God is outpouring love.

      And today our scripture shows us that from the beginning of time, human beings were never just meant to stand on the edge of the dance floor and watch, right? We are products of God’s love. We were always created to be pulled into it. And so, to help us understand what that means today, we look at Genesis 1, this description of the very beginning of creation. And believe me, I racked my premium brain to try to figure out how to shorten it, but what was I going to do? Skip days two to four? But right from the opening, from the opening notes of the universe, this of love is already happening. In this chapter, God is referred to by the title Elohim, which in Hebrew is plural. Not singular, but plural. And we, always this we, God begins to create the heavens and the earth. And God’s wind, which is the same word as God’s spirit, sweeps across the dark waters. So we already see the Father and the Spirit here. And the words from God’s mouth, Let there be light are spoken, and there’s light. Creation starts.

      And there’s this sense of just collaboration here from these very first verses. All one God, all working together, and yet distinct. You know, you have the Spirit hovering over the water, the Word is spoken and is there, and the Father is the one speaking the Word. And over and over again, for seven days, we see this cycle. Elohim, God creates the sky and the waters, then the earth, then the plants, then the sun and the moon and the stars, then the birds and the fish and the sea monsters, and then land creatures, livestock, bugs, and then us, humanity. Listen to verse 26. God says, let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that they may take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and all the crawling things of the earth. Humanity is created in this plural, in this diversity of all genders, races, kinds in God’s image, us, God says. And while the rest of creation is called good, when God finishes with people, God says it’s very good or supremely good, we just heard in the Common English Bible, which is pretty generous, if we’re honest.

      And so the persons of the Trinity, the three-in-one God, look at humankind, newborn, and see themselves in us. God turns to God’s self and smiles warmly at what God’s done, and we were created out of relationship for relationship, and then appointed to function as God’s servants. We’re this kind of bridge between creation and creator, ruling over creation with care. And we’re given this special position, and it’s special because it’s like God’s. We’re to create. We’re to take care of everything else. We’re to help cultivate in creation that same harmony that exists within God. And our job, too, is to make room, to make space. So from the beginning of the universe, we’re given this honorary place just below God. And from the beginning, we’re invited as creation to be part of creating, to pour out love on all the world, just as God has always done.

      And we know, across these next few chapters of Genesis, that a lot happens in these familiar stories. You know, humans decide they want to be the choreographers of their own life, right? We want to march to the beat of our own drum rather than dancing to God’s music. We give up our place in the Garden of Eden. We forfeit this supreme goodness that God has created us with. And we spend the next couple thousand pages of Scripture bouncing back and forth closer to God, further from God, one step forward, two steps back until Jesus is born. And now God is with us again, just like walking in the Garden of Eden. And now that dance for the first time is not just in heaven, but it’s on the mountaintops of Galilee, in the Jordan River, on dirt streets that are built with human hands.

      Jesus shows us what perichoresis, what this dance looks like in human flesh. And God makes room. Jesus makes room for outcasts, for healing the broken, liberating the oppressed and the possessed, pouring out love. He makes room for people. Jesus is crucified. He dies. He descends into hell and he brings the life of the Trinity even to the depths. And he lifts those who are trapped there to be set free. And on the third day, he rises, here’s the Spirit with the Son and the Father again. And then one spring day, Jesus ascends into heaven, body and all. I remember the first time I ever realized this, that whenever Jesus ascended into heaven, that means that there is a human being sitting next to God the Father in heaven, praying for us even now. Don’t miss that when you think about Jesus, fully divine, fully man, has gone to be with the Father before sending the Spirit with us. So we’re up there and God’s down here. And we’re incorporated into the Trinity, literally. And creation itself has been lifted up into God.

      John Wesley, the founder of our tradition, loved this concept of humanity being pulled into God. And he taught that God’s grace isn’t the kind that just looks down on us, kind of pities us, forgives us from a distance without really touching us. Instead, it transforms us. This love does something so that we can actually participate in what God is like. And that’s where we find ourselves now. That’s our role now. we’re being drawn into God until the glorious day when God is all.

      And that’s the promise that we get in our gospel reading this morning, a restatement of the Great Commission. Jesus pours out his authority on his disciples. He orders them to make disciples of all nations. He says, baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And he’s sending us out once more, just like we were on the sixth day, to be servants of God to creation, like we were created to be, calling everything back to God.

      So think about this whenever you think about the Trinity. Not philosophical questions, not some distant abstraction, but that you and I and all of God’s world are being embraced in love. That’s the point. And so through Jesus, you have the opportunity right now to draw nearer to God, offering yourself each day to be made more perfect, to fall more in love with the Creator, the Redeemer, the Sustainer. Christ came to us because God wants us to be part of this dance of perichoresis, not just to stand back and watch what God’s doing, but our primary task in this life is to learn the steps to invite others to join us in the movement.

      Again, I can’t claim to be a fine dancer, but it’s a good metaphor. A Christian life of sanctification, of moving closer to the heart of God, is like learning a dance. At the beginning, you know, I was in a lot of plays in high school. We had to do all kinds of dancing in elementary school. Awful. But at the beginning, you learn the steps to the point where you kind of have to like quietly say them to yourself while you do them, maybe slow down the music. But over time, it becomes pure muscle memory. I don’t have to think about the Macarena anymore. And at first, you’re clumsy. You know, you step on toes, you trip, you constantly look at your feet. You have to remind yourself, right? In faith, you’ve got to forgive, you’ve got to serve, you’ve got to love, you’ve got to make room for other people. You have to think about it. Think about the steps first. But the more you do it, the more natural it becomes. That is what Christian faith is like, Christian life is like.

      And there’s just such a good reason that the New Testament is littered with this wedding imagery from the Gospels all the way to Revelation. Because the day is coming at the reception when the champagne toast will be poured at the great wedding feast of Christ where the church and Jesus are finally fully united. And that Trinitarian dance floor will be open for everything, people, bugs, fish, birds, to swirl and step to know the dance together. And who knows, maybe the angelic choir there will sing the Macarena. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

    • Announcements 5-31-2026

      United Women Fundraiser Success:

      • Event: Election Day Food and Bake Sale
      • Location: Fairhaven UMC
      • Details: Raised over $1,100

      Recurring Programs

      Community Outreach Meal:

      • Event: Living Stones Monthly Community Meal
      • Location: Fairhaven UMC
      • Time: Last Sunday of every month at 4:30 PM
      • Details: Food provided by Living Stones; volunteers needed to host and serve

      Wednesday Bible Study:

      • Event: Weekly Bible study via Zoom
      • Location: On-line Zoom Meeting
      • Time: Wednesday evenings
      • Contact: Dave Smoyer or a pastor

      Community Outreach Lunch:

      • Event: Fairhaven serves Lunch for Prevention Point clients
      • Location: Fairhaven UMC
      • Time: 1st Thursday of every month at 12:30 PM
      • Details: Volunteers needed for serving and greeting
      • Contact: Stormie

      Upcoming Events

      Western Pennsylvania UMC Annual Conference:

      • Event: Please pray for the Annual Conference
      • Time: June 4th – June 6th

      Father’s Day Carnation Sale:

      • Event: Carnation sale in honor or memory of a loved one
      • Location: Fairhaven UMC
      • Time: Order by June 8th. Please see Flo Black for more information.

      Spencer UMC Community Picnic:

      • Event: Summer Community Picnic
      • Location: Spencer UMC
      • Time: Thursday, June 18th, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
      • Details: Hot dogs and drinks provided; feel free to bring something to share

      Pastor Peg Bowman Retirement Reception:

      • Event: Retirement reception for Associate Pastor Peg Bowman
      • Location: Fairhaven UMC
      • Time: June 21st, during coffee time prior to worship
      • Details: Come early to wish her well

    • Fairhaven Sermon 5-24-2026

      Summary

      In this week’s service, Rev. Peg Bowman explores the profound significance of Pentecost and the arrival of the Holy Spirit. By reflecting on the biblical accounts in Acts, she draws a powerful parallel between the giving of the Law to Moses and the outpouring of the Spirit following Jesus’ resurrection. Rev. Bowman highlights how this divine moment transformed a group of believers into witnesses capable of sharing the Good News across diverse cultures and languages, marking the “birthday of the church.”

      Rev. Peg Bowman also addresses common misconceptions regarding spiritual gifts, cautioning against the extremes of believing that gifts have ceased or that every believer must manifest the same specific signs, such as speaking in tongues. Instead, she emphasizes the metaphor of the Body of Christ, where each member possesses unique, Spirit-given gifts necessary for the whole community. Ultimately, the message serves as a call for the Church to remain a diverse, joyful, and empowered community, dedicated to bringing God’s healing and joy to the entire world.

      Oh, good morning again and good Pentecost, and it’s wonderful to see everybody wearing red. This is good. Also, tomorrow is Memorial Day. So before I get into the sermon, I did want to say a quick prayer for anyone who has given their all in service to our country. So please pray with me. Lord, we want to remember before you all those who have given all they had to serivce to others, for the sake of our country. Lord, may these servicemen and women find peace, and comfort, and wholeness, in your loving presence. Amen.

      Today, then we remember Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit. And this story may be a familiar one, but its meaning and its place in history can get a little complicated sometimes. Acts chapter 2 tells us that Jesus, after his resurrection, did not go home to his father in heaven right away. Jesus spent, at least—actually, this is actually Acts chapter one—Jesus spent at least another 40 days with the disciples in a number of different places, and not always just with the 12, as they were known. And then on the day of Jesus’ ascension, as we heard last week, Jesus and the disciples were in Bethany, near where Mary and Martha and Lazarus lived. And again, this was not just the 12 who were gathered there. We don’t know exactly how many of the followers were with Jesus on that day, but I think it’s safe to say, there were at least a few dozen and possibly a 100 or so.

      At this gathering, Jesus reviewed with his friends and disciples all of the Old Testament passages that talk about the Messiah. And according to Google, there are at least 200 passages in the Old Testament that talk about the Messiah, possibly as many as 300 passages, depending on how you interpret them. So it would have taken Jesus a long time to mention all these prophecies and answer everybody’s questions. And when Jesus teaching was done, he commissioned everyone present, and he said, “You are my witnesses.” But, he said, “don’t say or do anything until the Holy Spirit comes. Wait in Jerusalem until the spirit arrives.” So the first thing I want to point and point out is that Christian witness takes place under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit’s presence, our words and our witness have no power in them. Like the disciples so long ago, we need to wait for the direction and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to empower our ministry and our outreach.

      After Jesus ascended, the disciples returned to Jerusalem, and they stayed in close proximity to each other, and every day, they went to the temple to worship, and every day, they ate meals together, and again, this is more than just the 12. Scholars believe there were probably a couple of 100 believers in Jerusalem at this point. And I mention this because I sometimes imagine, as I read these passages, and I think other people sometimes imagine the same thing, that the disciples were meeting in the upper room, where they had the last supper. But the number of believers were too big for that by now. They had to have been meeting in a larger place. And scripture says that they were meeting in the house, and the Greek word for house is oikos, and oikos is, besides being a yogurt, is also what they used to call the temple. And it makes sense if this group would meet in or near the temple, possibly in one of the outer courtyards.

      So in the Jewish Festival of Pentecost came along, that is, the Jewish Festival, the disciples would already have found a spot to meet somewhere in or near the temple. And when all the Jewish worshipers from all over the known world, started showing up at the temple to celebrate Pentecost, they would have come across these followers of Jesus. These international Jewish worshipers were there for the Jewish Pentecost, which has nothing to do with the arrival of the Holy Spirit. The word Pentecost means 50. In the Jewish believers were there to celebrate 50 days after Passover. Because 50 days after Passover was when Moses received the Ten Commandments. So they were there to celebrate the giving of the law, the very heart of the Jewish faith.

      Jesus had been arrested just before Passover, and he died, just as Passover was starting, and this connects Jesus with the Passover lamb, whose blood over the doorways of the homes of the Israelite slaves in Egypt back in Moses’ day, caused the angel of death to pass over that house. And Jesus is our Passover lamb, whose blood is placed over the doorway of our hearts, whenever we become believers. 50 days after the 1st Passover, Moses received the Ten Commandments; 50 days after Jesus died, the disciples received the Holy Spirit. You begin to see the parallel there. Yes? The law of God, now written on our hearts. So when we become followers of and Jesus, we become part of a story that started many 1000s of years ago and continues into all of our tomorrows.

      So with all of this as background, here’s what happened on the 1st Christian Pentecost. As usual, Jesus’ followers were gathered in or near the temple, and suddenly there was a sound like a rushing wind that echoed through the temple, and filled the building, and tongues that looked like fire rested on all the believers, and they began to speak in the languages of all the foreigners who were visiting Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish Pentecost. And at this point, all these people, both the Jesus followers and the Jewish visitors from many nations—these are all Jewish believers at this point. They were all people who worshiped in the temple, even if they were from foreign countries. The Gentiles, the non Jewish people, which includes us, had not yet been invited to follow Jesus. We will be invited soon. But the faith started in Jerusalem with the Jewish people.

      Our reading in Acts mentions there were even Jewish people from Rome, who were in Jerusalem at that time, which means that Peter actually did help to start the church in Rome, like tradition says, but Peter didn’t travel to Rome. The Jewish believers from Rome came to him in Jerusalem. In addition, other countries represented that day included, but were not limited to Persia, Egypt, Arabia, Greece, Libya, and people from Mesopotamia, and beyond. And the Holy Spirit inspired these new Christians to praise God, in other languages, as the visitors to Jerusalem needed to and to hear it so that they could understand the good news of Jesus.

      Now, at this point, I feel like I need to do a little sidebar. A little side note about speaking in tongues, okay? Because today, there are two equal and opposite mistakes that people make about speaking in tongues. The 1st is that this gift no longer exists. The second, and I should say the Apostle Paul lists speaking in tongues is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the second mistake is the teaching that if you’re really a Christian, you have to speak in tongues, and this mistake has been taught in some Pentecostal churches and some other churches usually outside denominational structures, and this teaching is a reaction against people who teach that the spiritual gifts don’t exist anymore, that they only existed in the time of Jesus and the early church.

      So they’re 2 equal and opposite mistakes where it comes to the spiritual gifts, the gifts of the Spirit. One is that the gifts of the Spirit no longer exists, and the 2nd is that all believers have to have the same gifts. Both of these beliefs go against what the apostle Paul teaches in the book of 1st Corinthians, which, by the way, we are covering soon in Bible study, and that all believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit gives gifts, and Paul lists some of the gifts as examples in 1st Corinthians. So I mention this because in the past, I have met people with horrible guilt trips, people who sometimes actually lose their faith, because of wrong teachings on the spiritual gifts. Not all Christians speak in tongues. In fact, most don’t. So in case you happen to run up against this teaching, be assured, God loves you no matter what spiritual gifts you have, and you do have some spiritual gifts, as God chooses to give. There are many gifts of the spirit. And if anyone within the sound of my voice does not yet know what their spiritual gifts are, the United Methodist Church offers a number of tools to help us figure that out, and if you have questions about this, I would be honored to explore that question with you. End of sidebar.

      And back to Pentecost. Here we go. So this crowd’s response in Jerusalem, to hearing God’s word, in their own language, was mixed. Everyone heard and saw the same things, but the reactions were varied. And this is very common in ministry. Jesus talked about how the seed of God’s word lands in different kinds of soil, and that’s pretty much what’s happening here. Some of the people present were amazed, some were worried. Some were confused, and some just wanted to poke fun. Some started asking, “What does this mean?” And that’s the whole point of having spiritual gifts. In order to point to God and to inspire people to ask the question, “what does this do?”

      Peter is ready with an answer to that question. He says, “no. God’s people have not been drinking. It’s only 9 in the morning.” And Peter says, what you’re hearing is the prophet Joel’s words coming true. Joel said, in the last days, it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. So Peter is saying, these are the last days. 2,000 years later, we still, we don’t often think about for the 1st Pentecost that way. But Peter confirms that the coming of the Spirit marks the beginning of the last days. And Peter adds, quoting the prophet Joel, He says, I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below. Blood and fire and smoking mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

      This part of the prophecy was not fulfilled in the temple that day, and it still hasn’t happened yet. But from God’s point of view, these are the last days. Our world might still go on for a few more thousand years. God’s timeline is not our own. But it does look like, at this point, that there’s more time behind us than in front of us. And I mention this because so many people today are talking about the end times, and the things that they read in the Book of Revelation, and I must warn that the Book of Revelation, as true as it is, is not a timeline. Revelation was written to be an encouragement to people living under persecution. And when life gets tough, or when the world gets tough, it’s hard not to think about the promises in Revelation.

      For what it’s worth, the Bible says the end times will look like this. There will be signs in the skies, signs on the earth, specifically, blood and fire, smoke you mist. The sun and the moon will turn blood red, and anyone who calls on Jesus’ name will be paved. But before all this happens, the spiritual gifts that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians will be poured out on all believers, including but not limited to these gifts of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, tongues, and interpretations of tongues, all of these gifts given by the same Holy Spirit, and given as God’s people have needs. We’re not all supposed to have the same gifts. Paul says that the giftedness of believers is like parts of the human body. We are not all eyes, we are not all ears, we are not all feet; a variety of parts is needed, and each part is needed just as it is. And it’s the same way in the church. All people are needed, no matter where we come from, or where we’ve been, or what gifts we’ve been given.

      Pentecost is sometimes called the birthday of the church, not the church building, not the denomination, but the community of people who follow Jesus, the body of believers, is empowered, and inspired, and united by the Holy Spirit. We are called by God into one body. And our calling is to share the good news of Jesus, along with his healing and his joy, to all people, and all means all. Excuse me. So the church is a community that is diverse, worldwide, joyful, a people who trust and love Jesus, a people whose number one commitment is to love and follow Jesus Christ. This is as radical and countercultural a thing to do today as it was 2,000 years ago. But don’t be afraid. The Holy Spirit opens the doors and empowers God’s people to reach out and bring God’s healing to God’s world, as God leads.

      Let’s pray. Lord, as we learn to understand the Holy Spirit and the gifts that the Spirit brings, please enlighten our minds. Clear away the cobwebs, get rid of the fables, and help us to know you as you really are. Fill us fresh with your Holy Spirit and guide us in serving and loving the world around us in your name, to your honor and glory. Amen.

    • Fairhaven Sermon 5-17-2026

      Summary

      In this week’s service, Rev. Dylan Parson opened with a candid reflection on the challenges of Christian faith, noting that spiritual growth is not always linear and that the gap between one’s belief and observable reality can be difficult. He reminded the congregation of Jesus’ profound command—the Great Commission—to go and make disciples of all nations, a calling that continues today. However, he challenged the church to look beyond its current struggles, questioning whether the traditional means of evangelism are effectively leading people to a heart change and true commitment to Christ.

      Pastor Rev. Dylan Parson concluded by redefining the role of the disciple. He taught that once Jesus ascended, the believer is no longer merely a student of ideas, but rather a living member of the Body of Christ. The source of power for the mission is not found in external resources, human brilliance, or spectacular miracles, but in the continuous, mysterious work of the Holy Spirit. The ultimate goal is realizing that the fullness of Christ’s power is present—right in the pews and within the hearts of the people—requiring only our availability and willingness to let God work through us.

      Something surprising that I have found over almost 20 years or so as a Christian in the church is how in some ways faith gets harder over time. You know of course that I wasn’t raised in the church, that’s something that I came to myself in my teenage years, but now that it’s my life vocation, the church, I’m I feel like I experience it more up close and constantly than the vast majority of people. So my relationship with the church in particular is where my difficulties with faith bubble up the most. I don’t often doubt God, but sometimes the church can be a little rougher. And you would think that every facet of our faith would get easier the longer that we’re in it, the longer that we know Jesus. And maybe for some people it does. Good for you if so. But in my experience, it’s a real mixed bag. Yes and no. Some things get easier and some things get harder. And one of the most difficult aspects of the Christian faith for me is the way in which I find myself challenged by the gap between what I believe about things versus what I actually see in front of my own eyes.

      I knew a Russian Orthodox priest who once had the experience of while he was serving communion, standing behind the table, breaking the communion bread. He said he saw the back wall of the church fall away, and in its place he saw the faces of all the saints and the angels that were partaking in communion with the people of his church. I don’t get that experience, and yet that’s what I believe very strongly is happening in that moment. That’s what we say in the liturgy. We rejoice with all the angels, the archangels, all the company of heaven, and then we sing. I’m envious of Father Edward seeing his belief confirmed—which is something that God has not yet decided to give me. I haven’t gotten to see what my heart knows. But here’s the instance I’m talking about today where faith and reality really collide. And not in a way that invalidates the faith I have in Jesus, but in a way that doesn’t make it easy. That is that God’s plan for the salvation of all creation runs through these pews. The saving work that began in Jesus’ time on earth continues largely through us. As the Holy Spirit empowers us to make disciples for the transformation of the world, which begins, of course, with making disciples of ourselves, we’re transformed by Jesus so that we might transform others with the love of Jesus. We’re going to be talking about this. We carry the torch that is passed to the disciples on the day of the ascension. That’s the moment Jesus says, you guys, take the lead. And they’re expected to keep up that work that began in the Holy Land and then rippled out to all the earth. This is a standing order for disciples of Jesus. This is straight from Luke 24, given in the moments before Jesus ascends into heaven. It’s a standing order to go out to all the world. And you’ve probably heard this referred to as the Great Commission. And you heard this in our gospel reading this morning, that a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in Christ’s name to all the nations beginning in Jerusalem. And the Father, Jesus continues, will soon furnish or equip those who believe in him with the power to make that happen.

      Acts picks up at the same moment in Acts chapter 1. Luke reports here that Jesus says, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. So in being baptized, in joining Christ’s church, you become part of that you that Jesus is referring to. It’s not just you, the original 12 disciples, but all people who seek to follow Jesus. You are the you. And so when Jesus says to go to all the world proclaiming the gospel, the changing of heart and lives, the forgiveness of sins, empowered by the Holy Spirit, he’s talking to you. The responsibility to make disciples, to share the love, the good news of Jesus, to continue to do the same sorts of miracles he did, belongs to you. And the Holy Spirit’s going to make that possible, but the work is ours. You still got to do it. It’s going to happen through us. Jesus’ game plan is us. Jesus’ ongoing strategy for the salvation of the world is the church.

      Has he met us? Frankly, we are not overflowing with resources, with people, with dedication, with expertise, though we are blessed among churches. And most congregations aren’t. And the reality is, too, if we’re really honest, that the way Jesus has chosen to do this doesn’t seem to work very well. Do most people who walk through the doors of this church or any church find themselves fundamentally changing their hearts and lives out of love for Christ? Do most of them, most of us, find ourselves going out to make more disciples and the ends of the earth or even our little tiny part of the earth? No. And the evidence that I’ve seen in my life suggests no. We see these occasional revivals that have caught fire over the last 2,000 years, but these seem like an exception rather than a rule. Again, maybe this is probably my biggest struggle with the Christian faith. This one doesn’t become easier over time. All of this to say, with all due respect to our Lord Jesus Christ, I do not think his is a very good plan. It’s not one I put all my chips on, and yet this is what he’s clearly chosen to do.

      And so the ascension marks the moment where Jesus departs from the disciples’ sight. His wounded and resurrected body rises into the skies, and he takes his place enthroned beside the Father. And he leaves this brief, silent gap before sending the Holy Spirit on Pentecost to accompany all of us who remain here, which still is here. Jesus doesn’t have to do it that way, obviously. He could have done whatever he wanted. He doesn’t have to leave us to carry on, guided by the power of this intangible Holy Spirit that we can’t see. It had been so much easier, it would be so much easier, if Jesus was just here. telling us what to do, healing people, picking up the slack when the disciples fail… God is going for something different than that. And that’s because at the ascension, the role of a disciple changes. It’s not a student anymore. With Jesus having left their sight, the position in which we still find ourselves today, disciples are no longer students. They’re no longer just followers seeking to live a specific lifestyle Jesus commands. We’re not following Jesus’s ideas, right? Those who follow the Buddha or the Stoic philosophers of Rome, those are students of ideas. But we’re not trying to understand a system of thinking and living and then applying it. The ascension opens us up to something different and reminds us that the church was never meant to be this social club with a list of rules powered by our volunteer hours. The church is a means of grace, this channel through which a power that doesn’t belong to us flows into the world.

      [Long section on Meister Eckhart omitted for brevity, focusing on the core theological development]

      The apostles are much more faithful to Jesus after the ascension than beforehand. Somehow their faith is stronger, their work is better, their commitment is deeper after he’s gone. Isn’t that kind of fascinating? You’d think that they would struggle in his absence more. But no, they hit their stride only once he’s gone. And they’re sent the Holy Spirit. Whenever they’re entrusted with the work of the kingdom, that’s when things take off. With Jesus ascending into heaven, we’ve become more than followers now. Our relationship has changed. It’s not that it’s become more distant. It’s deepened. We are somehow now literally the body of Christ ourselves here on earth. And this changes things. We’re not just following along behind him now. We’re not like these 12 apostles who are apprentices seeking to learn. We’re not just students of this great moral teacher. We’re not striving just to conform to his teaching. We’re trying to learn from him. We’re trying to be perfected in his image, but it’s more. What we have now to offer to the world does not lie in how convincing our ideas are. The gift of being part of the body of Christ is access to this mysterious, miraculous power to transform inside us and around us. It’s the Holy Spirit moving through us as God continues to work.

      Luke tells us this morning in chapter 24 that one of Jesus’ last commands to his disciples is that you are witnesses charged with telling the world about him, about who he is. And our witness has power. As we can speak to the change that he’s made in us, if we’ve let him, we can speak to the change that he’s made in us, and show the incredible way that Jesus continues to transform our lives, continues to make the impossible happen. Witnessing to that has power of its own. And luckily for us, that doesn’t require a multitude of resources. It doesn’t require thousands and thousands of people in the pews. It requires one person. It doesn’t require expertise, doesn’t require genius, it just requires us to let the love of God move through us, to demonstrate it in our words and in our lives. Jesus hasn’t decided to work through the church in the expectation that it’s just going to be filled to the brim with a bunch of superstars, able to accomplish all sorts of things on our own strength and brilliance because he picked the best of the best. Exactly the opposite of that, actually. He expects instead that we’ll make ourselves available to the power of the Holy Spirit and just go where it moves. It’s not about our ability. It’s about our availability to the Spirit. And even more than that, living out the great commission Jesus gives us is this means of grace itself. It’s not just work that we’re called to do, it’s something that is for us. We’re made perfect in Jesus’ love as we live in his love. And so where the church fails to accomplish its mission, it’s not because we don’t have the resources to do it. It’s not because we don’t have the skills to do it. God has not left us without enough stuff to accomplish what God has asked us to do. We can. Whenever we fail, whenever we falter at doing what we are supposed to do, it’s because we’re unwilling or disinterested in letting go, allowing Jesus to work in us first and then empower us by the Spirit to reach the world. It’ll work if we let it.

      In the first chapter of Acts, where Luke opens by retelling the story of the Ascension, he tells us that the disciples are standing on the road there. They’re just looking at the clouds, wondering where Jesus went. And then they are told by these two mysterious men, these angels dressed in white, what are you looking at? Just get moving. But in his letter to the Ephesians, we meet Paul today praying for something more internal for Jesus’ disciples. So we’re, again, we’re unlikely to get these heavenly messengers who brought us to get down to the business of being disciples in the world. And Paul asks for this instead. He says that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. And that’s really a needed corrective, the eyes of our hearts. Someone like me, I like to imagine my spiritual life would be a whole lot better if I could just see the angels like Father Edward did. If I could just see it, things would be different. But Paul tells the Ephesians here that seeing angels isn’t the goal. Getting this holy vision isn’t the goal. Seeing the power that’s already at work in you, in the person next to you, that is the goal. He wants us to perceive that the fullness of Christ isn’t some miraculous supernatural vision. It’s in the pews. He wants us disciples to see that the ascension isn’t about Jesus’ absence, but about the way his presence is still with us and moves through us. And being able to see that is even more miraculous. Paul writes that the same overwhelming greatness of God’s power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him at God’s right hand is at work in us. And so he confirms the promise that Jesus gives that the ascension isn’t about Jesus going up, it’s about his power coming down. we possess now the fullness of him who fills everything, in Paul’s words. And that means that when we leave the building today, you aren’t doing so as people who are following the teachings of a man who lived a long time ago. No, you’re carrying his presence with you. You aren’t waiting for Jesus to come back and fix the world. He’s waiting for you to realize he’s already here, working through your hands, your voice, and your heart. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

    • Mother’s Day Service 2026

      Summary

      In this week’s service, led by James Campana, the congregation celebrated Mother’s Day by reflecting on the profound impact and sacrificial love of mothers and mother figures. The sermon highlighted that while motherhood is often demanding and unnoticed, every mother deserves undying affection, whether they identify as a “Martha”—the “busy bee” who is task-oriented and driven—or a “Mary”—who is more laid back and reflective. By examining the story of Martha and Mary from Luke 10, the message validated both personality types, reminding mothers that they are perfectly and unconditionally loved by God regardless of their perceived imperfections, messy homes, or parenting choices.

      The message further encouraged believers to prioritize intimate time with Jesus over the “anxious doing” and hustle of a super-busy lifestyle. While Mary chose the “better part” by sitting at the Lord’s feet, the sermon also honored Martha’s deep, vocal faith and her hospitality in welcoming Jesus into her home. Ultimately, the service called on everyone to move beyond agitation and anxiety, emphasizing that the most important task of the day is to make a conscious effort to sit at Jesus’ feet and find comfort in His presence.

      So, as a public expression of our love and admiration for mothers of our country, President Woodrow Wilson, by an act of Congress, proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. Today, 112 years later, we want to take a moment to celebrate the mothers, grandmothers, and mother figures who make such a meaningful difference in our lives. So, whether you’re honoring someone special, spending time with family, or reflecting on cherished memories, I pray that this day brings you warmth and appreciation.

      We have many reasons that we should honor our moms: for their sacrificial, unselfish love that they have given us, all the loving deeds that they have done for us throughout the years, for all the prayers that they have prayed for us, for all the sleepless nights they have spent with tears running down their cheeks. Mothers may not sit behind a big office desk with a view overlooking the city, but I believe that there is no job that is more important than that of a mother.

      One Mother’s Day, a four-year-old and a six-year-old presented their mom with a house plant. They used their own money to buy it, and mom was thrilled. But the older one said with a sad face, “There was a bouquet that we really wanted to get you at the flower shop. It was really big and very pretty, but it was too expensive.” It had a big ribbon on it. It said, “Rest in Peace.” We thought it would be the perfect gift for you, for you’re always asking for a little peace so you can rest.

      Then there was a day when the teacher asked the student this question in math class. Suppose your mother baked a pie and there were seven of you, your parents and five children. What part of the pie would you get? “I would get a sixth,” replied the boy. “I’m afraid you don’t know your fractions, young man,” said the teacher. “Remember, there are seven of you.” “Yes, teacher,” said the boy, “but you don’t know my mother.” Mom would say, “She didn’t want any pot.”

      So, let’s face it, mom’s job is demanding, tiresome, and probably just unrewarding and unnoticed. Today, as well as every day, moms deserve our undying love and affection whether they still are alive or have passed to greater glory. This morning, we heard and read from Luke chapter 10, verses 38 through 42, a story about sisters Martha and Mary. The Bible does not record Martha and Mary as mothers. Rather, they are described as sisters to Lazarus and good friends of Jesus. They are often depicted as independent women, with no mention of husband or children.

      Now, on this one particular day, Jesus comes to Bethany. Lazarus is not mentioned in this specific passage, but in these very few short verses, we find a lot out about his sisters. These two sisters’ personalities were about as polar opposite as you could get. I recall back in Psychology 101, psychologists would label their personalities as either a Type A or Type B personality. A Type A personality is often driven, time conscious, and prone to irritability and impatience. These types are high achievers who work fast and usually experience higher stress levels. On the other hand, Type B personalities are generally laid back, adaptable. They tend to manage stress better, are more reflective, and may take a more relaxed approach to tasks.

      Martha is definitely a type A personality. She’s a doer. She can’t sit still. She’s the Bible’s busy bee. She’s got company. Jesus is visiting her today. This is special. She’s got to be doing something. She runs to the kitchen to get supper going. Everything needs to be perfect. It’s Jesus. Mary, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. She’s just kind of coasting along. She’s just happy to see Jesus. She’s not concerned about what to fix for supper. She’s not worried about the dust on the coffee table. She’s just laid back and is content to just sit at Jesus’ feet and listen.

      Jesus addresses Martha, and he basically says, don’t work yourself up. Don’t be so worried. Don’t get upset. Just spend some time with me. Now, Jesus never said don’t do anything, but rather just find some time to spend with him and all the hustle and bustle. He wasn’t fussing at Martha for what she was doing, but rather pointing out what was driving her to do it. What is truer than true is that these two completely different personalities love Jesus, but express themselves in different ways. Just as our moms may have expressed and acted differently as we grew up.

      Which is right? Keeping score and choosing either of them over the other sounds absolutely silly, doesn’t it? Why in the world would we choose sides with these women? Choosing one personality type over the other is almost like condemning the other. But we do that all the time in real life. We make up our minds about people pretty quickly, don’t we? And the way we make up our minds has to do with how we think about something. If we’re a Martha-type mom, we make up our minds about Mary-type moms pretty spontaneously. They’re lazy. They waste their time doing nothing. They don’t have any pride about themselves. They make everybody else’s life twice as hard. Not only do I have to do my stuff, I have to do theirs.

      And if we’re a Mary-type mom, we make up our minds about Martha-type moms pretty quickly, too. They are so obsessive-compulsive, they drive everyone else crazy. They can’t enjoy the life that they live. And like a vampire, they suck the life out of everybody else’s lives around them. So, what’s the right answer? Mary is typically seen as a model of quiet contemplation and humility. She is presented as the notable sister, the one who chooses what is better because she sat at the Lord’s feet, while Martha rushed around trying to get things perfectly prepared.

      We can get the wrong impression that Martha is without merit. We judge her. Somehow, she has almost become an example of what not to do. It’s easy to look at everything Martha did in a negative light. We allow our perception of her from that one story in Luke’s gospel to color our overall impression of her. It can seem as if she is completely task-oriented and has better things to do than spend time with the Lord. But make no mistake, Martha loved Jesus. Martha wanted everything to be perfect for Jesus. She thought he deserved nothing less than perfect, and that’s what she was singularly focused on giving him.

      But in Romans 8:1, we find the Bible telling us that if you are in Christ Jesus, you are not wrong. We all have different personalities and tendencies and fall somewhere on the spectrum between type A and type B. But when we are in Christ Jesus, neither personality type is wrong. Motherhood can be overwhelming and discouraging in many ways. We can be so consumed by our mistakes that we often lose sight of the things that we have done right or are doing right with our children. As parents, we are bombarded with choices from everything to our parenting philosophy, to our schooling decisions, to how we feed our baby.

      None of us are perfect, but you don’t need to be perfect. Jesus loves you in spite of your messy home, your personal sins, your miscarriages, by your lack of desire to have more kids, by your inability to cook, by being divorced, by your desire to be alone and away from your kids for some time, by your body, which may not be what it once was, by the frustration of having to scrape mac and cheese off the kitchen floor time and time again, by all the fears and tears which flirt with insanity and take you to the precipice of despair, by not being able to throw the party of the century for your kids, for not feeding your kids meals that could only be made after a trip to Whole Foods, by your need for a vacation, for not living up to the standards of your mother or your mother-in-law, and by the stares of those who have no kids, when your kids erupt into a volcanic scream in public places.

      Moms, it doesn’t matter. If you are in Christ, you are made in His image, and you are perfect in His eyes. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Martha or a Mary. You are loved. Yes, you are loved whether your house is clean or not. Jesus accepts you whether you can boil water or not. Jesus has great affection for you as you navigate the chaos of everyday living, just as he accepted Martha. Therefore, stop for a moment. Enjoy the love, affection, and acceptance of being a daughter perfectly and unconditionally loved by your Father in heaven.

      In today’s reality, let’s face it, Martha is most of us as we engage with our super-busy lifestyles. She’s as much as the everyday woman as each one of us who experience life’s frustration and wrestle with finding time to sit and listen to Jesus. Yes, in Luke 10, verses 38 through 42, Mary did ultimately choose what was better in that situation. But we find out later in John’s account that Martha displayed a more explicit, theological, and vocal faith than Mary did during the raising of Lazarus. While both sisters expressed deep belief, Martha engaged directly with Jesus, declaring him the Messiah and continuing to express faith, even when facing the practical hard reality of death.

      So, let’s not dismiss Martha as someone who can’t teach us anything by her example. Jesus journeyed to many villages in the book of Luke, but this is the first instance he was received into a family. There was nothing more joyous and precious to Martha than receiving and welcoming Jesus into her home under her roof to have him as a house guest to grace and bless her home. My message this morning focuses and encourages you to prioritize intimate time with Jesus over anxious doing, emphasizing that true service stems from a centered heart, not busy work. It’s advice for everyone, not just mothers.

      A music teacher once asked her class, “What is the difference between listening and hearing?” At first, there was no response. Finally, a hand went up in the back of a class, and one of the young people offered this wise definition: “Listening is wanting to hear.” Martha’s way of receiving Jesus was far different from Mary’s in our scriptural meeting this morning. Martha opened her house to Jesus, but in this instant Mary opens her heart to him. In her busyness, however, Martha momentarily forgot why she invited Jesus into her home in the first place.

      This story is not about two sisters having an argument, but about Jesus empowering women and calling them to follow him, pointing out that agitation and anxiety will only get in the way. It’s a message that still applies to all of us some 2,000 years later. So it really doesn’t matter if your personality is type A, type B, or somewhere in between. Never forget why you invited Jesus into your life. Jesus is saying to you, don’t work yourself up, don’t be so worried. Don’t get upset. Just spend some time with me. So the best thing that you can do, besides the dishes, is to make a conscious effort every day to sit at Jesus’ feet and spend some quality time with him. Let being in Christ Jesus be your comfort today and still your heart momentarily from all of life’s busyness. Amen.