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Key verse (4a): “ALL OF THEM WERE FILLED
WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT” not just the leaders, not just the 12, but the entire 120
members of the first church in Jerusalem were filled with the Spirit!
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are
in the season of Pentecost. Now relax, I'm not going to preach on the
possibility of speaking in tongues…but on the need to be filled with the Spirit
of power and love. Verse 4a not 4b.
I remember fondly Pentecost Sunday in
the Haight-Asbury neighborhood of San Francisco was always a big deal, not
because of its religious significance but because it was the day of the annual Haight-Asbury
Street Fair—very colorful and outrageous. When I started a house church in this counter-culture neighborhood, I
didn't wear an academic gown or even a coat and tie. I wore blue jeans and a blue cleric shirt and collar. On Pentecost Sunday for several years, I
wore a flaming red cleric shirt. (It
was my way of saying that God was doing a new thing. Also, I was young and foolish.) After church, we went out on to Haight Street and playfully set up an
outreach booth modeled after the Peanuts cartoon… the one where Lucy sits behind a Psychiatric Help booth offering
her professional services for 25c down to 10c and finally 5c. Her sign read: “The Doctor's in.” In our
version, the sign said: “Spiritual Direction: $25c the Pastor is in.” Lots of folks stopped by to talk, to meet
church members, and to find out about the new church in the neighborhood that
worshiped in the Victorian House near the panhandle of Golden Gate Park where
Janis Joplin used to live. This is how we met Cheryl and Joe who owned and
operated Circle of Friends—an arts and crafts store on Haight Street. They started to come to church because we
had taken church to the streets.
“Pentecost”
means 50. On the Jewish calendar, the
Feast of Pentecost (also called the Festival of Weeks) falls 50 days after the
first day of Passover and commemorates the giving of the Law of Moses (10
Commandments) at Sinai. In the
Christian calendar, the Day of Pentecost comes 50 days after Easter, and
commemorates the gift of the Spirit in Jerusalem and the birthday of the
church. If the first Christian
Pentecost was in 30AD, we are now 2035 years old. Happy Birthday Church!
During this Pentecost season at Christ
Church… I want you to remember the three P's of Pentecost: The Promise, the
Plan and the Provision to fulfill God's mission to save the world.
I.
The Promise: God
is doing a new thing; a new era of the Spirit is coming
A. Who
or what is the Holy Spirit?
The
Hebrew word for spirit is RUACH which means wind of God. She blows where she will. You can feel her power, but you cannot know
from whence she comes or whither she goes. The Greek word for spirit is Pneuma which means breath…Both words for
Spirit are feminine. In other words, the
Holy Spirit is a She.
The Spirit of God is also the Spirit
of Jesus. The Father and the Son share the same spirit, and together constitute
the Godhead or the Trinity. Humanity
also shares the same Holy Spirit, for we were created in God's image.
Ultimately, the Holy Spirit is a
mystery. “Better telt than felt” (say
the Scots). Never contained or fully
comprehended, say the theologians.
B. Previous Era
God's Spirit was active in the Old
Testament, in anticipation of the new age of the Spirit. “In the beginning, when the earth was without
form and void”, the spirit was present, hovering over the chaotic waters of the
deep with the promise of creation… (Gen.1)
The spirit was with Israel in the
wilderness during the time of Moses In the passage from Numbers, God said to
Moses: “You can't bear the burden of doing all the work yourself. Choose 70 elders from the people and make
them leaders. I will take some of my spirit
that is on you and put it on them…” And
so he did. “When the Spirit rested upon
them, they prophesied. …And Moses said “would that all of the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put
his spirit on all of them.” (Numbers
11:16-30) What a great idea Moses had—a
spirit-filled prophet-hood of all believers. A promise of things to come?
The spirit was active when the
children of Israel failed to live spirit-filled lives. God said through the prophet Ezekiel: “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. I will put breath in you, and you will come
back to life. I will wrap you with
muscles and skin, and breath life into you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” (38:4-6)
C. New Age of the Spirit
A new outpouring of the spirit was
promised by the prophet Joel, quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost: “In the last days… [read highlights from text]
When Jesus said, “wait for the promise
of the Father,” he was referring to a new gift of the Spirit, a fresh outpouring
of the spirit on all flesh, as spoken of by the prophet Joel. “That is this” is the message of
Pentecost. That which the prophet
revealed it this outpouring of the Spirit today. The promise is fulfilled and
continues to be fulfilled today in fresh outpourings of the Spirit.
II.
The Plan—what's the plan?
My family and I went out to Flushing Meadow Corona
Park in Queens last night to hear Billy Graham preach. At 86, he's winding down. But the Billy Graham Evangelistic
Association has a plan to continue the work of the ministry. Franklyn Graham is now in charge, and his
sisters are involved. They moved their
operation from Minn, Minnesota to Charolet, NC. They have carefully thought out plan to keep the movement
going. What is Jesus succession plan? What strategy did he put in place?
Here's the secret plan:
1. God
sent Jesus into the world as a suffering servant for 33 years. Jesus spent 3 of those years living and
traveling with a dozen young men and several women followers from every walk of
life: fishermen, tax collectors, political
zealots, wealthy widows, former prostitutes, and people of the land. He poured his life into them, and taught
them what he knew about his father and the coming kingdom of love, peace and
justice.
2. After he died and rose from the dead, and
before he ascended to heaven, he gave them these instructions: “Go into all the world and be my witnesses,
preach the gospel, make disciples, baptize and confirm, spread the word, reach
the world. But before you go, wait for the promise.”
About 120 followers gathered in an
upper room of a house near the Temple in Jerusalem. There, a rag-tag, disjointed group of people, prone to doubt,
fear and denial, hid behind locked doors. There, they waited for 10 long days for something to happen, for the
promise to be fulfilled and the plan to be enacted. A plan to save the world and establish the kingdom of God.
In the meantime, Jesus had ascended to
heaven.
Urban Legend: “No Other Plan”
There's a popular urban legend that you
may not have heard before:
Upon his return to heaven, Jesus was
welcomed by a host of angels. The angel Gabriel approached Jesus and asked,
"Master, now that you're home, what is your plan for continuing the work
you began on earth?
“Well, I left Peter in
charge. I told my disciples to wait in
the city until the Spirit comes. Then they'll have the power and motivation to
be my witnesses all over the world. Peter,
James, John, Mary and Martha, and all the others will tell people about me and
my mission. Those who are told will tell others, and the good news will be
spread throughout the earth. [Ultimately, all humanity will know about my love."]
Gabriel
frowned and looked rather skeptical. He knew about human limitation, weakness
and failure. He said, "But what if
Peter denies you again? What if James
and John can't get along? What if Mary
and Martha grow weary? What if they all
run away again in the face of persecution? What if the people who come after them forget what you taught them?
Do you have an alternate plan?"
Jesus answered, "No. I'm counting
on them. I plan to build my church
on them. I plan to feed the hungry and clothe the needy in Jerusalem
through them. I plan to befriend the outcasts in Samaria through them. I plan to right injustice and bring peace to
all the world through them! I plan to
save the world and build the kingdom of God on earth through their words, their actions and character. I told them, you are my body. You have my spirit. You will do greater
works than I… You can do it!”
Gabriel was still concern and said: “Master,
perhaps you should have made other arrangements, Plan B, just in case.”
Jesus answered: “Gabriel, there is no
other plan."
No other plan, but to wait on the Spirit's
anointing to become prophets, priests, preachers, teachers, leaders and courageous
witnesses of God's redeeming love…that's the plan to save the world!
III.
The Provision
“Be filled with the Spirit”
Since Pentecost, up until this day,
Christians have been getting filled with the Spirit, and working the plan…to
evangelize, make disciples, witness, and work for justice, knowing that Christ
is working through them.
It's worth noting that…
•
Evangelism is more than
proclamation of the good news that God loves people and reconciles sinners by
grace through faith in Jesus. Evangelism is also demonstration of God's inclusive love in tangible
ways: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned…
•
Discipleship is more
than getting baptized and confirmed; more than teaching converts and new
members the doctrines and liturgies of the church. Discipleship is learning the daily disciplines and practices of
following Christ as Savior and Lord to the cross and beyond as committed people
of God who bear Christ's name. It a
life-long process.
•
Witnessing means more
than sharing what God has done for you. The Greek word for witness is martos and is related to our word martyr—loyal no matter what, willing to
live and die for what you believe. Costly
discipleship rather than cheap grace.
•
And working for peace
and justice on earth is part of the plan!
God's Provision is spiritual empowerment
(Gr. Dunamis) = Dynamite/Energy from
above. The spirit of Christ dwelling
within… The Holy Spirit enters our lives at Baptism, the spirit is made more
accessible to us at our Confirmation, the spirit continues to fill us when are
bones are dry and in need of refreshment, and the spirit empowers us to do the
work that must be done.
•
You've got the Spirit of
love and power in your midst. You can make a difference in the world.
•
You have the spirit of
gentleness. “Let your heart be broken
by the things that break the heart of God.”
•
You have the spirit of compassion.
“Give a cup of cold water in Jesus' name”
•
You have the spirit of
discernment. “Find out what God is
doing in the world, and join it.”
•
You have the spirit of
prophesy. “Speak the truth in love.”
•
You have the spirit of
power. Get involved and make a
difference!
• You have the spirit of Jesus
inside you. Become his hands and feet.
This is God's provision.
Closing:
Bottom line: Christians, [especially Presbyterians,] believe in the priesthood
of believers, ALL believers. That means
we can't be spectators in church expecting the pastors to do all the work of the ministry. Their job is to help equip the laity—the
people of God—to be ministers. To be
active members of the body of Christ. I
suspect that many of you are being called to get involved in ministry in the
church and service in the world.
In San Diego…where my parents live, there is a statue of Christ, a gift
to the city, entrusted to one of the Catholic institutions. When it arrived, it was damaged. The hands of Christ had broken off. Instead of repairing it, the trustees placed
a plaque on the statue which read: “You
are my hands.”
St. Teresa of Avila, the 16th century mystic, has captured
God's plan to heal and save the world in a famous prayer and song. She
wrote,
“Christ has no hands on earth but yours,
no hands, no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks with compassion on the world.
Christ has no hands and feet but yours.”
When the Day of Pentecost came, “ALL
OF THEM WERE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT” and became the body of Christ, his
very hands and feet… May it be so today. Amen.
Charge
and Benediction: You know the promise,
the plan the provision. Now go out into
a world in need, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and be Christ's body. There is no other plan.
© 2005
Michael Christensen.
All rights reserved.
