Today, the Christian Church remembers the first Pentecost after the Resurrection of Jesus. It was a day of mystery and ecstasy as God came into the lives of believers for the first time as Holy Spirit. To this very day we look back on this event and give thanks to God for stepping out of history and out of creation and becoming a dynamic part of believers lives as spiritual presence.
Pentecost was first a Jewish holiday which marked the end of the grain harvest in early summer. The word Pentecost literally means 50 and originally was celebrated on the fiftieth day following Passover.
But on the first Pentecost after Jesus' death and resurrection, the disciples were in Jerusalem, as Jesus had told them to be and waiting "to be clothed in power", what ever that meant. They had stood around dazed after the death of Jesus, his Resurrection, and then his ascension gazing up into the sky scratching their heads in utter confusion. You must remember the disciples were discovering many new things since they had met Jesus. Their lives were different, as yours will be when you commit yourself to Jesus Christ. Strange and wonderful and meaningful things began to happen when Christ is first and foremost in our lives.
One of the fascinating dimensions of this spirit-filled event, was how the writer of Acts described the first phenomenal moment. Something magical happened. There was a powerful wind, there were tongues of fire in which the disciples spoke in a tongue or language understood by all who spoke different languages. It must have been an event filled with joy and laughter for the casual observers even wondered: "Are not these Galileans filled with new wine?" And in Peter's interpretive sermon, his defense was "Certainly not, it's not even 12 noon." One wonders, if it had been past noon, would they have been drunk? My father use to joke about a friend of his who would say: "I never drink alone before noon, unless I'm by myself." Peter said: "These men are not drunk, they are God intoxicated". In other words, God has filled their lives and they are not afraid of anything, and they are happy, filled with joy. They will now carry the good news of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. Now walk around in this wonder-filled story with me and let us see what we shall see.
Jesus had promised the disciples that a Holy Spirit would come to them. The Greek word, paraclete, has been interpreted in English in functional ways: as counselor, advocate, comforter, teacher. Aren't those great words! Jesus had said to the disciples: "I yet have many things to say to you, but you are not ready for them yet, but when the Holy Spirit comes, He will teach you many things."
The Holy Spirit is our teacher, comforter, counselor, and advocate, and source of joy in the Lord. The first Pentecost was one in which the first disciples were so filled with the Spirit, so filled that they were accused of being filled with new wine. It must have been a heady experience.
Now indulge me to take a side trip here for a moment concerning alcohol. The early disciples would have drunk wine as a part of their cultural experience. The responsible use of alcohol, and alcohol in moderation is not challenged by the church. But, the Methodist Church prides itself on the fact that our people and properties are drug free. Neither alcohol nor any other drug is welcome, on our properties or at our activities. We are drug free and have a "Zero Tolerance" Policy.
Once again, this year, the General Conference passed a resolution that we encourage our people to "abstain from the use of alcohol as a moral witness." Abstinence is our policy, has been, is and I think will be. We don't need it and the fact that it makes a fool out of those who are dependent on it, is clear indication that our policy is the best choice. So whenever our people gather, like a SS Class party or a youth trip or any other official gathering of Methodist People, and certainly on our own properties, our policy is that it we be alcohol and drug free. That is not to say that we are tee totaled or that we are better than anyone else, it is just that this is our policy and we are sticking by it as a moral witness. The fact is, alcohol has ruined to many lives, claimed our young, destroyed relationships and so this has become our policy and we encourage abstinence as a responsible life style and a moral witness. We support such outreach ministries as AA and make space available for them to meet in our buildings, to help people get out of the vicious cycle of alcohol's destructive tendency to get off the treadmill to hell.
Now back to our story where all of this began, when the first disciples were first filled with the Holy Spirit and some thought they were drunk, they were simply overcome with joy in God's presence. They were God intoxicated. When we are committed to God through Jesus Christ, our lives take on a new enthusiasm, a love for God and others that is amazing. I want that experience. I need that experience. And it is not to be found at the bottom of a bottle. It is to be found through our commitment to Jesus Christ and the end result of a disciplined, methodical life of prayer, worship, and service.
Summary: There is a series of books, which have flooded the market in the last three years, the Adventures of an ll-year old named Harry Potter. His world is filled with magic. Also filled with witches and wizards who cast magical spells. I'm not sure about all of this, but there doesn't seem to be anything evil or abusive about the story. Now I don't understand all of the magical stories, but they seem to be as harmless as the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mysteries I use to read on long, hot summer days.
One day Hagrid, a giant of a man, said to Uncle Vernon. I'm taking Harry with me." And Uncle V said "He's not going". But the shaggy giant named Hagrid: "I'd like to see a great Muggle like you stop him." And Harry asks: "A what?" And Hagrid answers "A Muggle, it's what we call non magic folk like them. An it's your bad luck you grew up in a family of the biggest muggles I ever laid eyes on."
What happened on the first Pentecost was that Muggles became Magical. And when you are filled with the magic of God, you'll never want to be a muggle again. This magic enables you to transcend your humanness, to overcome your shyness and your fear, to put first things first, to be forgiven of your sins and mistakes of yesterday, and to be at peace in the midst of a storm. God the Holy Spirit, when it fills you with this God intoxication, it is magical. It is marvelous. The prophet of old said that " Old men dream dreams and the young have visions." May the Holy Spirit come into our lives today and transform us muggles into magical disciples.
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There is a way of living that is spiritual, which is in contrast to that which is physical and represents the best of human life. Life in the Spirit is a higher level than the human level. There are times you will be "caught up in the spirit" and at times you will realize that you are a part of something great. It is a higher level than most individuals have yet experienced. "A higher level" is the subject of one of the older hymns of the church we used to sing:
"I'm pressing on the upward way, new heights I'm gaining every day, still praying as I onward bound, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand, by faith, on heaven's table land, A higher plane than I have found, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground."
This week the building committee began its meetings envisioning the new organ in the sanctuary. The contrast between what we now have, needing repair, and what we will have, with this new instrument, is a different level of quality and performance. If you want to get by, then you can but there's the issue of "getting by" and being the best. You can "get by" in human life, and that's what a lot of folks are doing, getting by, but if you want to excel or reach new levels of quality, or break out into new dimensions, then it takes moving to a new level. And what I have discovered is that it takes the spirit of God coupled with a strong determination of the human spirit.
The Bible uses the contrasting metaphor of flesh and spirit to explain the difference of these two levels of human experiences. Let me see if I can explain this. It would be to your advantage if you could grasp this concept.
The Apostle Paul writes of this in the scripture read this morning. Let us think together of "Life in the Spirit".
1. The Spirit of God has the power to do for us what we can not do for ourselves. The Holy Spirit is God present to teach, forgive us of our sin, strengthen, and energize you.
If you are tired and weary, just exhausted from fighting old battles with yourself and with others, then give God a chance to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. Give the Holy Spirit a chance to work within you.
There is a man who was very successful in his business, made a lot of money…but only when the Holy Spirit moved in did he move out of old destructive patterns.
In Kevin Graham Ford's book Jesus for a New Generation, the author maintains: "The Boomers thought they would save the world. The Baby Busters, or Generation X'ers, have abandoned that notion. They only want to survive in a world that can't be saved."
If you are weary and have given up on saving the world or even making sense out of it, then perhaps "Life in the Spirit" is for you. Clark Roof in his book "Market Place Generation" writes of a new generation in search for a new spirituality". A proper understanding of the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives provides a solution for our quest for something that is deeper than we have ever known.
This Sunday is Father's Day, which is a unique opportunity to celebrate God as our Heavenly Father and our earthly fathers as the human manifestations of a heavenly image. One of the most important lessons which has been taught us as Christian believers since Jesus, is the clear understanding that God is our father and that we are made in His image.
Someone asked me this week, With Father's Day coming up this Sunday, I know you are thinking about your sermon. Every year for almost two decades you have praised the mothers on Mother's Day and been ugly to the fathers on Father's Day. Just for once, why don't you praise the fathers." So, I have been thinking about that and I have decided that he was probably right in his astute observation about an established pattern. I should praise fathers rather than always knocking them year after year. So I thought about doing it different this year, I thought I needed to be more positive about this, I thought that the emphasis should be on the successes rather than shortcomings of fathers. I thought, for once I should do that. Then I decided, Naaaa.." I know too much…
Most of us fathers fall for short of the ultimate measurement of perfection, the Heavenly Father, in our role of fatherhood. We are inconsistent, major in minors, fail to teach the faith and model so poorly the love of God in daily life. Rather than teaching the disciplined way of Methodist People, we are spasmodic and inconsistent. Other than that, we are not doing so bad. I'll tell you what we need as men, as fathers, and that is to be born again. For the Holy Spirit to work in our life and transform us. For the Holy Spirit to work in us in such a way that we get over being macho and be filled with the spirit.
2. Life in the Spirit is a successful life and one your father will brag about:
The Apostle contrasts the results of life in the flesh with what he calls fruits of the spirit. Listen to these descriptive words in Galatians 5:18-22:
"Now the works of the flesh are: impurity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, envy, drunkenness." But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."
Ben Franklin, in his diary, records a summer in which he took what he called desired virtues and each week, sought to live that virtue. Can you image is over the next 9 weeks we sought through prayer and good intention these fruits of the spirit. Each week we would add another while not forgetting the others. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It will be an interesting summer around your house with these fruits of the spirit plastered on the refrigerator door and lived out in our actions.
Summary: God is clearly trying to enable us to move to a new level of efficiency and meaning by his offer of new life in the spirit. As the Apostle states so clearly in the scripture for today, "You are heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ." Never again will we fear for we are the children of God. Thanks be unto God for his gift of "Life in the Spirit".
I met a girl named Faith. She and her grandfather came by to shoot basketball in our goal set up for our grandchildren. She was about ten years old, confident, sharp, quiet, a very little girl, but could really shoot the basketball. She had a lot of confidence. Faith had a lot of faith.
Well there was another little girl who came to our Noah's Ark Program a couple of weeks ago, although I didn't know her name, she could have been named "Fear" for she was afraid of everything. She was afraid of her own shadow. It broke my heart to see her so distressed. I have no idea what was going on at home or in her mind. Maybe it was just the first day jitters of the summer term of Noah's Ark. Whatever, she was really fearful.
It set me to thinking about Fear and Faith? What makes a person one or the other? How can we encourage faith, for it is a desired emotional /character trait, as over against fear. How can we dispel the debilitating effects of fear in our lives and the lives of our children?
One thing is for sure, we live in a society which fosters fear, rather than faith. Fear is everywhere:
Now the Bible recognizes fear, but encourages faith as the intentional alternative choice for God's people.
The Old Testament story of David and Goliath is the story of the faith of David. David went to battle against the giant of the Philistines armed only with a slingshot and his faith in God. Said he: "The Lord will save me from the hand of this Philistine."
The Old Testament story of the 12 spies, who went ahead of the Hebrews to explore the Promised Land, came back to Moses with a mixed report. Ten out of the twelve came back in fear saying "The People in the land were as giants and we like grass hoppers." Only Joshua and Caleb reported out of a faith perspective: "We are the people of God and God is with us. We can take the land." The history of God's people has from the beginning of time been written on the bases of God's people of faith, not those who are ruled by fear.
And then there are the wonderful and powerful stories of Jesus exorcising the demons of disease and mental illness and even the storm demon. Jesus rebukes and quiets the storm commanding the howling winds to be quiet and still and at peace. And when he is finished with the winds, he rebukes the disciples for their lack of faith. Faith is a desired trait of God's people. On another occasion in the midst of a storm, Jesus is depicted walking on the water and when Peter tries it he takes his eyes off of Jesus and begins to sink beneath the water only to be lifted by Jesus, with the words "Be not faithless, but believing." It is through faith and faith alone that we are saved from destruction and it is through faith and faith alone that we ever make anything out of our selves or accomplish great things for God. Faith is one of the gifts of the spirit, which God is trying to give to us even this morning. How many of you are dealing with certain areas of your life in which you are fearful, rather than believing and confident that God will be with you and will see you through the storm?
In the name of the living Christ, I command the demon of fear to come out of you and pray that faith and confidence will move into the vacuum of your inner life which will now shape your emotions and your destiny.
One of the reasons we intentionally chose to place ourselves and our families in Church is because here we encourage faith. Not faith in ourselves but faith in God.
Jonathan Kozol wrote Amazing Grace, which was an assessment of life among the poor of New York City. At one point, Kozol interviews 7 year old Cliffie from the South Bronx and asks him what his image of God is. Cliffie answers, "He has long hair and He can walk on the deep water. Nobody else can." Grace is amazing…
In December of 1735, John Wesley set sail along with 225 other passengers to travel from England to America on a ship called The Simmonds. In the harsh winter months, they encountered several storms on the high seas, one of which threaten to sink the ship. Massive waves washed over the tiny ship and drenched the passengers who were taking cover below. Wesley writes that he began to fear for his life, until he was surprised by a group of 24 Moravian Christians who broke into one hymn after another. Men, women and children, in the midst of a storm, sang their hymns of faith. They trusted a power, more powerful than the storms of the sea, and in singing Jesus was with them.
In the l970's, I visited a refugee camp at Eglin Air Base just after the Viet Nam war. Hundreds of these refugees were huddled under tents. Some learning English. Some filling out government forms. Some being taught to cook. Children playing games. And in a temporary chapel, a group singing in their native tongue "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms." Here was a people who had lost everything but their lives and their future and their faith, and they were singing: "What have I to dread, what have I to fear, leaning on the everlasting arms? I have blessed peace with my Lord so near, leaning on the everlasting arms. Leaning leaning, safe and secure from all alarms, leaning leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms."
Yes, faith in God alone will still the anxieties of our lives and will see us through the dark days ahead. And there will be some. I promise. It is the nature of human existence that you will face stormy days when the immediate future will be uncertain and you can not see ahead.
Meteorologists have warned that this year could be a record year for hurricanes, earthquakes and fires on the earth. When you live on the Gulf Coast you listen up with you hear such a warning. We are not to anticipate a bad hurricane season with fear, but we can prepare. Batteries, extra water, candles, canned goods and a can opener…You know the routine. So also can we prepare for the time of emotional and personal storms that will surely come.
Let me make the following four suggestions:
1. Claim a faith in something that is more dependable than the material things of this earth. Claim faith in God, for he will be with you as you live and as you die and even after you die.
When I was hit by a runaway car and survived and when my brother was hit by a runaway disease called cancer and did not survive, I realized on both occasions how tenuous and finite our lives really are. Sooner or later, and probably more soon than later, we must deal with the reality of death. Death is one of the most certain of all certainties. This fact must be faced and we can face it with fear or with faith. I chose faith, because of Jesus Christ you can choose to face it with candor, courage and faith.
*Henri Nouwen was struck by a car and describes God's presence which came to him in a book entitled: "Beyond the Mirror" in this way: "What I experienced was an intensely personal presence, a presence that pushed all my fears aside and said: "Come, "Don't be afraid. I love you." A very gentle, non-judgmental presence, a presence that simply asked me to trust and trust completely. I hesitate to speak about Jesus, because of my concern that the Name of Jesus might not evoke the full divine presence that I experienced. It was not a warm light, a rainbow, or an open door that I saw, but a human yet divine presence that I felt, inviting me to come closer and to let go of all my fears."
2.Claim faith and secondly, Strengthen your faith by practicing faithful living. For one day, believe that God is with you and will bless your life and will open up interesting opportunities for you to serve him. Pray and believe for one full week. Be a giving person rather than a getting person for one day. Be a believing person rather than a suspicious person for one day, one week, and one month. If you don't belong to a church then join one. Stop being a visitor but claim ownership and enjoy all of the benefits. Try it, you'll like it.
Practice your faith by loving your neighbor rather than by being suspicious or fearful. Introduce yourself to someone new, for in the time of storm, you will need your neighbor or he may need you.
3. Don't play with storms nor evil things, for storms will kill you.
One of the interesting problems we sometimes have on the Gulf Coast is that there are those who are not afraid enough of a storm. Such weird behavior is seen in hurricane parties or surfing just before a storm hits and people who let their house insurance lapse.
One hurricane a few seasons ago, ran back and forth along the Gulf coast a couple of times. At first it focused on Northwest Florida and we buckled everything down, but then thankfully turned late Saturday night and aimed at the Peninsula and the Appalachia Bay area. At 8:30 when we worshipped, we thanked God that we were not going to be hit by the storm and prayed for our neighbors to the East. Well, the storm changed direction and picked up speed and headed right back to Pensacola Beach. By the 11:00 worship service, there were more people in the choir than in the congregation. Jane and I went home, ate lunch and sat down on the back porch with a cup of coffee to watch the winds as they whipped the tall pine trees. Well that was when it happened. A small tornado in the middle of the hurricane came right over our house and snapped two tall pine trees in half sending heavy limbs over our neighbor's house and ours. And when I looked up from under the table, Jane was crawling toward the door and a safer viewing spot. The Party was over.
4. You don't fool with storms, but fourthly, be prepared. Be prepared and live in confidence. I have told Jane that if our home ever catches on fire, get herself out safely. Then if she has a minute or two, carry out a few of the family photo albums, go to a neighbor's house and call our insurance agent. Tell him he's got a problem and we will see him when we get back from a long vacation we are about to take. When you have insurance, as when you have faith, you don't live in fear. If you are a person of faith, you can enjoy the interesting changes which will surely occur in the times just ahead.
Now, when the storms hit, and they surely will, take cover, claim faith, believe in God, help one another, and I'll see you when the skies clear and if not, I'll see you in heaven.