Because I need a new posting after that last one...

I give you... today's sermon!

"Filled, Skilled & Sent"
Sermon for Pentecost Sunday
May 31, 2009
Acts 2:1:1-13

There’s an old Native American legend about an Indian who came down from the mountains and saw the ocean for the first time. Awed by the scene, he requested a quart jar. As he waded into the ocean and filled the jar, he was asked what he intended to do with it. “Back in the mountains,” he replied, “my people have never seen the Great Water. I will carry this jar to them so they can see what it is like.”

On this Pentecost Sunday, as I endeavor to talk about the Holy Spirit, I feel a little bit like that Indian. It’s a little bit like trying to capture the ocean in a quart jar. The subject is so infinite and our minds so finite. The Holy Spirit is a tough concept for us to understand.

I was reading through our most recent confirmation class’ faith statements this last week, which was so great. And I LOVED how honest one student was in her description of the Holy Spirit. She wrote, “The Holy Spirit is a very peculiar thing. I do not understand it.” How many of us can relate to that? And how many of us would be brave enough to admit it in a faith statement? I love it.

Well, I can’t say that I’m going to eradicate ALL confusion this morning in this brief reflection. Entire sermon series’ have been preached on the subject of the Holy Spirit and STILL people have been left scratching their heads a bit. But I hope that even this quart jar will help you begin to get a picture of the big picture we’re talking about in the Holy Spirit.

We just read together the story of Pentecost as recounted in Acts 2. The day we celebrate every year when, around 50 days after Jesus had risen from the dead, the Holy Spirit was sent to the disciples. But what happened in those 50 days prior to Pentecost? What were the disciples doing before they were shaking and speaking in the Spirit?

The book of Acts begins with Jesus appearing one last time to his disciples before he ascends to heaven. We heard it read just a moment ago that he promised that the Holy Spirit WOULD come soon, but they’d have to wait. So, they wait. And as they wait, life for the disciples is pretty mundane. The 2nd half of Acts 1 is much less exciting than the first. They return to Jerusalem and they start going about the business of getting all their ducks in a row. They need to fill the vacancy left in the group by Judas. CHECK. They need a place to meet. CHECK. They decide to gather in that place for prayer each day. CHECK. They believed, they gathered, but still something was missing. There’s no passion, no power, no purpose. They’re getting things done, but they’re totally empty.

Does any of that sound familiar? It should. As far as I can tell, we are living in the most dissatisfied, detached period of history that we have seen in quite awhile. A few months ago, Christianity Today published an article entitled, “The Depression Epidemic” which reported that clinical depression is the 2nd most common cause of disability worldwide- 2nd only to cardiovascular disease. 1 in 5 adults are currently experiencing some level of sadness- from a manageable but persistent feeling of the blues to a more serious case of clinical depression. We FEEL like those bones we heard about in the Ezekiel reading- dry and dusty, weary and worn-out.

One of the symptoms many depressed people report is a feeling of emptiness. It’s not that they are sad and crying all the time. They’re not feeling ANYTHING. To feel SOMETHING (even pain) is a sign that you’re alive. But to feel NOTHING, for everything to feel empty and meaningless- that feels unbearable.

Even if you don’t struggle with depression, I’d bet you’ve had your share of empty moments and seasons; times when the everyday routine just doesn’t satisfy. You get up, go to work, care for the kids, run some errands, watch a couple TV shows, go to bed, and get up the next day to do it all again. You’re getting things done, but like those disciples, it feels like something’s missing. You don’t feel any sense of passion; no purpose; no power.

I wish I could say that this was simply a non-Christian problem, an issue only unbelievers out there struggle with, but I’m afraid that isn’t so. Even here inside the church ,we can feel pretty empty at times. Like those disciples, we can believe, we can gather, and we can set up all the systems we want and yet we can still come away empty. Theologian A.W. Tozer once said, “If God were to take the Holy Spirit out of this world, most of what the church is doing would go right on and nobody would know the difference.”

This summer we are going to be preaching a series of sermons entitled, “The Church is a Verb.” By that, we mean that the church of Jesus Christ is not simply a building. And being a part of His church means more than simply having your name on the membership rolls. When the Bible talks about the church, it always uses active language- the church is God’s chosen people gathered for worship, gifted for ministry, and sent out in service.

BUT before we are any of those things, something else must happen first. The disciples were gathered together, they’d seen the resurrected Jesus with their own eyes, so they certainly believed in Him, but still something was missing. They were empty… UNTIL the Holy Spirit showed up.

It’s hard to imagine what exactly happened that Pentecost day. Luke, the apostle who wrote the book of Acts, uses a lot of vivid imagery, trying to help his readers understand this amazing thing that happened. It was like this really strong wind, he said. There was this tangible, yet invisible, powerful presence in the room. And we all felt this burning sensation, like a flame of fire had landed on each one of us.

There are some things in this world so incredible that they defy human language: a magnificent sunset, the birth of a child, a beautiful piece of art. We can KIND of describe it, but words just don’t do it justice. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is one of those things.

So, Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit blows into that room and fills each one of the believers gathered there and propels them out of that room to do some pretty crazy stuff. Their behavior was so out of the ordinary that the people on the street wondered started asking, “What are these guys ON?” The disciples were full of something (and it wasn’t any Boones Farm). They were filled with the Spirit!

So here’s where we get to look at who the Holy Spirit is and what it does- just a brief glance- a quart jar of ocean water, but it’s a start. When the Holy Spirit blew into that room that day, 2 things happened. First, the disciples were FILLED with POWER. And second, they were SKILLED for a PURPOSE.

First, they were FILLED with POWER. Luke tells us that they spilled out onto the streets, each one speaking in a variety of languages so that the dozens of nationalities of people in that market square ALL heard and understood what they were saying.

The Holy Spirit is God’s POWER at work in and through God’s people. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are given power to do things that we wouldn’t be able to do on our own. There are some things that I am fairly confident that I am able to do on my own. I can cook a pretty decent meal, balance my checkbook, run a committee meeting, bang out a few dozen emails, and not have to think TOO hard about it. And if that’s ALL I spend my time doing, it’s pretty likely I am not going to see the Holy Spirit do its best work.

That’s because the Holy Spirit’s tends to specialize in filling believers with POWER to do things we are not capable of on our own. To see the Holy Spirit work, you have to risk trying to do something you DON’T feel capable of.

I see the Holy Spirit at work when I’m reading my Bible and my eyes are opened to read it as God’s Living Word to me, as a message that speaks directly to MY heart and my life. I see the Holy Spirit at work when He takes the words I’ve written in a sermon and carries them across the room to your ears and into your hearts as God’s Word to YOU. I see the Holy Spirit at work in the heart of a person who has been terribly wronged by another person, yet somehow finds the strength to love and forgive; in the inexplicable peace and joy expressed by the person in the hospital bed whose odds do not look good. I see the Holy Spirit at work in those “chance” encounters where you get to offer a much needed word of comfort to a person in need, those “coincidental” moments when you get to share your faith with a curious friend.

None of these are things we make happen by our own strength. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are given power to do things which we are not capable of on our own. Which brings me to the second thing this passage teaches us about the Holy Spirit: it fills us with power and it SKILLS us for a PURPOSE.

There are some churches out there that have gotten really into the power part of the Holy Spirit, but have forgotten about the purpose of that power. There’s where you start getting into the crazy stuff like requiring that EVERY person speak in tongues or encouraging people to handle poisonous snakes. They’re seeking the Spirit’s power, but without a sense of purpose.

The disciples were filled with power AND skilled for a purpose. They were given this miraculous gift of languages so that they could speak. About what? WHY were they given this power? Luke says that they were telling of “God’s mighty works.” They were telling the story of Jesus- of his life, death, and resurrection!

The purpose of the power of the Holy Spirit is to point people to Jesus! That is the Holy Spirit’s job description in its entirety. You want to know what the Holy Spirit looks like? It’s like this. (Grab Mons) Say this is Jesus. And I’m the Holy Spirit. Here’s what I do. (Standing behind Mons, pointing to Him.) The Holy Spirit points NOT to Himself, but to Jesus. “Look at him,” says the Spirit. “Listen to Him. Learn from Him. Follow Him. Serve Him. Worship Him. Love Him. Be devoted to Him.”

The Holy Spirit fills us with power, skills us with a purpose and that purpose is to point to Jesus Christ. As a church, before WE do anything, the Holy Spirit does something to us. We are filled. We are skilled. And we are sent out in His power.

Life doesn’t have to be empty routine. God wants to use us as a church, to use YOU as an individual to change the world: to bring spiritual life to people who haven’t yet heard the gospel of Jesus Christ; to bring physical life to people who lack basic resources; to use your best gifts for His best work in the world. It’s an exciting and unpredictable ride- it’s anything but boring!

If this is ringing true for you this morning, if there’s something about this that YOU want, for your life and for our church, maybe this morning you might sing with me a prayer, and as you sing, ask God to send His Holy Spirit into this place, into YOUR heart and into this church that WE might be FILLED with power, SKILLED with purpose, and SENT OUT to point others to him. The song is simply this…

Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.
Melt me, Mold Me, Fill Me, Use Me.
Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.