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"The Spirit Link – Why It Works" Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler – May 27, 2012 Centenary United
Psalm 104:24-34; John
15:26-27; 16:5-15
PENTECOST
Pentecost is the day when the Christian church celebrates its birthday.
The word literally means fiftieth day and was borrowed from the
Jews. Pentecost for them calls
to their memory the time when Moses received the Ten Commandments on This latter experience featured three extraordinary aspects to it
that Peter believed was a visitation by
The Holy Spirit (Acts
2:14)—1) a noise from the sky that sounded like a strong wind
blowing, 2) a vision that
looked like tongues of fire that touched each person in the
house, and 3) an ability of
some people to speak in languages other than their own.
(Acts 2:1-6) Following the description in the Book of Acts, we find a
concluding verse that asks a question that remains for a lot of
Christians, “Amazed and confused, they kept asking each other, ‘What
does this mean?’” (Acts
2:12) This experience never happened again in Christian history. If this was a vehicle used by God to validate and encourage new believers, why was this experience a one time event? Also, the description of what took place is not clear. The noise only sounded like a strong wind blowing. People saw what looked like tongues of fire. Onlookers in the village heard a disturbance and assumed that those making the noise were intoxicated. (Acts 2:13) While this overview of the Pentecost experience gives us a
mini-refresher course on what happened to a group of Jesus’ followers
thousands of years ago, we may wonder how we can use this event to
enhance our spiritual lives today.
During the last days of
Jesus’ ministry, he provided his disciples with insights that we can
use as a compass that will offer us countless course-corrections during
our lives. Jesus knew that he had a limited time left to be with his
disciples. He told them
that he would soon return to God and he
framed his pending exit with these
words, “It is better for you that I go away, because if I do not go,
the Helper will not come to
you. When
the Helper comes, your
understanding of the truth I have taught will grow and deepen.”
(John 16:7) Why was Jesus’ departure necessary?
The answer could be that as long as Jesus remained, the
teacher-disciples relationship would continue.
Jesus would still be the problem solver, the one whose teachings
clarified their faith and the person that people wanted to see. In
essence, Jesus was cutting the
apron strings.
The disciples could not become
effective teachers on their own as long as he remained.
If we pause for a moment and reflect on how the apron
strings-cutting process happened with each of us, we can identify with
the tension and stress Jesus’ word must have created. In essence, the
training wheels were coming
off the bicycle.
Can we remember our entrance into first grade?
This was our first experience of being away from our parents for
a good portion of the day. Can
we remember our transition to middle school and then to high school?
These years were filled with developing our study habits, testing
how others accepted our personality, learning how to drive, overcoming
our sense of awkwardness with other people, dating and pondering what
would come next in our future.
Each period of transition brought its own developmental tasks
that had to be mastered.
The disciples were no different. Our scripture lesson today describes one of the greatest
transitions in human history.
The disciples were not prepared to take up where Jesus left off.
Initially they were in hiding.
Some wanted to go back to their professions.
They had to grow up in a hurry if teaching others about Jesus’
new orientation to life was to continue. Our lesson opened with
these words from Jesus, “The Helper will come – the Spirit –who reveals
the truth about God and who comes from the Father.”
Then he added, “You will speak about me because you have been
with me from the very beginning.”
Jesus’ words imply that his disciples had a link that would help
them recognize the Helper
when they were more emotionally settled.
This link was their
memory of all the things Jesus taught and demonstrated. The conduit that
provides a connection between human beings and God not only comes from
our faith remembrances of Jesus’ message but also from our unique
orientation toward life – one that has placed God at the center of our
experiences. Without
having these human assets in
our consciousness, God literally is powerless to communicate to us.
This statement sounds absurd, but is it really?
How can God ever be powerless?
There is an invisible field surrounding us filled with waves of
energetic transmissions. Its presence remains unavailable to our
physical senses. There is
no evidence that this invisible
universe of energy
exists. However, if we have the knowledge and a sophisticated tool to
access this invisible world, its presence becomes abundantly clear.
That invisible world is powerless to communicate to us until we
use an iPhone, an iPad or a Kindle to initiate a stream of information
that surrounds us. Is God’s
loving presence any different?
In many instances we can talk to anyone, anywhere in the world.
If we become lost, some devices are equipped with a GPS component
that will guide us to within 3-feet of where we want to go.
If we are hungry, the phone will ask us what we feel like
eating. Once we state our
preference, several locations will show up on our screen.
If we are in a foreign country,
we can speak a sentence into the phone in our language and the phone
will repeat the sentence in any language we have programmed into our
Droid or iPhone. A common plight of the vast majority of people is that they do
not know that God can be accessed by using
the spiritual device we have
implanted within us. Jesus
called it the Helper. A
spiritual orientation toward life is non-existent for millions of
people. If they
become lost and begin to feel sorry for themselves because of how cruel
and uncaring life appears to be, the greatest and most powerful
dimension of life remains unavailable to them.
They do not know such an invisible world of spirit is there.
Their aloneness and loneliness can be quite profound. During Jesus’ ministry, he agonized over this condition in
people. He once voiced this
concern when he said, “ God’s spirit
is so accessible to people, but God does not activate anyone’s device
for receiving incoming communication.
Some people paint
themselves so deeply into their respective corners that life
overwhelms them. Their only
escape from the onslaught of fear-creating consequences is to end their
lives. Again, they did not
have the awareness that they were surrounded by information that would
have offered countless alternatives to suicide.
There is an engaging maritime story that described what happened
to one of those tall ships with the square sails during the time when
these ships were major carriers of cargo. One of these ships
encountered a perfect storm.
The captain and crew used every skill that their training had
given them to survive. When the storm passed, the ship had part of her main mast broken,
the housing of the compass was badly damaged and the powerful winds and
waves had carried the vessel way off course. The seasoned captain
did not worry about the compass because he had some older instruments he
could use for navigation. The major problem that faced the crew was that they were entering
an area of the ocean every sailor dreaded.
It was known as the
doldrums. This place is
notorious because it is one of the few places in the earth’s oceans
where there is no wind. The captain knew that the ship had drifted
somewhere near the Equator because the scorching heat was devastating.
There was nothing the crew could do but ration everything, wait
and hope. One of the crew members perched high in one of the secondary
masts spotted another ship on the horizon. The crew became
energized with hope as they hoisted flags signaling their greatest need
-- “Water, Water, Water.” The other ship saw the distress and
signaled for the crew to lower their buckets. The crew on the stricken ship had not lost their memory.
What happened was that their
fear of dying filled their awareness so completely that it blocked
everything else. Once another ship
re-minded them of
another alternative, they knew instantly that they were standing in the
mouth of the Christians talk about the movement of the
Holy Spirit in their lives
without realizing that frequently their listeners have no experience
with what they are talking about.
Strangers to a source for spiritual guidance may think, “This is
the way religious people talk.”
People who have had no exposure to the
conduit that links the world
of spirit to our lives in the material world are like peasants living in
rural parts of China that have never seen how a handheld device can open
up the world to them.
This is why Jesus stressed that branches must remain part of the
vine. This is why he said,
“Apart from me, you can do nothing.”
(John 15:5) This was not
arrogance coming from Jesus.
He was speaking the truth.
In today’s language Jesus was saying,
“Remember, you have a
device that connects you to
the spiritual realm of creation.
Use it!”
One day a young man came home from school and his mother noticed
that his eye was swollen and his nose had been bleeding. He told
her about a bully he faces everyday and she asked, “What would you like
me to do? How can I help you?” He said, “You can’t do
anything, mom. This is my battle. I am going to learn how to
fight with more skill.” His mother responded, “Is that who you
want to be? Do you want to grow up to be exactly like him, only
stronger and more determined?” Her son fell silent. His mother sat down with him and continued, “Honey, when you
eventually leave home to find your way in the world, you are always
going to be with people who do not share your values.
If you allow them to mold you into their likeness, you will cease
being you. Always remember that people, who have settled for
being bullies, live in a very tiny, insecure world.
They do not have what you have.” The young man thought
about that lesson for some time. The next week the bully struck
again. He grabbed the boy and threw him against the lockers and said,
“After school, I am going to kick your butt.” The helpless boy
said, “Do you know what? I
would much rather become your friend.” The bully froze and slowly
released him. He did not know how to respond. In that
defining moment, their relationship changed. There were no
rushing winds, no tongues of
fire and no speaking in tongues.
Clearly, however, the
Helper was present to bring healing. The disciples had to
learn, without Jesus’ physical presence, that they could make a
difference in the world. They
knew they had to show up in all circumstances and teach others with
their words and deeds how to master their inner world of spirit,
the invisible world Jesus
called, the This passing the torch has been happening for thousands of years
by those who have remained connected to
the vine.
If Christians had not been using
the Helper for support,
guidance and courage, no doubt, we would not be here this morning.
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