“Why Spirit Remains Mysterious”

Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – May 15, 2016

Centenary United Methodist Church

Psalm 104:24-34; Romans 8:14-17

Pentecost

    This morning we are going to discuss what our religious traditions have tried to teach us regarding our spiritual journey.  This Sunday is Pentecost.  If we decided to pass around the microphone and have each of us explain what Pentecost means, what would we say?  How would you describe the development of your own spiritual awareness? 

    Various Biblical texts can send our thinking in countless directions, compounding the mysterious nature of the human spirit.  For instance, we have the Pentecost experience where a gathering of believers experienced a noise that sounded like strong wind blowing that filled the room where they were seated.  Next came something that resembled tongues of fire that spread out and touched them.  Finally, the claim was made that they were all filled with The Holy Spirit, a presence that caused each of them to speak in languages that were different from their own.  (Acts 2:2f)   

    This is the granddaddy of all Christian experiences.  Tradition has declared that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church.  To speak in tongues was considered the evidence that believers had been baptized by The Holy Spirit.  However, having this ability did not enable anyone to love their neighbors any differently from those who did not have this experience.

    We also have a tradition where Jesus taught, "I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper that will stay with you forever."  (John 14:16)  Further, Jesus went on to teach, "The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will cause you to remember all the things that I have taught you." (John 14:26)

    The Apostle Paul gave us an equally compelling passage where God appears to be the initiator of our spiritual development, "Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind.  Then you will know the will of God -- what is good, what is pleasing to him and what is perfect."   (Romans 12:2) 

    These and other references in the New Testament suggest that our transformed lives are the result of an outside source of divine energy entering our bodies, minds and emotions that will direct our lives toward more creative ways of living.  

    However, when we consider the instructions that Jesus gave to Nicodemus, we are given yet another way that our spiritual awakening can take place.  Jesus said, "A person is born physically of human parents, but a person is born spiritually when the person's spirit awakens."  (John 3:6)  In other words, some experience in life can awaken a vital aspect of our lives that may have gone unrecognized in all the prior years.

    Jesus awakened during his baptismal experience, moving him rather abruptly and dramatically into the realm of mystery that increased his spiritual awareness. (Matthew 3:16f)  Paul had an emotionally shattering experience while he was on his way to Syria to arrest Christians.  (Acts 9:3f)   Peter experienced an enormous expansion of his consciousness when he had a vision that was life-changing. (Acts 10:10f).

    In addition to these venues to our spiritual awakening, what are we to think when we meet people who have had no such experiences and who have had very little understanding of religion?  They were not reared in a church family.  Yet, when we encounter them, their spirits radiate happiness and enthusiasm.  They have remarkable, loving and creative attitudes. They carry themselves with enormous confidence that every day is going to present more excellent opportunities.

    Once a woman told me what she told her doctor. She said, "You have absolutely everything going for you in your life, but you do not have Jesus Christ."  Her doctor said, "Who?"  After she told me this, I could not contain my laughter.  Her doctor's parents came from Tibet. Her physician had been reared in a Buddhist family. Of course, he was teasing her, but his point was that people do not need Jesus Christ in their lives to have character, loving attitudes and one-of-a-kind bedside manners. 

    Jesus' mission was not to place himself at the center of anyone's life.  He came to teach his listeners how their lives will change when each person is guided by a loving, creative spirit.  (John 18:37b)  Some Christians could easily exclaim, "Not true!"  Yet, it was such a spirit that guided Jacob's son, Joseph, who displayed many of the qualities that Jesus would teach eighteen hundred years later!

    What came to my mind was the time when one of Jesus' disciples said," Master, we found someone driving out demons in your name and we stopped him because he does not belong to our group."  (Luke 9:49).  Jesus said, "Never stop anyone who is loving someone as you and I would love them!" 

    Religious groups often have an understanding that they have a closed market on the highly evolved spiritual awareness of their people. They have the exclusive way to salvation. Many Christians believe this. This confusion partially comes from the way Christianity has been taught. Paul once wrote, "If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  (Romans 10:9)

    Jesus never taught such a thing.  Further, what he did teach was not encumbered by a person's need to speak clearly about doctrine and beliefs as Paul was suggesting.  Jesus taught, "On this you can stake your life, if anyone gives you a drink of water because you are one of my followers, that person will experience the joy that comes from compassionate living."  (Mark 9:41)

    A curious aspect about people is that they often go through life defining themselves by the fitness and attractiveness of their bodies, their chosen professions, their accumulation of financial assets, their preferences, their native talents, their favorite pastimes, their hobbies and their relationships.  For many people, there are very few entrance ramps to the highway of understanding their identity as a spirit-being.

    How can we get to a place in our lives where we can love anyone with sincere enthusiasm, where fear is absent and where our confidence is built on a rock that communicates to the world that nothing in this life can ultimately defeat us?  Getting there is very difficult when we rely only on the guidance that comes from our physical senses.  (Luke 13:24)  This sole source of information can sabotage our lives because we are much more than our senses.

    Have you ever wondered why young people have images in their minds of super heroes that have the power to manipulate the physical world?  Most of these heroes have the same powers that were present in the Greek gods and the Vedic gods of India. 

    Those of us who are Star Wars fans remember the exploits of Obi Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Darth Vader, each using the Light and Dark sides of The Force as they struggled with each other for dominance.  We have images of Moses holding out his staff and separating the water so that the Israelites could cross on dry land in total safety.  This kind of power fuels our imaginations.

    We want something that works in the physical world.  We want results.   Most people do not realize that they have spent years programming themselves with highly polished responses to just about every condition of life. When they are encouraged to change their life-style and attitudes, many of them will feel that it would be easier to change the stripes on a zebra. 

    Once a friend expressed himself like this:

Dick, I don't know a thing about spirituality.  With what I have experienced so far in life, I can't be nice anymore. Every time I have tried, I have wound up with a knife in my back. What's the point?  I have had to struggle and fight for everything that I have.  Plus, I have been blamed for how my kids turned out and for my number of failed marriages. I am glad that your beliefs work for you. You do not come from the world that I have experienced.  Everything worth having has been a struggle for me.

    There was a software commercial years ago that featured a man sitting at his desk with a temperament that was like a boiling tea kettle with a cork jammed in its spout.  He was trying to clear the screen of his laptop computer by pushing Control, Alt. Delete.  He did this three times and after failing to clear the screen, he calmly picked up his laptop and threw it out of the window of his high-rise business building.

    Anyone who has worked with computers can identify with the experience of having insufficient knowledge about how they work.  We know enough to get by but the experts can make these machines perform miracles.  This is exactly the way it is with living life.  Most of us know enough to get by.  Those that have explored their inner world often develop a mastery that redefines the word, extraordinary.

    An introductory course in Psychology would teach us that our attitudes create the realities that we experience.  However, if Jesus were alive today, he would be quick to point out that if we wanted to get rid of our anger, frustration, unhappiness and smoldering resentments all that people need to do is intentionally reverse their energy flow.

    This means deliberately changing our responses to ones that are the exact opposite from those we have trained ourselves to use.  When we re-write our self-taught script of responses to include the ability to love, forgive and accept others instantly just as they are, the quality of our lives will change drastically.   This may not make any sense, but it works.  It works because we have prevented an outside source from gaining access to our emotions and spirit.

    Our spirits are nothing more than a window through which others can experience love.  Our love and God's love are identical. (Romans 8:16)  It is love that heals all wounds, corrects our failures in judgment and erases the residues left by past moments when we missed the mark on our best practices. 

    When we make this decision to reverse our energy flow, love will take us to adventures we could never have imagined. (John 3:8)  We cannot control our destiny; what we can control is the spirit we bring to whatever the future holds for us.  Our spirits are enormously powerful.  They do not need to remain mysterious. When we understand their potential, we begin to realize that our spirits are the most precious and powerful asset that we have.  They are our link to the Creator of the universe.