Jesus had
promised his followers that they would receive the Holy Spirit. This Holy
Spirit would be the dynamic source of their effectiveness as they shared the
gospel through word and deeds. The Holy Spirit is not a cuddly little
indulgence (as some might think), but rather the actual powerful presence of
God in the world going forward. And the Holy Spirit chooses to inhabit and work
through us as the followers of Jesus. Also, the Holy Spirit goes ahead of us
and around us, drawing and guiding us into God’s mission of connecting with
people and reconciling them to God.
As the Holy
Spirit comes, the church is born. The Holy Spirit gathers us together to make a
difference in the world. The Holy Spirit gives us gifts, that when brought
together in one body, has a tremendous effect for the common good. The Holy
Spirit also works deeply into our beings so that we develop attitudes and
strengths that work for good within interpersonal relationships – qualities
like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control.
So it is, the
church, when it is gathered, and also when it is dispersed, will live and walk
in the Spirit of God through all the challenges and trials, bringing all the
glory to God. The Holy Spirit can do all this, because the Holy Spirit is part
of the diverse yet unified community of God we have come to know as the
‘Trinity’.
The Holy
Spirit was active in the creation of the world – “a wind from God swept over
the face of the waters” (Gen 1:1); and then was active in guiding appointed
leaders like Moses and prophets like Jeremiah. The Holy Spirit was active in
the recording of the stories of people’s encounters with God (that we now have
in the Bible). The Holy Spirit had been encountered by significant characters
like Mary (the mother of Jesus), Simeon, John the Baptist; and of course Jesus
himself experienced the ‘descent’ of the Holy Spirit upon him at his baptism to
acknowledge his particular and unique ministry on earth.
Now, the Holy
Spirit would be for all believers to embrace and express! Just like if we want
to know what God is like we look to Jesus, the Holy Spirit brings the essence
of who God is into everyday life. Pentecost brings us a big vision of
worshipping God, but an even bigger vision of touching people’s lives with the
good news of Jesus.
Just look how
the Pentecost miracle plays out. According to Acts 1:15 there would have been
about 120 believers by this time, including the eleven remaining disciples plus
the newly elected Matthias, the various women who had encountered and followed
Jesus, and Jesus’ mother and brothers (who had now come to accept Jesus as Son
of God). There was the sound like a tornado, representing the incoming presence
of God. A fiery vision appeared, indicating that they were receiving something powerful
from beyond themselves. All of a sudden the hearts of these “believers” were
kindled, their minds were inspired, their mouths were activated, and, as they
spilled out into the streets, God’s great “deeds of power (V.11)” were broadly
and diversely communicated.
People whose forbears
had been dispersed all over the Greco-Roman world (due to the various conflicts
of previous centuries), and thus came back to Jerusalem from a variety of
cultural and language groups, heard the gospel in their own various languages. There
would have also been many other visitors around, celebrating the annual
festival of the ‘first-fruits’ of the grain harvest. And all this from a bunch
of humble Galileans (who could not possibly know these languages)! On what
otherwise might have been a mundane day, this was an astonishing event. And for
many, this would become an exhilarating day! It is the Holy Spirit that facilitates
the gospel being heard across cultural boundaries. The Holy Spirit facilitates
willing servants to speak and the interested seekers to hear in ways that eventually
leads to thousands coming to faith. They in turn formed themselves in house
churches spreading right across the Roman Empire.
We face
cultural boundaries today. The biggest one of these barriers is the growing
number of people (through no fault of their own, repeat, through no fault of
their own) have never heard of the name of Jesus and his good news. And if they
have heard of Jesus, outside the use of his name as a profanity, the
presentation they have received about Jesus has often been deficient ... based
on life styles and/or theology that lack credibility. Yet we have the Holy
Spirit to facilitate in us ways of communicating that will touch lives.
And, at the
same time, the Holy Spirit is also preparing ears and hearts in advance for the
presentations that will come. Not all of these presentations will be words –
many, perhaps most, will at least initially be actions. Actions will indeed
speak louder than words, with the Holy Spirit aiding the interpretation of what
these actions indicate – Jesus-followers with a love for their neighbour
seeking the welfare of their neighbourhood.
There were
those that day who just didn’t get it ... all they could guess was that these
excited communicators were drunk. There will be always those who don’t quite
get it, misunderstand the message, or pull down the blinkers and refuse to see
it. But there will always be those who are seeking truth and new answers to old
problems. There will always be those who can come to see that God is alive
seeking to draw people into relationships with their Creator and Saviour.
Subsequent to this incident, Peter took the gathered crowd through a process of
understanding, leading to heartfelt responses and mass repentance. The
possibilities of this still get me up in the morning.
What does the
presence of the Holy Spirit in and around us mean?
(1)
We
have the living wonder of Jesus within us, and also specific creative spiritual
giftedness (to be utilised mutually for the common good)
(2)
Fear
giving way to courage
Those first
century followers of Jesus, sometimes living under severe persecution, now have
such a keen sense of God securing their lives, that they will not have fear;
indeed we know that many of them went on to display great faith and inspirational
courage. Thus, in much more mild, yet still sometimes challenging situations,
we too should not be afraid. As we see through the book of Acts, the Holy
Spirit enables the Jesus-disciples to tackle the most complex challenges
imaginable.
(3)
Being
witnesses
We can actually
fulfil our mission of being witnesses to Jesus (Acts 1:8) – that through us
others can become ‘disciples’ of Jesus too! The thought behind the Holy
Spirit’s appearance, is to see the life of Jesus re-enacted on earth every day
everywhere. As God was on the move in creating the universe, and was again on
the move in sending Jesus to earth, we are to be on the move pointing the way
toward God. When the wind blows and we have fire in our belly, we are on the
move! Sharing ‘good news’ is about allowing it to be heard as “good” – as not
only the possibility of freedom from guilt and shame, but also the opportunity
to embrace one’s potential in life.
(4)
Becoming
better interpreters
As the Spirit
gives us clearer understanding of what we read in the Bible and what we see
happening around us, we become more ‘in-tune’ with God and thus better
presenters of the gospel message. Because of Spirit-led fresh understanding we
can leave convenience, personal preferences and traditions behind, to embrace experiment,
risk and flexibility through the all the twists and turns of the journey.
(5)
Holy Spirit going before us into the places
we need to go, opening the doors and preparing the way for us to be received
with hospitality.
The Spirit is moving to draw us into the life
environments of people where we might make a transformative and redemptive
difference. This is much more than just inviting them to church. We still need
to provide a ministry to those who won’t, for whatever reason, come to our
territory.
(6)
Living
with purpose
We don’t just
go through the motions in life, but rather live with purpose and hope. We
should continually monitor ourselves whether this is the case, or whether we
are only mirroring how the rest of the world deals with life. If we don’t feel
the Holy Spirit working in and around our lives, then we need to assess what we
might be allowing to block the way i.e. competing distractions or persistent
sins. Are we really ‘sold-out’ to the Jesus way?
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