Getting a Charge Out of This
This nice retired couple from out of town pulled up in the parking lot of a church one afternoon in the motorhome to turn around in the parking lot just as the pastor of the church was leaving the building and walking to his car. They waved to him out of the window so to be friendly he walked over to say hi and comment on their large and beautiful RV. The husband at the wheel proudly responded SHE SLEEPS 8 PEOPLE COMFORTABLY! Then he said, YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL CHURCH HERE. WHAT’S THE CAPACITY? The pastor kind of slumped his shoulders and replied glumly OH, IT SLEEPS ABOUT 270.
Sometimes it can get to us a little bit on the Sunday of the Pentecost when we are reminded of how the church of today doesn’t really resemble the church of that first Pentecost. The sound of a windstorm, the tongues of fire, the disciples speaking in other dialects in supernatural fashion; and thousands being added to the church. Lots of excitement! Ben Franklin wouldn’t appear on the scene for another 1700 years – but there was a lot of electricity in the air.
A lot of churches today are more like the small town I heard about. A traveler stopped at a gas station to fill up and he asked the guy working at the station if there was a place close by to get something to eat. NOT NOW, the guy replied. THERE ARE A COUPLE DINERS DOWN THE STREET BUT THEY CLOSE AT 6:30. “Nothing’s open?” the guy asked. “Man, what do you folks do around here for excitement?” WELL, ROUND HERE, FOLKS DON’T GET EXCITED.
Yeah, the same thing might be said about some churches. How do Christians go about getting excited? How do we renew depleted energy supplies?
There’s a story about a guy at the airport who was worried about missing his plane. He didn’t have his wristwatch, and couldn’t find a clock. So he went up to a stranger and asked, EXCUSE ME. COULD YOU TELL ME THE TIME? The stranger smiled and said SURE! He set down these two large suitcases he was carrying and looked at his wristwatch. IT’S 6:08. THE TEMPERATURE IS 75 DEGREES, THE BAROMETRIC PRESSURE IS 30.19 AND FALLING. RAIN IS PREDICTED LATER TONIGHT. IN ISTANBUL, THE WEATHER IS HUMID AND THE MOON IS FULL. THE S&P 500 IS DOWN 14 POINTS AND THE PRICE OF CRUDE OIL IS PREDICTED TO FALL IN THE SHORT TERM. “Your watch tells you all of that? Is that one of those new Apple watches?” the man interrupted. OF COURSE NOT. THIS PUTS AN APPLE WATCH TO SHAME. WHY THIS WATCH CAN ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS WITH DEDUCTIVE REASONING. IT CAN CREATE COMPLICATED ALGORITHMS. And he proceeded to demonstrate. I INVENTED THIS WATCH AND THERE IS NO OTHER TIMEPIECE LIKE IT IN THE WORLD.
“I wanna buy that watch! The man said excitedly. Oh, this watch isn’t for sale, said the stranger, as he picked up his suitcases. WAIT! I’ll GIVE YOU $1000 FOR IT. “No, I can’t,” said the stranger. “It has great sentimental value”. OK, OK, $3000. The stranger looked surprised, but again he declined. OK, LISTEN, the man said forcefully. I’LL GIVE YOU 10,000 CASH. I HAVE THE MONEY ON ME. “You’ve got the money? Well, ok, it’s yours for $10,000. The man was very excited. He paid the inventor the money, snapped the watch on his wrist, thanked him and started to walk away. WAIT, said the stranger…he handed the two heavy suitcases to the man and said…YOU FORGOT THE SERVER AND THE BATTERIES!
A silly story, but it is the continual fear that plagues the church, isn’t it. That we will forget the batteries. That we will forget the source of our power, that which sets apart the Christian church from any other social agency or non-profit organization. That we will leave behind the very thing essential to the life of this community of faith.
We have a power source available, Pentecost makes that very clear. We have a reason to be excited, about what God has done for us. And we have a cause to care about – too many people are living without a Savior.
Let’s review the events of that supercharged day of Pentecost and see if there is any part of that happening that can be transferred to our present energy needs this morning. Or was the power of the Holy Spirit only a limited partnership, a cartel in the hands of the chosen disciples?
The disciples were all together in the city of Jerusalem, as instructed. Suddenly there was a rush of a mighty wind. They saw tongues as of fire resting on each of the chosen disciples. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages.
And it just so happened there was a convention in town. Jews were in Jerusalem from all over the Mediterranean world for a festival; the feast of weeks it was known as. The sound of the wind drew them closer to the disciples and they were shocked to hear these men speaking in other languages – their languages!
Have you ever been in a foreign country, surrounded by the native culture and suddenly hear someone speaking English? It can be a wonderfully sweet sound to the ears. But the next question on the minds of this impromptu out of town audience was this: AREN’T THESE GUYS ALL GALILEANS? HOW ARE THEY MANAGING TO SPEAK ABOUT THE MIGHTY DEEDS OF GOD AND DOING IT IN MY LANGUAGE AND HIS LANGUAGE AND THEIR LANGUAGE?
It’s hard for us to imagine ourselves being on the receiving end of such a dramatic transfer of spiritual power as the disciples received on Pentecost. God was watching over the disciples. So much would be riding on them. But, what about you and me? Can God be considering US for active duty? What could God possibly have in mind for us?
At a Catholic parochial elementary school, the children were lined up in the cafeteria for lunch. At the head of the serving table, was a large pile of apples. One of the nuns had placed a note next to the apple tray that said, TAKE ONLY ONE, GOD IS WATCHING. Towards the end of the long serving table, there was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. One of the older kids had placed a makeshift note next to the cookies. TAKE ALL YOU WANT. GOD IS WATCHING THE APPLES. If God is watching over His key PEOPLE, where does that leave us? Can we even imagine ourselves participating in a similar Pentecost experience?
Visualization has become a popular psychological tool for improving performance on the athletic field or golf course. It is a potentially powerful tool for us Pentecost Christians, too. If we, for instance, can capture a vision of what we might do and how we might respond if we were infused with some of that Spirit power from on high. On Pentecost, we speak of the power of the Holy Spirit in a lot of abstract language. We speak of the Spirit empowering us, of being filled with the Spirit. But unless we have a vision of what form that power might take, nothing will happen.
Visualize! What things can you see yourself doing with greater frequency? See anything you might eliminate from your thoughts or actions or daily routine? If you’re getting a picture then you’re well on your way to your own Pentecost experience. You are not likely to be transformed into the next Billy Graham or Mother Theresa. But if tomorrow brings you not only one step closer to eternity, but one step closer to the hand and strength of God and the love of Jesus Christ reflected in your smile and your compassion, then you ARE being transformed in dramatic Pentecost fashion.
Visualize what God had in mind for you when He sent His Son to the cross to rescue you from sin. Visualize what you can become with a little boost of the Spirit’s power and…it will happen! God will grant it for Jesus’ sake. AMEN