Blown Away

     Please read Acts 2:1-21.  Pentecost (fifty days after Easter) is the day the Church received the Spirit, a day we are comforted that God provides and sustains us, gifting believers with the Spirit’s fruits.  Today we celebrate the Spirit–creating the church.   It’s a day we witness a lightbulb moment of mature faith in the lives of the disciples.  Peter speaks with confidence, insisting that those within earshot listen to him.  The disciples stepped into courageous leadership roles…why, what finally clicked?  Jesus prepared them for his departure and promised an advocate and today we celebrate the reception of the empowering Spirit, who keeps hope alive enabling them and us to do God’s work.  

     Here Luke, explained that the Spirit came with notice – a strong and violent wind.   Like wind, God is not physically seen, yet we know that He is active and moving.  There was no mistaking the Spirit was present and sat on all gathered.  We also learn that those gathered were filled; to be filled means prior to that time there was a void.  Church, ignoring the Spirit’s presence and guidance will leave us empty too.

     There were immediate signs of the Spirit’s work in them –seen and heard. People from at least 18 ethnic groups were present and once the Spirit set on them, each was able to understand conversations of foreigners in their own language.  No one was left out.  Luke uses words such as all, entire, every, and each to emphasize the wholeness.  Everyone was able to hear of God’s mighty work.  And, after Peter’s preaching the disciples proclaimed, “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). That should be our cry too.  The Spirit gave each the ability to speak out, to declare with urgency and boldness the Gospel as a result, 3,000 became believers that day alone (Acts 2:41).   

     The Spirit is God’s most intimate and powerful presence with us and within us, binding us together in community, eliciting our faith, and leading people to truth hence to God.  Apart from the Spirit, who always points to Christ, our union obtained through faith with Jesus would not exist.  

     The Scots Confession says, the Holy Spirit sanctifies and regenerates us.  We are sanctified meaning- set apart, transformed, cleansed, and purified; enabling us to become more like Christ.  The Spirit works through worship, Scripture, fellowship, prayers, and the sacraments.  Each of us is affected differently as we engage with God…some by music, others in prayer, sometimes through Scripture, and other times by a message illustration.  As we engage with the God, we may find ourselves fighting back tears or swallowing a lump in our throats moved by God’s love and grace.

     It is the work of the Holy Spirit which makes the work of Christ real in our lives. The Spirit overcomes the power of sin, making us new. This is what is meant by regeneration; some may know this as being born again.  The Spirit changes us – transforming us to love, serve and obey.  

      Overtime, Peter grew in faith.  He made several poor choices and had that ah-ha moment.  We too, cultivate our faith with God’s help.  As we trust God, our faith is strengthened.  Let me offer a practical example: Let’s say you have $1000 in a savings account and receive a check for $100.  You drive to the bank…what do you do next?  Do you fall to your knees pleading to have the teller cash the check filled with anxiety, wondering if it will be acceptable or do you simply hand the signed check over and wait for the money…which is already yours to have?  I imagine you go in faith, anticipating the money and thanking the teller.  Friends, faith is available to us.  We don’t need to worry; we need to trust God.

     The church, not the building, but the community, is the outcome of the Spirit’s work.  To be filled with the Spirit means to be filled with the love and joy that flows between the Father, Son and Spirit. As we are filled, we are energized by the indwelling presence of our God to be transformed.  This happens as our minds, hearts, and wills are renewed according to God’s ways.  Yielding to the Spirit’s nudging offers peace.  You might be asking, how do we know when the Spirit is nudging?  Sometimes we are affirmed when we acknowledge the internal nudge. Other times, we need to consider how God would respond.  It’s not the Spirit if it’s contrary to Scripture, or when our first thought is to prove ourselves right or to defend ourselves, or find ourselves looking down on others or we choose to hold on to an offense. You see, without the Spirit’s union, we could not live faithful lives.  The question we are confronted with this morning is: How serious is your commitment to being filled with the Spirit?  

     Paraphrased from the PC(USA) mission webpage, the Holy Spirit helps us to understand that we fall short of the glory of God, and then as Comforter leads us to hope in Christ, who yearns to be the Healer of our brokenness and mess, making us one with Christ, the Spirit becomes one with us, filling us with newness of life. And all God’s people said, amen. 

Peace and grace,

Pastor Kerry

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