Sermon 5-11-08

Today is the Day of Pentecost, the day that God poured out His Holy Spirit. No matter what you have to do, you don’t have to do it in your own might, you don’t have to function in your own power; you do it in the power of God’s Holy Spirit. The first Pentecost occurred on May 28, 30AD.

Acts Chapter 2 – When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God –fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylla, Egypt and the parts of Lybia and Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretians and Arabs - we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say, these men are not drunk, as you suppose. It is only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

Old Testament – Zechariah 4:1-7 Then the angel who talked with me returned and wakened me, as a man is wakened from his sleep. He asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a solid gold lamp stand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” He answered, “Do you not know what these are?” “No, my lord,” I replied. So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty. “What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubabbel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”

Epistle – 1 Thessalonians 1:4-6 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of sever suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.

Gospel – John 14:23-27 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Sermon –

We read the events that happened on the day of Pentecost at the beginning of the service. Peter and the Eleven brought the Word of God to all the different language groups and foreigners who were there. They all heard that Jesus is their Lord and their Savior; they heard the Gospel message in their own language, but what about those little flames of fire that were on peoples’ heads. What in the world is that all about? We always think that this is just a reminder that the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. That could be, but you don’t need little flames of fire to be reminded, so what’s the deal?

In the first reading, Zechariah tells of the lamp stands that were in the temple during Old Testament times. There was a lamp stand, and on top of the lamp stand there was a lamp, and on the lamp there was a flame and the lamp was powered by olive oil. That’s what you would see when you went into the temple during Old Testament times. God uses visual illustrations to remind us of what He wants us to remember, so what were these lamps a reminder of? These lamps were a reminder that people are to be a light to the world. It was a reminder of the concept that the Messiah was going to be the Light of the World, a Light to our Lives, a Light to the Gentiles; you’ve heard all those verses a hundred times. You would walk into the temple, sit down and look at the lamp stand and there it was - a reminder that you are to be a light to the world, you are supposed to bring the message to the world that God would send a Messiah, who would come, pay for our sins, reconcile us to God and give us a whole new relationship with Him. That was the message God was sending to His people through the lamp stands.

Now, the interesting thing along with this lamp stand analogy is that Zechariah wrote about olive trees being next to the lamp stand; and flowing from the olive trees was a tube, a channel, to the lamp stand to provide the fuel for the light. The olive trees symbolize the prophets. The prophets spoke God’s word and when God’s word is spoken, the Holy Spirit flows through that Word to us. The Holy Spirit is the channel. God’s Word is spoken by the prophets; the Holy Spirit flows through the Word to us, reminding us to be the light of the world. That’s the illustration that God is giving to Zechariah in the Old Testament passage.

Now, on the day of Pentecost everyone was gathered in the temple. But what was the purpose? What does God want done? God wants the news that Jesus is Lord, that Jesus is Savior, that Jesus has paid for our sins, and that He’s reconciled us to God spread to everyone. But in the temple are all these foreigners who don’t understand the language. How are they going to be a light to the world if they can’t understand what is being spoken? So the Holy Spirit is going to come and enable them to speak the language to all these different groups. Remember, if you were a good Jew and had paid attention over the course of time to what was going on in the temple, when you walked in and saw the lamp stand and you would say, “O yes, I’m supposed to be a light to the world.”

So the day of Pentecost comes and what do we have? We don’t have the old type of lamp stand anymore; we have human lamp stands! Pentecost is a message to people that now we are supposed to be light to the world; that God has entrusted the Good News that Jesus is Lord and Savior to us, and as we read in the Epistle lesson, “the gospel came not simply with words, but with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction, that we are powered by the Spirit. It’s not by our might, not by our power, but by God’s Spirit that we function in life and bring the Good News of Jesus to others. In other words, God is saying that those lamp stands have become real, “I’ve turned people into human lamp stands. All of you can now take the Good News of Jesus out into the world.”

And the reminder for us here in this day and age is simply this: if we are to be a light to the world, we replace the olive tree, the words of the prophets, with the Bible. We have the Bible and we have the Holy Spirit, the power of God flowing from the Bible. We have the Holy Spirit flowing from the Bible to each one of us. That’s the illustration God is giving us. The Spirit flows to you through the Bible so that you can be a light to the world, so that you can do everything God wants and plans for you to do in your life.

Zerubbabel had something he needed to do in the Old Testament. He needed to build a temple and it was a huge job. How was he going to do it? Not by his own might, not by his own power, but by God’s Spirit. That’s what God was communicating through Zechariah. This is true even today. How are people going to spread the news that Jesus is Lord and Savior, beginning at Jerusalem all the way around the world to the ends of the earth? Not by their own might, not by their own power, but by God’s Spirit. And the word of God, spoken by the prophets and written down in the Bible with the channel, the Holy Spirit, flowing through the Word, enables you to believe the message. 1 Corinthians 12:3 says “No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” You can’t do it by your own might. You can’t do it by your own power. You can only do it by the Spirit.

When I moved here almost nine years ago I was amazed at the high percentage of people in this congregation who were involved in two, sometimes three Bible Studies a week! When you are involved in Bible Studies, the Holy Spirit flows to you. I said, “How is this congregation building Trinity Christian School? Everyone said they couldn’t do it.” It was not by might, not by power, but by God’s Spirit because God’s Spirit was flowing to you through your worship and through your Bible Studies. And how did we get to do Phase Two of the school? Not by might, not by power but by God’s Spirit, flowing through you. And this year we’ve had the biggest school enrollment we’ve ever had. How did that happen? Not by might, not by power, but by God’s Spirit. It costs a ton of money to run the school; every year there’s a deficit. How do we handle the deficit each year? Not by might, not by power but by God’s Spirit. That’s why it’s so important to have God’s Spirit flowing to you. And that’s why we say if you’re going to be on a council, be an elder, be the Sunday school superintendant, if you’re going to hold an office in the Church, you need to be regular in worship and you need to be in one or more Bible Studies a week. You need to function in that office not by might, not by power but by God’s Holy Spirit who flows to you through the Word of God.

Today is Mother’s Day. Ladies, how can you be a light to the kids in your family? How can you raise your kids in the world as it is today? You don’t have to do it by your might, you don’t have to do it by your power; you can do it by God’s Spirit. That’s why right at this moment you’re preparing the best way you can because you’re in church, and you have the opportunity to be in Bible Studies so that God’s Spirit flows to you and you can be that light to your family. You can do what God has set before you, you can do what God requires of you and you don’t have to do it on your own might and power, you can do it by God’s Spirit.

And if you’re a child, and I guess all of us are somebody’s child no matter what age we are, how do you be a good kid? I’ve got great news for you, you don’t have to do it by your own might, you don’t have to do it by your own power, you can do it by God’s Spirit and that Spirit flows to you through worship, through Bible Study, and through your Bible readings. When you get to be an adult sometimes roles reverse. It happened in my family until my mother died a couple of years ago; the child ends up taking care of the parent. How are you going to do that? Those of you who have been in that situation know how difficult it can be at times especially when dementia, Alzheimer’s or physical problems arise. It’s hard. How can you do this? I look back to when I was taking care of my mother, how in the world did I do that? You don’t have to do it yourself. There’s a way out. You do it not by your might, not by your power but you do it by God’s Spirit. It’s incredible what you can do by God’s Spirit.

No matter what you have to face this week you’ll be prepared because you are here in worship this morning and you have an opportunity to be in Bible Study where God’s Spirit flows to you. All of you have a Bible where, on a daily basis, God’s Spirit flows to you. And no matter what is set before you this week – here’s good news – you don’t have to do it yourself. Not by might, not by power but by God’s Spirit!

Prayer –

Heavenly Father, Thank you for pouring out your Spirit. Thank You for the illustration of the lamp stand in the temple that you gave us, reminding us that we are to be a light to the world. And then, God, thank You for turning us into living lamps to do your work here on earth. And, Heavenly Father, so often we think we have to do it ourselves. It says in the Gospel lesson today that the Holy Spirit will remind us of all things. Lord God, in those difficult, stressful times this week, may your Spirit remind us that it is not by our own might and power but by your Spirit that things get done. Thank you, God, for that promise and that reminder. And we pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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