Notes from a sermon preached by Rev Angus Kelly at Table View Methodist Church on 2015-05-24 Pentecost Sunday. Scriptures: Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; Romans 8:22-27; John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15.

Note:

A few people asked me for the manuscript of my sermon on Sunday. I preach from fairly sketchy notes so I’ve written this down as a kind of summary of what I had to say. I hope it is helpful - I’d be happy to chat to anyone about these things.

God bless,

Gus

Pentecost

Today is Pentecost Sunday; on Pentecost we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. Promised by Jesus. We read about the promise of the Holy Spirit in John 16:7

“...it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you…”

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”

- John 16:13

And of course there are many other promises of what the Holy Spirit will do in the Old and the New Testaments.

When Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit he refers to him as ‘the parakletos’ Paraclete is translated variously as advocate, helper, comforter.

I’m not sure of the historical truth of this analogy but some say there was a ship in Greek harbours called the parakletos. The job of this ship was to go out into the sea to meet a ship that was struggling in a storm. The parakletos would be bound to the other ship and guide it into the harbour.

As the Spirit takes the place of Jesus we are reminded of what Jesus does - and how the Holy Spirit does what Jesus was doing, Jesus reveals the very hear / nature of God to us. The Spirit continues that ministry - see John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.”

The gift of the Spirit is help and the presence of God with us even after Jesus has gone.

At Pentecost the Holy Spirit is poured out on the first Christians; about 120 of them gathered together in one place. The arrival of the Holy Spirit is marked by the sound of wind from heaven, flames on the disciples heads, and between them.

When Jesus receives the Holy Spirit at his Baptism he sees the Holy Spirit descending ‘like a dove’ - when John baptises him - John’s gospel says that John the Baptist witnesses the Holy Spirit descending ‘like a dove.’

The Holy Spirit at Pentecost, at the Baptism of Jesus is significantly depicted as moving in.

The importance of this is that the Holy Spirit does not come ‘from inside’ but is a force / presence / reality that comes ‘from outside’.

In Psalm 104 the Psalmist perceives the Holy Spirit giving life to creation:

“When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.”

- Psalm 104:30

The Spirit of God has a physical effect on creation.

In the gospel of John Jesus alludes to the Spirit as wind. Wind has power - has an effect, is a present reality - but you can not see it.

These days we know about more than just molecules of air that move through space. We know about x-rays, about light traveling in particles and waves - we know that beyond our atomic structure as humans. Beyond what we can see in the world around us there are sub-atomic particles that move through space and even between atoms.

Maybe a 21st analogy would be this - these tiny particles have effects on the world. Too much exposure to radiation can cause cancer because these particles destroy our DNA.

The Spirit - really exists, interacts with creation - could be compared to this ‘sub atomic’ effect.

I say compared - this is an analogy, not science, and the point is to illustrate the fact that the Holy Spirit is real; not imagined. The Spirit is as present to us as Jesus was when he was with us in the flesh.

Reality

The Spirit that Jesus promises is ‘the Spirit of truth’ he says that the Spirit will ‘guide us into all truth’. Truth - says Jesus, will set us free. Truth - is the fact that Jesus is the Son of God; freedom is liberation from captivity.

Truth - beyond the truth about who God is - is simply a healthy relationship with reality. The law about conviction in the Old Testament was that there needed to be more than witness to the event. This would confirm that the event took place.

Truth is grounded in reality.

The Holy Spirit is very real.

On the other hand - the human mind is very easily deceived. On the carpet where I get dressed in the morning there is a little bundle of thread that looks like a spider. I look at it closely every morning to check it is not a spider; and I haven’t picked it up because it looks so much like a spider that I don’t really want to touch it.

Hypnosis and hysteria lead people to believe things that are not true. Under hypnosis a person can feel like they are getting very hot (even though it is cold); they can feel very cold (even though it is hot.) News24.com posted an article on 24 May about a church in Soshanguve where the minister told the congregation that they were going to be filled with the ‘spirit of snakes’.

Many of the members writhed on the floor with their tongues sticking out.

In a trance like state after singing, dancing and worshipping - the minister / leader - a trusted authority says something and the people experience what they would expect to experience.

Were they really ‘filled with the spirit of snakes’? Or were their minds playing tricks on them?

The reasonable truth is that they were lightly hypnotised and in a highly suggestible state; in the hysteria of the moment they believed their experience to be true.

The thing is - people crave instant satisfaction; and one of the instant satisfaction experiences people desperately want is ‘spiritual experience’. The human mind gets what it expects.

‘Spiritual experience’ is not unique to Christianity; people who worship idols have ‘spiritual experiences’ sometimes they ‘babble’ in tongues, sometimes they pass out in a trance. They believe this experience is an experience of god.

Blasphemy

When the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt - on the forty year journey through the wilderness - they received commandments from God. One of those commands was:

“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”
- Deuteronomy 5:11

For many this commandment simply means that you should not use God’s name as a ‘swear word.’ The commandment is a little more interesting than that. To ‘misuse’ the name of God is to ‘misrepresent’ God. Name signifies identity.

The prefix to the giving of the ten commandments is a description of who God is:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”
- Deuteronomy 5:6

This prefix reminds us of the purpose of God’s law, ‘freedom.’

Those who misuse the name of God use it to oppress other people. In Egypt the Pharaoh claimed the authority of God for his position - later in Israel Kings and even priests would claim the authority of God for the injustice that they perpetrated. This is a most serious and grave misuse of the name of God.

Blasphemy is a form of misrepresentation - or forgery. Jesus - in parallel to the fourth commandment issues a warning about those who ‘blaspheme’ against the Holy Spirit:

“I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”
- Mark 3:28-29

In this case people are accusing Jesus of false teaching; false teachers were thought to be inspired by demons; they believe Jesus is a blasphemer and that is why they conspire to have him crucified. Yet Jesus wants them to know that his teaching is of the Holy Spirit and is not false. He also warns against those who might claim the Holy Spirit’s authority for that which is not of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is preparing his disciples for the gift of the Holy Spirit to be poured out at pentecost. The privilege of receiving the Holy Spirit means that Christians ‘partner’ with God in the work of the Kingdom. The danger - is abuse of that privilege.

Just as happened in the time of Jesus spiritual authority is used to oppress and abuse others. False prophets claim to see the future or speak God’s words to others - yet their words are so vague that you could not tell if they are true or not.

Deuteronomy 18:20 warns against false prophets:

“But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death.”
- Deuteronomy 18:20

“You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD? If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.”
- Deuteronomy 18:21-22

The first warning refers to what is at stake when someone presumes to speak in the name of God. When the apostles make a decision in Acts they speak very humbly of what they believe the Spirit has led them to:

“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials…”
- Acts 15:28

The second statement invites us to test the words of people who presume to speak in the name of the Holy Spirit. The test: “Is it true?”

If it isn’t “...do not be afraid of him.”

Those who pretend to have spiritual authority, magical authority, or any kind of ‘fake’ authority can be quite terrifying. People are superstitious about these things. Someone who claims God’s authority is especially scary, many Christians are quite insecure about their faith and their experience of the Holy Spirit.

Those who claim authority are very intimidating.

People of faith need to be confident enough to ask questions. They need to thoroughly investigate claims of the promise of healing / wealth / resurrection that many false prophets offer - without intimidation. When those prophets are found to be false they need to be held accountable.

Quench

For fear of blaspheming the Holy Spirit we might be tempted to ignore the Spirit completely. In 1 Thessalonians 5 Paul encourages the congregation not to ‘quench’ the Holy Spirit or despise the words of the prophets.

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:19-24

Remember that the Holy Spirit is real, powerful and present. The Holy Spirit does not necessarily satisfy our fleshly desires for instant gratification and emotional spiritual experience. In fact we are capable of deceiving ourselves into believing we’ve had a genuine spiritual experience when in fact our minds are just playing tricks on us. Many of the spiritual experiences that Christians claim to have are indistinguishable from the spiritual experience of those who worship idols.

So Paul says we should ‘test everything’. The scriptural test is empirical truth (Deuteronomy 18:20-22); did it really happen? Is it verifiable? Another test is ‘fruit’; ‘by their fruits you shall know them’ says Jesus (Matthew 7:20). The fruits of which Jesus speaks are Christian character / christlikeness - most succinctly described in Galatians 5:22-23:

...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Also in Colossians 3:12-13:

...clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

These fruits are no spectacular miracle, but a slow and steady blossoming into Christian Spiritual maturity. Brought about by the Spirit - as 1 Thessalonians 5:22 says:

...may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

Receive

An experience of God’s Spirit is an extraordinary gift of God’s grace. His Holy Spirit is experienced in different ways - sometimes very gently, sometimes powerfully, most of the time slowly and steadily turning hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. How can you know if you have received the Spirit?

Jesus gives us a promise to hold on to in Luke’s gospel (11:9-13):

“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

If you have asked for the Spirit you have received the Spirit. Invite the Spirit to guide you and transform you. In John 15 Jesus says the Spirit will guide us into all truth and remind us what Jesus has said and would say to us. In Romans 8:22-27 Paul reminds us that the Spirit echoes the needs of our hearts to the heart of the Father. He speaks of how we are being transformed / conformed to the image of his Son (verse 29) because of the power of God in us.

The Spirit reveals the heart of God to our hearts, pours out God’s love into us and gives us the power we need to live in that love.

Be open to the Spirit. Discern carefully. And we will see God’s Kingdom, here in this place.

revguskelly

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Pentecost Sermon 2015