Tag: divine empowerment

The Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-21)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Exploring Church Ministry Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Pentecost, by Jennifer Allison

Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting. And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem. When this sound occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 

Completely baffled, they said, “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that each one of us hears them in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!”

All were astounded and greatly confused, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others jeered at the speakers, saying, “They are drunk on new wine!”

But Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed them: “You men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, know this and listen carefully to what I say. In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel:

‘And in the last days it will be,’ God says,
‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people,
and your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
and your young men will see visions,
and 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.
And I will perform wonders in the sky above
and miraculous signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

The sun will be changed to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
And then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ (New English Translation)

The Coming of the Holy Spirit, by Soichi Watanabe, 1996

Tornadoes are powerful. So is fire. They both have an immense potential for awe and destruction.  It’s interesting that when the little band of Christ’s followers experienced the Holy Spirit for the very first time, they likened what they encountered as wind and as fire. 

There is power in the Spirit – for both life and in destruction. It is the Spirit of God who dismantles and rearranges lives to make something different or new altogether. Most certainly, when the Spirit gets involved, nothing is going to be the same again.

On the Day of Pentecost, the Spirit upset the status quo and formed a new band of believers into the community of the redeemed (the Church). The presence of God’s Holy Spirit brings energy, strength, and ability to spread the good news of Jesus, heal broken lives, and bring an egalitarian way of life that sees no distinction based on race, class, gender, or ethnicity. 

The giving of the Spirit to the people of God is a whole lot more than a day set aside on a calendar, or a by-gone ancient thing that happened and has no significance for today. In fact, it is more than true to say that an authentic follower of Jesus Christ is a Pentecostal believer.  The New Testament knows nothing of a Christian who isn’t given the Spirit to accomplish the will of God on this earth.

Therefore, this time of the year is hugely significant when we attune ourselves to Holy Time because it is the age of the Spirit, the time of Pentecostal life and power. 

Ten days after recognizing Christ’s Ascension, and fifty days after our Lord’s resurrection from death, the Christian Calendar observes the day of Pentecost (which literally means “fifty” in Greek).  The day coincides with an established Jewish festival, the Feast of Weeks. Back in the day, Jerusalem would be filled with all kinds of different nationalities and ethnicities during the festival.

“There Appeared To Them Separated Tongues,” by Salvador Dali, 1967

Pentecost is often known as the birthday of the Church. It marks the time when the Holy Spirit came upon the fledgling believers in power. The disciple Peter, once a flaky up-and-down follower, was filled with the Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly. His bold proclamation of repentance and faith in Jesus led directly to three-thousand persons added to the little band of one-hundred twenty.

And it didn’t stop there.

We live in an age where all believers in Jesus have the same Holy Spirit as our spiritual ancestors did. It’s an era of spiritual empowerment. The Church is called to reach the world with good news of forgiveness and grace through the person and work of Christ. 

So, then, the Church possesses confidence and security in knowing that the Spirit’s enablement and power is available for mission and spiritual care to the nations. It’s an immense calling that befits the bigness of God.

There are a wide range of Christian celebrations of Pentecost. Some churches do not recognize the holiday at all. Most churches at least mention it in prayer, song, or sermon. Other churches go all out, with worship focused on remembering the first Pentecost and praying for a similar outpouring of divine power. Churches that employ liturgical colors generally use red on Pentecost as a symbol of fiery spiritual power.

Pentecost reminds us that Christians are meant to live in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, all the time. This day is a chance to confess our shortcomings and failures because of fear, apathy, and selfishness; and to ask for a fresh infusing and infilling of God’s wonderful Spirit. 

The Day of Pentecost flings every single believer into a congregational whole, the Church, and lets us know that we are not to be rugged individualists acting alone but are part of the Body of Christ. Therefore, we must renew our commitment to the Church for whom Christ died. 

The Spirit is ready to use us in forging spiritual bonds of kinship and solidarity. Pentecost throws disparate people together in a unified whole, made up of every kind of language, nationality, ethnicity, gender, and race.  We are all to use the gifts of the Spirit given to us for the benefit of building up one another.

We exist because of the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit, there is no power source because the Spirit is the battery, the generator of the Christian life. We are to do all life and ministry through the power of the Spirit, equipping and encouraging each other, displaying the fruit of the Spirit, and worshiping the person of the Spirit in always being present with us.

Pentecost was (and is!) a watershed event. Worship, community, and outreach are the logical and collective responsibilities of each believer and every church around the globe.

Let us, then, recognize Pentecost and observe this day with heartfelt thanksgiving and a renewed impulse to exercise our spiritual abilities – graciously given to us by the Holy Spirit. Amen.

A Divine Calling (Jeremiah 1:4-10)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
The Prophet Jeremiah by Marc Chagall, 1960

The Lord gave me this message:

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.
    Before you were born I set you apart
    and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

“O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!”

The Lord replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!” Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said,

“Look, I have put my words in your mouth!

Today I appoint you to stand up
    against nations and kingdoms.
Some you must uproot and tear down,
    destroy and overthrow.
Others you must build up
    and plant.” (New Living Translation)

“Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.”

St. Paul to St. Timothy (1 Timothy 4:12, NLT)

I write to you, young people,
    because you are strong
    and the word of God abides in you,
        and you have overcome the evil one. (1 John 2:14, NRSV)

Young Jeremiah had an unusual calling from the Lord. It wasn’t to reach thousands with a life-giving message of hope and encouragement; the call was to declare destruction to an unjust people who believed they were fine, thank you very much.

It was a calling that would have been a huge challenge for the most seasoned of veteran prophets. But God called the young Jeremiah. This was his first crack at being a prophet of the Lord; and it was a doozy of a call!

Yet, when it comes to God’s call, age really means nothing. That’s because the Lord equips whomever the Lord wants to empower. Young or old makes no difference. All that’s needed is a willingness to submit to the voice of divine calling.

And to Jeremiah’s credit, the lengthy prophecy bearing his name in the Bible is a testament to his sense of call and straightforward obedience to it.

There is, and always has been, a divine/human cooperative in the world. God, of course, could do everything without humanity’s assistance. But it’s never been that way. Throughout the entirety of Holy Scripture, the Lord calls and empowers people for service.

On the one hand, this may seem like some strange convergence which, on the surface, is sure to end in some screw-ups and failure. Yet, on the other hand, this cooperation between Creator and creature gives people, at the least, a sense of ownership in the world; and, at the most, a powerful opportunity to bless the world with divine gifts of speaking and service.

Although Jeremiah was called to (mostly) pronounce doom, it’s first and foremost a message of justice. The Lord is concerned for the common good of all persons, not just some. Yahweh is not about to be forever idle whenever certain segments of humanity go rogue and harm their fellow sisters and brothers with unjust ways.

The Prophet Jeremiah by Marc Chagall, 1968

What’s more, the Lord delights in using people whom society at large might deem less than usable.

Now remember what you were, my friends, when God called you. From the human point of view few of you were wise or powerful or of high social standing. God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful. He chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important. (1 Corinthians 1:26-28, GNT)

If God can use a donkey to communicate a message, then it’s likely that the Lord can enable any person on earth to speak words of justice – no matter if they’re young, uneducated, or underprivileged – and make the older, educated, and privileged look like jack asses. (Numbers 22:22-35)

For Christians everywhere, every believer has been called by God to proclaim the gospel of grace. The Word has come to us in Christ, in the flesh (John 1:14). Jesus is the primary and ultimate revelation of God’s Word to us.

God has also set the Church apart to serve as proclaimers of God’s Word to the nations. The Great Commission and the Great Commandment summarize our call to ministry. (Matthew 22:37-40; 28:19-20)

Yahweh’s intentional purpose was for Jeremiah to proclaim God’s word. That’s also God’s intentional purpose for the Church; the Lord puts God’s words in the church’s mouth. Christians proclaim the Word, which we know most fully and experience most personally in Jesus Christ.

With our words, perspectives, attitudes, relationships, and actions, God’s Word flows through us to the world. As believers, we know that gospel proclamation will accomplish God’s purposes.

We trust that God is empowering us to effectively proclaim God’s words with effectiveness so that all the earth may be renewed and blessed.

Most High God, you knew each of us before we were ever born. And so, you know us better than we know ourselves. Your divine power is already there, deep within us. As you call forth that power, enable us to respond with submission, obedience, and willingness to speak words of justice, love, and grace to a world in need of hope and betterment, through Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, in the strength of the Holy Spirit. Amen.