Rejoice in the Power of the Holy Spirit
Matthew 28:16-20 and Various Verses from the Epistles
The Reverend Anne Benefield
Geneva Presbyterian Church, February 15, 2009
Introduction: Our passage today is made up of phrases from Paul’s letters to the early churches. It is an inspiring array of powerful quotes.
Scripture: from I Corinthians 16:13; II Timothy 2:1; Ephesians 6:10
I Thessalonians 5:13-22; and I Peter 2:17
Go out into the world in peace;
have courage;
hold on to what is good;
return no one evil for evil;
strengthen the fainthearted;
support the weak, and help the suffering;
honor all people;
love and serve the Lord,
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Overwhelm us with Your Spirit, O God, that the words we hear will speak to our hearts as Your Word, made known to us in Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen
Just a few minutes ago, we ordained and installed new officers for the church. As I prepared the liturgy for the service I came across the “charge” to the congregation that I’m using as our scripture today. It seemed to me to make an especially good credo for Christians.
Sometimes when we ordain and install officers I preach to them and let everyone else listen in, but today I’m preaching to everyone because each of us has a call. When we are baptized we are called into the family of God and we promise to serve God. We are called to live as the collection of scriptures above instruct us.
Dick Sanderson is kind enough to give me a subscription to Leadership, Real Ministry in a Complex World. It is an exceptional magazine. This quarter there was an insert that carried a story called “A Cast of Thousands” by Lillian Daniel. She writes:
At my daughter’s elementary school musical, the printed program noted: “This musical was written for 15 actors, but it has been adapted to accommodate our cast of 206.” You know what kind of show this was. No-cut auditions, no performer left without something special to do.
It was not a short program.
The church’s calling is to be like the volunteer geniuses that took a script with 15 parts and creatively made room for 206. We take a task that we could simply pay someone to do, and we divide it into parts so that everyone has a job. Is it efficient? No.
But the church cares less about getting the job done and more about the people doing it. We are not in the efficiency business. Our business is to make disciples. We want to offer as many people as possible the chance to know Christ in service and community.
The church remains the home of the no-cut audition. You have to want to get in, but once you are here, we will find a part for you to play. So when I thank God for the church, my mind is awash in the sheer number of volunteers I have known. There are so many parts in this musical. It will not be a short program. It will last from generation to generation.
Sometimes we forget that Jesus started this venture with just twelve disciples, but the script has been adapted to accommodate a cast of thousands. As a pastor, I give thanks for every character in the show. [www.leadershipjournal.net]
This sermon is for everyone here because everyone has a part—an important part.
As we look at the passage above, we see that it begins with peace and courage. Those two ideas often come together because it usually takes courage to come in peace. We are a mistrusting people.
I was talking on Thursday with an old friend who works for the Gazette newspapers. We had worked together in Anderson, SC. He was talking about how they can measure the “hits” they get on the stories they publish online. He said, “It’s politics and religion that get people excited. We haven’t done much on religion.” I laughed and said that I would be glad to write a column, but I wasn’t sure I would be contentious enough to get lots of hits.
The fact is that each of us is called to be an ambassador for Christ. We are the church.
St. Lawrence was martyred in 258 A.D., but we remember him, not for his martyrdom. We remember him as the Archdeacon of Rome. His responsibilities included maintaining the sacred vessels of the small, struggling church and distributing alms to the poor. While he was Archdeacon, the Governor of Rome took Pope Sextus captive and demanded, “Where is the treasure of the church?” The Pope would not tell, and they tortured him to death. Next the Romans took Lawrence captive.
“Where is the treasure of the Church?” they demanded, threatening with the same fate that befell the Pope.
Lawrence replied, “Governor, I cannot get it for you instantaneously; but if you give me three days, I will give you the treasure.” The governor agreed. Lawrence left. Three days later he walked into the governor’s courtyard followed by a great flood of people. The Governor walked out onto his balcony and said, “Where is the treasure of your church?”
Lawrence stepped forward, and pointed to the crowd that accompanied him – the lame, the blind, the deaf, the nobodies of society – and said, “Here are the treasures of the Christian church.” [“The Witness Principles,” Homiletics, Luke 24:36b-48, 4/17/1994]
Going forth in peace takes courage, but God will give us the courage we need.
The second theme in our passage is to strengthen and support the weak and the suffering. My friend at the Gazette also mentioned visiting his daughter in Kenya when she was a Peace Corp volunteer out in the desert areas in the western part of the country. He said that trip had changed his mind about what it really meant to be poor.
On the trip they picked up a man and his wife who was 9-months pregnant. As they drove them to a town with a hospital, my friend asked if they had a doctor. The couple said, “No, but it will happen.” My friend asked if they had a place to stay and again they answered, “No, but it will happen.” My friend asked if they had any food or money to buy food, and a third time they said, “No, but it will happen.” As he said, “You are really poor when you don’t know where or how you are going to get food, when you don’t know where you will sleep, when you don’t know how you will pay a doctor to deliver your baby.”
We are very separated from true poverty. There used to be an older homeless man who walked up and down Seven Locks and Postoak Roads. I wonder where he is now. He never came to the church to ask for aid. I only saw him when I was driving, but I never took the trouble to stop and ask about his welfare. I think I was afraid that if I spoke to him I would be dragged into a long and complicated situation, something like the story I told last week where the church found it easier to give band aids of money instead of a commitment to really help. I’m embarrassed as I think of it now. I didn’t fulfill my call to strengthen and support the weak and suffering. Somehow, I know that I’ll get another chance.
The final thing in this passage is to love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. Have you noticed how often the Holy Spirit shows up in the Bible? There is a reason. It is through the Holy Spirit that we have the power to love and serve the Lord.
We are again having joint training for Stephen Ministry with the Potomac Presbyterian Church. It is excellent training not just for ministry, but for being better listeners and improving relationships.
We’ve been training for 2+ hours every week since October. By now, the students have become very aware that saying the wrong thing can cause a lot of pain. Naturally, the students want to know the right things to say, but that isn’t as easy as avoiding saying the wrong things.
Leslianne Braunstein, the associate pastor at Potomac, and I try to help prepare them with a few ideas, but last week when we had a few minutes to talk while the students were doing an exercise, Leslianne turned to me and said, “They don’t know about the Holy Spirit. We better tell them!”
Here is the secret of the Holy Spirit: when we don’t know what to say, when we don’t have the strength to go on, when we don’t know what to do, if we will wait on the Holy Spirit, we will find the words and actions. Not our words and actions – the Lord’s words and actions.
On our own, we could not do much, but with the Holy Spirit there is much we can do. That is why we rejoice in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Alone, Abraham could not see beyond his small village. With the Spirit he envisioned the promise of a whole new land.
Alone, Moses was confined to chasing sheep in the wilderness. With the Spirit he led all the Hebrews to freedom.
Alone, David could not imagine being anything more than a shepherd. With the Spirit he became the king of all Israel.
Alone, Joshua felt weighted down by the demands of leadership. With the Spirit he knocked down walls.
Alone, John the Baptist was an outcast. With the Spirit be was a prophet and visionary.
Alone, Mary was insignificant. With the Spirit she was the bearer of the greatest gift of God.
Alone, Peter hid in the high priest’s courtyard. With the Spirit he stood in the temple and preached.
Along, Paul was filled with pride and rage. With the Spirit he was filled with love and peace. And he wrote these words:
Go out into the world in peace;
have courage;
hold on to what is good;
return no one evil for evil;
strengthen the fainthearted;
support the weak, and help the suffering;
honor all people;
love and serve the Lord,
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
