HOLY . . . SPIRIT!
June 8, 2014
Acts 2
The last book by Henri Nouwen was called Sabbatical Journeys. In it, he wrote about some friends who were trapeze artists, called the Flying Rodleighs. The head of the family, Rodleigh told Nouwen, “As a flyer, I must have complete trust in my catcher. The public might think that I am the great star of the trapeze, but the real star is Joe, my catcher. He has to be there for me with split-second precision and grab me out of the air as I come to him in the long jump.”
Nouwen asked, “How does it work?” Rodleigh continued, “The secret, is that the flyer does nothing and the catcher does everything. When I fly to Joe, I simply have to stretch out my arms and hands and wait for him to catch me and pull me safely over the apron behind the catchbar.” It’s like this . . .
VIDEO - of trapeze artist flying through air
The worst thing the flyer can do is to try to catch the catcher. I am not supposed to catch Joe. It's Joe’s task to catch me. If I grabbed Joe’s wrists, I might break them, or he might break mine, and that would be the end for both of us. A flyer must fly, and a catcher must catch, and the flyer must trust, with outstretched arms, that his catcher will be there for him.”1
Would you have the courage to be a flyer? Just let go and trust that the catcher will do his job and pluck you out of thin air?
Do you ever feel that way in life? You’ve let go and now something is supposed to happen! You're out there, suspended in time, wondering if the catcher is going to make good on his promise, waiting for the strong hands to grasp you. You're totally vulnerable. We feel that way sometimes. . . don’t we? In our families, in friendships, in jobs, in schools, in our faith and even in church.
We can relate to the disciples as they gathered for their daily worship time on the day of Pentecost. Jesus died and had risen again from the dead. He appeared to them and taught them for 40 days, and ten days earlier He ascended into heaven. He told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received the power that the Father would send them, and that's what the disciples did for 10 days. For 10 days they were suspended in air, just like the flyer, waiting . . . and waiting . . . and waiting for the mysterious catcher to grab them.
They had been praying, hoping, wondering what was going to happen and when it was going to happen. They were hanging and waiting for the Catcher to come.
Let’s read about it from Luke’s account in the book of Acts. Acts is the 5th book of the New Testament. We’re going to read from Acts 2:1-13 ~
1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.
6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.
7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome,
11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
So, let’s set the scene. In Acts 1, Luke told us the 120 had gathered together in Jerusalem and went to an upper room. While there they chose a new disciple to take Judas’ place. Luke also tells us ~ 14 they were all together with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
It happened at 9 a.m, and what’s important is the fact that they were all in one place. They were coming together for prayer and worship. They were all there! There was nowhere else they would rather be. Isn’t that an important thought as we think about worship and coming together. We all could find somewhere else to be. Maybe we could be having more fun. But there they were – many of them were not sure what the next step was, but they were together.
Suddenly from heaven it was like a whirlwind came through the room, like the mighty wind that blew on Mt. Horeb when God appeared to Elijah. Tongues of fire appeared and touched each believer. Like the fire Moses saw on the burning bush, it burned, but it did not consume them.
Then they began to speak in different languages -- not just ecstatic babbling, but actual languages they didn’t know. It sounded like babble to them, but to the people of Jerusalem, it sounded like home. People from every nation heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ being proclaimed in their own language.
Remember the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11? As God dispersed the people of the world by giving them different languages, now God was bringing them back together by giving different languages to the followers of Jesus.
Many of the people who heard the disciples were amazed, astonished and impressed that these Galileans were so fluent in foreign tongues. But some said, “Nah! They're just drunk!” Then Peter got up and began to preach, and before it was over . . . 3,000 people became believers and were baptized.
“What does this mean?” That's the question most of them were asking. That may be the question you're asking yourself today. What does Pentecost mean? What difference does it make for us? What Pentecost did then and does now is to transform the community of faith with new power, new life, new mission, and new hope. We're part of the community, and that means we can also be transformed by the Holy Spirit.
And when we catch the Holy Spirit passion, we go into the world and we change the world for Jesus. And the world is never the same again. It’s not up to us. We’re simply the flyer, the Spirit is the catcher. He’s the one we must place our trust in to catch us and bring us to safety. He’s the one who will lead us, so long as we hold onto the catcher, the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit came and brought new power to the believers in Jerusalem. They were still praying and worshiping and basking in the afterglow of the ascension of Jesus. But they hadn’t been empowered to do ministry. Everything they did was with Jesus, and now He was physically gone. They were waiting and praying for power . . . God’s power. And that's what God delivered -- mighty wind, tongues of fire, unlearned languages. Can you imagine the day?
I think it's important to notice the source of that power. Pentecost wasn't a revival meeting; it wasn't a preaching series; it wasn't a workshop. It was a prayer meeting. The power of God was displayed through the prayers of the believers. Power comes from the Holy Spirit and works through the prayers of faithful disciples.
An evangelist once said that at Pentecost they prayed for 10 days, preached for 10 minutes, and 3,000 got saved.
Today we pray for 10 minutes, preach for 10 days, and 3 get saved. The Holy Spirit comes when we pray and pray hard.
Nancy Martinez is the Christian Education director for the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church in New York City. About twenty years ago they were having their Tuesday night prayer meeting, which is a powerful time of prayer and worship. Nancy had taken about 200 children into a different room to watch a movie during the service. Suddenly she felt the Lord saying to her, "Gather the children to pray." She stopped the movie and asked if any of the kids would like to go with her and pray in the next room. About a dozen responded, and they went into another room, and these 12 kids prayed for about half an hour for their families.
After that, Nancy tried to round up some adult volunteers to lead a children's prayer ministry, but she was having no luck. In frustration, she turned to God, and she heard his voice say to her again, "Gather the children to pray." So she began a children's prayer meeting led by the Spirit and staffed with children. That was 20 years ago, and every Tuesday night, they still come early and line up to sign in because there isn't enough room for everybody who wants to pray. There's a line of kids in the hallway waiting to get into a prayer meeting that lasts two hours!
On the web site at Brooklyn Tabernacle Church under Prayer – it says ~
Tuesday Night Prayer Meeting: Deacons, Pastors and Prayer Band members are available to pray with you before the prayer meeting. Doors open at 5PM. Meeting begins at 7PM.
Nancy says, "Prayer is at the center of all we do in children's ministry -- teaching, singing, activities -- it all comes through prayer."2
Can you imagine waiting in line just to pray at church? Can you imagine waiting for 2 hours before a PRAYER meeting begins. People we forget, we lose sight of the fact that there is so much power in prayer and worship. We take it so for granted and we lose out on the blessings God offers us.
Prayer and worship brings power from the Holy Spirit. But we think we can manufacture that power whenever we want it. We take the ministry of the Spirit of God for granted, but we need to realize the power of the Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit comes, we're transformed with new life. That’ a missing point for us when it comes to Easter. Jesus died, then He rose again to defeat death and make life -- life abundant and life eternal -- available to all who believe. It was easy to see when Jesus was still around; He who was dead was alive again! But now He was gone, ascended into heaven. Was His offer of life still good? Was the promise real? Could they really expect things to change?
Pentecost was the answer to the question. Jesus promised God would send power on the disciples, and here it was. It was true! Jesus was still alive and with them in the Spirit, just as He promised. So the believers could trust their lives to Christ and give their lives in His service. The gift that was promised had been delivered.
It goes beyond the disciples. Jesus promised them in John 14 ~ 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you . . . 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
And in John 16 - 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
So Peter stepped up and preached the first Christian sermon to the crowd. He told how this day of Pentecost had been foretold by the prophets, as had the life of Jesus. Jesus, who was mighty in deeds of power, who was crucified and rose again from the dead, whom God raised up exalted to his right hand in heaven, was the Messiah.
The crowd wanted to know what to do, and in Acts 2:38, Peter said, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That day, 3,000 responded to the invitation, and the mission was a go! What an amazing day it was. All because these 120 believers trusted and believed that the Holy catcher, the Holy Spirit would come. And they flew to him, and trusted he would catch them.
Folks, as we prepare to end our time together . . . do you know the Spirit of God? Not just do you know Jesus, but do you know the Spirit of God? If you don’t, then you’re missing out on the supernatural power which is available to you.
Graduates, wherever you end up, whether you’re going to college, vocational school, going to work, to the military, whatever it is you do, we know that we have our plans, but oftentimes we’re going to feel like the trapeze artist flying in the air, waiting and waiting and waiting for the Holy Spirit, the catcher to catch us.
So hold on, take a deep breath, be reading the Bible, be in prayer, asking and asking and asking more for the Spirit to guide your paths.
When you catch the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, you can know the hope and have the hope and keep the hope forever. Sometimes that's all that keeps us going.
If you're hanging out there like somebody who just let go of the trapeze, listen to the Good News: we have hope because the Holy Spirit brings us new power, new life, and a new vision for our lives.
footnotes
1 John Ortberg, "Waiting on God," Preaching Today, Tape #199
and http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/excerpts.php?id=17109
2 Nancy Martinez, "Gather the Children to Pray," Leadership Journal (Spring 2002), p. 41
3 Source unknown
