Scripture: Luke 4:14-21; Daniel 1:8-21
Theme: Making a Difference
Title: Let God Breathe Through You
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father, Jesus Our Messiah and Savior and The Infilling Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit!
I want to talk to you today about making a difference. Making a difference in your world; in your workplace, in your school, in your office or wherever you find yourself.
To begin with I need to give a disclaimer this morning - it is not as difficult as it seems. The ability to make a difference this morning is not an impossible task. It is not something that is designed only for Rocket Scientist, Nobel Peace Prize Winners or the Rich and Famous. It's not even something that is designed only for the super saints of holiness either.
The Bible reveals this in our reading in the book of Daniel. As a young teenager Daniel is able to make a difference in the lives of those around him. Later on the same will be said of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They all made a positive difference in their lives and in their world.
As you read Daniel's story it really wasn't a difficult task for him. He was not trying to be anyone than the person that the LORD had created him to become. And that is the key. When we are the people that God created us to be, we find that we have the power to make a huge difference in our world and in the lives of those around us.
Daniel only wants to live and breathe as God's person - as a follower of YHWH - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In this story, Daniel doesn't want to be anyone or anything else than who he is - a follower of God. He doesn't want to be like the Babylonians nor does he want to be like any of the other young men who are in training to become one of the king's wise counselors. He doesn't want to conform to their image.
David knew that for him to make a difference in his world all he has to do is be the Daniel that God has called him to be. In this particular case it was to be a person of integrity in both his personal life, his dietary life and in his social life.
The diet plan that Daniel seeks to follow in chapter one is more than just eating veggies. Bible scholars tell us that the Daniel plan is one that touched Daniel's heart, his body and his mind. Daniel's diet plan is his holiness plan. Even though he had to live as an exile, Daniel wanted to be the best person he could be for the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
In our second passage of scripture, the one we find in the Gospel of Luke we see Jesus being the perfect example of how to be a person that Our Heavenly Father wants us to be in this life. One of the wonderful things about God coming to earth was that He was able to flesh out exactly what it means to be the best human being that we can possible be in this life.
If you want to understand how to be the best you that you can be then all you need to do is to look and learn from Jesus. If you want to make a difference in your life, in your world and in the lives of all those around you all you have to do is to do the same things that Jesus did here in Luke 4:14-21.
Let's look at a few of them this morning.
I. Jesus allowed the Holy Spirit to Empower Him - verse 14
When St. Luke wrote his Gospel about Jesus, the Holy Spirit keep impressing on Luke to emphasize this thought - the importance of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our world and in our own individual lives. We cannot read the Gospel of Luke (or Acts) without seeing the importance of the Holy Spirit.
+It is the Power of the Holy Spirit that overshadowed Mary and enabled her to carry the Christ Child
+It is the Power of the Holy Spirit that fills Zachariah and he is able to speak again and give God praise and glory
+It is the Power of the Holy Spirit that leads Simeon to the Temple to see and give praise for Jesus being born as Israel's Messiah
+It is the Holy Spirit that leads John the Baptist to preach and it is the Holy Spirit that reveals to John that Jesus is the Messiah
+It is the Holy Spirit that descends on Jesus during His baptism
+It is the Holy Spirit that leads Jesus to the wilderness
and in our passage it is the Holy Spirit that leads Jesus to begin His Public Ministry.
I believe that of all the humans that have ever lived on our earth that Jesus is the most perfect one - in fact, the Bible calls Jesus the Second Adam. The Bible also reveals to us that Jesus is the Son of God - that is to say, God in Flesh - the Second Head of the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
What made the first Adam so special - so very special - was that he had been born physically, mentally and spiritually by the breath of God - the ruach of God - the Holy Spirit. Jesus being both 100% human and 100% divine reveals to us that the only way we can be who He, His Father and the Holy Spirit wants us to be is to be infilled with the same Holy Spirit.
Sin changed Adam and as a result changed the rest of humanity. We are no longer born filled with God's Holy Spirit. We are no longer born automatically destined to be who the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY desires us to become. We are broken. We are in need of a reset - a rebirth. Jesus tells us in John chapter three that we need to be reborn from above. Jesus tells us that we need to be reborn through the power and presence of His Holy Spirit.
Today, the only way we be the person that God created us to be is by first allowing His Holy Spirit to cleanse us and make us new creations. We can be the best that we can be by opening up our hearts, our minds and our physical beings to the power and presence of God's Holy Spirit. We can make a positive and lasting difference in our lives and in the lives of those around us through God's Holy Spirit.
Sin creates a barrier - a wall - that separates us from God. Sin also stops us from being the people God created us to be in this life. That is the bad news. The Good News is that Jesus died for us and that Jesus has made it possible for us to repent and be infilled with His Holy Spirit. Jesus has made it possible for us to live an abundant life; a life that makes a difference.
Being infilled with the Holy Spirit is the first step that will enable and empower us to make a difference in our lives and in our world. We cannot by pass this vital step. Becoming human, Jesus Himself didn't by pass this important step. In everything Jesus did as a human, He did through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus depended on the Holy Spirit. Jesus welcomed the Holy Spirit. Jesus allowed the Holy Spirit to be His constant companion and guide.
Over and over again Jesus made it plain that we need the Holy Spirit. When we read the book of John chapters 15 - 17 we read over and over again how important it is to allow the Holy Spirit to come into our lives. When we read the Book of Acts we read over and over again about the Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit led the 120 in the Upper Room. The Holy Spirit empowered them with tongues of fire. The Holy Spirit opened up the doors of salvation to the Samaritans and to the Gentiles. The Holy Spirit infilled people like Barnabas, Paul, Lydia and Timothy who were able to make a huge difference in our world. Everything good and everlasting has the breath of the Holy Spirit on it. Everything good and everlasting has the power of the Holy Spirit guiding it, empowering it and infilling it.
This morning, if we want to make a difference in our lives and in our world then our starting point is being cleansed and infilled with God's Holy Spirit.
II. Jesus allowed the Holy Spirit to speak through Him - v. 15, 18
Jesus not only allowed the Holy Spirit to empower His life, Jesus also allowed the Holy Spirit to speak through Him. Jesus allowed the Holy Spirit to give Him the words to speak and teach.
In Matthew 10:16 -20 Jesus tells his disciples that there will come a time when they find themselves being attacked and even arrested. They will be brought to trial but they do not need to worry about what they will need to say when the time comes. All they need to do is to allow the Holy Spirit to speak through them:
"When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." (Matthew 10:19 - 20 ESV)
Later on in John 14:26 Jesus tells his disciples towards the end of His life about the way that the Holy Spirit would work in their lives:
"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 things that I said to you” (John 14:26, NKJV).
This morning, the LORD wants us to understand that the Holy Spirit will help us speak. When we find ourselves at odds with someone instead of us relying on our own knowledge and wisdom we are encouraged to allow the Holy Spirit to guide our heart, our mind and our tongue.
When we don't know what to say instead of just blurting out something we are invited by the Holy Spirit to allow Him to take over the conversation and we will be amazed at what we do say. We don't have to face life alone. We are invited by the LORD to allow Him to help us in our everyday conversations. God will guide our tongues, our ideas and our thoughts if we will allow Him.
Peter alludes to this when he writes in 1 Peter 1:20 -
"For no prophesy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
We all know that words matter. Actions may matter more but we are more likely to listen more to what is being said than what is being done. Especially in the 21st century. Words matter. Words have the power to heal and the power to harm. Words have the power to bring calm to a storm and they also have the power to ignite a nuclear blast.
No one knew this better than James, the brother of Jesus. Listen to his words in James 3:5ff
"So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, set on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." (James 3:5 - 8 ESV)
It is true that we cannot control our tongues, but the Holy Spirit can. If we allow the Holy Spirit to have control of our tongues we find ourselves making a positive difference in our world. If we don't allow the Holy Spirit to have control then we need to beware of the damage we can do to ourselves and to those around us. All of us know how many times we have caused ourselves needless pain because we did not allow the Holy Spirit to control our tongue and we did not keep our mouths shut.
Jesus shows us the way. He lived among us. He spoke every day. He talked to thousands of people and yet, He allowed His Holy Spirit to direct His language. It did not mean that Jesus was mille mouthed. For as you read the Gospels you find a Jesus that was able to bring healing and conviction at the same time.
Jesus protects the woman caught in adultery but as he helps her to her feet He reminds her that she is not to sin any more.
Jesus praises Peter for allowing His Heavenly Father to reveal that He was in fact the Messiah. Jesus also is straight with Peter when Peter listens to Evil and tells Jesus that he cannot go the Cross and Suffer. Jesus tells Peter to get behind him for his tongue is being influenced not by the Holy Spirit but by the Devil.
Allowing the Holy Spirit is not to become either silent/mute nor is it to become millie mouthed. It is allowing the Holy Spirit to take the fire of hell that can come from our mouths and transform it into the Holy Fire that is directed and led by the Holy Spirit.
Words matter. Words that are given by the Holy Spirit are able to bring about conviction, cleansing, healing and wholeness. Words that are guided by the Holy Spirit can make a positive difference in our interpersonal relationships, in our marriages and in our friendships. Words that are guided by the Holy Spirit can help us assist others in finding Jesus and being prepared to live on day forever on God's New Heaven and Earth.
We need the Holy Spirit this morning to infill us and empower us. We also need the Holy Spirit to speak through us. If we do that we can make a difference in our lives and in the lives of all those around us.
There is one more thing that Jesus shows us that we can do to make a Difference and that is by:
III. By Connecting with Others through the Holy Spirit - verses 18 - 19
In verses 18 - 19 Jesus lays out his ministry plan. The Holy Spirit reveals to the world what Jesus will be doing and therefore what the Disciples will be doing.
+They will be reaching out to those who find themselves marginalized - that find themselves in poverty - either financially, emotionally, socially or spiritually.
+They will be involved in helping others find freedom from all kinds of things that will attempt or has already enslaved them.
Things like demon possession, addictions, disease, depression and despair.
+They will be involved in helping others be able to see - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
+They will be involved in helping people be free from all kinds of oppressions.
+They will be involved in sharing the Good News that in Jesus life can be more than they ever thought it could be. They will be involved in sharing the Good News of Salvation and Sanctification (spiritual formation). They will be involved in sharing the Good News that we can live a life of holiness here and now. They will be involved in sharing the Good News of being able to live in God's favor and blessings.
One of the greatest discoveries any of us can ever make is that we are not merely saved from our sins so that we can merely qualify for a place in Heaven someday.
So many people see salvation, water baptism and Spirit baptism as just that - some type of Get Out of Hell Card/Membership. Some type of stamp for entrance into the Holy Club.
Salvation does do that. No doubt. Being saved, being reborn does enable us to not have to worry about a Devil's Hell. It does enable us to be assured that one day we are going to walk on streets of gold and live forever in God's Holy Place.
But all of that is one day. All of that will take place sometime in the future and while all of that is both a promise and a surety the truth is right now we live in the 21st century. We live right now on this earth and in this space and time. That is why we so desperately need to:
+Be Infilled with God's Holy Spirit.
That is why we need to repent of our sins, experience God's New Birth and allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse us, live inside of us and transform us day by day.
There is nothing greater than we can do in our lives than allow the Holy Spirit to infill us/empower us. This is the key to everything. This is the key to making sure that our Christian Lives are effective, victorious and fulfilling.
Far too many Christians live defeated lives. Far too many Christians live joyless lives. Far too many Christians live without the peace of Christ in their lives.
The answer to all of those things is the infilling presence and power of God's Holy Spirit. The Power of God's Holy Spirit makes all the difference. The Holy Spirit brings joy, peace, kindness, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, anointings, miracles and love into our lives and into our churches.
Somehow if we could only get people and churches to understand this key ingredient. When we have the Holy Spirit, when we allow the Holy Spirit to have full reign then we are filled and overfilled with God's favor and anointing. We are able to do more than we ever thought possible. We are able to be more than we ever thought possible.
One of the greatest things that is happening all over the world is that people are beginning to wake up again to the presence and power of God's Holy Spirit. Pentecostals, holiness people, evangelicals, main stream and Catholic people are beginning to speak more about the Holy Spirit. There is a growing revival that is going on as people are searching for something more and that more is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is what birthed our tradition/our tribe. We are a people of the Holy Spirit. When we don't allow the Holy Spirit to have control or surrender our lives to the Holy Spirit then our tribe has no reason to exist. We have no power. We become mere houses of quiet worship without any fruit, anointing or favor. But when we cry out for God's Holy Spirit and when we get hungry for God's Holy Spirit then watch out. When we are on fire then we go into next step living mode. We go into miracle mode and we go into transformed lives mode.
+Surrender our hearts, minds and our tongues to the Holy Spirit.
It is so easy to say the wrong thing. It is so easy to allow our tongues to be more like "fires of hell" than angels of mercy. We need to take a moment and make sure that the words we speak are being guided by the Holy Spirit. If we do that we will be amazed at how much healing, wholeness and goodness will come out of our mouths. God's Holy Spirit is ready and eager to give us the wisdom, the knowledge and the words to say.
+And we can make a difference in our lives and in the lives of others by engaging in the same ministries that Jesus engaged in while He was here on this earth.
Many of us are already engaged in one or more of these ministries - we are actively connecting with someone that has found themselves enslaved in sin, that are dealing with an addiction or that find themselves having to live an impoverished existence. We are already connecting and helping someone find Jesus. We are already connecting and helping someone become the genuine human being that the LORD wants them to become.
And while we find it at times frustrating and tiresome, we also realize that the closer we are to Jesus the more it becomes just who we are as God's ambassadors. The more we allow ourselves to be filled with the Holy Spirit the more we find ourselves enjoying and wanting to do things like:
+Helping those who are in need. We find ourselves going through our closets seeing what we can give to others. We find ourselves looking at things in Wal-mart, Target or Belk's and thinking if I buy that I can give it to so and so who needs it. We find ourselves making trips to Goodwill or to other organizations and giving them things that they can then use to help others. We do this with no strings attached.
+We find ourselves buying Girl Scout cookies or making cookies and giving them away to school classrooms, Children's Church or the children down the street.
+We find ourselves doing this by pouring our lives into our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We find ourselves throughout the day praying for the LORD's favor and blessing upon all of them. We find ourselves sharing with them our love and the Love of Jesus.
+We find ourselves sharing the talent that the LORD has so graciously given us with others. We don't ask for anything in return but we find ourselves teaching, guiding, building, mowing, singing, cooking and a thousand other things so that someone's else life can be richer.
+We find ourselves encouraging others, promoting them and rejoicing with them on their successes. We find ourselves do whatever we can to help one another in all kinds of ways.
+We find ourselves listening to one another instead of just waiting for someone to be quiet so we can talk. We find ourselves focused in on one another instead of on ourselves. We find ourselves interested in one another's lives instead of just passing away the time.
+We find ourselves taking care of God's Good Creation - Our World - picking up litter when we see it, planting a tree, adopting a pet and when we can we do all we can to promote conservation and protect creation.
+We find ourselves becoming closer and closer to one another - loving, sharing and connecting with one another. Taking time for one another. Looking out for one another and believing in one another.
This morning the Bible resoundingly says that we can make a difference. I believe that is exactly what each of us desires to do this morning. As we close today:
+Let us go to the LORD for a renewed filling of His Holy Spirit
+Let us surrender our hearts, our minds and our mouths/tongues to the Holy Spirit
+Let us allow the Holy Spirit to empower us as we connect with others in helping them find Jesus, experience Salvation and begin the process of spiritual formation.
+Let's ask the Holy Spirit to help us be Jesus!
Song: Make Me A Blessing
Or: Blessed to be a blessing
Open Altar/Prayer/Blessing!
