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May 11, 2008

Pray for the Spirit

May 11, 2008 Pray for the Spirit
Week Six. Sermon Series: Prayer is…
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b, Acts 2:1-12

Today we celebrate Pentecost—the day when the Holy Spirit came down and anointed the gathered group of disciples. Did you notice the change in colors in the sanctuary today? It had been white since Easter Sunday. White is used to symbolize special holy days, which includes the 50 days after Easter. The color for Pentecost is red. Red represents the flames of a fire, power, and symbolizes the Holy Spirit. So in the church calendar, Pentecost is a day of transition. We move from a time of being in together in one place, to going out into the world with the clarity, strength and encouragement of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s examine the first couple verses of the Acts passage in depth. Acts chapter 2, verse one, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.” Who are THEY? As listed for us in Acts chapter one, verse 13, they are Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas, son of James, certain women, Jesus’ mother and brothers, and in verse 1:25 we meet Matthias (who was called to replace Judas Iscariot). They are people who know and love Jesus.

Verse two, “And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.” Again going back to Acts chapter one, we read in verse 12, “They returned to Jerusalem… When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying.” So when the Holy Spirit anointed the group of Jesus’ followers they were probably in the home where they had been staying, maybe even the house with the upper room.

What were they doing? We are told that when the Spirit entered the house, “they were sitting.” My mind immediately, goes to the picture we had on our bulletin last week. It was a picture of a woman sitting, and the text read, “One thing is needful…” When the Spirit of God came and anointed the group of followers, they were not cleaning the house, running to the market to get something for dinner, gossiping among themselves about some recent event in town, worried about some task that needed to be done, frustrated or upset. Acts 1:14 tells us what they were doing, “constantly devoting themselves to prayer…”

This is not an easy thing to do, constantly be in an attitude of prayer. You’d think that as a pastor I’d be naturally pretty good at prayer but I struggle with it. I take my quiet time in the morning, read my daily meditation books, read my Bible, and go over my prayer list. Then I launch into my day. One of the biggest areas where I lack in prayer is the word constantly. What that means to me is pray about everything. Hear me now, I’m not saying pray for everything. Pray about everything; seek God’s council, guidance, wisdom and strength for all aspects of my life. I get uptight, stressed out, and have a tendency to focus on how hard I’m working.

This past week, I met with a pastor who I really respect. She is someone who embodies what it means to be a passionate disciple of Jesus Christ. In our discussion about ministry and events at our church, she asked me, “Have you prayed about it?” “Have you gathered with your leaders and prayed?” No, and No. At that moment, I realized that I, your spiritual leader, was not opening myself up enough to God. I have been doing what many of us get in the bad habit of doing—taking control myself and thinking everything depends on me.

Do you ever do this? Make a decision or take off in a direction and then after the fact ask God to bless my work or my decision? What I need to do is pray for guidance and direction FIRST so that I’m doing God’s will for me, not Vickie’s. Is anyone with me in this?

I think we have a tendency to compartmentalize our lives. We think to pray for direction in the areas of our life where we need God’s help—you know the spiritual part of our lives. But in reality, all areas of life are spiritual—whether it physical, mental, or emotional. The Spirit connects all aspects of our life keeping us healthy and spiritually fit. Our part is to remember to constantly devote ourselves to an attitude of prayer, whether in our personal life or in our life as community. Today’s scripture demonstrates what can happen when in a group of two or more we devote ourselves to prayer….

(Acts 2:3-4) “Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability.” Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ followers did things they could only have done through the power of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit interceded for them and enabled these Galilean fishermen, housewives, tax collectors, and other ordinary Jewish citizens to speak in foreign languages. And what they did attracted people because scripture tells us “the crowd gathered.”

Now the focus shifts from those who have received the Holy Spirit to those who are neighbors, residents of Jerusalem, or visitors to the city from around the world. The crowd that gathers is made of up a wide variety of people. The diversity of the crowd is extensive. There are residents of Mesopotamia and Judea. There are Egyptians, Romans, Jews, Cretans, and Arabs. Might we imagine there are also Germans, Poles, Mexicans, Cubans, Filipinos, French, Liberians, and Pakistanis?

The followers of Jesus spoke a language of Love that was understood by all who heard it. And they were amazed and perplexed wondering, “What does this mean?” The crowd’s response to the disciples opened them up to receive Peter’s profession of faith that follows beginning with verse 14. Scriptures record the crowd as bewildered, amazed, and astonished.

The question that bubbles up for me is this:
• When was the last time the Christian Church—the community of Jesus’ followers, did something that bewildered, amazed or astonished people outside the church?” Not upset, not hurt, not ostracized, but amazed or astonished. To put a finer point on it because it would be easy to look out there instead of right here—
• When was the last time this community of faith was able because of the power of the Holy Spirit, to do something beyond our ability or knowledge, beyond our comfort zone, or beyond our limited human vision?

I am certain it has happened here over the years, or we wouldn’t still be here. You might have an example that immediately comes to mind for you. I’m not surprised. That’s great. Since I’ve arrived, there have been some wonderful things happening here but I can’t recall something that hits the criteria above. Not yet!

But I did experience this at my last church, Cornerstone in Oak Park. It was the fall of 2003 and I’d been there a year and a half. We found ourselves at a crossroad. The way we had structured our child care center was not working. The private contractors who were hired to run the center were not doing a good job. We were losing families and seeing the DCFS representative too often. But we weren’t sure if we could handle the large shift it would take in financial resources, managing staff, and the unknown quantity of building it back up.

I prayed. Leadership prayed. We asked everyone to pray that God would give us clarity and strength. The finance team put together a plan and we decided to take it to the church to see if we were all in agreement about God’s direction for us. The plan detailed the following: We would need to go through the process of hiring our own director and staff. We would need to purchase equipment for the four rooms. We would change the center’s name and reapply for a child care license from the state.

Lastly, we estimated that it would take $30,000 to do everything necessary to shift the center to our direct oversight over the next four to five months. And we asked every family unit to give $1,000 to make this happen. Cornerstone is older congregation. Our average age was probably 70 years old. Most of our folks were on fixed income. The church voted unanimously to take the leap of faith. Before the week was out, we had over $10,000 raised and the rest came in within the month.

Our ladies who sewed made sheets for the sleeping cots. Another child care center in Oak Park closed and we were able to purchase much of their equipment for ¼ of the price if we had to purchase it new. We found a loving, dedicated director on our second try who hired loving staff with little turnover. Our center filled up, and we were providing a Christian child care center for families in our community. I don’t know how many people beyond the walls of the church were astonished or amazed, but we were. It helped us trust in the power of the Spirit the next time around.

That’s just one example, and I imagine you have some too of what we can do together when we tap into the power of the Spirit of God. As human beings, we overemphasize what we can do and underestimate, underutilize the power of God. It’s time we reclaimed God’s promise. Now is the time to pray for anointing, for clarity, and for the power to do what God wants us to do.

I’ll ask a couple questions, and I want you to respond. Scriptures tell us over and over again that Jesus prayed…the Son of God spent time in prayer with God. The early church devoted themselves in prayer.

Do you believe in the power of prayer? Jesus taught us, “Seek first the kingdom of God…and all else will be given unto you.”

Christianity is lived out in community. We are made to be in relationship with each other and with God. Are you willing to come together as a community of faith, to put aside our individual agendas and to seek God’s direction for us? Are you willing to put the health of this congregation; to put yesterday, today, and tomorrow into God’s hands?

I believe that God has a plan for our community of faith here at 3801 N. Keeler Avenue in the Old Irving Park neighborhood of Chicago. I believe we can be a group of followers who love and know Jesus. We can be people who come together and constantly devote themselves to prayer. We can be a band of disciples who receive the Holy Spirit and who are empowered to go out and spread the love of God in our community.

God loves us! God has called us! Our loving God has a plan for our world, a plan that includes us! And God will provide the Spirit to energize us and enable us to do things that will amaze, astonish, and inspire. But only if we, as a community of faith, seek God through prayer

(Stop and pray)…

Posted by vickie at May 11, 2008 10:00 AM