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I don't really follow Professional Sports other than being from New England; but apparently, there was a crazy situation this past week during the Cubs/Cardinals game. One player got knocked around by the ball 3 times in one inning!! My Pastor told us he'd been chuckling about it all week after seeing the video. The connection to the message was that The Holy Spirit can feel like that sometimes too... a shocking, sometimes painful, disorienting surprise.
So today's Big Questions are these -- Who is the Holy Spirit?? What does He do??
Appropriate questions to ask on Pentecost for sure!! And rest assured that God is not upset by our questions, or even by our doubts. When we come to Him with our struggles, that's where He meets us and shows us Who He is and works in us so we can work for Him.
Acts 2:1-21 is a familiar passage to anyone who's been around Church for a while. Or it definitely should be if it isn't. Just as there were diverse reactions to the first Pentecost, there are different views of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Let's explore it together in two pieces --
Verses 1-13 show us what happened. It answers the question of Who the Holy Spirit is. The Eleven remaining Apostles were gathered with others of Jesus' followers in one place. Suddenly, a huge gust of wind rips through the room, and fire shows above each person's head. Next thing they knew, languages they didn't know were basically "falling out of their mouths"!! The surrounding crowds probably had to retrieve their collective jaws from the ground!! LOL
As referenced above, The Holy Spirit can come as a bit of a shock. He can be a bit confusing at first. Certainly, there are varying reactions... the text says, "amazed and perplexed". It also says that some mocked them, thinking they were drunk. We find the same types of reactions in Churches today. Some embrace the Holy Spirit* and accept God's invitation to know Him on a deeper level, even if we don't fully understand. Others are taught to marginalize Him as something to be feared.* They don't have a problem with God as Father or Son, but as Spirit, they don't know what to do with that, and so they set Him aside. They believe in the Trinity, but don't embrace all of it.
Verses 14-21 show us what it meant. Peter steps up and explains to the crowd that the "craziness" is not due to drink because it's only 9 a.m., for crying out loud!! ;p Peter proceeds to quote from the Book of Joel in the OT --
"in the last days God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream drams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
This passage from Acts shows us that God meets us in the midst of our confusion and awe, and shows us Who He is. He is with us (Emmanuel), empowering us to fulfill His mission of sharing His love to the World.
There are a couple of key points to notice in the passage as a whole --
Wind and Fire -- where have we seen those before?? We've seen them in Genesis at the Creation of the World, "The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." We've seen them with Moses in the desert when God led them by a cloud during the day, and by fire at night. We saw fire at Elijah's altar on Mt. Carmel. The Holy Spirit has always been around, and He's still here for us and with us. It's God's way of being present with us for the long term until Jesus returns.
Languages -- The Spirit fell on ALL* who believed, and God caused them to speak in the languages of places across the map in that day. God uses man to fulfill His mission. He always has, from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob starting the Israelite nation; right up to Jesus who opened the way for "whosoever"* to receive His love and empower us share it to others. Jesus chose the road past the well to speak to the Samaritan Woman. He healed the Roman soldier's child.
The Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of Jesus' promise to his Apostles that He would "be with them always, even to the end of the Age."*
The question of What does He do?? has several answers. He serves us in numerous ways in His roles in our lives.
Comforter -- In John 14, this is what Jesus promises when He is preparing to die. Those of us who have experienced profound grief and yet had a sense of inexplicable peace have known the Spirit in this way.
Advocate -- Later in John 14, verse 26, Jesus mentions the Holy Spirit as an advocate, teaching, guiding, and reminding them of His words. (some translations say "counsellor", my NIV included)
Counsellor -- The Holy Spirit shows us truth. Hand in hand with the advocate, if you want to see it that way...
Conviction -- in the revelation of truth in our lives, the Holy Spirit may have occasion to convict us of sin. This is the gift of God in His grace and mercy, offering us freedom and righteousness.
Sonship/Daughtership -- Rom. 8:15 Confirms that if we believe, we have a familial bond with the Father. This is evidenced by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.*
Spiritual Gifts -- Eph. 4, 1 Cor. 12+14 are key passages for these.
We tend to look for the spectacular in life, and therefore in God, but the truth is that He is equally present in the daily rhythms of our lives. The quiet moments of conversation with an unbeliever or the excitement of a new relationship, new job, winning the game, etc... Our faithfulness is seen in Heaven and Hell as well as by others here on Earth. It's an affirmation of God's power. God doesn't send the Holy Spirit to fall because we are special, but because we are His. <3 -- God Bless!!
Footnotes --
a. One of my former Churches was Word of Faith. I have a prayer language (sadly under-utilized) and I've been healed twice. My current Church doesn't practice those, but we do lay hands on or at least "reach out" towards others in collective prayer at times. b. Those who do not embrace the Holy Spirit due to mistaken dispensational beliefs, or misunderstanding and fear are truly missing out. "the End of the Age" doesn't happen until Jesus returns. It is the Church Age, not just the times of the Bible itself. Then there are those who fear it due to misunderstanding. They think tongues can only be of the Devil. These people are deceived out of a powerful resource because they believe what they are taught rather than discovering the truth for themselves. :/
a. ALL who believed -- not just the Jews, and not just men!! The only reason God started with the Jews is that He wanted them to be the ones sharing His love to the World. When they messed up (as He knew they would), He sent Jesus as a way to open the mission up for all of us. Salvation was never just intended for the Jews. b. There are those who don't think women belong in ministry due to what they read in 1 Timothy. The problem there is that they're not looking at the Bible as a whole, nor are they looking at the historical context. The Bible mentions Deborah as a Judge in the OT as well as Ruth and Esther. Mary Magdalene, Dorcas, and Lydia are mentioned in the NT. Rahab was listed in Jesus' genealogy... The only reason for the instructions in Timothy was that 1) It was a male-dominated society. and 2) there were women speaking out of turn in the services. Passages like the one in Joel, the Eph. 4 verses, the 1 Cor. passages all prove that women DO belong in Church Leadership if God decides to put them there. (Pastoral roles included)
"Indwelling" of the Holy Spirit -- I've recently learned that some believe you HAVE to speak in other tongues in order to be saved. This simply is not true. My former Church was very clear about this. There is the Spirit "within" when one gets Saved. Then there is the Spirit "upon" when you receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. My personal view, based on Biblical accounts, is that Jesus was not able to perform miracles until the Holy Ghost came on Him at His baptism. This is why we don't see Him doing any until the Wedding at Cana. I know there are extra-Biblical writings that claim otherwise, but it just doesn't jive with me. The Holy Spirit empowers us as God sees fit, that's the anointing. The Spirit indwelling us when we are Saved is just evidence of His presence in our lives. Bottom line is this, if tongues were necessary to Salvation, verses like John 3:16 and Romans 10:9-10 would say so. Otherwise, you're doing a "Jesus +" thing, and that's just not right. Actually, Baptism isn't necessary to Salvation either. :)
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