The Whisper to the Ordinary: Spiritual Break Out

Date: March 6th, 2011

Speaker: Pastor Kevin Snyder

Title: The Whisper to the Ordinary: Spiritual Break Out

Text: Acts2: 2 - 13

INTRODUCTION

Mark Buchanon tells a story of when he was speaking at a youth camp. He held up 2 videos cases for a group of about 70 young people to see. One was the case for the first Indiana Jones movie where the archeologist-adventurer goes flinging across continents, brawling with a host of rivals and enemies, swimming oceans and scaling stone walls in a race to find the Ark of the Covenant. The cover had a picture of Indiana’s sweat-soaked face, a cut wet with blood across the one cheek. Around him were pictures of a Nazi villain, a hooded cobra, a ship under siege.

The other video cover showed a sewing machine with a swatch of cloth clamped beneath its chrome foot. The swatch was rough-hewn on one side, neatly stitched on the other side. It was a training video for using the machine.

I asked the young people, “When you look around at the churches today, which of these videos would you say best captures the essence of the Christian life?”

Every single one of them said the sewing machine training video.

I wonder if those young people are right.

I wonder if we have done that in more ways than we like to admit.

We have taken refuge from “mystery/adventure” in numbers, formulas, 3-point sermons, 7 step regimen , 10 tips for fuller faith…
We’ve become masters of the how-to manual.
We have compressed the biblical story into principles, techniques, steps to take.

And to a point that is necessary and practical, but I wonder if that causes us to become uncomfortable with Acts 2. Because in Acts we encounter the “uncontrollable”. We encounter the “unsafe” God. When the H.S. comes on the believers 3 “break-outs” happen, any one of which often causes us to feel uncomfortable.(look at these individually over next 3 weeks)

There is this Spiritual Break-Out (Acts 2: 1 – 13) We encounter the Spirit “which blows where it wishes” (John 3) and who blows in and does some unprecedented & kind of scarey things. The disciples start speaking in tongues they have never learned before.

There is this Faith Break-Out (Acts 2:14- 41). Jesus breaks out of the Upper Room into the marketplace. Jesus is moved from the privacy of the Upper room and into the public arena. We see unprecedented growth. 1 sermon….3000 new believers.

There is this Relational Break-Out (Acts 2: 42 – 47). These individual Christians experience new levels of community. They care for one another. They learn together. They serve together. Believers start selling property and giving it to meet needs. They experience a radical version of community.

When I look at Acts through that lens, I wonder if we North American Christians would rather stay in Acts ch 1.

We would like to stay in our Upper Room where we all believe the same thing, speak the same lingo, have the same history, and it’s comfortable. We would like to stay together behind “locked social doors” from that “big, anti-christian, evil world”.
We would like to sit and discuss Scripture , pray and elect leaders….
We would like to stay there till Jesus comes.

Max Lucado describes it as our clamshell.

He writes:

p.21, - 23

Given all that, Acts 2 seems a bit unnerving…scary.

Our how-to manual is confronted with mystery.
Our crucified, now- ascended- to- heaven- distant Christ now explodes in our room in new, powerful, unexplainable ways
We encounter a God who is good, but certainly not safe….
We step into an Indiana Jones adventure clinging tightly to our sewing machine manual.

God breaks the clamshell of his church on firstly on this spiritual front.

1. Spiritual Break-Out

Acts 2:1 – 13 (The Message)

When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.

5–11 There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck. They couldn’t for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, “Aren’t these all Galileans? How come we’re hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?

Parthians, Medes, and Elamites;

Visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene;

Immigrants from Rome, both Jews and proselytes;

Even Cretans and Arabs!

“They’re speaking our languages, describing God’s mighty works!”

12 Their heads were spinning; they couldn’t make head or tail of any of it. They talked back and forth, confused: “What’s going on here?”

13 Others joked, “They’re drunk on cheap wine.”

Francis Chan writes this:

“Without the supernatural power of God in our lives, we remain incredibly ordinary. Our churches remain ordinary. At times we will attempt big things for God, but we don’t expect anything supernatural. Our natural tendency is to work in our own strength rather than relying on the Holy Spirit, and the results are not surprising.”

He goes on to describe the Holy Spirit as the “Forgotten God”

The mystery of the Holy Spirit and the excesses we have sometimes seen in his name have caused many Christians to get skiddish and fearful about the Holy Spirit

But let’s start with

Who is the Holy Spirit?
How and when do we receive the Holy Spirit?
What He came to do in our Lives?

a. WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Christian God is a Trinity.

We speak of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. Three in One. One essence, 3 in existence.

It is a mystery we wrestle with to comprehend.

i.e.

H20 – exists in 3 forms – ice, liquid, steam. Difference is that God exists in all 3 simultaneously.

If we see history as a 3 act drama, we see all 3 present in history but each personage seems to have the lead role in different parts.

The Old Testament - God the Father is featured prominently (creator, holy, transcendent, justice, above all).
In the New Testament Gospels - God the Son (Jesus Christ) takes the lead role (love, grace, holy).
Acts 2 & thereafter we see the H.S. featured primarily.

At times it seems they are all different, but the way to understand God and his nature, is through the person of Jesus Christ. It is through the lens of Jesus that we need to see best the nature & character of the Father and the Spirit.

Hebrews 1:1 – 3 (NLT)

Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. 2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. 3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command.

Jesus spoke of this age of the Holy Spirit

He told the disciples to “wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came.”
Earlier he had told them.

Jesus refers to this time of the Holy Spirit as a better time than even when he was physically present . Better because Jesus wouldn’t just be with them , but the spirit of Jesus would be in them.

We wouldn’t just have the example of Jesus to follow in our own strength, but God would place his Spirit in us and empower us to live this Christian life.

John 15:26, 16:7,

26 “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. ….7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

Another common question is

b.“WHEN DO WE RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT?”

Now most would agree we receive the Holy Spirit when confess and ask Christ to be Savior & Lord of our lives. (Romans 8:9)

However, something more happens at Pentecost. These were believers/disciples/followers of Jesus who experienced what is often called a 2nd work of grace, infilling of the Holy Spirit here at Pentecost.

We see that repeatedly in Acts….believers who are in filled with the Spirit and empowered to a new level. Often we read that the apostles laid their hands on people and they received the Holy Spirit.

What is that?

Perhaps it is by our neglect we don’t realize the power of the Holy Spirit that is present in our lives. We don’t recognize or capture the power available to us through the Holy spirit.

Romans 8:11 –

The same Spirit of power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us.

i.e.

Think of a new refrigerator… won’t keep things cold…phone warranty service….have you plugged it in….didn’t know I needed to… goofy.

But sometimes as Christians we don’t know that the Spirit is available to us. We have not plugged in.

Jesus said: Ask for the Holy Spirit. Access him. Ask him to fill you.

There are generally 2 branches of the Christian church that emphasize this role & experience of the H.S.:

A. Holiness churches – (COG,Alliance, Nazarene, Salvation Army, etc) believe that when ask for that infilling of the Holy Spirit we are empowered to live the Christian life….we gain a new strength. We are “sanctified” (cleansed ) and we see increasingly the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives (love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control). The fruit of his presence are these qualities that we want but are so hard to produce by our own strength.

B. Pentecostal & Charismatic churches. They agree with the fruit, but put emphasize the divine empowerment that the Spirit gives, called gifts. Some of these would say that the evidence of the infilling is speaking in tongues….same as Acts 2. Now many of us don’t agree that the gift of tongues is the defining evidence….fruit and other gifts as well.

But both of these branches would emphasize that receiving the Holy Spirit is like plugging in a refrigerator… When that happens is less important than making sure it does happen.

And so whether a new Christian or a veteran don’t miss out or neglect the huge resource God has given us in his Holy Spirit. Ask God to infill you…Ask God to plug you in. That is what happened to these believers at Pentecost.

C. WHAT DID THE HOLY SPIRIT COME TO DO IN OUR LIVES?

This is often where our fear resides…we are afraid of becoming weird, spooky…or all alike. We fear where this adventure into the “holy wild” will take us and so we cling to the sewing machine manual.

Well, lets go back & look at Acts 2 & the images associated with the Holy Spirit. Answers somewhat where the Spirit wants to take us spiritually.

In Acts 2 we are met with 3 images associated with the Holy Spirit

A strong and rushing wind
Tongues like as of fire on their heads
Speaking in other tongues

a. WIND = newness of life, growth

In Scripture the wind or breath of God is associated with his creative, and life-giving.

In Gen 1 God breathed in man and he became a living soul.
In Ezekiel 37 – God breathes in the valley of dry bones and the bones regain flesh and come to life.
In John 3 in the conversation with Nicodemus the Spirit is likened to the wind that blows into ones life and renews it….give new birth.

The picture here is that God blows into the lives of these believers a newness of life. His power is poured into them.

b. THE FIRE ON THEIR HEADS = purifying

Fire in Scripture is often identified with God’s purifying. Our works are put through the fire and what is not of God is burned up.

Here the purifying work of the spirit comes upon his people.
He is our Sanctifier.
Working in us to progressively make us more like Christ.
Cleansing our attitudes, our hearts and making them increasingly vessels through whom he can work and dwell.

c. SPEAKING IN TONGUES = divine empowerment

In this text, these people began speaking in languages they had not previously learned. They were foreign languages.

Interesting thing in Acts is that whenever the Gospel spreads into another realm, expands to a new culture/people it is accompanied by tongues. With this gift God is saying this message, this faith is for the whole world. It isn’t just for Israel. It is a world-wide message.

Generally, it speaks to the Holy Spirit empowerment for life and ministry. He enables us to do more than our experience and abilities. There is a divine enablement . There is an “x” factor that is added to life and ministry….Something that just is more than the sum of our activity or can be explained humanly. There is a God-thing at work…..a sense of the mysterious.

APPLICATION

What does this say to us today?

I guess it asks a question:

If I were to hold up those 2 DVD’s what would best describe your Christian life?

Is it an adventure?

A life of whispers, God-nudgings, powerful surprises, moments of being “wonder struck”, moments when you are surprised yourself how your little “x” was magnified, how something impacted more than you thought, sprinkled with God-stories, ….can you see movement, growth, change as you reflect back on your life?
Do you find a new strength at work enabling you in your life to overcome temptations, old habits, bad attitudes…. A new courage to face things in your life? Are you willing to enter the “holy wild”?
To some this kind of life looks like foolishness…crazy….like been drinking too much.

Or does your Cn life resemble a sewing machine training manual?

Reduced to formulas, methods, how-to’s, rituals….form but with little power. Is it as Francis Chan says “ ordinary”? Do you feel yourself more living in Acts 1 caught up in praying, waiting, locked up in religious fellowship fearful of breaking out into the world….doing the church machinery of elcting just new leaders to fill the gaps…?
Is it hard to trace God’s activity or presence in your day to day life? Do you feel the Chritian life is just an exercise in “trying’ but not prevailing?
Your life is littered more with defeats than victories. The trajectory more towards worldliness than holiness?
Your experience is more one of Do’s & don’ts, duty and obligation, guilt and fear than exuberance, joyful serving, longing, and enthusiasm?

Are you caught in a clamshell of religious striving or has the clamshell been broken and you are catching the wind into the “holy wild”?

Friends, the coming of the Holy Spirit results in a spiritual break-out in the church.

There’s a new sense of life, of purifying, of empowerment like never before.
There comes an “x” factor…an unexplainable dynamic…We live more keenly on the edge of mystery.

Wrap-Up

Do you need a personal Pentecost?

Do you as a believer in Jesus need a new or renewed infilling of the Holy Spirit? A plugging, the experience of his power running through your soul….
Do you as a seeker say – “Yes, that is what my heart longs for…a spiritual adventure where I witness that life deep in my spirit, that cleansing work active in my mind and heart, that empowering in my will.” Are you ready to take hold of the hand of Jesus Christ and commit to being a follower of him.

Are you prepared to ask God to fill you at the same time with his promised Holy Spirit?

Bow your heads:

Worship team come

When I look at Acts 2 I see some believers whose faith took some bold, declaring steps. They stepped out of the privacy of the Upper Room and their faith entered the public arena. There was a spiritual break-out. They could always go back to what happened in their lives that particular Sunday. It was a defining moment.

Today, I am going to invite you to make this a “defining moment” in your spiritual life.

A moment when you say “yes” to a spirit-led, spirit-filled adventure, and a “no’ to ordinary life as it’s been.
I am going to invite you to make a step out of the privacy of your own prayers & private faith, and bring your faith into the public arena today. To risk some people thinking you are foolish, drunk as it says in Scripture.

I want to invite you as the worship team sings to come and kneel and pray at the altar:

You may be coming to ask God to fill you with his Holy Spirit- never asked for that as a believer of Jesus.
You may be coming to ask God to renew and refill you….there’s been a hole in the bucket and you’ve leaked….
You may be coming because today you are making a decision to be a follower of Jesus…
You may be coming just because you need to break out of a little clamshell you’ve created…
You may come because you are sick & tired of your sewing machine manual Chiristian life and you are saying to God I want to experience the adventure of the spirit-led life.
I believe the wind of God’s Spirit is blowing today….He is whispering….perhaps shouting to hearts today…Today can be a spiritual breakout Sunday.

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Peterson, Eugene H.: The Message : The Bible in Contemporary Language. Colorado Springs, Colo. : NavPress, 2002, S. Ac 2:1-13

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Heb 1:1-3