Utterly Amazed
Trey Little | 23-May-10
"Utterly Amazed"
This morning I want to step out of our series on "Love" and I do so for a very specific reason. Today, in the life of the church, is Pentecost Sunday. A Sunday set aside each year to mark the day--50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ--that the Holy Spirit came to the church.
IN the Jewish tradition--it was The Jewish Festival of Weeks which began when the first fruits of the harvest were presented to God 50 days after the Passover.
However, for our purposes--we set aside this day to remember the coming of the Holy Spirit to the church.
Let's once again remind ourselves of that day as we turn to Acts 2: 1-13 (pg. 1078 in your pew Bibles).
This time of year a couple of things are possible and one thing is probable. It is possible that a hail storm could fall upon us at some point over the next couple of months. Likewise, it is possible that some of us might come across a rattle snake some time in the near future. And just for the record--neither one of those possibilities are very appealing to me.
However, it is probable that during the last two weekends of June most of us will hear the song "Drunk and Disorderly."
"Drunk and disorderly, that's what they're sayin' that I was last night. Drunk and disorderly, I know that sorta behavior is criminal, sober or tight, maybe my memory ain't what it used to be, 'cause though I studied and thunk, I don't remember me getting disorderly, but I recall gettin' drunk."
I will never forget the time when a group of youth and adults from Grace Pres. in Houston came to Albany on a mission trip. Susan Waller helped secure a large block of tickets in order that we could give those "city folks" the Fandangle experience. Needless to say, they loved it. But it was the phone call I received a few days after their return to Houston that really got me. The call came from my mentor Dave McKechnie who was the pastor of Grace at that time. He said the kids and the adults loved the trip to Albany and he thanked me for hosting them. But then the conversation changed like the weather does this time of year. He said: "But I have one question for you. Why is it that I send a group to Albany to do work for the Lord and they come home singing "Drunk and Disorderly?"
What can I say?
Drunk and disorderly--that is what some accused the church of being on that first Pentecost Sunday. Just picture the scene: The eleven apostles had just heard Jesus say, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria; and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Then, shortly after that Jesus ascended into heaven--leaving the disciples awestruck and staring up into the sky--presumably with their mouths wide open. After this they make their way back to Jerusalem and make their way to the upper room--along with the "women and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and his brothers" and they prayed What a picture--all of them gathered together in prayer.
But their prayer would be focused--they prayed: "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs." And the Matthias was added to the eleven apostles.
But that was just the beginning. Because the story goes on to say that when they were all together in one place, "suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting." Now, in this part of the county we might call that a tornado--but on that day it was called the Holy Spirit. And they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And here it is in verse 4: "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."
Is there any wonder why some "made fun of them and said, 'They have had too much wine" (Acts 2: 13)?
Friends, let me ask you something: Have we ever made fun of people who worshiped and praised the Lord differently than us? Have we ever thought--at least to ourselves--that when someone raises their hands or shouts out "Praise the Lord" in the middle of a sermon that they are being a little disorderly?
I heard a funny story the other day about a rather formal congregation that was startled one Sunday morning by a sudden shout of "Praise the Lord!" A stern faced elder walked down the aisle, tapped the offender on the shoulder and said: "This is a Presbyterian church. We'll have none of that in here."
Now listen, we can laugh--but you know what, we shouldn't pick on us Presbyterians. The reality is that a hearty "Praise the Lord" would be considered out of place in many churches. The truth is many of us don't know what to do with the Holy Spirit. We don't know what to do with the stirring in our hearts that might lead to an outburst of praise and joy in the name of the Lord. We don't know how to act--because if we get too excited about what the Lord is doing in our hearts and it comes out of our mouths or is acted out in our lives, people might be "Utterly Amazed" by our behavior. They may wonder if we have been sipping on something other than grape juice.
The Jews that were gathered around the apostles when all this was happening--they didn't get it either. Verse 7 says, "Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?" They were UTTERLY AMAZED because it didn't make any sense. They couldn't figure out how such a phenomenon could be happening. But you know what is really cool--it is what they heard--did you catch it? Look again at verse 11: "we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"
Amazing--perplexing, YES! Drunk and disorderly--NO!
Friends, when the Spirit is at work in our lives--better yet, when we submit to His power in our lives--it may cause people to scratch their heads. It may even cause people to make foolish assumptions about your state of mind. And it may even cause some to challenge you due to their desire for an explanation.
But at the end of the day--if we are living in such a way that people around us can see Christ in us then why wouldn't we want people to stop us and ask, "What does this mean?" What a great opportunity for us to share with them the "reason for our hope." What a great appointment for us to inform them that "Jesus loves them and desires to be in a relationship with them." What a privilege to be able to say that it is not about you but instead about Him who lives within you.
You see, when each of us places our trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives--we receive the power of the Holy Spirit. The unfortunate thing in many of our lives is we fail to unleash the power--instead--we keep it on a leash and tie it to a pew, or a class, or a building, or tradition. But I say we let Him run!
In 1 Corinthians, as Paul was instructing the body of Christ about the various gifts of the Holy Spirit he said: "Now to each one the manifestations of the Spirit is given for the common good." He goes on to say: "All these are the work of the one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines" (1 Corinthians 12: 7; 11).
The gifts of the Holy Spirit--a topic I hope to spend more time on in the near future. But for now, on this Pentecost Sunday--suffice it to say it is paramount that we embrace the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Likewise, as believers in Jesus Christ we must enthusiastically RECEIVE and TRUST the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives--that He is at work in our lives in order that WE may be His witnesses.
Let me close with this: on the day of Pentecost there were many Jews who understood, who saw God's new view of the world through the eye of the Holy Spirit but there were also many there who did not--those who could not see the world around them in any other way than the way it had always been" (Brett Blair).
Perhaps it is time for us, as a church--as the body of Christ, to stop relying on our own powers and programs; blueprints and boilerplates; traditions and religions, and open our hearts and eyes to begin doing what the early disciples did: trust in the Holy Spirit.
If we do so--I think it is PROBABLE that we too will be "utterly amazed!"
AMEN.
This morning I want to step out of our series on "Love" and I do so for a very specific reason. Today, in the life of the church, is Pentecost Sunday. A Sunday set aside each year to mark the day--50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ--that the Holy Spirit came to the church.
IN the Jewish tradition--it was The Jewish Festival of Weeks which began when the first fruits of the harvest were presented to God 50 days after the Passover.
However, for our purposes--we set aside this day to remember the coming of the Holy Spirit to the church.
Let's once again remind ourselves of that day as we turn to Acts 2: 1-13 (pg. 1078 in your pew Bibles).
This time of year a couple of things are possible and one thing is probable. It is possible that a hail storm could fall upon us at some point over the next couple of months. Likewise, it is possible that some of us might come across a rattle snake some time in the near future. And just for the record--neither one of those possibilities are very appealing to me.
However, it is probable that during the last two weekends of June most of us will hear the song "Drunk and Disorderly."
"Drunk and disorderly, that's what they're sayin' that I was last night. Drunk and disorderly, I know that sorta behavior is criminal, sober or tight, maybe my memory ain't what it used to be, 'cause though I studied and thunk, I don't remember me getting disorderly, but I recall gettin' drunk."
I will never forget the time when a group of youth and adults from Grace Pres. in Houston came to Albany on a mission trip. Susan Waller helped secure a large block of tickets in order that we could give those "city folks" the Fandangle experience. Needless to say, they loved it. But it was the phone call I received a few days after their return to Houston that really got me. The call came from my mentor Dave McKechnie who was the pastor of Grace at that time. He said the kids and the adults loved the trip to Albany and he thanked me for hosting them. But then the conversation changed like the weather does this time of year. He said: "But I have one question for you. Why is it that I send a group to Albany to do work for the Lord and they come home singing "Drunk and Disorderly?"
What can I say?
Drunk and disorderly--that is what some accused the church of being on that first Pentecost Sunday. Just picture the scene: The eleven apostles had just heard Jesus say, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria; and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Then, shortly after that Jesus ascended into heaven--leaving the disciples awestruck and staring up into the sky--presumably with their mouths wide open. After this they make their way back to Jerusalem and make their way to the upper room--along with the "women and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and his brothers" and they prayed What a picture--all of them gathered together in prayer.
But their prayer would be focused--they prayed: "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs." And the Matthias was added to the eleven apostles.
But that was just the beginning. Because the story goes on to say that when they were all together in one place, "suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting." Now, in this part of the county we might call that a tornado--but on that day it was called the Holy Spirit. And they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And here it is in verse 4: "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."
Is there any wonder why some "made fun of them and said, 'They have had too much wine" (Acts 2: 13)?
Friends, let me ask you something: Have we ever made fun of people who worshiped and praised the Lord differently than us? Have we ever thought--at least to ourselves--that when someone raises their hands or shouts out "Praise the Lord" in the middle of a sermon that they are being a little disorderly?
I heard a funny story the other day about a rather formal congregation that was startled one Sunday morning by a sudden shout of "Praise the Lord!" A stern faced elder walked down the aisle, tapped the offender on the shoulder and said: "This is a Presbyterian church. We'll have none of that in here."
Now listen, we can laugh--but you know what, we shouldn't pick on us Presbyterians. The reality is that a hearty "Praise the Lord" would be considered out of place in many churches. The truth is many of us don't know what to do with the Holy Spirit. We don't know what to do with the stirring in our hearts that might lead to an outburst of praise and joy in the name of the Lord. We don't know how to act--because if we get too excited about what the Lord is doing in our hearts and it comes out of our mouths or is acted out in our lives, people might be "Utterly Amazed" by our behavior. They may wonder if we have been sipping on something other than grape juice.
The Jews that were gathered around the apostles when all this was happening--they didn't get it either. Verse 7 says, "Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?" They were UTTERLY AMAZED because it didn't make any sense. They couldn't figure out how such a phenomenon could be happening. But you know what is really cool--it is what they heard--did you catch it? Look again at verse 11: "we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"
Amazing--perplexing, YES! Drunk and disorderly--NO!
Friends, when the Spirit is at work in our lives--better yet, when we submit to His power in our lives--it may cause people to scratch their heads. It may even cause people to make foolish assumptions about your state of mind. And it may even cause some to challenge you due to their desire for an explanation.
But at the end of the day--if we are living in such a way that people around us can see Christ in us then why wouldn't we want people to stop us and ask, "What does this mean?" What a great opportunity for us to share with them the "reason for our hope." What a great appointment for us to inform them that "Jesus loves them and desires to be in a relationship with them." What a privilege to be able to say that it is not about you but instead about Him who lives within you.
You see, when each of us places our trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives--we receive the power of the Holy Spirit. The unfortunate thing in many of our lives is we fail to unleash the power--instead--we keep it on a leash and tie it to a pew, or a class, or a building, or tradition. But I say we let Him run!
In 1 Corinthians, as Paul was instructing the body of Christ about the various gifts of the Holy Spirit he said: "Now to each one the manifestations of the Spirit is given for the common good." He goes on to say: "All these are the work of the one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines" (1 Corinthians 12: 7; 11).
The gifts of the Holy Spirit--a topic I hope to spend more time on in the near future. But for now, on this Pentecost Sunday--suffice it to say it is paramount that we embrace the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Likewise, as believers in Jesus Christ we must enthusiastically RECEIVE and TRUST the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives--that He is at work in our lives in order that WE may be His witnesses.
Let me close with this: on the day of Pentecost there were many Jews who understood, who saw God's new view of the world through the eye of the Holy Spirit but there were also many there who did not--those who could not see the world around them in any other way than the way it had always been" (Brett Blair).
Perhaps it is time for us, as a church--as the body of Christ, to stop relying on our own powers and programs; blueprints and boilerplates; traditions and religions, and open our hearts and eyes to begin doing what the early disciples did: trust in the Holy Spirit.
If we do so--I think it is PROBABLE that we too will be "utterly amazed!"
AMEN.
