The gospel of Jesus Christ is the most Potent agent of change on earth. When the church is alive and well, people are continually being changed. Therefore, I am always alert for stories of change.
One of my favorites comes out of a rural area near Cairo, Georgia. Two brothers grew up on a farm there. One brother took to education like a duck to water. He graduated from Georgia Tech and became a renowned engineer in Chicago. The other brother was content to stay home and farm. Some years later the learned brother was invited to give a speech in Atlanta at the Peachtree Plaza Hotel. He had not seen his brother in a long while so he invited him to bring his family to the hotel and spend a little time with him.
The rural brother had never been in a town bigger than Cairo. He and his wife and son piled into their pickup truck and headed for Atlanta. After a fearful experience on the interstate highways, they pulled up in front of the Peachtree Plaza. The farmer left his wife in the truck. He and his son went inside to check in. Just inside the entrance were a number of elevators. The farmer had never seen one before. He watched a large, very
plain, middle aged lady step inside one of those little rooms. The doors closed. After about a minute, the doors opened and out stepped a young lady who was a vision of loveliness. The farmer's eyes bugged out. Quickly he punched his son and said, "Boy, go get Your Maw. I'm gonna run her through that thing one time."
Don't we wish change came about that easily?!
The most exciting changes ever witnessed in a group of human beings happened two thousand years ago on a day called Pentecost. Pentecost means literally "50." It was an annual Jewish festival that took place fifty days after another Jewish festival called Passover. At the Passover festival Jesus had been arrested and executed. Three days later He arose. During the following weeks he appeared to some 500 believers within what is now Israel.
Jews living within twenty miles of Jerusalem were required by law to attend the Pentecost festival. Thousands of other Jews from neighboring countries flocked to Jerusalem for this happy occasion. So, the city was packed with over a half-million people for this Pentecost festival described in the second chapter of Acts.
On the day of Pentecost about 120 followers of Jesus gathered in an upper room as was their custom. They were excited and expectant because they had seen the risen Christ. But they were also confused, troubled, and timid. They were meeting behind closed doors for fear of the Jews.
Then came Pentecost! It was an electrifying, life transforming experience for them. They would talk about it for the rest of their lives. At Pentecost a ragged aggregation of misfits was transformed into a disciplined cadre of spiritual storm troopers. The wimps became warriors!
On the day of Pentecost the sound of a violent wind suddenly filled their house and indeed the surrounding area. If you have ever been around a hurricane or tornado, you know how violent wind can sound.
In Hebrew the word for wind and spirit is the same--"Ruach." That mighty wind of the Spirit blew from them cobwebs of fear and uncertainty. Then came an inrushing of confidence, faith, and joy.
The disciples saw divided tongues of fire flickering above each of them. Three years earlier, John the Baptist had predicted, "One mightier than I is coming. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."
Fire has a way of burning away the chaff, anything that is useless or cumbersome. Fire also refines and galvanizes. The hearts of the disciples were set on fire with love for Christ, and with a burning desire to tell the story.
Remember that the official symbol of the United Methodist Church is a pentecostal flame and a cross. Our mission is to tell and live a cross-centered gospel, empowered and taught by the Holy Spirit. Our founder John Wesley said, "The renewal of the soul, after the image of God...can never be wrought in us except by the power of the Holy Spirit."
On the day of Pentecost the disciples thrust open those closed doors they had been hiding behind. They poured out into the streets. A crowd had already gathered, drawn by the sound of that mighty wind.
Then the disciples were suddenly enabled by the Spirit to speak the languages of all those foreigners in the crowd. Each person heard a special delivery message in his or her own language.
Just consider the changes that Pentecost wrought in the disciples. The fearful became fearless. Facing the very same Jewish Council which had condemned Jesus, Simon Peter indicted them all for executing Jesus. When the Council warned the disciples not to teach in Jesus' name, Simon Peter relied, "We must obey God rather than men." Those disciples stood like steers in a blizzard, refusing to be intimidated. When Simon Peter and John were beaten within a inch of their lives, they rejoiced over the privilege of suffering for Jesus. The amplified Bible says, "They were dignified by the indignity." Sounds more like a warriors than wimps!
The disciples who earlier had been silent began to shout the gospel. When persecution forced them out of Jerusalem, they just told the story over a wider area. The great missionary to India, E. Stanley Jones, was fond of saying, "without the Holy Spirit, I'm a mess. With the Holy Spirit I'm a message!" At Pentecost God entrusted the Gospel to a motley crew so obviously underqualified that anybody with common sense would know that the power came from God.
My challenge to us today is to dare to live a pentecostal life-style. How does one do that?
FIRST, ASK EACH DAY FOR A FRESH INFILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. In Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 18, Paul issues this command:
"Be filled with the Spirit." Those who are filled with the Holy Spirit are those who crave it, who are willing to change anything the Lord requires, who are willing to serve as the Lord commands. We should be unwilling to live a single day without being refueled by Almighty God.
A few years ago in the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, a float stalled. Frustration increased quickly because other floats could not move in this nationally televised event. Mechanics quickly surveyed the stalled float, searching for the problem. Finally, someone had the presence of mind to check for fuel. That's right. It was out of gas. This became even more embarrassing when the crowd realized that this float's sponsor was one of the major oil companies.
The power available to every Christian far exceeds fossil fuels, or even nuclear energy. The Holy Spirit is the greatest power in the universe. Ask for a daily in-filling.
NOW A SECOND CHALLENGE IF WE WOULD LIVE THE PENTECOSTAL LIFE STYLE: SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHURCH.
As we share with each other what the Spirit is doing, we strengthen and help each other grow. Recently I received a marvelous letter from one of our members. A few months ago she accepted my challenge to the nine- step prayer adventure. She went through the steps each morning as she rode her stationary bike. Listen to what she discovered:
"I came to the part that concerned me the most: 3 minutes of silence, listening to God. I reset the timer for exactly three minutes. As soon as I punched the start key, I closed my eyes and the wind found me. I could feel the touch on my face, my arms, my back. My mind knew the mantra on which to focus--I am pure capacity for God. As I exhaled, the 'pit' in my stomach dissipated, the sorrow in my chest began to leave and the fatigue of the early hour was not a factor. I inhaled and knew then that the wind I was breathing was the Holy Spirit. It was here all the time--I just had to close my eyes to know its presence."
When is the last time in your Sunday School class or your Bible study group that you shared what the Spirit has been doing in your life?
NEXT, A THIRD CHALLENGE IF YOU WOULD LIVE A PENTECOSTAL LIF
HEAD."
Remember, if you are not attempting something that you could not possibly achieve without God's help, your aim is too low.
I like the story of two caterpillars which were crawling along. They looked up and saw a beautiful butterfly flitting around. One caterpillar turned to the other and said, "Charlie, you'll never get me up in one of those things."
But God wants you to live over your head, borne on the wings of the Spirit. There are miracles God wants you to witness. There are scars He wants to remove, ministries He wants you to discover, fractured relationships He wants to reconcile. The question is: Do you have enough faith to take on something that looks impossible?
FINALLY, A FOURTH CHALLENGE IF YOU WOULD LIVE A PENTECOSTAL LIFE STYLE: GIVE GOD THE GLORY!
Make it a habit to tell people that you're living on borrowed power. Then when they ask, tell them where the power comes from. Notice in verse 11 what the disciples were telling people on the day of Pentecost: They weren't discussing their own credentials. They were proclaiming God's mighty acts.
The prolific writer Lyle E. Schaller was asked some time ago, "Isn't the hope of the United Methodist Church the young adult?" He replied, "No, that's heresy. The hope of the United Methodist Church is the Holy Spirit."
God and God alone can save a soul, transform a life, change a city, and renew a denomination. Therefore, give God the glory! Please allow me to share a very personal word. Just over a year ago when Gloria and I began to hear God's call to Memphis, I was serving a church about one-third this size. Few people if any in Memphis knew my name, and none could pronounce it. But, strangely enough, I was not afraid. Back in 1971 I had begun to learn what it means to fly on the wings of the Spirit. God taught me that if He sends me somewhere, He will always pack my suitcase. God never sends his children on a mission under-supplied.
This first year in ministry in Memphis has been a glorious experience in God's sufficiency. God has inclined you to be amazingly kind and charitable and supportive. God has augmented my limited gifts and has made me feel comfortable in this awesome responsibility. In my own strength, I never was and never will be equal to the task. But God can do extraordinary things even with ordinary people.
I dare you to live a Pentecostal life style. Resolve today that you will never be content again with a powerless, puny, poor- mouthing, pessimistic life-style. Tell God that you want to soar on the wings of the Spirit. When we do, wimps become warriors and Pentecost happens every day!