Acts 2. 13-41 The Presence of the Spirit.

So, the Spirit has come on the Day of Pentecost.  Heaven has broken in a fresh way into life on earth.  120 Jesus-followers are out on the streets, talking in languages they don't understand, and many of the bystanders, foreign visitors to Jerusalem, hear God's praises in their mother tongues. They're amazed. But some make joke:  “Look at that bunch of alkies!”  That gives Peter his lead-in.

The Promise and Word of the Father.
Speaking as a good Jew to his fellow Jews, he says, “These men are not drunk as you suppose, for it's only nine o'clock in the morning.”(v15) Good Jews only drank wine at the end of the day.    It's not just a matter of their not having had the time to get properly drunk – they were stone cold sober.  Rather, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel (v 16)  Peter relates the Presence of the Spirit to the  Promise and Word of the Father.   Basically, this is what God said would happen. 

“I will pour my Spirit over all flesh.”  Peter has affirmed the Disciples' well-behaved Jewishness; he speaks to his fellow Israelites.  But the coming of the Spirit is bigger than Israel.  His coming – indeed the plan of God – enfolds the whole world, every tribe, every race, every age, every class, male and female  This is a world-touching event that is immediately bigger than Judaism.

And when the Spirit comes on all these people he will bring revelation: “Sons and daughters shall prophecy; old and young shall dream dreams.”  The Father always wants to speak to his people – and to the nations.  Hence the Presence of the Spirit always brings revelation.

The prophecy Peter quotes is that of Joel, where God speaks through the horrible experience of a locust plague, to warn of an invasion by an army that will swarm like locusts... there is judgement as well as blessing in the book of Joel.  It is in that warning that the promise comes, that the Spirit will be poured out.   John the Baptist prophesied that Jesus would baptise with the Spirit and with fire.  The Spirit is the “Eschatological” Spirit.  He is given in the last days.   The last days will and do involve God's judgement on the sin and evil that are present all around us.  Greed, Hatred, Idolatry, Injustice, Racism, Sexual immorality, Terrorism, Thieving, Violence, these things we see around us in a broken world – will stand under god's judgement.   But they will not be eradicated until Jesus comes back.  We are living in the last days and have been since Jesus announced God's Kingdom.  When Peter preached at Pentecost, it was only seven weeks since the sun had been darkened (while Jesus died on the Cross – see Lk 23. 44).   It's part of the Father's plan. 

And everyone who calls on the name of the lord shall be saved.  Joel says in his next chapter,  Multitudes, in the valley of decision!  (Joel 3. 14)  Can we see that, with prophetic imagination?  

The Presence of the Spirit, comes in fulfilment of the Promise of the Father... and that promise enfolds the world, includes judgement, and beckons us, in the power of the Spirit, to see the multitudes in the valley of decision.

The Person and Work of the Son.
The promises of God, the salvation God for all who call, the Kingdom,  he wants to establish; these things are brought in by Jesus...  So Peter starts again, a second point: “Fellow Israelites, Jesus of Nazareth...(v22)”  ...has poured out what you are seeing and hearing.(v33)   Peter relates the Presence of the Spirit to the Person and works of Jesus.,.,. 

Jesus was attested to you my many works and miracles.  The early Church's Message began with the truth that the time of fulfilment had arrived.  So does the Message of Jesus, in Mk 1. 15.  And the signs that the Kingdom had come, were the healing that he did. (Lk 7, 19; Lk 9. 11)  Jesus brings the promised Kingdom
“You, with the help of wicked men, put him to death” Peter says it twice, in verse 23 and 36.  “You did it!”   Those three words are part of my story of finding faith in Jesus.  It was when I realised that the wrong stuff in my life had contributed to the death of Jesus, that I knew I really had to hand my life over to god in repentance and faith.   The Cross was God's way of dealing with the sin of the world.   Jesus brings salvation by his death.

“But God raised him..” (v 24) t Peter doesn't dwell on the crucifixion but sees it as one piece with the resurrection...  He quotes Psalm 16. 8-11 and Psalm 110. 1 to show that the death, resurrection and ascending of Jesus to heaven, were part of God's plan. David's ancient words have to point to someone more important than old, dead-and-buried King David.   Jesus today is seated at his Father's right hand in glory.   (Eph 1. 20; Col 3. 1; Heb 1. 3)   Jesus is the Victor.

All he did – his teaching, healing, compassionate and challenging service; his sacrificial death, and his resurrection – they all lead to this: triumph; victory; glory, seated at the right hand of the Father. 
And it is from there, from Father's right hand, that Jesus has poured out the Holy Spirit.   Tee Presence and wonders of the Spirit, flow from the risen Jesus. They flow from the Person and Work of Jesus. 

The response: “Brothers, what should we do?” (v. 37)
The trinitarian message, the presence of the Spirit, rooted in the promise of the Father and the Person of the Son, demands of us that we ask “What should we do?”  Now sometimes, just occasionally, I muff things up a bit.  Isn't that right?  We have this discussion about how to encourage response to the word; how to encourage everyone to receive from God and to commit to following Jesus.  Why do I keep saying “If you want prayer, go to the front, wait behind after the service” or whatever...?  Simply this: because we need to do something.   God gave us bodies, voices, minds.  We need to respond.  We need to take clear steps. 

The steps Peter calls for are:

• “Repent”  (Μετανοήσατε) means “all of you (it's plural) once and for all, undergo a change in frame of mind and feeling, of principle and practise.” It involves a total turnaround in a person's life.  A change in the principles we live by; a change in how we think and feel, leading to a change in how we behave. 
• “Be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins”  βαπτισθήτω  means (let each one of you be baptised).  One at a time, we need to come to Jesus and admit to him that we need the forgiveness of sins. No-one else can do that for you.

 
Do you need to be baptised in order to become a follower of Jesus, to have everlasting life? No, you need to repent and trust.   That's the plain teaching of the New Testament.  But if you are not prepared to obey the clear instructions of the Lord Jesus, the thing to do, what does that say about our repentance and our faith? Are we trying to get salvation on the cheap?  

And as a result, people received forgiveness of their sins; they received the Holy Spirit; they were added to the Church.  The three belong together. You can’t really pick and choose which bits you want and which you don't want.  Repentance, faith, baptism, lead to forgiveness of sins, the power of the Spirit, and being part of the body. 

Now, that word is for all of us.  If you have never really had a relationship with God, you need to come to Jesus today in repentance and faith and obedience.  Then you will receive forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit as a gift.  If you are thirsty for a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit in your life, - and even if you're not – you need to come to Jesus in repentance and faith. 

© Gilmour Lilly May  2013

Acts 2. Pentecost: Filled with the Spirit

Acts 2.  Pentecost: Filled with the Spirit

Luke tells the story of “The Acts of Jesus – part two” with tremendous skill and theological insight... Just as his Gospel begins with the miracles of coming of the Spirit to Mary to bring about the birth of Jesus, so Acts begins with the miracles of the coming of the Spirit to bring to birth the Church.  And he begins this story of the coming of the Spirit, with the countdown to the Day of Pentecost,  which means the fiftieth day. But the fiftieth day from what?

For Jews, it was fifty days since the beginning of Passover, when among other things the the very first harvested sheaf of barley was offered to god.  Fifty days later was the end of the harvest season, and Pentecost was the second harvest festival.

And that means that for Christians, it was fifty days since the resurrection of Jesus. Luke exploits the sense of anticipation.  You just know something’s going to happen... .  Just as the resurrection of Jesus was the beginning of the harvest, Pentecost in the climax of it.  

But the disciples who gathered didn't know what was going to happen.  They were waiting for the promise... but they had no way of knowing it would happen on the day of Pentecost.  And they had no way of knowing what it was going to be like when it did happen. But they were together in one place... doing what Jesus had told them to do... waiting for the promise...

And then it happened...  Suddenly there was...

Firstly a sound – like a rushing mighty wind that filled the place..  A sound so intense you could touch it.  Bruce Springsteen's “wall of sound” was tame by comparison!!!.   This sound was reminiscent of occasions in the Old testament when God moved by his Spirit.  In fact the Hebrew word ruach and the Greek word pneuma both meaning “air in motion”: Spirit, wind or breath. 

• So David sings praise that God “soared on the wings of the wind” and “the  foundations of the earth [were] laid bare... at the blast of breath from his nostrils.” (2 Sam 22. 11, 16)
• Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones is told to ‘Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.”’ (Ezek 37. 9)
• In the New testament, Jesus says to Nicodemus, who is seeking the truth about the Kingdom of God: “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (Jn 3. 8)

But Luke describes the experience as “Like” a wind.    It reminds me of Ezekiel trying to describe to describe his vision of God, and three times he says “it was like...” (Ezekiel 1  verses 16, 22 and 26)  In the end he says such was the “appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. (v 28)  Both Ezekiel and Luke are trying to describe the indescribable.

Secondly,  a sight: that looked like tongues of fire, dividing and settling on each of them. Again, it's the indescribable: it is like fire... And again,  fire was a sign of god's presence and his awesome, holy character. 

• Ex 19. 18 describes what happened when God started to lead Israel through the desert: “Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.” 
• When Elijah encountered the Lord the prelude to it all was earthquake, wind and fire (1 Kings 19)
• John the Baptist prophesies that Jesus will “baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Lk 3. 16)

Thirdly, an internal experience: they were filled with the Spirit and began to speak in tongues... as the Spirit gave them utterance.  From our point of view, we may have heard people speaking in tongues or done so ourselves; or at least we have heard of it.  But for the first disciples, it was a new thing.  It wasn't just new in their experience.  It was totally unprecedented and unexpected.  Nothing like it had happened before.  It had not even been prophesied directly and clearly.  Yes in 1 Cor 14. 21 Paul quotes from Isa 28. 11 “with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people” – but in its original context that prophecy was about God speaking to Israel through foreigners. No-one had any reason to expect speaking in tongues to happen.  Nobody knew it was supposed to happen. Nobody was trying to make it happen.   It just happened. The Spirit filled them and gave them this flow of speech.

The first thing to note about this event, is not its significance as an expression of mission.  The first thing to notice is its significance as an encounter with the Almighty. Before it was an outreach  moment, it was a God-moment. It was part of the overwhelming, surprising thing that the Spirit was doing in their lives. They weren't thinking “ I'll go out and evangelise a few Persians or a few Libyans in their own language.”  They were thinking,  “Hey, God is so holy, so good, so powerful, so gracious, so generous.  Thank you God”  and what came out of their mouths, was God's praise in words that they didn't know but that made sense to Persians, Libyans, and so on.

(That, incidentally is how tongues is supposed to work. The Spirit searches our hearts and gives expression to what is in our hearts: see Rom 8. 26-27)

But the disciples who were together on the day of Pentecost would learn all that later on.  When the Spirit came, the focus isn't on the results of Pentecost but on its source.   The expression of mission flows from the encounter with the Almighty.   Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, was right when he said, “It is not the church of God that has a mission in the world, but the God of mission that has a church in the world...”

Conclusion

Andromeda Galaxy. NASA photo

This is a hugely significant cosmic event.  It is right up there with creation, the incarnation, the death and resurrection of Jesus, as a moment when eternity made a permanent, lasting effect on the  physical universe.  These 120 followers of Jesus, were together, waiting for the Promise,  and they were overwhelmed with the presence of God.   The Spirit had come.  And he still wants to come.

This is what God wants to do.  He wants to overwhelm us with the presence and power of Jesus through the Spirit.  Peter tells the crowd in Jerusalem, “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2. 39)   Paul prays for the Ephesians “That you may be filled to the measure of all the fulness of God  (Eph 3. 19).

The Spirit comes to seal us in what the blood of Jesus has bought for us: to baptise us into all that God is and all that God is doing.  The Spirit comes, and when he does, we are

• Overwhelmed
• Surprised
• Empowered. 

All the other stuff the Spirit does, prayer, gifts, service, compassion, mission, outreach, and fellowship all flow from and are the results of that moment of encounter with God. 

Our understanding and experience of the spirit are all different.  Some of us rejoice that God gave us his Spirit when we became Christians, but know little of gifts; some of us have sought to be filled with the Spirit; some have spoken in tongues or prophesied r been used in evangelism.  But whatever we have or have not received from God, there is always more to receive.  All of us can say to God today “Send your Spirit again. Overwhelm me; surprise me; empower me!”

© Gilmour Lilly May  2013

Acts 1. 12-26: A week is a long time...

The story so far...
They say a week is a long time in politics.  The ten days between when Jesus ascended to Heaven, and Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came, was long enough for something to happen.  Peter stood up “among the believer and said they really needed to find a replacement for Judas, who had betrayed Jesus.  He had been one of the twelve Apostles. He had then taken his own life.  So there was a gap: the Twelve were now only Eleven and to Peter it didn't feel right. So he told the group to choose someone to take Judas' place as an Apostle.  It must be someone who – like Judas – had been with Jesus from the very start of his ministry, and who was a witness to the  resurrection.

There were two men who seemed equally suitable: they had been following Jesus throughout his ministry and had met Jesus again after the resurrection; presumably they had other strengths that made them seem particularly suitable.  But their discussion could only narrow their selection down to two...

So they prayed, and asked the Lord to show which of the two He wanted to become the twelfth Apostle.  Then they wrote the names, Joseph and Matthias on stones or pieces of broken pottery, put them in a jar, shook it up and picked or threw one out.  Matthias was declared to be the twelfth Apostle. 

What's the point?  
Now, When I read this, I wondered what Luke wanted us to teach us by giving us this story?  And I wondered what God wants to teach us today through this story.

Luke gave us the story, primarily, because it happened. Luke tells the story positively and without comment.    But what does he see in the story?   I believe the good things about this action were: 

1. They believed the bible.  Peter interprets Judas' action from Scripture, quoting Ps 69:25 and Ps 109:8...  Luke is happy enough to use the story to remind us that what we do is rooted in God's historic dealings with people as recorded and prophesied in the Bible.  We need to be confident in the Bible, to trust its authority and to be taught and guided by it.
2. They wanted clear and effective witness to honour Jesus.  Central to what they were about, was the message contained in the Jesus story.  Jesus is central.  As Luke tells the story it’s a reminder that Jesus is central and that the mission of the Church is foremost.
3. They were thinking apostolic, by appointing someone to be Apostle (Someone sent out) and “witness with us...”   They are accepting the importance of witness and preparing for the task.  Before, they had been asking “are you restoring the Kingdom now?” In choosing another Apostle, their actions show  that they were beginning to think in terms of getting ready for the long haul.  I don't believe that Paul was meant to be the twelfth apostle.  His ministry was a different kind of apostleship, and a pointer to the fact that we will always need the apostolic anointing. We're all meant to be sent out ones.  C H Spurgeon once said “Every Christian is either a missionary – or an imposter!” 
4. They prayed - eventually.  (Although doesn't it look like they only made it a matter for prayer when they got stuck?)  But once they narrowed the field down to two men, they asked God to show by the process of casting lots, whom he had chosen.
5. And just in case you think it seemed a bit odd that a position like that in the leadership of the church should be decided by pulling a name out of a hat, casting lots was a recognised traditional way of finding out God's will in Old Testament times. The “Urim and Thummim” that the priest had attached to his garment, were a means of casting lots to find out what God was saying.  They were probably two stones with the words “Curse” and “Perfection” engraved on either side.

What's the problem? 
Firstly, finding a replacement for Judas, was not something Jesus had told them to do.  Waiting in Jerusalem, for the Holy Spirit to come, was what he had told them to do.  After all, if it was that important, Jesus would have told them to find someone.

Secondly, nowhere else in the New Testament was casting lots used as a way of making a decision – except by the soldiers who crucified Jesus!   Jesus spent a night alone with the Father before appointing the twelve.  The Church talked things out, and made decisions (Acts 6. 1-5); or else, when they were praying, the Holy Spirit gave clear and direct instructions (Acts 13. 1-3).  As John Chrysostom, Bede, and others point out, the Church were in an “absence” situation.  They no longer had the direct presence of Jesus with them; and the did not yet have the Holy Spirit inside them.  So they resorted to methods which were good – they were Biblical, prayerful, well-intentioned, rooted in tradition, and things God had already used.  But they were the means of absence rather than presence. 

I believe if they had simply waited on God, the Holy Spirit when he came would have led them to the right person, if indeed they needed to appoint the twelfth apostle at all. 

These are two weaknesses the Church keeps coming back to. 
1. We find it difficult to wait: just to wait on the Lord. We're very good at finding other things to do with waiting time.  Pam worked in Africa with mission partners who wouldn't sit down to take part in an evening of fellowship without bringing their knitting or crochet.   We plan. We find jobs for people or people for jobs.  We tidy things up.
2. We find strategies for coping without God.  We do good things, Biblical things, sensible things, well-intentioned things – but things that betray a lack of expectancy that God will act; things that seem as though it all depends on us, or activity, our  decisions, our resources.  We do things that are based on God's absence rather than his presence.

What's the difference? 
What is God saying to us through this story?  He calls us to faith.....

Firstly, faith to believe he is able to work through and in spite of  our weaknesses and foolishness.  Okay, Jesus didn't specifically tell the disciples to appoint another Apostle, but I don't think Matthias was the wrong guy,  Sure, he is never mentioned again in the NT: but only three of the Apostles are clearly referred to again in the Acts: Peter, James, and John. That doesn't mean that  Thomas or Batholomew didn't achieve anything. Far from it: I believe that what they did , and what Matthias did, still mattered.    Even though some of our structures are clunky, God can still use them. Even though we are not perfect, and we have our weaknesses, God can use  us, because he is sovereign.

Secondly,  faith to wait instead of assuming we always have to be busy.  We have a message and a mission.  There is a lost world out there and there is an urgency about the kingdom of God.  But we must have the faith to wait upon the Lord.  Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They that rush around like headless chickens shall definitely NOT renew their strength...

Thirdly, faith to believe and expect God to be at work, to speak, to act where we are. Faith for presence not absence.  Faith to let God act, instead of acting for him. 

A week is s long time in politics.  But time spent waiting on God is never wasted. And he can work mightily in a split second!

© Gilmour Lilly May  2013

Acts 1. 1-11: Wait for the promise

The Proof
People have sometimes suggested that the Acts should be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit.  But it would be better to describe Acts as ”The Acts of Jesus – part 2”, as Luke makes clear in his introduction (v 1).  Everything about the book called the Acts of the Apostles, is about Jesus. 

Jesus is central and all that goes before – the life,death, and resurrection of Jesus, is certain...  So in that period between rising again and being finally taken into heaven, Jesus “showed himself alive, by many convincing proofs.”, providing the proof that this resurrection thing was not just some airy-fairy idea that the Church believed, that somehow Jesus was still with them in spirit. It was concrete reality. He has dealt with sin.  He  has conquered death. Jesus is still in the business of bringing God's Kingdom. He teaches about the Kingdom and that's the bedrock on which Luke builds his story.  “The Kingdom is still the message of the Church” (Marshall)  In the death and resurrection of Jesus, that message has been developed and grown: now the decisive victory of the Kingdom has actually been won.  Jesus has died and risen again!

The Pause
On one occasion when Jesus was spending time with the disciples, probably eating a meal with them, he told them: ”Don't leave Jerusalem, but wait ...”  There are a number of instincts the Disciples have to curb: the temptation to go back home and see friends, maybe the need to earn some money (Peter had already been up to Galilee on a fishing trip); possibly a feeling of impatience for the next stage in the adventure of the Kingdom. But they are not to rush ahead into a project – however good or well-intentioned. They are to wait in Jerusalem.  This is deliberate, purposeful waiting, together, as a  community.  We need to take time to wait.  This month, as we journey towards Pentecost, we are going to wait, inviting the Holy Spirit to come. 

The Promise
They are to wait for the promise to be fulfilled: “You shall be baptized with the holy spirit”   They had to wait specifically for an encounter with the Holy Spirit that is so comprehensive that the picture of water is inadequate on its own.  This “Baptism” from God's point of view was an “outpouring”: God says “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh...” (Joel 2. 28-32).  From the Disciples' point of view it meant that they would be immersed, drenched, in the Holy Spirit, and in that drenching, initiated into life in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit would come upon them in power.  “Don't leave town without the Holy Spirit!”  There is quite literally nothing we can do without the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. 

The Purpose : 
The promise of a “Baptism of the Spirit” excites these disciples, as it recalled the words of John the Baptist about the Messiah a few years earlier: “He will  baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”  And they knew Jesus was the Messiah.  He had won the big “Kingdom Victory” on the Cross.  So as he says “You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit”, they naturally thought such a baptism would precede the final triumph of the Kingdom.   They were getting  this baptism to enable them to be part of that final triumph. 

Well, yes... and no.  Yes, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was part of the Joel Prophecy of the “Last days”.   There are three problems  with this question, that Jesus tackles in his answer...
Tribe.  The disciples were asking about Israel. But the coming of the Spirit was about witness to all people: Jerusalem,   Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth – even Scotland!
Timing.   The disciples wanted the final victory now; Jesus had already talked about troubles before the end (Lk 21) and wanted the time for the Gospel to go to all nations. The “Last days” means that extended period when the good news goes out to all nations. 
Triumph.    The disciples thought the restoration of Israel would mean political authority and power for them.  They had already shown their desire for positions of authority (see Mark 10. 35ff).  Jesus says “These dates the Father has set by his own authority.  It's about God's authority not yours.  But you shall have power, and shall be my witnesses.”  The disciples craved political, fleshly authority and power.  Jesus offered Spiritual authority and power,

The very experience of being a witness is a fulfillment of Old testament Prophecy: see Isa 43.10.  So when the Spirit comes, the immediate Kingdom event is not the triumph of Israel, but witness. They were being baptized with the Holy Spirit in order to equip them for witness, continuing the ministry of Jesus, that was going to be a vital, long-haul necessity until he returns. 

We sometimes regret the loss of power in our world. So we talk about a time when “this was a Christian Nation”, people “respected the Church”' and the country was run on Christian principles.  But the world at the time of the Early Church was certainly not run on Christian principles. The Roman world was as debauched, cynical and violent as ours.  Yet that godless world was the one in which the Church experienced exponential growth.

We want to live in a world that says “Jesus is Lord,” and looks to the Church to tell them how to live.  That is fleshly authority – it comes from man.  Spiritual authority can live in a world that says “Caesar is Lord” and has the authority and power to say “No, Jesus is Lord!”.  Spiritual authority comes from God. It enables us to be prophetic, compassionate, and effective witnesses in our hostile world.

The Parting.
And those were his last words... Having  insisted that the Spirit's coming would equip the disciples for witness, Jesus was taken up from the disciples in to the clouds.  And that means that everything has changed.  They – and we – don't have Jesus in physical form to run to with our questions.  As He said to Mary at the tomb, “Don't hold on to me...”  No wonder they were looking up at the clouds as though wishing they could turn the clock back just a few minutes.
But that doesn't mean absence. It means anointing, in anticipation of his return, when he will triumph completely.  He is going to come back, in the same way they saw him go.  The anointing is for that period, between his ascension and his return... so that we can be witnesses... to Jerusalem, and Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth – even Scotland! 

© Gilmour Lilly May  2013