Courage
I often think of the prophets as hugely courageous men, people who spoke God’s word fearlessly and boldly. They have an other- worldly quality to them, a level of sanctity which appears beyond mere mortals like myself.
But the Bible is scrupulous in showing people as they really are (James 5:17) All the heroes of the faith had feet of clay, in effect. They were all human and knew fear and doubt. Elijah panicked when faced with the threat of death from Jezebel, to the extent that he asked God to let him die. (1 Kings 19) Even Samuel was wary when told by God to go and anoint a king to succeed Saul: ‘How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.’ (1 Sam 16:2) Jeremiah knew fear and insecurity; Jonah even ran away from God!
What ultimately distinguishes the prophets is not an absence of fear, but a refusal to be cowed by it. “Samuel did what the Lord said.” (1 Sam 16:4) In this one verse, we see the secret of his success. He who had spoken of the need for obedience above sacrifice (1 Sam 15:22) practised what he preached. Courage is not the absence offear, but a refusal to let fear dictate our actions.
Paul came to the Corinthians ‘in fear and trembling’ (1 Cor 2:3). Many of us feel fearful, that we lack courage. David said, “When I am afraid, I will trust in You.” (Ps 56:3) Doing what God says, even with fear and trembling, is the key to spiritual success.
Pentecost Communication
Stephen spoke tonight from 1 Tim 2:1-6, which might seem a strange reading for Pentecost, but shows the actions and effects of Pentecost on believers. The Holy Spirit is one of God’s greatest gifts to us. Gifts are freely given and are ‘something for nothing‘, so to speak. Pentecost happened because of Christ and what He did; after He ascended to heaven, we received the gift that keeps on giving. God wants us to receive His Holy Spirit with open arms.
One of the most amazing things about the description of Pentecost in Acts 2 is how the believers spoke in other languages and the impact this had on the crowd in Jerusalem. Effectively, this led to a new sphere of communication, and Paul urges us all to walk with a correct attitude and foster our relationship with our Father God, because our communication with God now covers everyone and every situation. Everybody is included and it pleases God when our prayer life is for everybody. Communication is a key and active part of our lives and Jesus acts as the facilitator of this new union between God and mankind. God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth, but He entrusts His message of good news to us to pass on.
Our ‘circumference’ is increased as now we are Christ’s ambassadors to everyone – family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues, those in authority, and even kings! Like those early disciples, we may not understand the significance of what we say to others, but God can work through us by His mighty power. The trend today is for us to be ‘carbon neutral’ to save the environment, with zero-emission, ‘greener’ cars being manufactured, but just as the problem with this form of energy is currently connected to how long a battery can last, our lives can often seem limited by our own energy. When we are dependent on the Holy Spirit, however, we are connected to a source of power that never runs out! As we learn to rely on Him more, He can help us to keep on going (better than the Duracell batteries!) and to become so much more than we can be on our own.
Revivals and Control
History teaches us that there have been many occasions when God has come in power upon His people as He did on that first Day of Pentecost. We generally call these occasions revivals: God bringing to life the dry bones of His church as He showed Ezekiel in that prophetic vision during Israel’s exile. (Ezek 37) A revival is a sovereign work of God, leading to an increased interest in spiritual matters, spilling over into the local community and having an effect that goes far beyond that local community. We cannot control revivals, any more than the disciples could control the arrival or movement of the Holy Spirit. But we can put ourselves, as they did, in a good place to receive God’s outpouring by gathering together in prayer. Every revival that has ever happened seems to have happened where people have been praying. Maybe not many people! The revival which swept through the Hebrides between 1949 and 1952 largely started in a small cottage by the roadside in the village of Barvas, where two women, Peggy and Christine Smith, lived. They were 84 and 82 years old. Peggy was blind and Christine was almost bent double with arthritis. They were unable to attend public worship because of their age and infirmities, but they held on to the promise of God: ‘I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground.’ (Is 44:3) They prayed faithfully for many months and God revealed to them that the church would be crowded again with young people. Peggy asked her minister to call his elders and deacons together for special times of waiting upon God and together, people prayed. One night, as they waited, a young deacon rose and read part of Ps 24: ‘Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart.’ (Ps 24:3-4) Turning to the others he said: “Brethren, it seems to me just so much humbug to be waiting and praying as we are, if we ourselves are not rightly related to God.” Then lifting his hands toward heaven, he cried: “Oh God, are my hands clean? Is my heart pure?” He got no further, but fell prostrate to the floor. God had begun to work in awesome power. It was the start of a revival as God poured His Spirit out on the church and many people were also saved.
We desperately need God to move in these sovereign ways today, but we have to admit that we are often scared to experience these things because this means renouncing our need for control and letting God alone be in control. Most of us are not afraid of being in water if our feet touch the ground: ankle-deep, knee-deep, waist-deep is fine, because we still retain a modicum of control. Last year in Whitby, my younger granddaughter, paddling in the sea, was floored by a (very small!) wave and ended up flat on her back! She didn’t like the experience one bit, and that to me was a parable of how the deep-flowing waters of Ezekiel 47 are often resisted by us. Yet when we learn to swim, we can let go of fear and enjoy the experience even of swimming in the sea. We should not be afraid of God’s Spirit; God will never give anything to us which will harm us, but His Spirit is given to be our helper, comforter, guide and advocate, for He is a Father who loves to give good gifts. (Luke 11:11-13)
Pentecost Outpourings
Today is the Day of Pentecost, and so this morning we looked again at the need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. (Eph 5:18) We read about the outpouring of the Spirit in Acts 2:1-21, where wind and fire are both used as symbols of the Holy Spirit, but the idea of an outpouring goes back to Joel 2:28, and the Holy Spirit is often likened to water (see John 7:38, Ezekiel 47).
Both wind and floods can frighten us, reminding us of our lack of control against the elements, but whilst we should rightly fear God (Prov 9:10), we should never be afraid of His gifts to us, which include the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:11-13). God gives us His Spirit to empower us and equip us to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8); His Spirit is the means by which we live for God. (Gal 5:22-23)
We cannot determine when God will move in power by His Spirit, but it seems from a history of revivals that prayer is a prerequisite to God moving forcefully in this way. Is 59:19 reminds us God moves at times ‘like a pent-up flood’. Prayer is a spiritual weapon which can break spiritual strongholds (2 Cor 10:3-5). We must seek God for His Spirit, for only He can break through all that stands against Him. The Pentecost outpouring changed the disciples beyond recognition. Prior to this, even after the resurrection, they believed but still doubted; they were still not really doing anything much. After Pentecost, they were bold, confident, prepared to suffer persecution and willing even to die for the Lord. They preached the gospel wherever they went; they saw God move in miraculous power, in healings, in deliverances, in ways they could have only dreamed about beforehand. This can be our experience too if we thirst for God, seek His face and turn from sin. (2 Chron 7:14)
Pentecost Doves
For the past three months, local people have been busy preparing doves for Pentecost: knitted doves, painted doves, cross-stitch doves, doves on coasters and key rings… We are very grateful to all who have spent time and money on making these doves and to all who have purchased Dove toiletries to be given out with them, along with a message about the meaning of Pentecost and the work of Dearne Churches Together.
This weekend, we have given out these doves in a variety of locations in Goldthorpe, Thurnscoe and Bolton-on-Dearne, and we pray that the breath of God’s Spirit may be on all who have received these gifts.
Getting Your Own Way
We’ve all seen the supermarket battle. The toddler screams for a particular item (usually some item of confectionery, drink or toy). The parent says no. The screaming intensifies, often accompanied by the child flinging itself onto the floor to emphasise the seriousness of its desire. The parent attempts to move the toddler on, but this is now a battle of the wills, and often the parent, embarrassed in front of the disapproving stares of others, gives in and hands over the item. The child, satisfied at having demonstrated its superior negotiating skills, subsides and is transformed from a snivelling banshee to the very picture of serenity and smugness. “I got my own way.”
Sometimes, however, the parent stands firm and the wailing then continues, increasing in ear-splitting volume. In the short term, this outcome is not pleasant for all around, but perhaps in the longer term, a more valuable lesson is learned: getting your own way may not always be the best thing for us.
Israel often behaved like a screaming toddler, seeing the nations around them doing certain things and wanting to follow the same paths, even when God directly told them not to. 1 Samuel 8 records one such incident: their desire to be like other nations and have a visible king to lead them and go out before them and fight their battles (1 Sam 8:19-20) We can see the appeal of this, especially as their immediate prospects did not look particularly hopeful (Samuel’s sons were not cut from the same upright cloth as their father, and perhaps the people feared for the future after Samuel’s death.)
The problem was that in clamouring for an earthly king, the people were effectively rejecting God’s rule as King over them. This was what was distinctive about Israel. God was the one who led them. He had delivered them from impossible situations on numerous occasions: why should they ever presume a human king could do a better job? But the lure of the visible, the pull of the immediate, the desire for conformity all acted like a magnet on their wandering hearts, drawing them towards a short-term answer that apparently seemed so much better than long-term good.
Samuel, under God’s guidance, laid out the facts before them, how a human king would inevitably bring them harm (sin is so pervasive that it colours every institution we invent.) Like a parent reminding a screaming toddler that a snack before mealtime or another Barbie doll is not actually the panacea they believe these things to be, Samuel painted a truthful but stark picture of the downside of human kings (1 Sam 8:13-18). Unsurprisingly, reason did not win the day. (It rarely does.) The tantrumming nation continued to stamp its feet and press on regardless, and God acquiesced with their demands. (1 Sam 8:22)
Sometimes, getting your own way is the worst thing that can happen to you, despite what we may think. Sometimes God’s no can be the most positive thing He ever says to us.
It requires a lot of stamina and wisdom to parent a child through the screaming toddler stage and on to the stubborn teenager stage. My four-year-old granddaughter, coming to terms with her increased abilities, declared yesterday that she was big enough to walk home by herself. I love her growing confidence, but am not yet prepared to trust her ability to navigate busy roads!