An announcement:
During Lent, and beginning Sunday, February 21, I will be posting online a study of the Gospel of John. Each day, there will be a link to a Youtube video about a different chapter of this most important Gospel, the Book of the Bible that points the clearest to whom Jesus was and what He did that tells us that He was the true Son of God. I hope you’ll join me in these and forward them to your friends. You’ll be able to find the links on the Cedar Grove Facebook page and through the prayer emails.…
One of the things which makes the study of the Bible so interesting is comparison of the Old Testament, which was written between 1600 BC and 400 BC, with the New Testament, which was written between 35 and 95 AD. So many of the Old Testament stories set up events in the New Testament. For example, here today we have the end of the story of Noah and the Ark being set against Jesus’ baptism.
Most adult Americans, whether or not they have ever been to church, know the outlines of the Noah story. God saw that the men and women of the earth were doing terrible evil, and God decided to make a new start. Noah was told by God to build an ark, a huge boat. Noah did so. The Ark was twice the size of the American World War II Aircraft carrier Yorktown. God sent to Noah to be loaded into the Ark breeding pairs of every kind of animal and seven of every edible animal type.
Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives entered the Ark. Two things then happened, according to Chapter 7 of the Book of Genesis: The rain fell for forty days and forty nights… and the waters of the deep burst forth, flooding the land. Eventually, God blew a wind across the water to make it recede. But the flood stayed for a year, slowly dropping, before Noah could leave the Ark.
And shortly after Noah and his family and the animals left the Ark, God made a covenant, a sort of contract with Noah and all the animals – and with us. He said the rainbow would be the sign that God would not destroy the entire world by flood ever again.
To me, the most interesting part of the Flood story is not whether it literally covered the entire world or not or how. The most interesting part is the way that God used water to cleanse the earth of the evil that had infected humans. It is interesting because in Jesus’ day, a man named John the Baptist, more accurately John the Baptizer, the man who was Jesus’ cousin, began to baptize people to cleanse them of their sins. John apparently dunked people in the River Jordan, the principle river that flows from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea in the Holy Land.
Do you see the connection between the great Flood and baptism? Both were used to cleanse first the land and then individual humans from sin, from disobedience to God.
There is another connection. In the ancient languages of Hebrew and Greek, the words ruach (in Hebrew) and pneuma (in Greek) do triple duty. The same words can be translated as breath, wind, or spirit. So when God blew a wind across the Flood waters, it could just as easily be translated that God blew his breath or God’s Spirit across the Flood waters.
In the same way, during Christian baptism, we pray for God’s Spirit to enter the person being baptized and we lay our hands on the person. We are essentially asking God’s breath to enter the person, God’s Spirit to enter the person.
And interesting changes happen when we receive God’s breath…
In our reading from Mark’s Gospel, as Jesus comes up out of the baptismal water, “he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.” A voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” At once the Spirit sent Him into the wilderness.
God’s breath fell on Jesus and sent Him into the wilderness.
In regular Christian thought, ordinary Christianity which is agreed upon by over 95% of Christian leaders, our God is rather complex. Whereas Jews maintain that God is a single God and Moslems argue that Allah is a single God, Christians have a more complex viewpoint.
From the early years of Christianity, Christians leaders have worked out that there are three persons or persona of God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Yet, these three persona are all composed of the same “God-substance”. One substance with three personas. We sometimes refer to God as the Trinity, a Tri-unity. This can be hard to get our minds around.
So is God the Father God? Yes.
Is God the Son, Jesus Christ God? Yes.
Is God the Holy Spirit God? Yes.
Can they speak to each other? Yes, for they are separate personalities bound in a common substance.
Let me give you a few analogies, none of which convey things perfectly.
Do you remember hearing or reading about people who have multiple personality disorder? They are a single body, a single brain, yet there are multiple personalities within that brain.
Have you looked at your computer or smart phone recently? It has a phone personality, a calculator personality, and a Facebook personality. Each can be turned on, (or be alive) at the same time, but they all reside within the same phone.
Have you considered liquid water, steam, and ice? All are made of the same substance – H20 water – and yet all are different. Steam can be invisible, yet has the power to move a locomotive, water can destroy a mountain and create a river delta. Ice we can get our hands on and hold onto.
In the same way, the Holy Spirit is invisible yet has great power, God the Father creates and destroys, and Jesus could be touched and held onto.
Standard Christian theology says that the Father, Son, and Spirit are always in agreement, that they are normally in perfect communication, and that they have all existed since before the Beginning. In fact, they were all present and necessary for Creation to occur. How?
In Genesis 1, God creates through God’s Word. And the spirit/breath/wind of God was hovering over the deep. In John’s Gospel chapter 1, John explains that all creation occurred through the Word. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Jesus Christ, the Word (or Message) of God. The Word of God still creates new realities, even today, especially when working through someone possessed of the Holy Spirit.
When Adam, the first man, was formed, God breathed life into him. God gave Adam his breath, his spirit. The Holy Spirit came upon the elders of Israel in the wilderness and they prophesied. The Holy Spirit would come upon Samson and gave him his power and ability in battle. The day after Saul was anointed king of Israel, the Holy Spirit came upon him and he prophesied. And Jesus’ ministry was activated when God gave His Spirit, His breath to Jesus. The Spirit sent Jesus into the wilderness. A message had been delivered to Jesus and Jesus reacted to the message by going into the desert wilderness for a time of testing, engaging Satan in three arguments about the meaning of scripture.
Many people have noted that the recently baptized will encounter a time of testing. It is though the arrival of the Holy Spirit in a new believer holds up a red flag which gets the attention of Satan. The morning after I believed, I was laid off from my job. Others have reported sickness in their families or the sudden onset of financial problems or other issues to deal with. It is almost as though we are invisible to Satan before the Spirit arrives, and then suddenly Satan can see us.
Did you notice that even Jesus had to deal with a difficult time? There are some preachers and lay people who argue that all the difficult times we deal with are caused by our sins. They argue that if we were truly following Jesus, we would have a life of pleasantness all the time, a life of ease, a life which was like a permanent vacation. Yet Jesus was sinless – and he was sent into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to deal with forty days without food, to have arguments with Satan over scripture, to need to be ministered to by angels because the stress was so rough. Jesus was sinless, yet he was later arrested, beaten, whipped, and tortured before being executed. How much more might we suffer?
No, our sufferings are not an indicator of sin in our lives. For there are sufferings which are directly due to sin – and sufferings which are due to confronting the world about the world’s sins. Just as a gang of boys will torture a child who stands up against their rituals in an attempt to get the child to conform, the world will torture a man or woman who stands up against their traditions.
When we lived in Atlanta, after several issues with the local school, and support from a couple of family friends, we decided to home-school our children. We were asked about “socialization”, about academic achievement, about them missing rituals such as high school sports and graduation and proms. Our oldest home-schooled daughter played on a nationally ranked homeschool basketball team, traveling all over GA, AL, and TN. Our three younger children swam with the Marietta YMCA team, our son making Zones.
One son became an RA at Marietta College and won speaking awards, as well as became a Methodist certified lay speaker before he graduated from high school. He scored a perfect 800 on his SAT verbal – twice – and won a 50% scholarship at Marietta College and then a full tuition and board scholarship to Fudan University in Shanghai, China. He’s currently finishing up his Ph.D. and teaching online classes for Texas A&M. The other son became a Methodist pastor at age 19, now with three churches between Rainelle and Hinton. Our youngest daughter is security manager for a superstore in Fairbanks, AK. Our older homeschooled daughter graduated from Liberty University and is a happy, stay-at-home mother of three, married to an Army Captain. Yet we had to suffer years of questions because we weren’t doing things the normal way. Becoming a Christian will lead to that as the Holy Spirit becomes your guide much more than the common culture.
Most thoughtful Christian leaders maintain that the Bible was written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? What does that mean? It means that the Holy Spirit guided, but did not dictate the content that each of the authors provided. It is similar to the way the Holy Spirit speaks to each of us – guiding us but rarely pushing us. We have to recognize that the Spirit is providing guidance from God, and, like all guidance and advice given to us, we need to listen to that Spirit.
The Holy Spirit normally comes to us during the baptism ceremony as, after the water is applied, the pastor lays hands upon us and prays for the Holy Spirit to enter us. It is at that point that we normally can begin to hear the Spirit – but it is very easy to cover up the Voice of the Holy Spirit, to dismiss the Spirit’s quiet voice as just more self-talk, to listen more strongly to the voice of the culture rather than the whisper of the Spirit.
Last spring, for the March 1 sermon, the Spirit told me that we would be going into a lockdown. And so I told my congregation to stock up a 60 day supply of food and medicine, of water. I did not mention toilet paper! I also told them that the virus had nothing to do with Corona beer!
The next week I used the example of Robert Schuller’s parking lot church in the late 1950’s to illustrate the rise and fall of a ministry where the people were more focused upon the pastor than on Jesus. I thought I was using this as an illustration about the rise and fall of Schuller's ministry. But a good portion of the sermon introduction was focused upon how Schuller stood on top of the snack bar with loudspeakers blaring at the parking lot to start up his church. Little did I realize that the next week we would all be shut down by COVID and then that we would be doing parking lot ministry by early June. But the Holy Spirit had led me to warn my congregation of the shut-down, and had led me to Schuller’s parking lot ministry as a viable ministry alternative.
Today, the Holy Spirit is telling me that we need to be preparing for a full return to the church on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. New cases in Wood County are falling at a rapid rate, dropping almost a third each week. We are now back down to where we were in mid-October. At this rate of drop, we should be back down to 20 new cases per week in the county by Easter.
The Holy Spirit has been compared to God’s Internet. The Spirit – God’s breath – seems to provide communication not only between God and God’s people, but can also communicate between believers. Let me give you an example.
About ten years ago when we were living in Lowell, OH, Saundra and I went to see the George Clooney film The Men who Stare at Goats, a really strange film about a supposed CIA group who practiced trying to look at goats – and ultimately people – and making their hearts stop. After the film, we stopped at Giant Eagle and Saundra ran in to get some ice cream. She got me my favorite, mint chocolate, and I think some Moose Tracks for herself. Unfortunately, in her rush, she got me sugar-free mint chocolate. We each had a bowl of our favorite and then went to bed.
About 45 minutes later, I awoke and knew instantly that something was wrong. I quietly got out of bed, closed the door, and snuck downstairs to the bathroom, closing that door also, and then began to be sick. This was one of those nights where I sat down beside the toilet and stared deeply into it every 20 minutes or so. In between, I would drift in and out of sleep, dreaming about goats all over the place. About 4 in the morning, I began to realize that I was getting very dehydrated. Yet I was so weak I couldn’t stand and I couldn’t speak above a whisper. So I prayed for God to wake Saundra and send her to help me. About 30 seconds later, Saundra knocked at the door. The Spirit had awoken her from a deep sleep, she realized I was not in bed, and she also realized I’d been gone a while, and then she began searching for me.
She got me some water and helped me to the couch. We later remembered that our son would get very sick when he had anything with NutraSweet, and we found online that when a new patient shows up with signs of Multiple Sclerosis, the doctors ask the patient to stop any artificial sweeteners, because NutraSweet apparently can mimic MS symptoms in some people. In some people, it appears NutraSweet is active in the brain. It makes me see goats...
But we were most amazed about this episode that the Holy Spirit had tapped Saundra on the shoulder just when I needed her, sending her a spiritual text message to wake up!
So if you are a baptized believer, I urge you to begin trying to listen to that soft voice that speaks in the back of your mind, giving you advice. You will know it because the Spirit tells you things you cannot normally know, gives you advice which is often opposite to the world’s advice, warns you of unknown danger and encourages you to go on through apparent danger. The Spirit will never lead you wrong, but without practice it can be difficult to distinguish the voice of the Spirit from the other voices in our minds.
An older woman in Saundra’s church was feeling poorly one Sunday morning. She had gotten dressed and was ready to walk out the door, when she heard Saundra’s voice in her head saying she needed to just go back to bed and rest today. She did. The next day she went to the doctor and tested positive for COVID. Her listening to the Spirit, who had sounded like Saundra that Sunday morning, that listen and obedience to the voice prevented an outbreak at Saundra’s church. The woman recovered quickly.
The Spirit can also assure us and provide healing powers. One morning, Fred, a member of one of my churches was desperately sick in the hospital ICU. His son-in-law stepped forward and we all laid hands on him as a substitute for praying for Fred. People began taking turns praying. I remember the Spirit telling me that Fred would be fine. I prayed with unusual confidence that Fred be healed. That afternoon, we visited Fred and his vital signs improved suddenly while we were there. Later that evening, he awoke and lived another couple years.
A friend of mine, backed up by his very sober wife, told stories of looking at people with rheumatoid arthritis, of hearing the Spirit tell him to pray over the person, and these people receiving complete, sudden healing from the rheumatoid arthritis. This happened about a dozen times. It never failed – and he was never able to heal anyone of anything else, nor able to heal unless the Spirit spoke first. It was a very focused gift. He's with the Lord now.
The Book of Acts in the New Testament is filled with examples of the Holy Spirit’s work with people. I suggest you read it, especially if it has been some time since you’ve read the book.
Some Christian groups insist that the Holy Spirit has not acted since the days of the Apostles. Other groups insist that if the Holy Spirit is not acting in spectacular ways in your life, you are not a true Christian. I believe that the Holy Spirit acts in different ways with different people, that the Spirit is there, ready to speak with us if we learn to listen. But what the Spirit tells us is different because we are each different. One may hear a message of calm assurance; another may hear a bold command to speak or act; still a third may hear a gentle whisper saying, “Go this way, not that way.”; and another may be told, “buy that young man lunch and tell him that he will be great one day.”
Yet while the Holy Spirit will often speak against the culture, the Spirit will never contradict the Word of God, whether the words of Jesus or the Bible as a whole. Plus, the Spirit seems to prefer to work with those who are humble, not working so well when the focus becomes the televangelist in a white suit and the miracles that are performed on a stage.
For the Spirit seeks to raise all to the knowledge that God loves them, but does not seek to harm people by giving them the idea that they are equal to God.
If you have never experienced the Holy Spirit, then do not feel alone. Many of our churches have been afraid to spend time speaking of the Spirit, for the Spirit is not under our control. Become a baptized believer in Jesus the Son of God, and Jesus will make sure you receive the Holy Spirit. Then, it is up to you ask and listen, as the boy Samuel did, the boy who became one of the greatest prophets of ancient Israel.
Samuel lay asleep when he heard the voice of Eli, the high priest. He went to Eli. Yet Eli had not spoken. This repeated several times. Finally Eli told Samuel what to say. The next time Samuel heard the voice saying “Samuel, Samuel”, the boy said, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” And God the Holy Spirit spoke to Samuel. Later, Samuel led Israel, and anointed both Saul and then David as kings of Israel. All this is told in the Books of I Samuel and II Samuel.
Prayer
Let us pray:Speak, Lord. For your servants are listening…
God of the Universe, lead us to speak on Your behalf. Lead us to accomplish Your mission in this world. Give us people to speak to, the words to say, and fill us with Your Holy Spirit so we may speak with gentleness and grace, leading people to Your Son, Jesus, sharing His guidance, praying to Him, looking expectantly to eternal life, worshiping our God, and being assured of the Truth. This we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Benediction
Heavenly Father, bless us and guide us each one, that one day you may say about us, “These are my daughters and sons, whom I love, in them I am well pleased. “Go and serve the Lord! Amen !
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