RWJ/Pottersville UMC - Pentecost Sunday - 05/19/13 Sermon - “Encountering the Holy Spirit"

Pentecost Sunday - 05/19/13 RWJ/Pottersville UMC

Sermon: “Encountering the Holy Spirit”

Scripture Lesson: Acts 2:1-21

                                             

Gospel Lesson: John 14:8-17 (25-27)

          Good morning brothers and sisters! What a joy it is to be here with you on this Pentecost Sunday! This is also our annual Heritage Sunday, where many churches look at their heritage, they remember it, and they celebrate it together. For if we forget about our past and our heritage, than what do we have? We have nothing.

          With this said, the Christian holiday of Pentecost is an ancient holiday, with plenty of heritage indeed. In fact, Pentecost means the “Fiftieth Day” and it is also the name for the “Feast of Weeks.” It means “Fiftieth Day,” because this feast was always 50-days after the Jewish holiday of the Passover. Given this, the “Feast of Weeks” was a prominent feast in the calendar of ancient Israel. At this festival, Jewish people would celebrate God giving Moses the Law on Mount Sinai. This “Law of Moses” as it became known as, is the 10-Commandments, and much of what we read in the Jewish Torah. The Jewish Torah includes the first five book of Old Testament, of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These books contain much of what God gave to Moses, in the giving him the Law. Further, this “Feast of Weeks,” is still celebrated by many Jews today.

On this day in the Christian Calendar though, almost two-thousand years ago, this also became a Christian holiday. For within days before the Pentecost festival or the “Festival of Weeks” had occurred, Jesus had already ascended to heaven, as it states in the first chapter of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. Yet before Jesus ascended, he promised his apostles, that he would send the Holy Spirit to fill them. That they would in fact, be baptized with “Holy Fire.” I can imagine that in no time after the Lord’s ascension, that some of the Apostles said, “Lord you promised to send us your spirit, but when will it come?” “When will you come and fill us with this “Holy Fire,” so that we may have the passion, the faith, and the courage, to preach your gospel without fear?”

          On this Pentecost Sunday brothers and sisters, the spirit has finally come! The spirit of God has ascended in a powerful and a new way, and the Apostles and all of the other followers of Jesus Christ are now forever changed. For they had all “Encountered the Holy Spirit.” For they had encountered the spirit of the living God, the third part of the Holy Trinity, that which makes our faiths ignite, and that which is the Holy Spirit of the Living and eternal God.

          Some of you on this morning might say, “well pastor that sort of thing with the Holy Spirit, has never happened to me before.” If this is true, I would argue that you have not experienced the fullness of almighty God. For until the spirit of the Living God moves in you, you have not fully encountered God and his spirit fully.

          In looking at the scripture from the Book of the Acts of Apostles from this morning, we find ourselves in chapter 2. In this chapter, the scripture begins by explaining that the followers of Christ had gathered that they were praying, and that were likely enjoying the Pentecost feast. Yet where was the spirit that Christ promised? Would it come?

          Then in verse two of the second chapter it reads, “And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared before them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” When I read this scripture, I think “wow!” Chills go up and down my spine, as I think of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that occurred on this day, on this Pentecost.

          You know, where my wife Melissa and I live during the week in Cayuga County, just about every town has a United Methodist Church. Upon entering most of these towns you will see a metal sign advertising the United Methodist Church of that town. These signs often say, “Catch the Spirit.” “Catch the Spirit.” That in our United Methodist Churches that you are supposed to “Catch the Spirit” of the Living God. Yet I have to admit brothers and sisters, some of the United Methodist Churches I have visited, felt like they had no spirit. Sure they preached on God and Jesus, but where was the spirit? For if we do not have the spirit of God, than we do not have the fullness of God. We then have a shallow lukewarm faith that is weak.

          Some of you might have noticed when we sing in church, or when we pray, that sometimes I lift one or two arms towards heaven, like this. Some of you might say, “Does pastor have arm cramps?” Some others might say, “Is pastor waving to me?” The answer to all of these questions is that God calls us to surrender all that we have to him. Like the hymn we sing “I surrender all,” we surrender to risen Christ and ask him to fill us with his holy and abiding spirit.

          For some of my friends that were in fraternities at SUNY Potsdam, were my wife Melissa and I attended college, they sometimes would lift their arms in the air like I do in church. This could have been because they were in church “Encountering the Holy Spirit,” or because the Potsdam Police Department had raided there fraternity keg party. You see, they might have had their hands in the air because the police said, “Hands in the air!” Well why on earth then, if we think about it, do the police make people put there “Hands in the air?”

          The answer is, putting your hands in the air, is seen by many as an international sign of surrender. Your hands are up, and if you don’t have weapons in your hands, this can better be seen. Further, your body is more vulnerable and unguarded when your hands are in the air. For this reason, when a Christian is worshipping and puts their hands in the air, they are surrendering to almighty God. They are calling upon the Holy Spirit to come and fill them.

In continuing on with the scripture from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles from this morning though it said, that the crowd was “bewildered” as they heard voices speak in all different languages. The onlookers and the crowd did not understand how this could have happened. Some even said, “They are filled with new wine,” and then the Apostle Peter said regarding the apostles, “Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o-clock in the morning.” To me this is really funny! On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit pours out on the Apostles, they speak in tongues, and then they are accused of being drunk. Then the Apostle Peter basically says, “Hey everyone it’s way too early in the morning for us to be drunk.”

          Yet the spirit of the Living God does amazing things! It makes people prophesy, it makes people dream dreams, and yes even speak in tongues. Speaking in tongues is a practice that we have never embraced in the United Methodist Church, but according to this mornings’ scripture, it happens. In fact, our brothers and sisters who belong to many “Pentecostal” denominations of Christianity, such as the Assemblies of God, the Church of God in Christ, and the various other Pentecostal Churches, are among some of the fastest types of growing Christianity in the world. Further, some of the seminary books I have read recently predict that in the next 30-50 years that almost all Christian worship will look very “Pentecostal.”

          That in worship people will continually call upon the Holy Spirit to fill them, to guide them, and to speak through them, whether that is a tongue or a word for the Lord. For until we have “Encountered the Holy Spirit” brothers and sisters, we have not truly experienced and encountered the fullness of our Triune God.

          So given all of this, some of you might be asking yourself here this morning, “Well how do I know if I have received the Holy Spirit?” Well for me, it is a feeling that comes upon me, that feels warm, peaceful, and makes my spirit soar. It’s sort of like that feeling of taking a sip of hot chocolate when you are really cold. It’s the power and energy that God puts into you.

          Given this, do you all here this morning believe in the power of the Holy Spirit? Do you know that the power of God can fill you and can sustain you like never before? As your pastor, I want to lead a church that seeks the Holy Spirit, that calls upon the Spirit, and that is filled with the Holy Spirit. For this is how we become, a people of “Signs, wonders, and miracles.” For without the spirit, we are dry, we are lukewarm, and our church cannot truly move forward, until the power of the spirit of the Living God flows through us, and is in us abundantly!

          About 4-years ago, I had a Friday night, where I was watching television on my couch in Moravia, and on that particular night, my wife Melissa was out for a while. Suddenly, as I lay there on the couch though, I felt a strong feeling course through me! I felt energy, power, peace, and warmth. After a few minutes of this, I felt the spirit of the Lord saying, “Paul when are going to get over your fear, follow my spirit, and preach my word in my church.” Within a few minutes, I had called Melissa, my mother Susan, and a friend, to explain this experience. I told everyone that I talked to, that I thought that I was being called to go to the seminary. In not wanting to rationalize and dismiss this experience though, within a couple of days, I had reluctantly and fearfully made an appointment to visit the Northeastern Seminary in Rochester, NY. Upon walking through the doors of the seminary, I felt the presence of God, I felt peace, and I knew right away, that this was where I was supposed to be. I then studied there for two years, and have just finished my third year of study at my new seminary, the United Theological Seminary, in Dayton, Ohio. The Holy Spirit has shown up in my life, and has moved in me, to bring me to where I am today.

          I would like to close with a story this morning. This story is actually about the founder the Methodist movement, John Wesley. This is a story about how John Wesley first “encountered the Holy Spirit.” Let me start this story, like this: How many of you here today, have ever heard of the United Methodist Camp, Camp Aldersgate?  It is one the great camps in our Upper New York United Methodist Conference. With this said, I have always been interested in how we name our various camps, like Skye Farm. Well one day in my seminary studies a couple of years ago I learned how our church arrived at the name Camp Aldersgate.

As it turns out, this camp was actually named after an experience that the founder of the Methodist movement John Wesley had. In fact, in having returned to England after a failed mission trip experience in Georgia, John Wesley was feeling depressed and defeated. For early on his ministry, John Wesley was largely a failure. Yet one night while back in London, England, the defeated and demoralized John Wesley unwillingly was dragged to prayer meeting on “Aldersgate Street.” Perhaps a fellow Church of England priest took him, or perhaps it was someone else, as I really don’t know. On this night though, is where John Wesley had his famous “Aldersgate experience.” Out of a funny coincidence, Wesley entered a prayer meeting on Aldersgate Street with a group of Christians called Moravians. Melissa and I live in the town of Moravia. In this meeting, the Moravians were reading Martin Luther’s preface of the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Romans. In this preface, Luther laid out his interpretation of the letter and his strong faith in God. While it was only a preface to the Letter to the Romans, Wesley wrote in his journal as he heard those words spoke that, “I felt my heart strangely warmed.” You see at this moment John Wesley for the first had a true and real encounter with the Holy Spirit. He might have had other encounters before, but never anything like this. This was an encounter that changed his life.

Remember as well, that John Wesley was an ordained priest in the Church of England, and this was first time that he really and deeply encountered the Holy Spirit! After this, John Wesley began accomplishing great things in the Methodist movement, and is the person we remember him as today.

          So in closing this morning brothers and sisters, I ask, do you know him? Do you really know him? Have you felt his spirit? Have you met the “Advocate” or the Holy Spirit, as Jesus called the spirit in our Gospel reading from this morning? Jesus said in the Gospel of John reading from this morning, “the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” So if you answered no to any of these questions that I just asked, then I hope and pray that on this day, you further surrender to almighty God, and call upon the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of Living God, to fill you! For when this happens we become more whole, the church becomes more powerful, and the spirit of God works through us. It works through so that we may prophesize, dream dreams, speak in tongues of fire, and perform all manner of “Signs, wonder, and miracles.” Brothers and sisters, this is Pentecost, the day where tongues of fire descended upon the apostles, and the Christian Church was officially born. So, I say to you all this morning “Catch the Spirit.” Amen.