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Sermon Transcript – Rehab: The Unlikely Hero

Rahab: The Unlikely Hero / Joshua 2:1-24Heroes Series Part 1
St Paul UMC Fremont
Pastor Sun Hee Kim

Joshua 2:1-24
1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute [a] named Rahab and stayed there.
2 The king of Jericho was told, “Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”
4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.
8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea [b] for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. [c] 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death.”
14 “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land.”
15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 16 Now she had said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.”
17 The men said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. 19 If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.”
21 “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.” So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
22 When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. 23 Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. 24 They said to Joshua, “The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.”

 INTRODUCTION: WHAT DOES A HERO REALLY LOOK LIKE?
Today, I am so excited to be starting this new sermon series, a series entitled, “Heroes: The Ordinary Turned Extraordinary”.  What we’re going to be doing in this series is taking a close look at some characters of the Bible that God used in just amazing ways. And what we’ll find, over and over again, is that these characters – these individuals named and talked about in Scripture – for all practical purposes are not those that we would have expected to fit the bill as God’s chosen servants.  But as the saying goes, “God does not choose the qualified; He qualifies the chosen.” Indeed, we will hear some amazing stories of how God took ordinary men and women like you and me and did some amazing and extraordinary things through them. These individuals ultimately become heroes in the story of God.

And today, to kick off this series, I want to talk about  Rahab, an individual who I would consider to be one of the most unlikely of heroes in the Bible. But before we get into the details of the story of Rahab that we just read in Joshua chapter 2, let me quickly share with you the story of another individual who has come to be known as quite the hero in her own right.

 Now, it is my guess that not too many people here has ever heard of the name Agnes Bojaxhiu (pronounced, “bo-ya-choo”). And rightly so. It was not a name that was intended for fame and glory. In fact, the name belonged to an individual for whom I think the word “humble” was really created. Now, for the many of us who live in this dog-eat-dog world where individuals have become conditioned to be driven by the “me-first” mentality, I think it would be rather difficult for us to really understand what it means to be humble and have a disposition of humility rather than that of pride. But for Agnes Bojaxhiu, it was just the opposite; apart from humility, I don’t think she really knew anything else.

It was at age twelve that she received her calling to her particular way of life – to serve rather than be served, to seek glory for God and not for herself, and to give more than she would ever receive. And so, several years later, she left her home in Yugoslavia to go to Darjeeling, India where she joined the Loreto Sisters. This was the beginning of what would lead to a lifetime of selfless and humble service not only to God but also to those she would eventually come to call the “poorest of the poor”.

Now, I don’t think that she had ever expected that her efforts to love the unloved would ultimately impact so many people around the world. I don’t even think that her plans ever went very far beyond just trying to help those who were immediately in front of her. But the truth of the matter is that her compassion yielded much fruit and her love extended beyond the boundaries of her own imagination. And the amazing thing about all this is that none of this was ever for herself. Whatever she did and whenever she did it, it was always an extension of her total selfless disposition. She never sought praise nor credit for what she did, but in the very humble manner that she was accustomed to, she tried to make herself as invisible to the world as possible.

And herein lies the irony. As much as she sought humility and as much as she was driven by selfless compassion, the more the world praised her for her good works. In 1979, she was the honored recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and even then, she did not accept this honor in her own name, but rather in the name of “the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for.” It is clear that such acclaim only drew out of her even more humility.

 “I am only the pencil,” she would say, “with which God is writing a love letter to His children.” Such humbleness is hard not to recognize and honor. And all of such that she received, she deserved every bit of it. But the thing is she never wanted it.

And I’m sure that most of you have figured out by now who this Agnes Bojaxhiu really is.  She is none other than the deeply loved and highly honored Mother Teresa of Calcutta whose death in 1997 stirred the hearts of many around the world. News coverage of her death and subsequent tributes to her life of service and ministry were indeed quite expanse. All the networks covered it. And all the newspapers headlined her unfortunate death. As for her funeral, thousands were present and millions more around the world tuned in via satellite hookup – a simple reflection of just how many people’s lives were touched by the efforts of such a humble woman.

Certainly, I believe that Mother Teresa’s life has impacted my life as well.  And when she died, it got me thinking a lot about my own life and wondering if what I am doing really matters. If I am living my life to be used by God in the same way that she was? And perhaps, some of you may have gone through similar soul searching speculations before. And maybe like me, some of you have come to the overwhelming conclusion that there is no way that you could ever be like the saint that Mother Teresa was. I mean, she was one of kind. She excelled in so many things. She has given so much to humanity, and though she might have been short in physical stature, spiritually speaking, she was certainly head and shoulders above any crowd. And all of this is indeed true.

But you know, when you really think about it, Mother Teresa was not a person who was really more gifted or endowed than anyone else here. In fact, her colleagues from the Loreto Sisterhood have described her as pretty “average”, ordinary if you will. I know that seems a bit hard to swallow, but it’s true. What we need to know about Mother Teresa is that she was not great in and of herself, but rather she was a demonstration and testimony of how God is able to take ordinary, everyday people like you and me, and turn them into the most extraordinary vessels that you could possibly imagine.

 IF GOD CAN USE A PROSTITUTE
This is the repeated story of the Bible. Over and over again, we see this particular script written on page after page.  Ordinary Joe or Ordinary Jane, being used by God in extraordinary ways. And this was the case of Rahab as we read in Scripture today. In fact, Rahab’s story is even more amazing in the sense that she is not just the ordinary turned extraordinary,  but she is the implausible made plausible. She is the unlikely hero. And yet, God chooses her for great purposes beyond what I’m sure she could have possibly imagined.

Now, I don’t know what comes to your mind when you think about what a hero would like, but back in the days of Rahab, no one would have possibly imagined that a hero could look like her.  In fact, Rahab is indeed the most unlikely hero who in her day and culture had many strikes against her. She simply did not seem like Bible hero material.  First of all, we know that she was a Canaanite. The Bible in Joshua 2 sets up the scene where the two spies are sent to Jericho. That’s where they (and we) meet Rahab for the first time – in the capital city of Canaan. This is her home which makes her a Canaanite and not a Jew. Now this is important to note, because for all practical purposes, from the perspective of the Jews – God’s chosen people – Rahab as a Canaanite would have been considered a foreigner and therefore unclean. She would be seen as a heathen and enemy of God. That’s strike one.

 But the second strike was that Rahab was a woman. Okay, I know this observation is not necessarily something that you need Sherlock Holmes to point out for you. But frankly, women were not considered very significant back in those days. In fact, there is an old daily Jewish prayer that simply went like this: “I thank God that I was not born a woman.” This attitude was quite prevalent in many of the ancient societies back then and in fact, I believe, women are still fighting for their rights in many of those societies even today. Rahab was a woman. That’s strike two.

Now, the third strike is most obvious. Can you guess what it is? That’s right. It’s right there in verse one of Joshua chapter 2.  Rahab was a prostitute. Strike three. And let’s assume here for a moment that it doesn’t bother us that God was working through a Canaanite. Obviously, not everyone could be an Israelite, right? And let’s even imagine that in the chauvinistic culture in which Rahab lived that God could actually work through a woman. But the idea of God choosing a prostitute for Kingdom sized work? That’s simply amazing to me. But that’s exactly what happened. God chose a woman – a Canaanite prostitute to save the lives of two of God’s servants who were sent on a mission into enemy territory.

The Bible tells us that the lives of these two spies were in danger. The King of Jericho had found out that Israel had sent these individuals to spy out their land. Not only that, the King of Jericho was told where these two spies were staying – at Rahab’s house. Now, it doesn’t take a genius here to figure out what the King of Jericho wanted to do at that point. He wanted those two spies found, captured and most likely, executed. So he sends his men to Rahab’s house with the message for her to hand them over. Rahab’s response? She hides them on the roof and sends the King’s men on a rabbit chase elsewhere. At this point, we need to know something very clear. Rahab took a risk. She put her own life in danger in order to save these two spies. This unlikely hero, this Canaanite woman who was in fact less than ordinary, was made extraordinary for God’s purposes.

 SOME ADDITIONAL DETAILS ABOUT RAHAB WE NEED TO KNOW
Now, let me pause here for a moment to point out a couple details that we may easily overlook – details that are absolutely important to this story.  There is a clue in the verses that we read that though Rahab is identified as “the prostitute”, it is very likely that she is no longer in that profession. Clue number one is that the Bible says she hid the spies underneath stalks of flax. I’m not sure if you understand this or not, but gathering flax was a tedious and laborious task. Industrious women like Rahab would spend hours gathering these stalks to make cloth. If Rahab was still a prostitute, chances are that she would not be gathering flax. She simply would not have the time for this kind of respectable work, and yet, the Bible said that she had gathered enough flax to cover two grown men. Apparently, she must have been in the cloth business for some time. There is this clue here that tells us that she went through some transformation in her life. Although the people in Jericho might still refer to her as a prostitute because of her past, we can assume that her life had significantly changed.

 I want to believe that her life had changed because of what she had come to know of the God of Israel. This is what we read of her own proclamation in Joshua 2:9-11:
 “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt…. When we heard of it, our hearts melted…for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

The Bible reveals that Rahab knew the God of the two spies, the God of creation, the God of heaven above and the God of the earth below. And there is this sense that regardless of theological technicality, for all practical purposes, she was a believer and she had put herself in a place where she can be used by God. It didn’t matter what her past was. It didn’t matter what others still thought of her now. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t a Jew. Somehow she knew and understood the power of God and then made a decision to surrender herself to that power. And in that moment, the less than ordinary became extraordinary, the unlikely became a hero for God.

 THE BIBLE’S ONGOING TRIBUTE TO RAHAB AND ONGOING INVITATION TO US
You need to know that Rahab’s heroic act is actually celebrated over and over again in Scripture. If you look in the Gospel of Matthew, she is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus, then James refers to her as he talks about what it means to have faith that leads to action, and then finally, in what we will call the “Faith Hall of Fame” in Hebrews chapter 11, it says this about Rahab:
 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

I don’t know if you can fully grasp this, but to once have been a Canaanite prostitute and mentioned this many times in Hebrew Scripture, even in the lineage of Jesus – this is simply amazing. But here’s the more amazing thing.  If God can use someone like Rahab – take the less than ordinary and through her do some extraordinary things, he can do the same with you. He’s done it through Agnes Boyaxhiu and through countless others throughout history. And I want you to consider today the possibility that in your own unique way and in your own unique situation that you, too, can become a hero and be used for some significant purpose in the Kingdom of God. Perhaps, it might not be as dramatic as lowering spies down the wall to their safety and to their lives, and perhaps it might not be as significant as moving to Darjeeling or Calcutta to work with the poorest of the poor, but it could certainly be something as simple as “being the pencil with which God writes His love letter to others.”

Friends, I believe God is calling each and every one of us to do some extraordinary things today. God is in the business of making and using heroes. And you don’t have to be qualified to be called. But certainly, if you say yes to the call, God will qualify you and use you in ways that you have never imagined before. So, let’s be a Rahab or an Agnes and invite God to use us – boldly, intentionally, willingly and most importantly – extraordinarily. Amen?!

Articles

Testimonial – Imelda Phillips

Congregation TestimonialImelda Phillips
May 20th, 2012

When Ate Lolita Flores, our Bible study group leader, asked me to do a testimony, I tried to think of a reason why I couldn’t. But you see, that’s just the thing…when you are part of a Bible study group, the “I can’t” becomes “I can”.

So I thought I’d start with an introduction of myself before Christ (my “B.C.” life). I’m an only child, born and raised in the Philippines. I grew up attending an all girls’ Catholic school so I can say I have always known OF Christ. But my understanding of Him was confined to the usual “head” knowledge. Unfortunately we all know that mere head knowledge is not enough to get that deep joy and peace that only comes through a personal relationship with the Lord.

After my first year of college, we migrated to the US. The following month, I enrolled at a computer school in San Francisco where I met my husband who was my instructor. We got married the following year. Yes, it was fast and I was only 18 years old. And my husband will tell you (as he tells everyone) that I wrote him a note (on a Hello Kitty stationery) saying, “I came to America to find a blue eyed American with a Harvard education, and you’re it”. Looking back now, I can’t believe I did that. But you see back then, my motto was: “what Imelda wants, Imelda gets”. I’m telling you all this to make a point at how shallow my then mindset was.

We started our family right away. We are now blessed with four wonderful children. But as a very young wife and mother during my “B.C. life”, I was focused on the accumulation of wealth and I led a “trying-to-have-it-all” kind of lifestyle. We moved several times in search of the bigger and better home. But my level of happiness and satisfaction was all superficial. There was no real deep joy and contentment. In other words, as Pastor Sun Hee so cleverly preached, I felt WEIRD rather than WIRED and FRIED rather than FIRED.

Well my opportunity for that came in 2004 disguised in the form of financial difficulty. The kind of opportunity which, as Pastor Sun Hee described, took me from being bored, bland, and burnt-out to being bewildered, amazed and astonished.

In the spring of 2004, after 18 years of lucrative computer consulting business, my husband lost his major consulting contract and we also lost our entire savings. So there was no means to replenish the pot (no job), nothing to draw out from (no savings), and our eldest son was then entering College. For someone so focused on material wealth, I was in total despair and it brought me to my knees and I wrestled with God with my why, and how, and what questions. And in my “wrestling” came the beginning of my enlightenment and transformation.

Around that same time my mom met an “angel” in the person of Tita Rose Agana during one of her walks. Tita Rose became instrument of my spiritual journey. She introduced us to Ate Lolit Flores and the Fremont Bible Study Group. God started to slowly reveal Himself through the study of His Word.

I remember the very first verse that God impressed upon in my heart: “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” Psalm 37:4. Through the study of His Word, I slowly came to know the incredible love of God through Christ, giving way to a deep hunger and delight for His Word; and He started changing the desires of my heart.

My husband continued to be without a consulting contract for 2 years. In 2006 we were forced to sell one of our homes (the big one which I thought was my dream home). As I continued to delight in the Lord, my focus turned to HIS promises and the positive effects of my husband’s “joblessness”. I saw how it allowed my husband quality time with our children.

We ended up moving back into our smaller home, our then rental property. It was a Divine appointment that not only rescued and released me from a superficial and exhausting lifestyle (cleaning a big house is not all that fun; no wonder I felt “fried”), it turned out to be the best course of action after all. We sold our home for so much more than what it would have sold in the economy that followed, allowing us to purchase a home in Pismo Beach close to Cal Poly where our eldest son attended College.

It was there where He revealed to me the kind of life that He came for us to have, one that is overflowing with riches of the heart that nothing and no one can ever take away that causes us to get bewildered, amazed, and astonished, even in challenging times.

And it’s only by spending time in His Word that I get to really know HIM and learn to hear His still, small voice, to release control, to “let go and let God, to “be still, and know that He is God. And a Bible study group allowed me that opportunity. I look forward to Fridays when our small group enjoys fellowship, sharing praises and burdens as we study and get filled by the Word of God. I love my small group and I am in awe of their unequalled and instant support. Like when I recently suffered a back pain. One quick text and they were all praying for me. And as if their prayers were not enough, they personally came to visit me to lay healing hands including healing massage…I am truly grateful.

I may not be where I need to be, but thank God I’m not where I used to be (as Joyce Meyer would often say in her messages). Through my Bible study group, I have come to enjoy quiet time, reading devotionals, and listening to inspirational talks, allowing me to continually take delight in the Lord.

In closing, and in conjunction with Pastor Sun Hee’s recent messages, through the study of God’s Word, the power of the Holy Spirit took me from feeling WEIRED and FRIED (from relying on my own powers and pursuing treasures on earth) to feeling WIRED and FIRED and having the courage in declaring the awesome love and saving power of God. Thanks be to God.

Articles, Sermons

Sermon Transcript – Power of the Holy Spirit (Christianity 101)

POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT – Christianity 101 SeriesActs 2:1-13
May 20th, 2012
Pastor Sun Hee Kim

2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

FRIED VS. FIRED?

We are now into week six of this Christianity 101 sermon series that Pastor Anne and I have been preaching, and today I will be sharing with you the second of this two part message on the Holy Spirit. Last week, we took a look at the Promise of the Holy Spirit, how in Scripture we have this understanding that the Holy Spirit was not an afterthought or just a New Testament thing, but clearly present from Genesis to Revelation.

Today, we are taking a look at how that promise is fulfilled through the power of the Holy Spirit, and in particular, we will be looking at this very familiar passage and scene of Scripture where the disciples get filled with the Holy Spirit and start to talk in all sorts of different languages. Quite a scene. If you didn’t know what was really going on, you’d think that it was some sort of big Rosetta Stone conference.

This is what we read earlier:

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?

What strikes me about this scene is this response of the crowd that had gathered in Jerusalem that day. The Bible says that they were: bewildered, amazed, and astonished. In other words, when the Holy Spirit showed up, it was a big deal! What the people saw and experienced was not your run of the mill, everyday occurrence. They were witnesses of the incredible power of the Holy Spirit that was being manifest that day. Imagine this crowd of people, wide-eyed and just blown away (some literally!) by this supernatural and superspiritual demonstration. I don’t know about you, but it seems like to me an appropriate response to what was happening. The people were bewildered, amazed and astonished!

That was nearly two thousand years ago. Compare that to our typical response to the Holy Spirit in the 21st century: bored, bland, burnt-out. When I look around at Christians living in this day and age, unfortunately, I do not see the excitement and the amazement that was present among the first century believers. And you may agree with me on this, but more often than not, people seem bored in the church. They kind of have this attitude of knowing what to expect. They are rarely surprised. And instead of being wide-eyed, they sometimes seem like they are asleep. Of course, no one is sleeping here today, Amen?! But the truth is that this is the case for many, many Christians and churches. Boredom turns to bland spirituality, and ultimately, it becomes the breeding ground for followers of Jesus Christ simply being burnt-out.

And actually this makes sense – that when Christians are not experiencing the amazing promise, presence and power of the Holy Spirit in their lives and in the church, they get tired. Because it means they are probably doing the work on their own, out of their own strength. And they get burnt-out. Not an uncommon thing among believers.

In fact, let me make an observation: Too many Christians are feeling more fried than fired. Can anyone here amen that? Indeed, in the presence of the Holy Spirit, we should be feeling fired but most of us are just feeling fried. We are burnt out. But that is not the way our Christian lives are meant to be experienced or lived. And certainly, the Bible presents a very different picture of the experience of faith.

WOULD YOU LIKE FRIES WITH THAT?

Speaking of being fried, there is this Jay Leno quote that’s pretty hilarious but also makes me think about the way that we tend to approach the Holy Spirit sometimes. This is what Jay Leno said: “I went to McDonald’s yesterday and said, ‘I would like some fries,’ and the girl at the counter said, ‘would you like some fries with that?’” Funny right? Actually, it’s hilarious to me. We are so used to ordering fries “on the side” that when we actually order fries, the response is “would you like fries with that?”

But what’s not so funny is that this is actually the unfortunate way that I think many of us approach the Holy Spirit. We see it as something optional or something to have “on the side”. But the text that we read today in Acts chapter 2 gives a very different view of the Holy Spirit.

Actually, according to the story of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was not an option or just something you can have on the side. The way that the Holy Spirit is portrayed in Scripture is that it is like the main thing! In fact, as I mentioned last week, when you look at the ministry of Jesus, you see that everything that Jesus did was through the Spirit – whether it be teaching or healing or even laying down his life. He did everything by the Spirit and he did nothing without it. And so is the case with the disciples. Without the Spirit, they are afraid and immobilized – huddled up in hiding in the upper room. But when the Holy Spirit came upon them and filled them, everything changed!

And what we see in this scene and in many scenes of Scripture is that experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit is something that is a standard and the norm rather than the exception to the rule. In other words, what happened on the day of Pentecost would not be some sort of rare occurrence or “once-in-awhile” happening. It would be the precedent for all followers of Jesus thereafter to experience. And this picture and precedent is one of incredible, incredible power.

Let me pause here for a moment and just highlight what we see in Acts 2 – this picture of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. This is what we see: One, we see that the Holy Spirit is described as coming like a “violent wind”. In the Amplified Bible, this description is offered in this way: “the rushing of a violent tempest blast”. Eugene Peterson in The Message translation describes it as: “a strong wind, gale force.” In the New Living Translation, it’s put this way: “the roaring of a mighty windstorm”. And just one more for fun. This one from Young’s Literal Translation. It’s simply translated as “a violent breath”. Any of you married folk wake up in the morning next to your spouse who has “violent breath”?!

Anyway, the point is that when the Holy Spirit appeared, it was noticeable. Things got stirred up. People’s hair got a little messy and the sound was pretty enormous. In other words, the picture of the Holy Spirit is one of power. Incredible power.

But the second thing that we see in this picture of the Holy Spirit is that it filled the disciples. And the sense here is that it filled them completely. They weren’t just touched by the Holy Spirit. This incredible thing described as a rushing wind didn’t just come and brush up against them and leave as quickly as it came. No, the disciples were filled. From head to toe. In mind, body and heart, the Holy Spirit just poured itself into their very beings. And they were instantly transformed. What just a few minutes earlier were a group of trembling and timid men, became a group of powerful leaders speaking with incredible authority.

Which brings me to the third thing that we see in this picture of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gave abilities for ministry. The Holy Spirit is seen in the passage as actually enabling the disciples for ministry. This is what we read in Acts 2:4:

4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Did you hear that? The Spirit gave them ability. This is the promise of Jesus fulfilled in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The disciples would be clothed with “power” from on high as we read last week in Acts 1:8. And power, indeed, were they clothed with on this day of Pentecost! Incredible power. And I want to make sure that you don’t overlook or take this picture for granted.

So let me give you a real quick Mini Greek Lesson. This is stuff I learned in seminary, so I want to use it in moments like this to make me feel good about all the tuition I paid. You all get this for free, by the way. In the original Greek, the word which we translate in the English translation of Scripture as “power” is the word “dunamis”. Dunamis. Does that sound like any word to you in the English language? That’s right, dynamite. We get the word dynamite from this Greek word “dunamis” which is the word used to describe the power of the Holy Spirit! And understand this. It’s not that dynamite is used as a comparison to describe the Holy Spirit. It’s the other way around. It’s the Holy Spirit that is used as a comparison to describe dynamite! I’m not sure if you catch what I’m saying here. When people are in the presence of something powerful, they are thinking…hmmm, what is this powerful thing like? Oh yah, it’s powerful like the Holy Spirit! Dunamis power. And friends, that power is available to each and every one of us.

So let me give you a real quick Mini Faith Lesson now. This one I did not learn in seminary, but just from trying to live life and faith. And what this mini faith lesson is about is connecting promise to power. How do we take the promise of the Holy Spirit given by Jesus and make it a reality of power in our lives? By praying and waiting. Like so many promises of Scripture, the caveat here is to really want it and to really seek it. And that comes in the form of prayer. We need to pray to God and ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to be manifest in our lives and in the way that we live out our faith. And we need to pray together and be together – as a community of faith. Unity in this type of prayer is always more effective. And after fervently and intentionally praying for it, we wait. We wait in expectation and we wait with hope. And we wait with others who have prayed for the same.

And this may sound a bit simple, but it is the foundation of our faith. And it is certainly the precursor to experiencing the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit that has been promised to us in Scripture. This dunamis power, this Holy Spirit power, when it is manifest in our lives, everything changes. We move from being bored, bland and burnt-out to being bewildered, amazed and astonished. And then, we really live our lives in ways consistent to those that are filled by the Holy Spirit.

SUPERSIZING OUR FAITH

So how do we apply this message to our lives? I know it may seem like I’m referencing fast food too much in this sermon today, but I’m going to make one more reference. I don’t know if you remember, but there used to be a time when you go to McDonald’s you could order one of those McDeal Meals and actually supersize it. So basically, you are taking something that’s already pretty hefty in calories and you are asking for a bigger portion of it – a supersized portion. Now, I’m not recommending anyone to supersize anything at McDonald’s per se. I’m not even recommending anyone eat at McDonald’s, period. But if there’s anything we should be supersizing, it should be our faith.

We need to stop living these quiet, timid, and unimpressive versions of our faith, because when you think about it – real faith, real Christianity is nothing less than supersized. We need to practice the power of the Holy Spirit that involves:

One, Living large. We need to be living boldly and claiming the dunamis power in everything that we do and are about.

Two, Not squinting. Ultimately, I believe that real faith lived in real power is nothing that we need to squint our eyes at to see. Remember that when the Holy Spirit showed up, it was noticeable. Live out faith in noticeable ways. Let people see your faith and let them be bewildered, amazed, astonished.

Three, Loudly proclaiming. When the Holy Spirit is present and manifest in our lives, we are called to witness and testify to that power. Or in other words, to speak about it and to speak about it loudly. This is what the disciples did on the day of Pentecost. They started proclaiming loudly so that other people could hear the message and respond. Next week, you are going to hear some amazing stories from our very own members of how the Holy Spirit has been working in their lives and in their blessing of being together in community. And they are going to be proclaiming loudly. And you are going to be bewildered, amazed, and astonished. It’s going to be awesome.

In the meanwhile, I invite you to supersize your faith this week. Seek and pray for the power of the Holy Spirit, and wait for your heart to be stirred. It’s coming and when it comes, everything will change. Amen?