SPIRIT FILLED; SPIRIT LED

Romans 8:14-17; John 14: 25-27

A traveling evangelist was known for the dramaticdelivery of his messages, and his dramatic portrayal of his illustrations. Healways got into town the day before he was to preach to see how he mightpunctuate his points with visual effects. Since he was preaching on thisday—Pentecost—in that church he knew exactly what to bring from home. In hiscar he carried a cage with a white dove in it. He knew what he was doing! Thatday he asked the preacher to give him a nimble youth to assist him with hismessage. Exploring the old church, he found a door that led up to an attic overthe sanctuary. He told the boy that on that Sunday he was to quietly go up tothe attic with the bird, and at a certain time in the sermon, he would callforth the Holy Spirit, and the boy was to release the bird through an openingthey had made in the ceiling! The boy got good at getting the bird out of thecage and holding it. The preacher was confident that this effect would makepeople marvel and bring them to the Lord. The next day on Pentecost Sunday theboy went quietly up to the attic while the man started preaching. He was workingthe crowd, and working the message when he came to the crescendo of his sermon.“And so I say in the name of Jesus today, ‘Come Down, Holy Spirit, come downnow!’” There was silence in the sanctuary except for the sound of scufflingabove the ceiling. Slightly unnerved but not to be outdone by this snafu, thepreacher called out in a louder voice: “Come down Holy Spirit, come down now!”Just then the boy’s face appeared in the opening in the ceiling. “Sir” the boycried out apologetically, a big yellow cat just ate the Holy Spirit! Shall Ithrow down the cat?”

Without smoke or mirrors; without the tricks oftraveling preachers or high priced technical support, we know that the HolySpirit of the Living God was promised to Jesus’ disciples before his death. It was recorded in John: “I willpray, and my Father will send you another Counselor.”  Jesus was thefirst counselor of how to live as a mortal, and yet commit one’s soul to God.The Spirit came down from Heaven like a dove and lived within the Savior. Jesusleft that Spirit on earth when he departed. We know from John’s gospel that theSpirit counseled the lost, and comforted the hurting. We know that the Spiritempowers the meek, and communicates with the confused. We know that theSpirit’s work was manifested in Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost recorded inActs 2, and that the Holy Spirit has been apparent at various times and placesever since. In Paul’s magnificent eighth chapter of Romans, he says “All whoare led by the Spirit are children of God.” Are you a child of God? Do you prayfor God’s Spirit to fill you?  Manypeople love the one-lined prayer in the simple gospel song “Spirit of theliving God, fall afresh on me; melt me mold me, fill me use me.”  Listen to all that we ask the Spirit fortoday: to come into us, not through a hole in the ceiling, but like a dove sentfrom Heaven; we ask the Spirit to come into us and dwell in a fresh new way.When we sing “melt me” its because God’s frozen chosen have gotten too frostedinto our old habits and predictable ways! The Spirit has melting powers! On theother hand, sometimes we also get brittle, like dried out Playdough! Yet theSpirit can give our souls new texture, like trading in the can that’s filledwith the dry and crystallized stuff, and getting a new can of moldable dough! Thewords, “fill me” imagines our life to be like a vessel, one that has becomedusty from not coming back to God, the source of drenching life and love. TheSpirit can pour water into the fonts of our souls again! And then when weinvite God to use us, the Spiritgives us the strength and courage to do what is required in the face ofadversity, sorrow, or weakness. Thank you Jesus for leaving us your Spirit! Isthere nothing God’s Spirit cannot do? “No,” the Bible says, “for with Godnothing shall be impossible.” So the only things that limit our ministries orour growth are our self-perceived boundaries or the critical voices that comefrom others or from the devil. Sometime the voices people hear say: “You can’tdo that!” Why don’t you just give up on God and have some fun?” or “What’s theuse; you’ll just fail again!” You can give in to those devilish voices, but ifyou do, you will have ignored the clarion call of your Creator’s own Spirit!The Spirit is represented as a fresh wind blowing and as a white dove. Thetempter is mostly depicted as a serpent! To whom are you listening? And whowill you start listening to even harder today?

The one who made you still calls you! Still guidesyou! Still loves you! Still empowers you! All of that: unless you give in toall those “other voices.”

We would not be here in this sanctuary today if wiseministers, elders, and congregation members gave in to those devilish voices ofimpossibility, or discouragement, and the fear of failure. We are here todaybecause members of the First Presbyterian Church, and a Presbytery of Rulingand Teaching Elders, listened to the Spirit of the living God. “We need tobuild a new congregation!” God’s voice spoke into the ear of Dr. Paul Edris,Mr. Ernest Hunt, and a handful of other faithful church people. They becameGod’s cheering squad, God’s urgency, and Christ’s hands and feet and heart.“Make it so” a wise captain once said. God must have told them the same thing.As they began their work, Jesus didn’t leave them as orphans. He gave themmore power than they could have dreamed of having. The dream began to form around 1946; but it didn’tbecome the colony of Presbyterians that met in the Wilbur Clubhouse until 1955.This weekend 55 years ago the name of the church was officially used, as yourkeepsake copy of the actual bulletin indicates.

When people listen to God’s Holy Spirit instead of thecrippling voices of  defeatism andinsidious despair, things deemed impossible become possible, and things deemedunlikely become a reality. Twothousand years ago, followers of Jesus started to form something that would laterbe called the Church. Fifty-five years ago, a new congregation of Christ’sChurch was born. What amazing things God’s Spirit can do if we take away the powerfrom other voices, read the Bible, and say, “Here I am Lord, send me out inyour name!” Churches—and people—both benefit from being Spirit filled. Godbenefits the most when we let our congregations—and our lives—be Spirit led.Today can be a watershed, a born-again day for you.  I will pray that you realize the power God has given you: that you have the power to tune out the negative and destructivevoices; and that you have the chance today to begin to be Spirit-filled andSpirit-led, in whole new ways.

Let us pray for that:

Spirit of the Living God: fall afresh on us. Warm thefrosty places in our hearts; mold our brittle bodies; break our human-formedperceptions; help us tune out the other voices that pull us away from you, andgive us Heavenly hearts. In the name of Jesus, who did that perfectly. Amen.

Jeffrey A. SumnerMay 23, 2010