This past week I had a conversation where we were talking about the power of nature. The 2001 Nisqually earthquake came up. I remember it well watching the pasture fields at my parents’ home on the Enumclaw plateau look more liike the waves in the middle of Puget Sound.

Think about the power that you have witnessed in nature during your lifetime. Windstorms - in 1940 winds took down the Tacoma Narrows bridge.

Flooding - we’ve seen the power of king tides, and just warm temperatures combined with excessive rain in our area.

Undoubtedly the greatest display of natures power in our lifetime (so far) was the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, May 18, 1980.

At 8:32am a magnitude 5.1 earthquake triggered a massive structural failure to the mountain causing the entire north face of the mountain to slide away in the largest landslide in recorded history. The sudden unloading o pressure released a lateral explosion moving at speeds up to 680mph.

Prior to the eruption the mountain was symmetrical and known as the Mt. Fuji of the west at 9,677 feet. Within seconds it was left at 8,363 feet. 1300 vertical feet gone.

My guess is that anyone over 50 knows exactly where they were on that fateful day. I was camping with my fellow boy scouts and since we were in the shadow of Mt. Rainier we didn’t hear the explosion itself. We did however experience the ash falling from the sky.

Today we celebrate a day more than 2 millennia ago. About 120 people are gathered together on the day of Pentecost. Now the day of Pentecost did not mean to them what it means to us today. The customary name in the OT was the Feast of Weeks, it was the second of three obligatory observances, coming between Passover and Tabernacles. It was a celebration of the first fruits of your labor - it was an agricultural festival for the early harvest.

Yet this Pentecost was not going to be like any they had celebrated before. Most of us are familiar with this passage. We read in verses 2-4

Acts 2:2–3 ESV

And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.

Some kids saw the tongues of fire and thought:

Marshmallows! Of course I’m kidding, marshmallows weren’t invented yet.

People are wondering what is going on as they all begin hearing the disciples (Galileans) speaking in their own languages. Some thought they were drunk, and Peter stands up and says, Acts 2:15-16

Acts 2:15–16 ESV

For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

And listen to what the prophet Joel said, Acts 2:17-18

Acts 2:17–18 ESV

“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

I don’t know about you, but I want that to be and to remain in my life. I want to experience that overwhelming of the Holy Spirit. I want you to prophesy, I want you to see visions and have dreams.

We continue to read Peter quoting Joel:

Acts 2:19–20 ESV

And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

In our Christian circles how often do we speak of experiencing the power of nature and how seldom do we speak of experiencing the power of God?

That is a question that should haunt all of us. Especially in our churches. I would love to say that it was because we were like the proverbial frog in the kettle that we’ve just become so used to it we don’t even notice. But I think in our heart we all know that’s not true.

Think of the promises we find throughout Scripture:

Deuteronomy 4:29 ESV

But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

This verse comes speaking about living in the promised land. It’s in the context of not seeking after other idols.

From King David’s reign we find his charge to his son, Solomon:

1 Chronicles 28:9 ESV

“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

To Jesus Word’s recorded in Matthew 6:33

Matthew 6:33 ESV

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

and Matt 7:7-8

Matthew 7:7–8 ESV

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

It seems there for us, and yet as I talk to so many there is little experience of the power Peter is preaching on that day so long ago.

Is it no longer available? If we were in a sailboat would we simply be calling the wind as “dead calm”?

Back when great sailing ships were the way of circumnavigating our world they would often get trapped in a region near the equator known as the doldrums where there is often no wind. No wind = no propulsion. Simply bobbing along driven by ocean currents rather than the force of the wind.

That feels very similar to being caught up in the current of our culture, lacking any sense of autonomous direction or direction provided by the propulsion from the wind.

Anyone who’s been sailing on a relatively calm day has no doubt prayed for wind. You gaze out over the water looking for any sign of where the wind might be moving so as to catch even a light breeze to propel us forward. You have to seek it.

So what about in our spiritual lives? Are we asking? Are we seeking? Are we knocking? or are we simply sitting passively by and expecting in some sort of entitlement?

Throughout the Scriptures we’re told to seek and we’ll receive! Why do we sit passivelye?

Psalm 37:4 ESV

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Are we holding to Jesus commands? Are we seeking to live in the way God calls us to live? Come Holy Spirit!

Peter quotes Joel: Acts 2:17

Acts 2:17 ESV

“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;

I don’t know about you, but I want to live with my sails full, not being driven along by the currents of culture. I want our church to live with sails filled as well. And when we do we will be a powerful witness as we learned before Jesus ascended when he said, Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

As the rushing wind fills the place where they are and they are heard by the people from all the nations under heaven in their own language in a very real way this statement was being fulfilled. As the Gospel spread throughout the known world of that time, it continues to advance today as we live as witnesses.

Keith Green, a great Christian Music artist back in the 70’s and 80’s wrote a song called, Rushing Wind.

Here are the lyrics:

Rushing wind, blow through this temple Blowing out the dust within Come and breathe Your breath upon me I've been born again [Verse 2] Holy Spirit, I surrender Take me where You want to go Plant me by Your living waters Plant me deep so I can grow

[Verse 3]

Separate me from this world, Lord Sanctify my life for You Daily change me to Your image Help me bear good fruit

Come Holy Spirit, let us bear good fruit.

Let’s join our hearts together in prayer.

Sails Full!

Come Holy Spirit, Come!