Powerful Presence

2011-06-12 (am) Powerful Presence (Pentecost Sunday)

Do you remember what Jesus said to the first four disciples whom he called? He said, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Now these guys were fishermen, so it is interesting that Jesus called them in this way. I don’t know if anyone had ever thought of catching people as you catch fish. Indeed, you can’t catch people in the same way you catch fish. Though there’s that song, even if you do put a fried worm on a hook, no one would be very inclined to go after it.

Incidentally, we sometimes try to take things too literally. I can just picture some poor guys with fishing rods, trying to catch people for the gospel. Still it’s probably better than doing nothing.

Jesus said, “Come and follow me.” That’s what we do. We meet Jesus, Jesus comes up to us and he calls us. The fact that we’re here this morning, that’s no accident, Jesus called us. And we’ve responded. There’s a bit more that we have to do, but we’ll get to that in just a bit.

Then Jesus gives these guys a promise. He says, “I will make you fishers of men.”

Jesus is the one who does this. The disciples are sent out two by two, the twelve of them. And it went pretty well. Another time Jesus sent 70 out. And one of the times, it didn’t go so great, they tried to do what Jesus did, but one demon that refused to listen to them, so they had to bring the man to Jesus.

Still, with all their faults, Jesus was training them. However, they lacked one important person. Yes, Matthias had replaced Judas, but they still were missing a powerful person, the Holy Spirit.

What is so striking with this chapter in Acts is the total transformation that happens when the Holy Spirit comes. Everyone notices! These knock kneed disciples become, instantly, powerful proclaimers of the Gospel.

Look, the Holy Spirit comes with the sound of a rushing wind. One second it is calm, the next sound is like a tornado! As fast as Jesus calmed the wind and the waves on the boat, that’s as fast as the sound of the Holy Spirit came.

The Holy Spirit, until this very moment, had never arrived like this before. This is amazing. This is as significant as when the tent of meeting was moved from outside the camp into the very centre. This is even better than the incarnation. For like when the Holy Spirit worked in the Old Testament, he only empowered a select few. Sometimes he would work in more than one, but usually it was just one person whom the Holy Spirit empowered.

This is God now living not just among us, or as Eugene Peterson puts it in the message, “The Word became flesh and moved into the neighbourhood.” For that implies that only a select few can be close to God. Even during Jesus’ ministry, only the disciples were able to be near Jesus, because his physical body limited him.

But the Holy Spirit is different. Nothing physical limits him at all! He is able to be not only near, but in his disciples, taking up residence, not in the neighbourhood, but he makes his home in our hearts!

Look at the text. This is why I encourage you to open your Bibles and keep them open. It says it right there, he came upon them all. Each person, 120 disciples received the physical sign that the Holy Spirit was upon them. They had what looked like tongues of fire above their heads.

This alludes to the fire that was present whenever the Lord showed up, the burning bush, the tabernacle, the fire that consumed Aaron’s sons etc.

The Holy Spirit arrived and everything changed in a heartbeat.

The disciples came out of hiding and ran to the lion’s den. Why? Why now? Why put yourself in harms way? Why risk everything?

At the instant the Holy Spirit arrived, everything clicked. The Holy Spirit gave to the Apostles, the 12 disciples who were with Jesus his entire ministry, full and complete understanding.

If they didn’t have tongues of fire on their heads, and if they were cartoon characters, they would have had light bulbs lit above them. They understood everything!

They knew who Jesus really was, they knew exactly why he came. They understood why he had to suffer and die. They understood why he is alive. They understood why he had to go back to heaven. The Holy Spirit inspired them in a unique way, to understand and convey the truth about Jesus Christ. This is why we read that people devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching. This is why the New Testament was written, or records the teaching of the apostles. Their insight and understanding was special, via the Holy Spirit.

They understood their part in the whole process, and they understood what had just happened 50 days prior, and what it all meant. They understood that they had to get the good news out, without delay.

So they all rushed out to the public square and the Holy Spirit equipped them in such a way that these simple fisher folk from Galilee could speak several different languages. They were powerfully fully of the Holy Spirit’s presence that they were able to speak the good news in whatever language the people needed to hear it in.

At that very moment, Jesus’ promise to them was fulfilled. I will make you fishers of men.

They didn’t need further training. They didn’t need focus groups. They didn’t have to canvass the neighbourhood to find out what the needs of the community were. They simply had to trust Christ to lead them.

The people who heard them were amazed. Some mocked. But Peter stood up, along with the eleven, and he preached.

Now, don’t go looking at his sermon and think, “I wish our pastor preached such short sermons!” This is the cliffs notes version; this is the highlights, the most important bits.

Peter explains to the crowd what had just happened in Jerusalem. Indeed, the Holy Spirit had just shown him what it was all about, and so with understanding, he excitedly began to explain everything. How God was fulfilling Joel’s prophecy in their presence.

Which, is like Jesus, at the start of his ministry, he goes to synagogue, in Nazareth, his home town, he’s given the scroll to read, and he turns to the part in Isaiah where it says,

“‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

And then he sits down. Every eye turns to him and he pauses. He looks around. And then he says, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” This promise has come true. The time is now.

Same with Peter. The time is now. Joel longed for this day, the day you’re seeing!

This is why these things are happening. God has moved into the neighbourhood. You hated him, you conspired with the Gentiles to get rid of him, this Jesus whom you crucified. He is God. You did this, according to the plan that God had set up a long time ago. Yes, he planned it, but you went through with it because you couldn’t see God in it. You hated what Jesus was doing, you were jealous so you killed him. But in killing him, he has brought you life.

What Peter did for them was tell them how badly they had missed the mark. Do you know where we get the word sin from? I just learned this from Pastor Charles Price. The word sin comes from archery. If you miss the target it is sin. If you miss it by a centimetre, it is sin. IF you miss it by a foot it is sin, if you miss it by a mile it is sin, if you aim in the opposite direction, it is sin. Anything but spot on the centre, perfectly on target is sin.

What humanity is guilty of is sin. As Paul explains elsewhere, “for all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” All have missed. No one, apart from Christ, has kept the commandments of God perfectly. What the commandments do is they teach us about God’s moral character. God is perfectly moral; we’re not, because Adam sinned.

All have missed the mark. In fact, we’re nowhere close. And for those who were in Jerusalem on Pentecost, they realised how much they missed the mark.

Some of them thought they’d actually hit it! Yes! We got rid of this Jesus fellow, what a fool, calling himself God! We’ve kept God’s honour pure! And they patted themselves on the back for it. Not unlike Saul when he was breathing murderous threats against the early church, firmly believing he was hitting the target bang on! Christ taught him that he was in fact, pointing the opposite way.

Peter pointed that fact out to this crowd too.

And the Holy Spirit cut many of them who heard it to the heart. They cried out to Peter, “Brothers, what must we do?”

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

People of God examine yourselves this morning. Recognise that in everything, you’ve fallen short, you’ve missed the mark, and your best effort is sin, a total miss. Repent in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your misses. Receive the Holy Spirit; he’s a gift. This promise is for you.

Then filled with the Holy Spirit, having the Holy Spirit working in you, do the work of a fisher of men. Proclaim the gospel. Proclaim the good news. Try this; ask your fellow students, your work mates, your employees, your employer, have you ever done any target practise? Ever hit anything perfectly? Microscopically perfectly?

There’s a scene in the Princess Diaries 2, where a guy is conspiring to take over the throne of Genovia. In his hand he’s holding a dart, for he’d just been playing darts with his nephew. He says, I never miss the target. He holds up the dart, and, just when you expect him to display an incredible talent, throw the dart and hit the bull’s-eye, he instead runs up to the dartboard and thrusts the dart into the centre. He cheats.

We don’t have to. Jesus hit the mark. Tell your friends who have missed the mark about Jesus. That’s the gospel. What Jesus did.

God has made you fishers of people. God has made you, and filled with the Holy Spirit, God will enable you, empower you to do what he has called you, all of us to do.

Darryl, as you begin your service as deacon, rest in the confidence of Christ and the Holy Spirit. He has called you, he has filled you, and you can do the work by giving yourself completely over to him. Trust in him.

Encourage us all, to be faithful with what we’ve received. Not just financially, but even more with the gospel. It is the gospel that runs and drives everything. Lead us all by its truth. Remind us of the gospel.

People of God, know that God has stocked the lake full of people to catch. Cast out your lines, cast out your nets, go and make disciples of all nations, God will bring them to you, share the good news with them! Amen.