The Mission Continues Part 2.1
The Jesus Mission Continues • Sermon • Submitted
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· 10 viewsHow the Mission stays inspired – By the Holy Spirit.
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The Mission Continues
The Mission Continues
Introduction
A summary of last week’s message where I stated the big idea of Jesus for his disciples was the Great Commission. This is His vision for His followers in every single generation at every single point in time. The four passages on the great commission tell that Followers of Jesus exist to ensure the continuity of the Jesus mission. And these four passages on the Great Commission tell us that
His mission is why we exist.
His mission calls us to go to all people.
HIs mission requires us to wholeheartedly follow Jesus.
His mission requires the Holy Spirit to inspire it.
Our Mission Statement
Beth El Shalom exists to inspire all people to wholeheartedly follow Jesus.
This week I want to start talking to you about the Holy Spirit. More specifically, how the Holy Spirit inspires us to continue the Jesus Mission. And our starting point will be at a key moment in ancient Israel’s history. They year is sometime around 520 B.C. For those who are familiar with Bible history you know that Israel is now living in a post apocalyptic world. The word apocalypse refers to a disastrous event predicted by prophetic revelation (See MW 11th Edition). For the Jewish people living in Southern Israel, what is called Judah, their apocalypse was the onslaught of Babylon’s military machine under the charge of Nebuchadnezzar. The prophets warned of this coming day and when it came the Babylonians marched across Judah with ruthless cruelty. Killing, raping, deporting men, women, and children and destroying cities including the capital of Judah, Jerusalem, and it’s Temple. Some 70 years after this apocalypse, Jewish people returned from Babylon to a dystopian nightmare. The situation looked hopeless, futile. People living in the Beautiful Land led an almost dehumanized existence, in constant fear for their lives. It looked like the God ordained mission for Israel had failed and was no more.
That is what makes the predictions and visions of Zechariah so powerful. His predictions and visions contain great hope when their was no hope. It was gospel for his generation. He and the prophets of his generation knew that even these disappointments could not stop God’s mission from continuing, they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Among them was a man named Zechariah called a prophet because of the Spirit that inspired him.
Let’s say the Ha-Foke-Bah and read together a very famous oracle from this prophet.Ha-Foke-Bah
Ha-Foke-Bah
De-Cola-Bah
Ha-Foke-Bah
Ha-Foke-Bah
Mashiach-Bah
Turn it, and turn it, everything you need is in it.
Reflect on it, grow old and gray with it.
Do not turn from it.
The Messiah is in it.
1 The angel who was speaking with me then returned and roused me as one awakened out of sleep. 2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, “I see a solid gold lampstand there with a bowl on its top. It has seven lamps on it and seven channels for each of the lamps on its top. 3 There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 Then I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 “Don’t you know what they are?” replied the angel who was speaking with me. I said, “No, my lord.” 6 So he answered me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength or by might, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of Hosts. 7 ‘What are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. And he will bring out the capstone accompanied by shouts of: Grace, grace to it!’ ”
Comments on Zechariah 4:1-7; 10 - The mission continued by the Spirit’s Power.
As we look at this important passage in Zechariah 4 I want us to consider something that is often overlooked - when God sends His Spirit to continue His mission it often seems like a trivial affair, almost anti-climatical in light of the mountain that must be moved (me vaz l’yom ktanot, ... מִ֣י בַז֮ לְיֹ֣ום קְטַנֹּות֒). Zech 4:10
10 For who scorns the day of small things? These seven eyes of the Lord, which scan throughout the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.”
When God continues His mission it will both be LIKE and UNLIKE how it was done before.
The Menorah was something LIKE what was in the past. Zech 4:2
2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, “I see a solid gold lampstand there with a bowl on its top. It has seven lamps on it and seven channels for each of the lamps on its top.
Olive trees represent permanence.
There are cultivated groves that have been conclusively proven to well over a thousand years old. There is one grove in Sardinia (an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea) that reliably dates back almost four thousand years. What is the secret to the olive tree’s exceptional long life? The trunk and branches do not actually live forever. They hollow out and die off many, many times over the course of the life of the tree. The root and the parts of the olive tree that are underground do not die of natural causes. They sprout and send forth new trees again and again.
Olive trees are also self-pollinating, which is unusual in the plant kingdom. This fact might help account for their extreme longevity. Since olive trees do not use the genes of other plants to sprout and seed, there is less possibility for genetic transcriptions to enter the system and for mutations to occur. It also helps that, because of their propensity for poor soil, olive trees are usually isolated from other trees. Any disease that makes the transition to an olive grove will simply kill the parts of the tree that extend above ground.
Olive trees represent the upright man blessed by the Lord (cf, Psalm 52:8; English).
The Two Olive Trees were UNLIKE. Zech 4:3-5
3 There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 Then I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 “Don’t you know what they are?” replied the angel who was speaking with me. I said, “No, my lord.”
The angel chastises him for not knowing - He is a prophet! He is supposed to have a spirit inspired mind, intellect.
If it would have been one tree we know that would have pointed to Messiah - It’s Two.
The new revelation the Spirit was going to inspire was that the Mission of Israel would now continue not just through Israel’s Davidic Dynasty but through two community leaders: the high priest and the governor. This was new for God’s mission for Israel.
The amazing renewal of God’s mission would come only by the Spirit’s power. Zech 4:6
6 So he answered me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength or by might, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of Hosts.
Strength and might mean one thing not two - not by political autonomy which Israel lacked at this point in history. They had no centralized government, bank, or army.
Zerubbabel was appointed by the Persians to rebuild the Temple according to what would be acceptable to the Persians. We know from the prophet Haggai who was ministering during this time that Zerubbabel was planning a rebellion of some kind against their overlords. Both Haggai and Zechariah encourage Zerubbabel that armed rebellion will not rebuild something spiritual, something eternal. God is going to do his work without further bloodshed.
This message was challenging to Zerubbabel who was under the imperial thumb of the Persian capital. His people. land, and Temple were oppressed by His employer. He knew this and how he longed to be free of that yoke of bondage. Yet, the message from the prophet is simple:
When God’s Spirit is involved in God’s mission, no mountain is immovable.
If you were too list your top five “must haves” to free your people, your nation, your religion from Imperial overlords what five things would you choose?
God says to make all five his Holy Spirit and when we do, that new mission is blessed with God’s favor. Zech 4:7
7 ‘What are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. And he will bring out the capstone accompanied by shouts of: Grace, grace to it!’ ”
The capstone is not the cornerstone of the old Temple, it is a new cornerstone.
This means the mission of God will look similar to the old but it will be new and will be done by the inspiration and power of God’s Spirit.
Now let’s jump ahead about 2521 years to our modern day. And let’s think deeply about the role of the Holy Ghost inspiring the continuance of the Jesus mission. I know from personal experience and from over 22 years of being part of the Messianic and Christian religious complex that there is confusion if not neglect in seeking the power of the Holy Ghost to continue this mission. Hindsight being 20/20 my greatest blunders are when I neglect or confuse the need for Holy Ghost’s inspiration and power with something else.
It’s easy to confuse the inspiration and power of the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghost’s power and inspiration and power confused with technology.
An article entitled “This is your brain on Instagram: Effects of Social Media on the Brain” recently tried to give warning to the dangerous side effects of Social Media. - https://now.northropgrumman.com/this-is-your-brain-on-instagram-effects-of-social-media-on-the-brain/
The Holy Ghost’s power and inspiration is confused with ingenuity.
in•ge•nu•i•ty - skill or cleverness in devising or combining
Psalm 75:7 - God rules: he brings this one down to his knees, pulls that one up on her feet. Proverbs 16:1-2 Mortals make elaborate plans, but God has the last word. Humans are satisfied with whatever looks good; God probes for what is good
The Holy Ghost’s power and inspiration is confused with enthusiasm.
The Holy Ghost’s power and inspiration is confused with winning the lottery.
I don’t want you to think that I am calling for all of us to go off the grid with technology, nor that we don’t apply our most creative thoughts and ideas to ministry, or put our best energy into this. I want us to be discerning enough to know when technology has replaced the Spirit instead of being a tool in our resource belt. When ingenuity is replacing careful and prayerful reflective times, when enthusiasm is really masking doubt, hurt, or mistrust. I believe the Spirit is present when we weep as much as when we rejoice.
I am not saying that sometimes some congregations and new church plants hit the lottery. They do. It happens (Psalm 75:7). But when it happens I’ve learned to appreciate and not try to replicate it. I look at like a beautiful sunset. I saw the most beautiful sunset on January 6th after my kids running camp. Even if I could paint, I could not truly replicate that sunset, I can only treasure it, appreciate it for what it is, and know full well that on January 14th, the sunset will be different no matter how much I want it to be the same. This is true not just with church plants but with business, families, and success.
What happens when we confuse or neglect the Holy Ghost’s power and inspiration?
Religious tradition or form is given priority (2 Tim 3:5).
Many good people burnout or even worse. - illustrate with Pinwheels.
Worldliness and secularism replaces the fellowship of the Holy Ghost (John 2:12-25)
Worldliness - conforming to the institutional powers and beliefs structures that exist within a culture that are contradictory to God’s Truth.
Secularism - institutions, ideas, beliefs, plans or relationships that are areligious.
It has allowed and continues to allow the body of the Messiah to become the hidden garden of some of the greatest injustices, evils, and atrocities known to mankind.
There was a time the Body of the Messiah was leading change in the World.
Then it started to act like the World: Oppressed Women, People Groups, Turned to Violence, Mechanized the Ministry and Ignored the World around them and only cared about itself.
It is easy to become self-absorbed when you are not Spirit absorbed.
Nachmanides the famous Jewish Rabbi who had to face down a Jewish Christian named Pablo Christiani during an inquisition in the middle ages. Yes, a Jewish Christian was leading an inquisition against his own people. Sad state of affairs. Nachmanides famously said, “The Spirit does not dwell where worldliness abides.” You want to experience the Spirt in your life? You want more of God? I want to give you some simple steps. I am not telling you to work harder, I am asking you to relinquish room in your heart for more of God by doing this:
First, identify the worldly and secular in your life and examine what you are getting out of it. Make a decision about eliminating it or keeping it.
Second, wake up one hour before everyone else in your home and meditate and commune with God in quite for 15 minutes. No phone, no music,
Last, commune with the Spirit at the Cross.
What to expect when expecting the Holy Ghost’s power and inspiration.
Expect that the only constant is change.
God hardly ever does the same thing in the same way twice.
Illustrations: Abraham different than Joseph, Joseph different than Moses, Moses and the rock different, David is different from Hezekiah.
The heroine in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, Lucy, asks the Jesus figure, Aslan, why he didn’t come roaring in to rescue them “like last time.” Aslan replies, “It is hard for you, little one...But things never happen the same way twice.” The hard truth is that when you are serving the Most High God, you’re operating on behalf of One who does not subscribe to predictability or proven methods.
Expect a small beginning not a big bang (2 Kings 4:1-7, the oil). Old notes had “gentle breeze” and not a big blast of wind.
Expect that insiders and outsider will think it strange.
Expect that it will last as long as the Holy Ghost wants.
How do you get the Holy Ghost’s power and inspiration?
Don’t beg God for the Holy Ghost’s power and inspiration just glorify Jesus!
When you do He inspires your intuition. - 1 Cor 2:10-12
10 Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.
When you do He empowers agape transformation. - 1 Cor 6:9-11
9 Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality, 10 no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. 11 And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Conclusion
I wonder today if we would even notice the Holy Ghost has left the sanctuary as long as things kept basically working? I know in Ezekiel’s vision the glory of God left the Temple and almost no one even noticed because the show, the religion, the rituals just kept on going. I wonder if we would care as long as the status quo remained the same. Historically religious people are some of the most change resistant people in the world. I wonder what it would look like if we energetically sought the Holy Ghost to inspire and empower us?
William Seymour was a man of God and was a man did that very thing. He was filled with the Spirit’s power and inspiration. God had given this young 34 year old man a passion for the mission of Jesus.
Picture of William and Wife
The only problem, it was 1906, he was the son of freed slaves, a black man, doing ministry in a white American and in Houston, Texas. For perspective, this only 41 years after the civil war ended in May of 1865. Houston was a world where white folks did not receive ministry from black men. Seymour wanted and education at Bible College here in Houston called Parham but Texas Jim Crow laws prohibited it. And the church and the most biblically astute at the time (Professors) accepted it to be so. Seymour said okay and just simply sat outside the doors of the room and got his education.
He did not let the seemingly impassable mountains of institutional racism discourage him. This whole time he was worshiping the Lord and seeking the Power and Inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
William Seymour moved out west to Los Angeles, CA and there he was forbidden by pastors to preach in their pulpits. He did not let up. He was inspired by the Holy Spirit. He and a small group of people, his core group was made up of about 15 African Americans, including five children.
Picture of Newspaper
On April 6, 1906 there was an outpouring of God’s Spirit on that faithful group of people. It defied everything people were taught in established Christianity and thought possible. It was not to long after that crowds of black people, white people, brown people of up to 1,500 packed into the small mission for the better part of three years.
Picture of Church Building
“No instruments of music are used. None are needed. No choir- the angels have been heard by some in the spirit. No collections are taken. No bills have been posted to advertise the meetings. No church organization is back of it. All who are in touch with God realize as soon as they enter the meetings that the Holy Ghost is the leader.”
Leadership Image
From the beginning, the movement was racially egalitarian. Blacks and whites worshiped together at the same altar, against the normal segregation of the day. Seymour claimed that the Holy Spirit was bringing people together across all social lines and boundaries to the revival. He not only rejected the existing racial barriers in favor of "unity in Christ", but he also rejected the then almost-universal barriers to women in any form of church leadership. Latinos soon began attending as well, after a Mexican-American worker received the Holy Spirit baptism on April 13, 1906. And, By 1914, William Seymoour’s “Pentecostalism” had spread to almost every major U.S. city
Let me assure the most important thing today is the inspiration and power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost was necessary for Israel, for Jesus disciples and for you and for me today.
When God’s Spirit is involved in God’s mission, no mountain is immovable. There is only one thing left for us to do: Glorify Jesus and seek the power and inspiration of God’s Holy Ghost.