Holy Spirit in Stereo

The Holy Spirit is one of those topics that can always create a lot of discussion, a lot of intrigue, and if we are honest, a lot of push-back. Why? Because what we believe about the Holy Spirit is one of those beliefs that we hold so close, so tight, it is so personal and so important that we can easily get a little defensive about it.

Today we are going to follow up from last week’s sermon about the stoning of Stephen. While there is a lot of material out there on how the Holy Spirit speaks to YOU today we are going to talk a little bit about how the Holy Spirit speaks to US. Because, if you remember, it was the church- a big group of people who thought they were being lead by God- that stoned Stephen.

It is important for us to remember that while God speaks to us as individuals, God does not speak to us in a vacuum. In other words, no one person has the monopoly on the voice of God- we all have access to the Holy Spirit and because we are a community of faith no one person gets to claim that what God speaks to them is more important that what God speaks to another person.

It also means that since we all belong to the body of Christ, that we must also acknowledge that what God says to us impacts other Christians as well. What God speaks to us will almost always have an impact on other Christians.

I am convinced that this was one of the things that lead to such an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts. The early church was sold out to not just what God was doing in each of them, but also what God was doing in them as one people- or one body. Imagine if as a church we told new people that we were going to do the things described in Acts 2. Now, please hear me, I am not saying we all need to live together in a commune like they did, or that we need to meet for a meal everyday. What I am saying is that the life of the church and what God was doing in the church was so important to them that they were willing to do those things. We struggle to get 15-20 people at Bible study 2 times a month! They were so invested into the work of the Holy Spirit in their midst they met every single day!

Because the church in Acts shows us that God will speak to YOU and God will speak to US and both are true, both are important, and both are to be respected. Unfortunately, at least in my opinion, we have become such an individualized culture that many Christians think that they can play the “God told me this” card and it trumps all other things. That they can just throw this idea around and think that it gives them freedom to jettison themselves from the community of faith, and that is not true.

So, how do we discern together? How do we listen to the voice of God among all of us? Because there are times that God is speaking to all of us. For example, when the church is discerning a decision like building, renovation, budget decisions, etc. Or even deciding theological decisions.

We Study Scripture Together

I am convinced of this- a church that wants to move together MUST study the Bible together. And I am not just saying that we all do individual study- I mean group study when we are with one another, learning from the Bible and learning from each other.

Remember what Jesus told us in Matthew 18:20? For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

When we gather together in the name of Jesus we are guaranteed that Jesus is with us and among us. We must remember that God speaks through the Bible- and the Bible is a book that was written primarily to groups of people! The Bible was not just written for YOU it was written for US.

In fact, for a majority of history it was nearly impossible for Christians to study the Scriptures on their own. The Bible was not published like it is today. Plus, for a long time people were largely illiterate. For a majority of time the only way that Christians learned the Bible was in groups. That is one of the main reasons the church in Acts met together everyday; they did not have access to the teachings of Jesus without having Peter, John, James, or another eye witness among them.

Think of the New Testament- between Paul’s writing, Peter, James, and John no less than 16 of the 27 books specifically name churches or groups of Christians that they were written to. So, it makes sense that churches would need to primarily turn the Bible for guidance, and that we have an obligation to study the Bible together in order to remain faithful to the original texts.

Studying the Bible together also gives us a common foundation to begin from. When we begin with the Bible we all start from the same place. Think of it, in this sanctuary today our congregation is gathered. There are more than 100 people in this room. And this is a very diverse group. We have all kinds of ages, men and women, some have college degrees, others did not graduate from grade school, some of us are full time employed, others are retired, and others have yet to have their first job. Some of us have lived this area all our lives and others are from other states. How do join a group of people like this together and live in harmony with one another with all this diversity? How do we make decisions and serve, and grow? Well, the first step is to make sure we all start from the same place- and that place should be the Bible.

I’m just going to be frank. If we or you or anyone is listening for the voice of God in any situation and they never crack a Bible, they are not really listening for the voice of God.

We discern

Once we study Scripture together we have the opportunity to listen to how God is not just speaking to you, but how God is speaking to others and how their story, their experience, their faith can impact yours.

Because we all have our own presuppositions that impact our story of faith and our biases can impact how we hear God. And sometimes we need to remember that not everyone experiences the voice of God like we do, and sometimes God speaks to us through another person- because God needs to get past our biases.

Recently, I have found a great sense of encouragement and joy in my life- dinner with Aaron Carter and Jeremy Sonifrank. At least once a month, sometimes more, the three of us go out to dinner on Thursday night. This past Thursday we went to the Mexican place in Broadway for Cinco De Mayo. But our staple joint is Buffalo Wild Wings; we go there a lot. Now, there is a big difference in our ordering practices at Bdubs. Aaron and I like HOT WINGS. You know the kind that get up and kick ya a little bit. There needs to be some sweat involved when we eat wings. Jeremy…well he likes what we refer to as Ketchup wings. On the sliding scale a Bdubs he likes to stay in the green.

So, if you asked me if the Nashville Hot wings are spicy- I would tell you “not that bad” or “nah, they have a little bite.”

But if you asked Jeremy he might tell you “YES! They will burn your tongue off.”

Are we both wrong? Both right? Is one of us more right than the other? No. But, the truth that we both experience impacts us. And at some point it might be wise to acknowledge that and respect it. For example, I know now that Jeremy does not like food nearly as hot as I do. So, if I have Jeremy over for dinner I might want to take that into consideration.

Bible Study with others is the same way. It reminds us that God speaks to others and many times we can learn from them. That how God is speaking to me is not more important, or even more right, than God speaking to another.

In a society that tells us to hold our positions with everything we have, the Bible many times asks us to enter into conversation and hold certain things loosely.

I think about Paul’s words to the Corinthians about eating meat sacrificed to idols in 1 Cor 8

1 Corinthians 8:4–13 ESV

Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Paul does not say- go in and demand that they see it your way! If they do not agree leave them in the dust. -No, Paul says to care for the others and their convictions alongside of yours.

You see, the world decides things by debate; the church should decide things by discernment. Debate is based in our ability to talk; but discernment is based in our willingness to listen.

When I think about Jesus and his ministry and many of most transformational moments in his ministry- Jesus with the woman at the well, Jesus and the man at the pool of Bethesda; Jesus feeding the 5,000- these moments begin with Jesus asking a question and listening to the response. So much ministry begins with listening.

We discern with one another because frankly, the Bible tells us to. Listen to some of these verses:

1 John 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1 Thess 5:19-21 “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.”

Heb 5:14 “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

In other words, when we hear the Spirit speaking to us, the Bible tells us to test it! The Thessolonians verse even goes so far as to tell us to test EVERYTHING- even if you are sure that it is the Holy Spirit speaking to you.

I just told a friend a few weeks ago, it is important to remember that every heresy in the history of Christendom began with one person saying “God told me....” and another group of people saying “Wait, hold up”

To really discern we have to be humble enough to enter into the conversation considering that we might be wrong.

We Recall the Story of our Faith

In Deut 8 God tells Israel to write down the things he is telling them- and to keep a history of what he is doing for them. History is important- especially in faith.

I know it’s hard to believe sometimes, but God has been around longer than anyone in this room, and God has been working for longer than any other organization or denomination, and God’s Kingdom has been in existence for longer than any country. And since the beginning of time God HAS NOT CHANGED.

The truth is that 9 times out of 10 the issues that we not the first generation to discern something. Many of the things that we wrestle with are things that the church has been wrestling with for centuries and we can learn a lot about the mind of Christ on some of these issues by looking at how God has walked with the church throughout history.

Now, there are certainly things that the church needs to grow, progress, and change on.

For example, a little Mt Zion history lesson. If you notice there are 2 sets of doors on this side of the sanctuary. That is because there used to be separate entrances for men and women. I sure am glad we didn’t have to come in that way this morning.

But we must also know that there are things that God will not change his mind on, no matter how much we think the world has changed.

Here’s the thing. We have gotten to a place in our world where if a politician, a movie star, an athlete says anything that some group of people does not like, they have to issue an apology or a retraction ASAP. Many people try and do the same thing to God.

Alcoholics will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven...

Galatians 5:19–21 ESV

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.