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Creekside Church
Sermon of June 8,
2003
"Celebrating
Fire? "
Acts
2:1-4
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Mark Arnold
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<Lights
Match> What is this? Anyone know? Look Closely…
It's a flame. Ok, now that we've established what it is, What
is it? Confused yet? Good… Lemme know if you are still
confused by the end of this sermon. Ok?
Today,
as many of you know, is Pentecost. P-E-N-T-E-C-O-S-T. What
is it? What does it mean? All we really seem to do here
on Pentecost is play with fire and dress up in bright colors.
Interesting…
Let's
think back for a moment. When have you used fire? For cooking?
For a campfire with family and friends? To light a candle
for meditation or relaxation? To light a room? Fire is very
useful, but can also be very destructive. Look at what happened
at ECCOB a few years back, on the corner of Wolf and Benham.
A single match caused 20 or 30 men in a big truck to come
rushing to save the building from extinction.
With
this knowledge, why do we then celebrate Pentecost? We celebrate
Christmas because it's when Jesus was born. We celebrate
Easter because it's when Jesus arose from the dead. We celebrate
Thanksgiving because of the closeness of family it brings.
But all of those are good things. Why would we then celebrate
something with so many negative consequences as fire? Have
you ever wondered that? Here again, when we don't understand
something, then we need to find out what it is.
The
main event of Pentecost is known as the coming of the Holy
Spirit. Acts 2:1-4 tells us about this. Now remember, this
is right after Matthias was chosen to replace Judas as one
of the twelve disciples. And Jesus has already been crucified
and resurrected. In fact, this event of the Holy Spirit
coming down occurs exactly 50 days after Jesus was resurrected.
And now, 50 days later, Jesus has returned to the Kingdom
in Heaven.
"When
the day of Pentecost came, they (they being the 12 disciples)
were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the
blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the
whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed
to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on
each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled
them."
Wow,
sounds like witchcraft if you ask me. Seriously. Here's
a bunch of people in a room, sitting around, causing violent
winds to blow and fire to suddenly appear out of nowhere.
And then be able to talk in languages that you couldn't
begin to name. But you know what? It's better than witchcraft,
it's God. If you don't believe me, just look at the examples
from the Bible. Where else have we seen fire and wind? Well,
let's look at Moses with the Ten Commandments. The Burning
Bush? Who was it that was talking through the bush? God,
right? And what about Jonah? God gave Jonah simple instructions.
He was told to go into the town and tell the people how
horrible and disrespectful they were being. He was supposed
to tell them that they had better stop, or God was going
to punish them. Well, Jonah got scared and tried to hide.
He got on a boat and tried to sail off into the sunset.
Unfortunately for Jonah, God had other plans. He sent a
huge storm with wind. Until, Jonah was thrown overboard
and the storm ceased, only for Jonah to be swallowed by
a whale. But that's another story.
Fire
and Wind. God communicated through these elements. When
fire and wind were around, the Holy Spirit wasn't too far
off. So, how come today, even right now, when we are worshiping
God, there is no wind and fire? Surely the Holy Spirit is
here right? If it wasn't, then it would be pointless for
us to be here. Romans 8:9 explains by telling us that the
Holy Spirit has come and now lives in every Christian. So
in other words, we don't need these signs in order to know
if the Holy Spirit is with us or not. We can just know by
feeling it.
How
many of you here today, can speak two languages? More than
two? Can you imagine knowing hundreds of languages? The
12 disciples were actually able to speak many different
languages? What is that called? Not bilingual or trilingual,
but infinitilingual? Acts 1:8 reads "But you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be
my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth."
What
Jesus is doing, is allowing the Holy Spirit to come down.
He leaves us with something. While he is entering the gates
of heaven, he sends down the Holy Spirit. He's going up
to heaven, and now it is our responsibility to make sure
people know of God's will. We need to be the ones to carry
on this belief. We have to let others know of the wonderful
promises God has made for us. WE need to do it. Not just
the person next to you in the pew, or the person behind
you, or even in front of you, but YOU. We, as Christians
have now been given the Holy Spirit, now we need to share
it. Just like what you needed to do with your toys when
you were younger. Share, with others. Become a Witness of
God's love in truth and in action.
However,
did you know that Pentecost existed long before the coming
of the Holy Spirit? Anyone here know what Pentecost was
originally associated with? Long ago, before Jesus even,
people celebrated Pentecost. It used to be a regular Jewish
holiday. To them, Pentecost meant Harvest Day. It's interesting
though, on that Jewish holiday known as Harvest Day, we
as Christians, got the greatest harvest of all: The Holy
Spirit!
A neat
thought, I don't know how much of a pyro you are, or how
much you are into candles, but you can do this with many
different things too. Look into a light, preferably a bright
one , but not for too long or you'll go blind. But look
into the light for about 5-10 seconds. Then immediately
close your eyes, and then open them again. You now see that
light everywhere. What an awesome analogy! All along, we
have been talking about fire representing the Holy Spirit,
and we never knew how many similarities they actually have.
You see, the Holy Spirit is everywhere. You just have to
be looking in the right direction long enough to see it
clearly. Maybe 5 or 10 seconds? Longer?
My advice
for you for this week, and for always, is once you find
the Holy Sprit and experience God's love, never let it go.
Keep it in you, and use it when necessary. Whether you are
having a bad day or just feeling crummy. Keep that fire.
Remember God daily, and don't break your relationship with
him. I know we stray from our paths. We sometimes think
we are in the right, only to find out a mile down the road
that we were wrong. Once you lose all connections to God,
it is hard to get it back. Like with this match, just the
littlest spark gets a fire going that is so hot and so intense,
that you can't help but feel comforted. What is the fire
here today, telling you?
Ok,
now I'm going to do a "David" so I apologize.
How many of you know the camp song, "Pass It On?"
"It Only takes a spark to get a fire going, and soon,
all those around, can warm up to its glowing. That's how
it is with God's love, once you've experienced it, you want
to sing it's fresh-like spring, you want to Pass It On…"
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