Words of Welcome
Good
morning! Once again I'd like to welcome you to our service this morning.
I must tell you that the whole time I was preparing today's service, I
was humming and singing the songs we'll be singing today. In fact, I've
been humming and singing ever since I attended a revival at the Faith
Chapel Assemblies of God Church here in Bridgewater on Monday. I have
always wanted to attend a revival, and even though the experience was
very different from what goes on in our faith tradition, I enjoyed the
spiritual power that was present in the revival service. Today I'd like
to bring a little bit of that spirit into our church. Don't worry, I
promise I won't speak in tongues! My conversational Latin is getting
rusty anyway.
However,
even though we have a different view of some of the Biblical prophecies
than our Pentecostal brothers and sisters, we have plenty of reason to
celebrate the power and the joy of God's spirit moving in our church.
Now that we are in the winter season, when our spirit is often at a low
ebb, it is a good time to revive our spirit by remembering the divine
source of our faith, and by opening ourselves up to the spirit of God
moving among us. And so today, in this special service, we are going to
get the spirit moving in our church! Later in a service the children
will help us to revive our spirits. And I hope that by the time you head
home today, you will have something to hum and sing about.
Meanwhile,
please open your spirits and your hearts to experience something of the
power of God's spirit speaking in his Holy Word. I am going to read to
the last chapter of the book of the prophet Habakkuk. This is a prayer
of praise for God's power in bringing about justice and righteousness in
times of oppression and sorrow. Habakkuk lived in a dark time of wars
and empires; the stark, even violent imagery of his prayer reflects
that. On a purely literal level this prayer is a difficult one for our
modern sensibilities to hear. So as you listen to this prayer, when it
speaks of plagues and pestilence, swords and destruction, it may help if
you raise your mind above these earthly calamities, and think instead of
the calamities that you have experienced in your own soul: the times of
pain and loss, the times of conflict and despair, the times when you
were ready to give up hope.
And as
the physical calamities described in the prayer call up these spiritual
struggles in your soul, feel the even greater power of God moving within
you to overcome through the power of the spirit all that would otherwise
overwhelm you. Feel the tremendous power of God's spirit, at first
bringing discomfort, uncertainty, and perhaps even fear as you confront
the changes that you may need to make in your attitudes, the difficult
issues you may need to face, and the adjustments that may be necessary
in your way of living. And then, feel that same power of the spirit
bringing comfort, new purpose, and new joy into your life.
Habakkuk
3:1-19 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet
Lord, I have
heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord.
Renew them in our day,
in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy.
God came
from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens
and his praise filled the earth.
His splendor was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden.
Plague went before him;
pestilence followed his steps.
He stood, and shook the earth;
he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled
and the age-old hills collapsed.
His ways are eternal.
I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
the dwellings of Midian in anguish.
Were you
angry with the rivers, O Lord?
Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea
when you rode with your horses
and your victorious chariots?
You uncovered your bow,
you called for many arrows.
You split the earth with rivers;
the mountains saw you and writhed.
Torrents of water swept by;
the deep roared and lifted its waves on high.
Sun and moon
stood still in the heavens
at the glint of your flying arrows,
at the lightning of your flashing spear.
In wrath you strode through the earth
and in anger you threshed the nations.
You came out to deliver your people,
to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,
you stripped him from head to foot.
With his own
spear you pierced his head
when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
gloating as though about to devour
the wretched who were in hiding.
You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the great waters.
I heard and
my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
nor cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Lord
Almighty is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.
The
Power of the Lord our God
When I
read this passage, I feel a tingling in my spine at the power of the
words. There are great forces at work: forces of destruction, disease,
and depression arrayed against us, and even greater and more powerful
forces of truth and justice, hope and love overcoming all that is evil
and destructive. All of these forces are far greater than we finite
human beings can handle. If we had to take them on alone, we would have
no more chance than if we were to jump into the cone of an active
volcano, or fly a spaceship directly into the sun.
Sometimes
we feel that way about the forces we face in our lives. Sometimes the
forces of financial reality press in on us, and we struggle and wonder
whether we will be able to keep a roof over our heads; whether we will
be able to take care of our families. Sometimes the forces of physical
sickness press in on us, and we struggle through setbacks in our health,
trips to the hospital, through pain and discouraging limitations in what
our bodies can do. Sometimes the forces of emotional upheaval press in
on us, as relationships with our loved ones become strained or we lose
someone we care very deeply about. Sometimes we feel that we will not
make it through--that we will be crushed by life's load.
And then
we read passages like this one from Habakkuk, and we realize once again
that the power of God's spirit is more powerful than even the strongest
and most frightening of those evil influences on our lives. We realize
that whatever may happen to us financially, whatever may happen to us
physically, whatever may happen to us emotionally, we have an infinitely
powerful friend to turn to who can help us spiritually through
all the challenges and struggles we face.
Our
Evangelical brothers and sisters see this power manifested in physical
healings, in speaking in tongues, and in other outward signs and
wonders. Personally, I do not discount those things. Of course, there
are plenty of "spiritual healers" out there who are simply out
to make a name--or a buck--for themselves. Still, I believe that the
Lord is every bit as able now as he was in Biblical times to work
miracles on the physical as well as the spiritual level of existence.
Wherever there is faith in the Lord and in his ability to bring about
what would be impossible for mere human beings, there is the potential
for wonders of healing.
And yet,
these physical signs and wonders count for little by themselves. Our
bodies may last seventy, eighty, ninety, or even a hundred years; our
spirits last forever. It is good to heal the body; it is far
better to heal the soul. The purpose of this physical world and the
purpose of our physical bodies is to serve as vessels of the spirit of
God. Our bodies are meant to be tools in our hands as we build God's
kingdom within us and around us. Each one of us has been created to be a
vessel of the Holy Spirit, spreading the love and light of God to all
the people around us.
Let us
rise now and express our longing and our thankfulness for that spirit of
God.
Responsive
Reading: Psalm 51:10-17
Hymn: Amazing
Grace
Matthew
10:5-20 Jesus sends out the twelve
Jesus
sent out the twelve disciples with these instructions: "Do not go
among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the
lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news: 'The kingdom of
heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers,
drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Do not take
along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the
journey, or extra tunic, or sandals, or a staff; for workers deserve
their food.
"Whatever
town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there
until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the
home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; but if it is not worthy,
let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen
to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or
town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and
Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
"I
am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as wise as
snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard against people; they
will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their
synagogues. Because of me, you will be brought before governors and
kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest
you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you
will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the
Spirit of your Father speaking through you."
Living in
the Spirit
This
reading from Matthew both promises and illustrates the power that can be
within each one of us if we are willing to live from the spirit of
God--if we are willing to give our lives over to the purposes that God
has in mind for us. We may not personally face some of the dangers and
persecutions that the Lord's disciples did. But we can be inspired both
by the disciples and by present-day disciples of the Lord who have faced
the powers of this world and have overcome through the spirit.
One of
those disciples who is a continual inspiration to me and to millions of
others is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose faith and power we
celebrate tomorrow with a national holiday in his name. I remember the
first time I listened to Martin Luther King giving his "I Have A
Dream" speech. I wish I could say that I was there with the crowd,
or even listened to it as it was given. But I was a bit young at the
time. Instead, I watched it for the first time on video in a carrel in
the audio-visual department of the Western Washington University
Library. There could hardly have been a less inspiring setting.
Institutional chairs and furniture, headphones, and a small-screen TV.
But as I watched and listened, the words stirred me to my soul. The
power of God's spirit speaking and working through that spirit-filled
human being leaped out from the poor and scratchy rendition in that
little cubicle.
It is the
same power of the spirit that can shine out in our lives--lives that
often seem poor and scratchy themselves in comparison with great
historical figures like Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, and Mother
Theresa. Some people may be destined to show forth God's spirit in great
and world-changing ways. They are called by God. But we are also called
by God to show forth God's spirit in our own ways, and among our own
people. We are sent out in this world by God, and if we will open our
hearts and minds to the Lord, then the Lord will give us the
words to say and the things to do to express the spirit of God's love
and understanding to the people around us.
Let us
open our hearts and minds now as we turn to the Lord in prayer.
Prayers
for the Gift of the Spirit
Faith: An
Experience of the Whole Person
As we
move along in this service, we will use more than our vocal chords to
express the Lord's spirit in our church. The children will help us to
get the rest of our bodies involved in expressing the joy and power of
the spirit. Sometimes we adults need children to get us fully
involved, body and soul, in the goodness of the life that God gives us.
We tend to think that faith is a matter of mind and perhaps even heart;
children know, not intellectually, but physically that what is in their
minds and hearts must be expressed in their bodies. Faith--real
faith that comes from the power of the spirit--is an experience of the
whole person.
Emanuel
Swedenborg, who gave us the basic theology of our Swedenborgian faith,
knew that religion and faith must involve our whole selves: heart, mind,
and outward action. I would like to share with you a brief reading from
Swedenborg's book Apocalypse Explained about spiritual power as
it is expressed in our bodies.
Apocalypse
Explained #79 Spiritual Power
Our body
expresses all of its power through our hands. Because of this, whatever
our mind wants our body to do, our arms and hands do it. This is why in
the Bible, "arms" and "hands" symbolize power. But
this kind of power is material power; when we exercise it, it is the
action of our physical abilities.
Spiritual
power is wanting good things for other people, and wanting to give to
others what is our own as much as we are able. Spiritually, our hands
represent this kind of power--and touching someone with our hands means
communicating and passing on this power to another person.
The
Healing and Attracting Power of the Spirit
There is
tremendous power in our hands--probably much more than we realize. Our
feet may get us places, but when we get there, it is our hands that do
whatever our feet carried us there for. We also express our deepest and
most gut-level feelings toward others through our hands. Uncontrolled
anger, rage, and frustration are all too often expressed in physical
violence against others. Our hands can become weapons to inflict pain
and even death on another person. This is an expression of the power of
hell working through human hands.
But our
hands can also express the tenderest of love and thoughtfulness for
others. We show others through a hug, a touch, a pat on the back that we
care about them, that we love them and value them as people. Or we use
our hands to make something that we know another person will enjoy, and
we express our love in that way. Every day we use our hands to do our
jobs, contributing our ideas and energy to the people of our communities
in a thoughtful and useful way.
When we
express the spirit of God through our hands in these and many other
ways, there is healing in our touch. There is healing for those who
receive the hug or the pat on the back, for those who receive the gift
we have made, or who benefit from the work that we are doing. As we
express God's spirit in our lives, we are building day by day the
kingdom of God both within ourselves and among the people in our
families and our communities. We bring about new strength and new growth
both in ourselves and in others--and that strength is physical and
spiritual at the same time.
And when
we live from the power of God's spirit, there is an even greater effect
than healing, as wonderful as that is. There is a tremendous attractive
power in the spirit of God working through our lives. That attractive
power is the power of God's love, which brings people closer to each
other and to God wherever it is expressed. When we express God's love to
the people around us, we draw them closer to us--and more often than
not, they respond by opening up their hearts to us as well.
If we
show others the love that comes into our souls from God, then whenever
we bring people together we are also bringing people closer to God. God
is love; and wherever love is expressed, God's Holy Spirit is coming
into our world with power and joy. Amen.
Music:
Velvet and Diamonds (the star filled sky)
© 1999 Bruce DeBoer
©Robert Meyers
The Frost Of Dawn
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