Sermon – Spirited Presbyterians
Genesis 1:1-5; Acts 19:1-7
Farmville Presbyterian Church
January 7, 2024
– Finding the Spirit of God after Christmas
Is it still Christmas or is it not? Walking around the neighborhood, I noticed a few houses that still have Christmas trees sparkling with seasonal pleasure. My own tree is still glowing festively despite my head scratching. I will say we did leave ours up and on with our outside decorations for our family Christmas with my oldest daughter this weekend, but I am not going to ask you all whether you are still beaming with Christmas decorations at home. There are actually strong feelings about this with some. Epiphany was YESTERDAY. Christmas – the 12 days – is over. The pear tree laden with partridge has packed up and left the stage with the whole song through 12 drummers drumming in tow. Christmas 2023 was in the books when Epiphany showed up. Are you familiar with Epiphany?
In general, it actually means seeing or beholding something. Specifically here, it is about seeing or beholding God. Biblically, it is the time when the magi or wisemen or astrologers (whatever you want to call them) showed up at Jesus’ front door with gifts and worshipped the King of the Jews. Be clear about what I just said, the magi showed up to celebrate the young Jesus as King AFTER Christmas. Jesus’ family was living in a house by then. I have pointed out before how the nativity scenes with wisemen and shepherds gathered at the manger are all wrong – completely unbiblical. The magi show up at least a year later in Jesus’ life, maybe even two years, but that does not stop us from clinging to what has come before. We want to keep things attached to the way things were. Once we see things that mean a great deal to us a certain way, it is hard to change.
When Paul ran into these disciples in Ephesus, it was something similar. They had never heard of Jesus, but they liked the message of John the Baptizer that his student Apollos had told them. So many people back then desperately wanted something or someone to fix the world. So many people back then wanted a way forward for better life. So many people back then were not satisfied with the ways of the world, but they didn’t know the answer. These disciples were in that same boat. They embraced John’s message of getting ready for the Messiah. They had even been baptized as a sign of their ready hearts. They just didn’t know that the Messiah had come already, that he had died on a cross, or that he had risen from the dead. Can you imagine how big their eyes must have gotten when Paul filled them in. They must have been floored to find out who Jesus was and what he had done. The best that they had known was John’s baptism of water. It is like getting invited to a huge fancy dinner, the meal of a lifetime, and leaving right after you wash your hands before you sit down. They did not even know there was a Holy Spirit. Thankfully for them, they were not interested in clinging to the old ways any longer than necessary. They jumped on the Jesus train and found the Holy Spirit right then and there. Truly, they must have been stunned by Jesus. Paul certainly was when he found out the truth.
The Spirit has always been part of the picture of God’s work. That is the point of the Genesis reading. From God’s opening words, we have the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, moving creation, sparking God’s work. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of our Holy God, is the one through God’s story making things happen – stirring people to belief, bringing God’s promises to fulfillment, opening the mouths of prophets and the hands of servants, and bestowing the multitude of spiritual gifts. Here in Acts 19, we have the sharing of tongues which is not some strange God language but people hearing others speaking other languages and still understanding them. It is the ability of hearing believers no matter what their home language and receiving their witness of God’s truth. That is the gift of the Spirit.
Luke’s Book of Acts is actually really all about the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the biggest character. People go from being Spiritless to Spirit-filled. This is the book that brings us Pentecost. Again and again, the Spirit surprises and delights. The Spirit is also our helper.
The Spirit is at work right now in situations of devastation and disaster. The Spirit is moving in places of war and violence. The Spirit is helping in oppression, poverty, hopelessness, and despair. The Spirit is God’s leading, comforting presence. God is holding our brokenness and hate in compassion. Each and every life in the crosshairs is precious to the Spirit, and the Spirit is a Spirit of power. We may not see the Spirit, just as we cannot see the wind, but try containing the hurricane. Try standing against the tornado. Try denying the Spirit and see what happens. We do not pray in vain. We do not seek an empty God, but the Spirit is our life today and our hope and salvation.
Whenever we see one person reaching across the divisions that we draw and showing a love that seems impossible, you know that the Spirit is making that possible. Whenever someone gives for the good of another in sacrificial ways, in ways that defy human selfishness, you know the Spirit is opening that heart. The Spirit calls us into greater service and reminds us how precious our hands can be to the Kingdom of God and to this community entrusted to our care. If you have ever shared in a God-moment that blessed you in surprising ways or moved you in loving ways, you met the Spirit in that moment. It is no accident that the word for Spirit in both Greek and Hebrew means breath, air, or wind. It is bigger than any of us can imagine and all around us.
The Spirit has summoned new Elders as servants in the work of this church family. We are delighted that the Spirit has called Mitzi Thackston, Ed Kromer, and John Doss to this work of special shepherding. As they seek to lead this congregation, they will also be seeking to be led by the Spirit. Without the Spirit, we would be that empty balloon. Without the Spirit, our candles would be extinguished and our path dark. Without the Spirit, we would still be standing in the baptism of John without the actual presence of Jesus himself.
But our story is even greater. The Spirit has been preparing our new Elders and equipping them for this task. Before they even knew they would accept this mission, the Spirit was molding our new Elders to get them ready, not that they would do everything correctly or perfectly or even lovingly because we are all human beings, but the Spirit gives us room to be humans in the heart of God.
Our Elders have a willingness to give and serve but also to grow and learn and to find grace. The Spirit’s role is to bring us together. That is the whole point of spiritual gifts, all of them. They enables us to be one, even when we cannot understand each other. The Spirit helps us when we fail, but it also helps us to seek a better way from the beginning. It helps us when we hurt one another, but also helps us not to want to hurt each other to begin with. It helps us when we are wrong, but it gives us room for reconciliation and forgiveness and compassion and understanding from the start. The Spirit is God’s answer for a sinful, unloving world because God’s Spirit is Holy and the very nature of love. Following the Spirit means following God. Finding the Spirit means finding life.
Presbyterians have never been accused of being too Spirit-led or too Spirit-filled. We have never been accused of exercising spiritual gifts to excess, but that is not the whole story. We have a long, long history of working with the Spirit. Any people that values the bigness and beauty of God’s family is someone working along the Spirit of God. Any people willing to work hard to love our neighbor, no matter who that neighbor is, is striving in the Spirit. Any people that looks for where God is leading them, wherever that may be, is walking in the Spirit. Any people that entrusts our future to God’s Spirit, God’s Holy Spirit, is a people committed to embracing our faith in the Spirit of Jesus. Today we value; today we are willing; today we look; today we trust; today we are in the Spirit. To God be the glory. Amen.
To God be the glory. Amen.