120108 - Propelled into 2012

Yr B ~ Epiphany 1 ~ Acts 1:1-7
It's baptism of Jesus Sunday according to the liturgical calendar but I already preached about that a few weeks ago during Advent. So today I'm going to talk about the baptism of some other people - a group of disciples in the far off city of Ephesus.
 
Just before today's reading, in Acts 18:24-25, we learn about a character named Apollos, a Jew from Alexandria. He was said to be “eloquent ... well-versed in the scriptures [the Old Testament] ... instructed in the Way of the Lord” who “spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John” the Baptist. Then two people named Priscilla and Aquila (a couple) heard him speak in the synagogue and they explained the Word of God “more accurately” to Apollos. (Acts 18:26)
 
This is really interesting because it shows us something about the early church. It shows us that the early church wasn't one single monolithic thing. Different people were out preaching and teaching their experience of Jesus in different ways. Each community had its own writings and rituals. The disciples at Ephesus were taught by Apollos who apparently knew something about Jesus but had some big gaps.
 
And that's where we pick up today's reading. Apollos has moved on from Ephesus and Paul has come on the scene and is ready to share his experience of Jesus.

 
He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" They replied, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." (Acts 19:2)

At first this appears shocking. I mean really, how can a person who claims to know about Jesus not know about the Holy Spirit? That Apollos guy must have been a turkey! But think about that for a minute. There are actually millions upon millions of people who know all sorts of stuff about Jesus - his teachings, his ethics, heck a couple billion people just celebrated his birthday for crying out loud! - and yet clearly many, many of these people don't have a clue about this Holy Spirit thing. And some of them (probably more than we'd like to admit) hang around in our churches.
 
When you take a moment and let it sink in Paul's question is a critical one for each and every one of us. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became followers of the Way of Jesus? Have you received it since then? Is the Holy Spirit an active presence or functional reality in your life? Do you live your life aware of, open to, filled with, and guided by the Spirit of God? 
 
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you're not a Christian if you don't have an experience of the Holy Spirit like Paul mentions in this passage – speaking in tongues and prophesying. You don't have to lie on the floor convulsing to prove you're a follower of Jesus. If that's your thing, fine, but it's not mandatory. Some people try to use this passage to say exactly that. I think that's wrong.
 
So I won't say that you have to speak in tongues to be a Christian but I will say that you have to have an experience of or a sense of the Holy Spirit in your life. This is not optional. Without the presence of the Spirit all we have is a story of a smooth talking Galilean whose followers wrote his philosophy down and left it for us to emulate his inclusive ethics. Without the Holy Spirit Jesus is a transaction, not a transformation. Without the Holy Spirit Jesus is nothing more than an historical figure that you can study and sing songs about.
 
But that's not what Jesus was about at all. Yes he lived a beautiful ethical life that we'd all do well to imitate but ethics was not what he primarily taught. He preached, day in and day out, about something he called the Kingdom of God - which wasn't a place but rather was a state of being, a state of consciousness - and this Kingdom of God was not a thing that you aspire to, or win your way into, or hope to get to when you die, it was nothing less than a direct, personal "knowing" and experiencing of the presence of God every single moment of your life through the Holy Spirit. He even went so far as to say that this life of being in communion with the Holy Mystery that we call God is available to anyone who could awaken to it.
 
And awakening to it is the perfect way to describe it because it tells us that this kingdom presence is already here among and within us and if we could awaken we'd see it and embrace it. And here's where I part company with Paul - no great surprise there - because I think Paul was limited by his worldview (or at least the way it got written down is what I take issue with - I'm pretty sure Paul understood it the way I'm about to say as well). Acts 19:2 records Paul's question as "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" – my problem is that it sounds like it was some magical external thing that got added to you when you did the baptism thing.
 
I think if we were writing this story today we'd write, "Did you receive the awesome message when you became believers that the Holy Spirit is already within you and all you have to do is awaken to it to have it be an active reality in your life?" That's the teaching that makes all the difference in the world. That's the teaching that transforms us from followers of an ethic to experiencers of God's presence. 
 
The Christian message isn't that when you get baptized you get a new thing added to your life from the outside - like God is floating around hoping to finally break into your fortress. The Christian message is that when you get baptized (or take communion, or sing a hymn, or pray – any kind of sacrament either formal or not) that you get a secret code that unlocks something already within you - like a password on a website that opens up all sorts of content that you can't see without it. And that secret code, that password, unleashes the fire of the Holy Spirit that has been flickering inside you as a pilot light from the first moment you were you.
 
And the really crazy thing is this life transforming secret code is not a secret code at all – it’s as complicated as breathing in deeply and relaxing your body and awakening to what you've been standing in the way of all this time.
 
And the Ephesian disciples said "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." All we had was Jesus' ethical teaching. We didn't know that there was this thing already inside us waiting to spring to life.
 
So Paul asked what they were baptized into. And their answer was John's baptism - as in John the Baptizer. Interesting that John the Baptist's teaching had travelled all the way to Asian Minor and was being practiced. (In fact, there are still followers of John the Baptist in Iraq.) And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus." (Acts 19:4)
 
There’s that word repentance again – (an unfortunate translation of the Gk metanoia) which actually means to have a transformation of your hear, a change in your soul's orientation, to see the world differently – repentance (as in “I’m sorry God”) isn't enough. Same as church attendance and financial support aren’t enough. So - picture those Ephesian folks - comparing in their minds their options. A) I can choose to remain under the teaching of Apollos and try to live the way we heard about Jesus, or B) I can open myself to the very same rocket fuel that powered Jesus' ethical living and say yes to having my whole way of seeing the world be transformed by awakening to the power that is already at the very centre of my being but I just haven't been aware of it. Hmm, I think I'll take door number 2 Monty!
 
On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied--altogether there were about twelve of them. (Acts 19:5-7)

Couple of things here. When Paul had laid hands on them (an ancient expression of blessing in our church which we honour in our healing service) the Holy Spirit came upon them. Not from outside, but welling up from deep within them – and not just a warm feeling but a gushing out of spiritual joy! See, before you awaken it’s not that the Spirit is absent from you it’s that the Spirit is dormant in you!
 
And that expression - "the Holy Spirit came upon them" - where have I heard that before? Wasn’t that the same thing that was said of Mary when the angel Gabriel announced the news of her pregnancy? It's another way of saying "the Holy Spirit moved within them".
 
And do you know what happens when the Holy Spirit is awoken to and is allowed to move within you - when you give it permission to do its thing? You act. It propels you into spiritual action. The Holy Spirit came upon (or bubbled up in) Mary and she was propelled into motherhood. The Holy Spirit came upon (or bubbled up in) Jesus’ disciples on the day of Pentecost and they were propelled into the street to share the news of what they were experiencing. The Holy Spirit came upon (or bubbled up in) these Ephesians and they were propelled into spiritual action - speaking in tongues (which is another way of saying praying passionately from the heart without regard to the vocabulary that might come out) and they prophesied.
 
Prophecy is the noun. To prophesy is the verb - it means to reveal by divine inspiration, but it also equally means to preach, to evangelize, to tell. These Ephesian folks who just awoke to the Holy Spirit within them were then propelled into the spiritual action of joyfully celebrating their newly discovered gift and sharing the news of that gift with everyone they could. They received (or awoke to) the Holy Spirit and they prophesied. Duh! Of course they did! It's like when someone becomes a grandparent - just try to stop them from telling you all about their grandkid. They can't help themselves. Now multiply that by, I don't know, a gazillion, and you've got the effect of the Holy Spirit.
 
Look, the event is not the thing. Their baptism, or the day they awoke to the Spirit, or your confirmation, or your special prayer experience, or the day communion was really special - that's not the thing. Just awakening to or feeling the Spirit is not the thing. Living it out is the thing. Allowing that rocket fuel to propel you into spiritual action is the thing. The event is the opening of the door. The Holy Spirit is what fuels your footsteps as you walk through that door and really follow the Way of Jesus.
 
One last thing about this passage. It ends with v.7 "…and altogether there were about twelve of them." About 12. Like they just happened on that number by accident. I don't think so. You see, this is meant to be a tale about the church. There were 12 - like Jesus’ disciples. They were a new shoot planted and ready to flourish. They represent the church - in other words, us. And so Paul's question is really aimed directly at you and me. "Did you receive the awesome message when you became believers that the Holy Spirit is already within you and all you have to do is awaken to it to have it be an active reality in your life?" And by extension, "How are you continuing to live in the power of the Spirit today?" 
 
I once heard a story that broke my heart. I suspect it's true, but it could be made up to prove a point. Sadly it feels true. The story goes that at a big gathering of a mainline denomination (like a Conference meeting, or a General Council meeting) all the participants were given a helium filled balloon at the beginning of their worship time and they were given the instruction to let the balloon go when they felt the Holy Spirit moving. As you can probably guess, by the end of the worship more than half of the people were still holding balloons. Now that could mean that the worship was dull and boring - or it could indicate that mainliners are way too much in their heads and not open enough to their hearts where the Spirit lives.
 
So here we are at the start of a new year. Last year was a momentous year of transition for us all here at Faith United. We welcomed new friends and spent the year learning how to be a new family of faith. It was an awesome year in many ways. But now the calendar has turned. What will 2012 hold for Faith United? I don't know the answer, but I absolutely know how I'd like us to approach the question. Whatever the future holds for us I hope we'll allow ourselves to constantly be reawakened to the holy rocket fuel that is burning within us. I hope that we will courageously dare to let down our guards and trust in the Spirit as it literally propels us into 2012 and beyond. And I pray that along our journey of Faith that none of us will find ourselves still holding onto our balloons.
 
If you want a New Year's resolution that will really change your life for the better try the one Paul laid on the Ephesians. "Have you awakened to the Holy Spirit in your life?" Here’s the resolution on the screen. I invite you to join me in making it!
“I hereby resolve to awaken to God's Holy Spirit within me every day as I rise, and to joyfully be propelled into spiritual action in the name and in the way of Jesus.”
Amen.