Jesus

Dec

2019

Thoughts on the day of Pentecost

First publication on The Electric Gospel – June 8, 2014.

Pentecost was an Old Testament festival — a time at which worshipers would gather in Jerusalem. The Lord used that occasion (fifty days after Passover and the death and resurrection of Jesus) to give birth to his New Testament church. Miracles attested to the significance of the message the apostles were given to speak on that day … but the message of Jesus was (and always is) the central thing. Calling attention to Jesus is what the Spirit of God does.

In the church today, people sometimes get confused about the role played by the Holy Spirit. The following message ponders the Spirit’s work.

A Message, Not a Mumble[1]

by David Sellnow

[Jesus said to his disciples]: “Now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

John 16:5-15

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When I was pastoring a congregation in West Texas, one day a young woman called our church. She was confused and searching in her religion; someone had told her Lutherans were reliable in that regard. She was 20 years old, and grew up experiencing so-called “Spirit-filled” worship. As she became an adult, she became skeptical and uneasy about much of what went on in her congregation.

She said, “When the old men in the church get the spirit and start running around all wild, it scares me.” She was scared, too, by the preaching, which was mostly about judgment day, the rapture, and how you’d better be ready. But she wasn’t sure if she was ready or even how to be ready. It was supposedly a Spirit-filled church, but her spirit was spooked.

In our congregation, we had not experienced any of our old men–or young men or mothers or daughters, for that matter — hooting and hopping and running around the chapel all filled with a spirit. In many years of worship services, I don’t know of one where anyone stood up and spoke in tongues. So, did that mean we didn’t have the Spirit — if we didn’t babble in tongues or fall down slain or quake uncontrollably or burst into spontaneous laughter? Did the Spirit bypass us? Are those outward signs the best expression of what the Spirit does? Is there always such external evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence?

Certainly, the Spirit has given supernatural gifts on certain specific occasions for certain special reasons. At the birth of the church in the New Testament, on the day of Pentecost, he gave his apostles the power to communicate in other languages so they could better spread Christ’s message (Acts 2:1-12). On occasion he used the gift of tongues as a way to verify that Gentiles were to be as much a part of his kingdom as were Jews (Acts 10:44-46, 11:15-18). But God never decreed as a general rule that tongue-speaking would be the mark of his church in every place or forever. In fact, the apostle Paul went on record saying, “Where there are tongues, they will be stilled” (1 Corinthians 13:8). In that section of his letter to the Corinthians, Paul described tongue-speaking as an aspect of the childhood stage of the church (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:11). It was no longer useful or necessary after the apostles’ time when the full Word of God was completed.

So now, let’s ask again: What is the real work of the Holy Spirit? What does the Holy Ghost do? Who has the gift of the Spirit?

Jesus answered those questions when he promised that the Spirit would come. He said that when the Holy Spirit comes, he comes to convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment (John 16:8). He proves the world to be wrong in its views about sin, the way the world endorses sin and excuses sin and encourages sin. He convicts individuals’ hearts with the message of God’s law. He brings us to our knees in repentance. And the Spirit also convicts or convinces the world in regard to righteousness and judgment. He shows that all righteousness is in Jesus Christ, who is the ONLY way to the Father, who goes to the Father himself and is the one way and truth and life for us to come to God. And the Spirit convinces the world that there is a day of judgment coming. For, as the apostle Paul said when preaching to a pagan audience in the city of Athens, God “has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed (Jesus). He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

So that’s what the Holy Spirit is all about—showing us the truth, convincing us we are sinners, revealing the only real way of righteousness, and announcing inescapable judgment on all who would believe otherwise.Jesus answered those questions when he promised that the Spirit would come. He said that when the Holy Spirit comes, he comes to convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment (John 16:8). He proves the world to be wrong in its views about sin, the way the world endorses sin and excuses sin and encourages sin. He convicts individuals’ hearts with the message of God’s law. He brings us to our knees in repentance. And the Spirit also convicts or convinces the world in regard to righteousness and judgment. He shows that all righteousness is in Jesus Christ, who is the ONLY way to the Father, who goes to the Father himself and is the one way and truth and life for us to come to God. And the Spirit convinces the world that there is a day of judgment coming. For, as the apostle Paul said when preaching to a pagan audience in the city of Athens, God “has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed (Jesus). He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

Repenting of sin and believing in Jesus are not things we have the capacity to do for ourselves. The Spirit of God is the one who brings individuals to faith as the chief work that he does. He causes you to repent of sin and creates within you a trusting attitude, a reliance on Jesus and his love.

Everything the Spirit says and does is to direct attention to Jesus. According to Jesus, the Spirit “will not speak on his own… He will bring glory to me by taking from me what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine” (John 16:13-15).

The Spirit isn’t into self-promotion. The Spirit doesn’t pump his own image or push his own agenda. The Spirit is one with the Father and the Son, and the message of the Father and the Son is the message that he shares. A so-called “Spirit-filled” church that isn’t pointing you strongly to Jesus isn’t really all that Spirit-filled. That young woman in West Texas needed the Spirit’s comfort in Jesus most of all – and that’s what the Spirit really is all about. The Spirit “brings glory to me,” Jesus said. He takes the message of Jesus and makes it known to you. He takes the Word of the Father and reveals it to you. The Spirit isn’t campaigning for his own election as the most important member of the Trinity. He quietly takes the role of servant and preacher to bring glory to the Father and the Son. The true voice of the Spirit is a message, not a mumble. It is the message of Jesus Christ as the bringer of righteousness, the Savior from sin, our advocate in the judgment. Just because something is full of excitement and enthusiasm and ecstatic hallelujahs (or less intelligible words) doesn’t mean the Spirit of God is in it. Where the Spirit of God is, there the message of Jesus is proclaimed.

The young lady who was fearful about so-called “spirit-filled” religion decided she would leave her parents’ home and church and move to Memphis. I hope she found spiritual peace. The time we spent on the phone we talked about sin and grace, about righteousness and judgment. We talked about Jesus’ true message, about Jesus’ true comfort. Her heart was happy to hear such good news — the real good news of the gospel — not just spiritual-sounding noise.

Praise God that you heard the true voice of his Spirit, revealed to you in his Word, believed by you in your heart. If it happened quietly, in no spectacular fashion, that’s fine. You probably don’t even remember the first day you believed. But you do believe. In your heart you trust Jesus as Lord. That’s only possible when the Spirit of God is living in you.

So thank God for sending you his Spirit, and offer yourself–your lips, your words, your testimony–as an instrument for the Spirit to use in bringing faith to others. You don’t have to speak in tongues. Simply communicate the love and truth of Jesus.

PRAYER:

Jesus, thank you for delivering on your promise to send your Spirit to us. We don’t look for your Spirit to come to us in flashy or spectacular ways. What we need most is the conviction and comfort of the Spirit deep in our hearts. Continue to bless us with your Spirit as he communicates with our hearts and minds in your holy Word, dear Jesus. Amen.

[1] Adapted from article originally published in Lightsource magazine (2000) and message aired on the Lutheran Chapel Service radio program (2014).

Dec

2019

Jesus is Resurrection; Jesus is Life

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on April 20, 2014.

This post was originally shared on an Easter Sunday.

Jesus is Resurrection; Jesus is Life

by David Sellnow

There was a time when people laughed at Jesus. In fact, they were crying and screaming in sadness, but what Jesus said sounded so strange that they burst out laughing in the middle of a funeral. A young person had just died. A young girl, twelve years old, had been deathly ill, and death had followed. While she was dying, the girl’s father, a man named Jairus, had come to Jesus asking for help …but even before Jesus could come to Jairus’ house, someone was sent from there to bring the sad news. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher any more.”

But upon hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed” (Luke 8:49-50). Healed from death? Who ever heard of such a thing?

When Jesus arrived at the house, it was full of people wailing and moaning and mourning. In true Jewish custom, they made quite a scene: tears streaming down their cheeks, hair disheveled, falling on the floor, groaning and bellowing, not a dry eye in the house. It was then–when Jesus entered that house–that the mourners went from hysterical crying to uproarious laughter in an instant. What the great and wise rabbi Jesus said struck them as hilarious. Jesus said to them, “Stop your wailing. She is not dead but asleep.” They laughed at him, knowing that she was, in fact, dead (Luke 8:52,53).

But within moments, Jesus proved that they were dead wrong. He took the girl’s hand, said to her, “Get up” …and she did! “Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up” (Luke 8:55). Her parents were astonished. Everyone was amazed. For Jesus, bringing to life a dead person was no more difficult than waking someone up from sleep.

Jesus has an entirely different perspective on death than we normally do. Jesus’ whole definition of life and death differs from what we normally think. The words on which I’d like you to focus especially today come from the story of another resurrection miracle that Jesus performed. In talking to his dear friend Martha, just after her beloved brother Lazarus had died, Jesus spoke these powerful words: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25,26).

You see, according to Jesus, Lazarus had died but he had not died. Lazarus had died but he also would live again. Let me explain how Jesus explains life and death.

Life, according to Jesus, is when we are enjoying the blessings of God. When we enjoy the blessings of God in our bodies, we are physically alive. Our lungs breathe, our hearts beat, our hands and feet move. Only by God’s blessing and his sustaining do we have physical life. When God decides it is time for us to pass from this life, those blessings are suspended, and physically we die.

But there is more to life than the body. God also created each of us with a soul. When we enjoy the blessings of God in our souls, we have faith in him, we have a relationship with him, we have life through him. Our spirits never die. The blessings of God upon our spirits began the day we were baptized and haven’t ceased since. We are blessed in faith throughout life and blessing awaits us beyond this present life. We will live on with the Lord. That is why Jesus could say, “Whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” Our loved ones who have died have not really died–not their spirits. They are alive still, living with the Lord, standing side by side with Jesus right now. We see only the physical aspect of life and death, but there is a spiritual and eternal reality that we don’t yet see, which nevertheless is absolutely true. Those who have died in faith are yet alive, living and reigning with Jesus (cf. Revelation 20:4), who lives and reigns with the Father and with the Spirit, the one true and loving God, forever and ever.

But that’s not all. Jesus also said, “Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies.” The physical body dies, but Jesus pledges, with his word of power, that he will bring the body back to life. The daughter of Jairus and the man named Lazarus were two examples, demonstrations Jesus gave of just what he can do. By his miracles of resurrection, he was promising that he will do the same in the end for all of his people.

By his own resurrection, after he was crucified, Jesus proved that he has absolute power over death and the grave. A giant stone and armed guards of soldiers could not keep Jesus’ resurrection from happening. Likewise, there is nothing that can keep Jesus from providing the same resurrection for us, his people, when his final time arrives. On that day, “we will all be changed–in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52). We will be changed from dead to alive, from being troubled by all the ailments of our frail bodies to being freed from all ills in eternally glorified bodies.

“I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus said. That’s exactly who he is. In him and because of him, we have life now and will have it always. In him and because of him, we will experience one day the resurrection of our bodies into life and joy unending, that now we can barely even imagine. In that day of resurrection, we won’t have any back pains or body aches or cysts or cancers or any other disease or pains or wounds. All will be healed completely by the Lord and made perfect in every way.

Jesus, keep our hearts strong as we wait for that day!

Dec

2019

Struggling to Forgive

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on April 5, 2014.

We struggle to forgive those who have wronged us. Our strength and love to be forgiving will flow from the one who continually loves and forgives us–our Lord Jesus Christ. Brooke King prepared this devotion in the form of a letter to a friend.

Forgiveness

by Brooke King

Dear Jane,

It’s was so nice to see you last Sunday at church, I know it’s been awhile, especially with everything that has happened these past few weeks. Catching up with you was so nice and I’m glad to see you smiling again. Perhaps we can meet sometime for coffee down at Lola’s; I hear it’s becoming quite popular with the students on campus. I found that meeting and talking with people often seems the best way to lighten the heart and take a few steps forward. You know you can count on me to be walking along your side. Even if you’re busy, remember that Jesus is always walking with you and you can talk to him about anything.

I know you mentioned you were struggling with forgiveness. Sometimes it seems that it’s more of God’s place to forgive than ours, especially when we’ve really been hurt. God’s love is unconditional after all and we can become so scarred by the sins committed against us that it is hard to show love to others. However, Jesus told his disciples that they have authority to forgive sins too, not just him. For many people this can be comforting to hear. Jesus said, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” (John 20:23). I know you’ve been hurt Jane, but withholding forgiveness may eventually become more of a burden to you than to your mother. Although her actions were hurtful to you, God desires that you have peace with yourself and with others. The Lord through Paul says “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). Even when sins are committed against us unknowingly, we can seek to forgive those who’ve done wrong.

Jesus came to this world to live a perfect life for us, to suffer at our hands, and die for our sins. Imagine how big of a grudge he could have held against us! He had every reason in the world not to forgive us for making him suffer. Despite every denial that shattered his trust, he chose to forgive us. Despite every insult that broke his heart, he chose to forgive us. Despite every lash that scarred his skin, he chose to forgive us. Despite every nail that was put in his flesh, he still chose to forgive us. Even as he was hanging on the cross, he looked at us, the unrepentant sinners we were and said, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34). The love that Jesus has for us is boundless. He desires our peace with the Father even before we begin to repent. Be comforted Jane that despite your sins or your unwilling heart to forgive, you have been forgiven and given peace through your Savior.

Jane, I know your mother has not acknowledged the pain she has caused you. I know how much you love her despite her sins. I pray that you can be at peace with your mother, not because she deserves your forgiveness, but because of the loving forgiveness you have in Christ which moves you to show forgiveness and live at peace with all people. As you seek out Jesus and consider the peace he has given you for your eternal future, may your own willingness to forgive continue to grow. May you share this gift with your mother and all people so that you may live in peace with the love of Christ abundant in your hearts.

With Christ’s love,

Brooke

A Message, Not a Mumble[1]

Jesus is Resurrection; Jesus is Life

Forgiveness

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