Revive Us Again

In this transition time between pastors, I had the opportunity to speak to the church last Sunday. I thought that I would post the short version of my message for all those who didn't make it to church. In the wake of so many changes, I felt called to say a few words about our future as a church family.

According to Acts 2:1-4,

"When the day of Pentecost came, they 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."

 

The Holy Spirit came to the early Christians, our forefathers, as a flame, and we light that same flame today. We light candles in church and, as United Methodists, we surround ourselves with the Cross and Flame, on our hymnals, on our Bibles, and even in the stained glass window in the front of our church.

 

We describe ourselves with a good fire, a fire that cleanses and purifies. The good fire provides us with a source of power to change the world and ignite the same fire in others.

 

There are people at church who are good people and help others, but they don't let their light shine for God. They let their light shine for other people. They may help people they know or people they like, but not strangers or people they don't like. They may help people, but do it for show, and not for the Spirit. 

 

I have that problem, too. I'm a people-pleaser. Somehow, I missed out on getting the gene that tells you when to say "no." If someone asks me to do something, I will almost always say yes, even if I really don't want to do it. I will drag myself through it with a smile on my face, because in my head, I think it's the right thing for me to do. But in my heart, I don't want to be there, I don't want to be doing anything, and I don't have a good spirit. 

 

1 John 3:20 says that

 "If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything."

 

God knows that in our hearts, we don't always have a good spirit. When we do things to impress other people and not God, we don't give our full effort and we don't make as much of an impact. 

 

If you're not working with a good heart, and if you're doing something begrudgingly, then you're dragging everyone else down with you. It's like trying to start a fire without a match. You can rub those sticks together all you want, but it's just not the same. Using sticks takes forever, and you might get that fire started, but by the time you light the kindling, nobody's interested in the fire anymore. Lighting a fire with a match is immediate, it's hot and it's intense, and it's right there in the moment. Working with a joyful heart is like sparking the fire with a match. It makes a difference. 

 

People matter, but God matters more. If we treated God less like this distant figure that we can't see and more like someone who's sitting right next to us in the pew, we'd be on much better behavior most of the time. At least, I know I would. We all have room to improve, and if we let the Holy Spirit become the fire that drives our lives, we will grow as people and as Christians, and we will have nothing to fear from the fire that destroys. 

 

My favorite passage from Isaiah is 43:1-3: 

 

"But now, this is what the Lord says—

    he who created you, Jacob,

    he who formed you, Israel:

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

When you pass through the waters,

    I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

    they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

    you will not be burned."

 

As we go through our lives, we face danger. We risk losing everything if we don't do God's will. Like Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego, we must struggle to do what's right even when we're threatened with the fiery furnace, and even when other people pressure us and criticize us.

 

God knows what's in our hearts, and as long as we believe in Him, He will keep us safe from any danger. With God on our side, we will not be burned.

 

Summit has a long history with fire. We lost to it our original church building and we lost the 1957 brick building. But we're no strangers to the fire of the Holy Spirit. In the Great Revival, which the older members of our church look back on with reverence, 32 souls were saved, most of them in one night!

 

The Great Revival makes me think of a younger member of our church,  a child named Noah, who will be baptized on the 29th. I will never forget the day Brother Don announced that Noah would officially be joining our church. Noah, young though he is, was called by the Holy Spirit to make a commitment to God and the Christian life. There are people today that we can change, who need us to make an impact, and who need us to spark their fire. If Noah's family had not helped him seek a connection to the church and to Christ, he may never have known what it means to feel the Holy Spirit.

 

There is no reason, absolutely no reason, why the old fire and its old power cannot be revived. And it must be revived, because people like Noah are the future of our church, and the fire of the Holy Spirit has been given to us to share, not to hide under a bushel. The light of our church and the Spirit is not just for our church family, but for each individual we touch, within and without the walls of our sanctuary.

 

So let your light so shine before men, because God is waiting for us to do His work!

 

"Will You not revive us again so that Your people may rejoice in You?" Psalm 85:6