Jesus, the Son of God, had lived on earth for about 30 years, only 3 of which were "public ministry." But during those 3 years, He changed the whole world - literally! And what a shock it must have been for His group of disciples (devoted, but imperfect people - scared, and proud) to adjust to living without their Rabbi. For 3 years He had taught them, led them, helped them, comforted them, performed miracles before their very eyes. And suddenly He was taken from them. Not only did they have to deal with His horrific death, and then the confusion but at the same excitement when He appeared before them once more - resurrected...but when they witnessed Jesus ascending into heaven they must have been nervous and sad that they were being left alone.
Yet, Jesus had assured them that they weren't alone. "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you," He promises in John 14:18. And "the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."
Pfingsten was the fulfillment of Jesus' promise to His followers. The Holy Spirit came, all right, and maybe quite differently than expected! Suddenly the disciples found themselves speaking new languages, filled with boldness to preach and perform miracles, and people were converting left, right, and center every day!
Jesus was faithful to His word and had indeed sent the Holy Spirit - the Comforter, Teacher, and Guide - and those who believed in His Name were filled with the promised Power.
I could write lots about the Holy Spirit, but what struck me in re-reading the story in Acts 2 and 4 was noticing the effect of Pentecost, the result of the disciples' being filled...
The group of believers - the Early Church - after this powerful corporate experience, started meeting together regularly to pray, to receive teaching, to participate in communion, and they experienced amazing miracles and everyone else looked on with awe. I've heard numerous sermons about how what's recorded in Acts 2 is a good model for church today. And in many ways it is - we come together to pray, symbolically eat the bread and drink the wine, and hear the Word of God proclaimed.
But what else happened as a result of the coming of the Spirit?
Acts 2:45 & 4:32 - "They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need...No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had....And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them."
NO needy persons among them! Imagine that! Imagine a church congregation today where NOBODY was in need, because brothers and sisters in Christ were willing to help, willing to sacrifice even by selling their own possessions, in order that the other person may not lack.
Wow.
Talk about the power of the Holy Spirit, God's grace powerfully at work.
What would it look like for churches today, moved by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be so generous and focused on serving others that "no needy persons" would be among them? What would it look like for "needy persons" to flock to churches because they knew that they could find help there?
I've been inspired and encouraged lately by recent Facebook posts announcing ways to help families devastated by the tornado in Oklahoma, and bombing victims in Boston. Churches are opening their doors as shelters, taking food and clothing donations to pass on, and are demonstrating exactly this - the power of the Holy Spirit to help those in need.
What would it look like for each one of us, personally, to develop this type of mentality where we're willing to "give to anyone who has need"?
During my time at Bible School a missionary lady came and spoke to us, and one of her lines really struck me and is a guiding principle for me even today. She said, "Fear nothing more than disobedience." There is, we think, nothing we need to fear. We sing it constantly "My God is greater, my God is stronger...and if my God is for me, then who can be against me...." And that is true. But the proper, respectful fear of the Lord means that if we say we're a follower of Jesus we accept Him as both our Savior AND as our Lord - our King, our Ruler - and we submit to Him.
So when God tells us to do something, for example in James 2 when He says to not show favoritism, and that the ONLY type of religion that has any worth in His eyes is to "to look after orphans and widows in their distress" (1:27), we better pay attention!
Often we wait for some type of "big sign" from God until we step out in obedience, until we do something radical, until we really offer our bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12). We have this thought that says, "Hmm, yeah...I guess I'd be willing to go, willing to help, willing to give if God told me to" but in reality we're prepared to just stay in our comfort zones. Instead, we should make it our goal (and my husband and I are trying to foster this type of culture in our home) that we are "READY TO GO and willing to stay". That our DEFAULT is to give, is to get involved, and only if God says no or somehow hinders us do we want to hold back. Because, as my friend's mom says,
"Since when does obedience make you special?" (Elli Zurowski)
Obedience should be the norm! And there are enough commands, enough loving challenges as well as down right clear rules in the Bible, about how we as followers of Jesus should help the poor, the weak, the suffering, the needy. Take the basics of the Bible - love God and love your neighbor!
GENEROSITY was one of the marks, one of the effects, of the outpouring of the Spirit. Makes sense, when you consider that the FRUIT of the Spirit is love, patience, kindness, etc.
So what does this mean for us?
I've mentioned it before, but allow me to share again one very practical way that we can serve widows and orphans and help ensure that there are "no more needs" around us.
During the conference this past weekend I had the privilege of representing Compassion, a Christian organization whose motto is "Releasing Children from Poverty in Jesus' Name." And that's exactly what they do. Through the means of one-on-one sponsorship, childrens' lives are radically changed as they are given the opportunity to go to school and receive medical help, and above all simply loved on and taught about their identity in Christ.
This past weekend 6 people took a step of obedience and decided to become sponsors for children from all across the world. SIX LIVES will be completely changed (and the lives of the sponsors, as well!) because Christians full of the Spirit were willing to sacrifice.
Author and speaker Margaret Feinberg recently had the opportunity to travel and meet her sponsor child personally, and wrote a blog post about her experience, entitled:
"5 Things Your Sponsored Child Can Never Tell You"
(click on picture to read full blog post)
Margaret spent a week in Kenya, and was able to personally visit a Compassion Project, meet her beloved sponsored child, and get a first-hand look at what a difference sponsorship makes in the life of a child. Her post is an interesting "behind the scenes" look and honest evaluation of how successful sponsorship is. I found it helpful material for helping my husband and I develop our relationship with our sponsor child, Audrey Anne (and hopefully getting to visit her one day in the Philippines!)
For only $38/month (or 30 Euro, for Compassion Deutschland), you can change the life of a child, and be sure that your life will be changed too!
What if YOU were the answer to someone's prayer, and what if through YOUR sacrifice, someone else's need was eliminated?
Of course there are multiple ways to get involved in issues such as these, issues of social justice. Sponsoring through Compassion is just one means. But it's one that I personally fully support and am excited about, and want to give you, my friends, the opportunity to get involved. Check out the links I've mentioned or leave a comment if you want more info. And please feel free to share below the creative ways you are letting the Holy Spirit meet needs through you!
Let Pentecost happen over and over again in our lives, that the Holy Spirit would fill each one of us with a passion to use our resources to help others!
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