We had wind advisories around Omaha Monday. Maybe that's appropriate since Sunday was Pentecost reminding us of the day the wind of the Holy Spirit blew at gale force! Wouldn't it be great if Pentecost caused a spiritual wind advisory today that folks around town would notice - lots of witnessing and good works and love and well you know all the traits a good Christian should exhibit. What if Pentecost and the Holy Spirit caused each of us to go deeper in our faith and propelled us to get out of our faith boat and take some actions even more scary than walking on the water?
That seems a bit far out doesn't it? But should it really? Shouldn't Pentecost remind us of the call we have by the power of the Holy Spirit? Wouldn't Pentecost today be as powerful as Pentecost then if we would all just hear His call? He's speaking our language but are we hearing?
On that first Pentecost (50 days after Passover) the Jews were celebrating Shavuot- a day to remember the giving of the Torah- the first five books of our Bible. Passover celebrated their release from Egypt and Pharoh, Shavuot celebrated who they really belonged to all along. They also celebrated this day as a day of First Fruits- giving back to the One who had given them so much.
Maybe Pentecost some 2000 years ago was a slightly breezy day already. Maybe the disciples were watching people bring their 'Bikkurim' (first fruits) to the temple when the wind picked up and Pentecost suddenly got a new and improved meaning. God brought a gift to the disciples they would never forget, one that would change them forever, the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit called them to share a message that went beyond the Savuot's Torah focus. When the Gospel was preached that first day, thousands responded.
Today, though we are gifted with the Holy Spirit as well, our spiritual wind seems to be at best a soft breeze, at worst a quiet, still silence. And yet the Holy Spirit continues to call us to be 'blow-hards' of a sort, a refreshing breeze of faith for others to see and feel. I'm praying Pentecost becomes a reminder for us to be just that.
Interestingly, tradition holds that the first Shavuot was celebrated by Noah. So really Shavuot represents the gift of a promise to Noah- to never flood the earth again, the gift of the Torah- God's Word, and lastly we would add the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thinking of these three great gifts sorta makes Pentecost a bit more meaningful and powerful doesn't it?
So let's have a shoutout for Shavuot and Pentecost. Let's rejoice in all of God's rich gifts to us and respond as we should, faithfully and actively. I read where 'drafts' move vertically and 'winds' blow horizontally. Makes sense then that God 'drafted' us on Pentecost to be His 'wind' here on earth touching others. Pentecost reminds us to breeze though life with this greater purpose. By the power of the Holy Spirit we can impact the lives of others for God with gust-o!
Shavuotly Yours!
Keith
Monday, May 24, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Sock Giving Duh!-ciples
I had to laugh out loud on the plane even though I'd heard it before. I was listening to comedian Jim Gaffigan deliver a slighly irreverent comedy routine that Caleb had put on my iTunes (which I then added to my ipdod). Gaffigan wonders how hard it was to buy a birthday present for Jesus. He talks about Jesus' reaction to opening a package containing a pair of socks. 'Oh a pair of socks, thanks! You know I'm dying for your sins right? Yeah, but thanks for the socks. They'll go great with my sandals. What am I, German?'
Giving Jesus socks in return for His gift of eternal life sounds funny to me. But maybe that comment is more true than funny. Maybe we often think we are doing good things for Jesus. We've all been proud good works 'sock givers' more often than we care to admit. The German sandal wearer Luther got it right when he made 'sola gratia' (grace alone) one of his three 'solas'.
Luther's 'A Treatise on Good Works' in 1520 doesn't dismiss good works but calls us to place them in their proper light as he reminds us to be 'diligent in the works of your earthly calling as commanded of God, but only after having first strengthened, by the consideration of God's mercy, the faith within you, which is the only source of all truly good works and well-pleasing to God.'(Project Wittenberg and ICLnet , Reverend Bob Smith, Project Coordinator)
I like that brief sentence overview. It fits perfectly what we learn in Ephesians 2:8-10 which says, 'For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.' Faith indeed calls us to good works, but it is only God's gift of faith that saves us!
Leonard Sweet in his book '11' writes that at times the disciples might better have been called 'duh!-ciples'. Some things they didn't get right away. And again, I think that fits us as well. That some things Jesus clearly taught we struggle to understand, to remember, to live out. We want our good works to count for something besides what Isaiah called them- 'filthy rags'. I guess as I think about it, old socks often end up in our rag piles in this earthly life as well don't they?
Loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves definately requires good works. As James says faith without works is dead. We duh!-ciples need to remember though that good works come from God's gift of faith- a gift we can't take credit for- or the resulting good works.
As a self-admitted sock-giving duh!-ciple I take joy in my God given opportunies for good works. How awesome that each of us has been created for good works which the Holy Spirit uses to draw others to God. Turns out we not only walk by faith, but we also do good works by faith! I pray we will respond to our saving faith's call to good works as the old song says, 'Carry your candle, run to the darkness, seek out the lonely, the tired and worn. And hold out your candle for all to see, take your candle go light your world.'
Blest Regards,
Keith
Giving Jesus socks in return for His gift of eternal life sounds funny to me. But maybe that comment is more true than funny. Maybe we often think we are doing good things for Jesus. We've all been proud good works 'sock givers' more often than we care to admit. The German sandal wearer Luther got it right when he made 'sola gratia' (grace alone) one of his three 'solas'.
Luther's 'A Treatise on Good Works' in 1520 doesn't dismiss good works but calls us to place them in their proper light as he reminds us to be 'diligent in the works of your earthly calling as commanded of God, but only after having first strengthened, by the consideration of God's mercy, the faith within you, which is the only source of all truly good works and well-pleasing to God.'(Project Wittenberg and ICLnet , Reverend Bob Smith, Project Coordinator)
I like that brief sentence overview. It fits perfectly what we learn in Ephesians 2:8-10 which says, 'For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.' Faith indeed calls us to good works, but it is only God's gift of faith that saves us!
Leonard Sweet in his book '11' writes that at times the disciples might better have been called 'duh!-ciples'. Some things they didn't get right away. And again, I think that fits us as well. That some things Jesus clearly taught we struggle to understand, to remember, to live out. We want our good works to count for something besides what Isaiah called them- 'filthy rags'. I guess as I think about it, old socks often end up in our rag piles in this earthly life as well don't they?
Loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves definately requires good works. As James says faith without works is dead. We duh!-ciples need to remember though that good works come from God's gift of faith- a gift we can't take credit for- or the resulting good works.
As a self-admitted sock-giving duh!-ciple I take joy in my God given opportunies for good works. How awesome that each of us has been created for good works which the Holy Spirit uses to draw others to God. Turns out we not only walk by faith, but we also do good works by faith! I pray we will respond to our saving faith's call to good works as the old song says, 'Carry your candle, run to the darkness, seek out the lonely, the tired and worn. And hold out your candle for all to see, take your candle go light your world.'
Blest Regards,
Keith
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