I visited another church this morning. I was awake at 8:30 a.m., and
I figured I might as well visit the 9:15 a.m. service of a nearby
church, which is Southern Baptist. I just wanted to do something new
this morning. I also wanted to get out and walk on this beautiful
morning.
The sermon was about the Holy
Spirit. According to the pastor, the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
did not dwell in people permanently but only came upon people
temporarily and inspired and empowered them for a task. The same was
true before Jesus died, which is why Jesus' disciples, including Peter,
continually wanted to do the right thing but often failed: the Holy
Spirit was not indwelling them. Soon after Jesus' resurrection, the
disciples did not entirely understand the nature of Jesus' Kingdom:
their question in Acts 1:6 indicates that they still regarded God's
Kingdom as national and political rather than spiritual.
In
Acts 2, the pastor went on, they received the Holy Spirit. They
understood the nature of Jesus' Kingdom. Peter, who had denied Jesus
three times at Jesus' trial, was boldly proclaiming Christ to people who
had put Christ to death.
The pastor said
that, in this day and age, believers have the Holy Spirit inside of
them, and the Holy Spirit will never leave them. And yet, the pastor
admitted that he identifies with Peter before Peter got the Holy Spirit:
wanting to do the right thing, but often falling short or bungling
things up. How can this be, if he has the Holy Spirit living inside of
him?
The pastor's response was that the
Holy Spirit may be living inside of us, but we need to use the Holy
Spirit and be filled with the Holy Spirit for him to be powerful in our
lives. The pastor referred to Ephesians 5:18, in which Paul encouraged
his Christian readers to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Even after
receiving the Holy Spirit, we need to continually be filled with the
Holy Spirit.
The pastor pointed to a
glass of water. When we sin, it is like the glass leaking. To be
filled with the Holy Spirit, we need to confess our sins to God,
surrender to God, and become connected to the Holy Spirit, which is like
a power source. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we share the
Gospel with people. We sin less, and we gain victory over sin and
temptation more often. We produce spiritual fruit: love, joy, peace,
patience, goodness, self-control, generosity, etc.
The pastor had
two glasses of water. He put an unopened package of Alka-Seltzer into
the glass, and it did nothing. Then he opened a pack and put a pill of
Alka-Seltzer into the glass, and the water fizzed. The lesson here is
that believers have the Holy Spirit, but we need to unpack the Holy
Spirit for the Spirit to make a difference in our lives.
Do I
agree with this? I agree with much of it. I do not support being
legalistic about confessing my sins, but I do believe in being honest
before God, resolving to be kinder and more loving, and relying on God
to do so. Do I feel motivated to preach the Gospel? Well, I am rather
live-and-let-live when it comes to people's religious and philosophical
beliefs, and I do not want to artificially try to sell people a message
or to start talking about the substitutionary atonement to them. My
faith and my hope do shape who I am, however, and that does manifest
itself in my life, as flawed as I am. That's where I am on this. Some
may conclude from this that I do not really have the Holy Spirit. But
it's where I am, and they are entitled to their opinion.
This
church did not have a passing of the peace or greeting time. I kind of
liked that, since I was feeling especially shy and introverted this
morning. At the same time, I somewhat missed the greater sense of
connection that I get at the United Methodist Church that I usually
attend, and that I have attended for about a year. At the UMC church, I
especially appreciate the time when people share their and others' joys
and concerns. That gives me an opportunity to care and to root for
people, and it also shows that faith intersects with the real world,
where people have joys and problems. We did not have that at the
Southern Baptist service that I attended this morning, but the attenders
there probably get this in their small groups.
I
will be moving this month, and thus I will be looking for another
church. I somewhat wanted to visit other churches in my present
location, since there is not pressure: I will be leaving soon, so I am
not asking myself if I fit in at the churches that I visit. I am just
seeing what they are like. We'll see what I do next Sunday. I will
want to go to my UMC church one last time before I move.