Getting Ahead of Myself

You'll never guess that I was away from my church computer, on which my syllabus is located. While I was in Lubbock, I had no access to internet, except to send the blogs I wrote (which I did from a doctor's office). It's a rarity in my life that I get ahead. So, unless I get extra inspired, the commentary you have already received will carry you through Wednesday.

You, no doubt, remember that in a past sermon I said that one of the negative fires with which we tend to fuel ourselves is over-functioning (getting addicted to our own busyness and adrenaline). I must plead guilty to that excess with you over the past couple of weeks. Much of it could not be avoided, but Sunday was the first time I got tongue-tied in the benediction(10:50 service), so there was a clue I needed to slow the pace a bit. Have a great day.

Acts 11:19-12:25: The Hand-Off

Up to this point, with the exception of Acts 9, the story of Acts has been about Peter and John, mostly about Peter. In chapter 11, we have the beginning of the shift to the ministry of the one who would eventually be called Paul.

The Pattern of Persecution and Multiplication (11:19-21)

Throughout Christian history (including the church today), waves of revival are accompanied by persecution. When Constantine converted to Christianity (in the early 4c CE) and called for the conversion of the empire to Catholicism, the growth and dynamism of the Church collapsed. For the first time there were nominal Christians (Christianity in name only). John Wesley called the nominal Christians of his day “almost Christians.” Today’s Christians in Africa (Congo, Cameroon, Sierra Leone) are experiencing political and economic persecution and the church is multiplying. The persecution of Stephen, instead of limiting and intimidating the Church, further energized and spread the faith.

Barnabas and Saul (11:22-30)

I have been slow to notice, but Luke has this way of introducing by name the people who are next going to be high profile in the church. We were introduced to the “seven,” before talking about Stephen’s martyrdom and Philip’s ministry. We were introduced to Saul as the man before whom coats are laid in Stephen’s death and, a chapter later, are reading Saul’s conversion. Here we are being further introduced to Barnabas and Saul as a team in preparation for their missionary journey together. Notice the role of Barnabas. It is he who introduced Saul to the Jewish leadership (Acts 9:27). Paul is sent back to his home area for ministry (partly because he was a marked man in Jerusalem) and he does ministry in Arabia, Syria and Cicilia (for at least three years, according to Galatians 1:15-24, and possibly up to a total of six to seven years). But it seems throughout that time that Barnabas and Saul have been communicating and developing in their friendship and partnership in ministry. In Acts 11:25, Barnabas goes to Tarsus and brings Saul back for the ministry at Antioch and they share in that ministry together. It wasn’t until I became pastor at St. Barnabas that I realized the active role of Barnabas in the ministry of Saul (not yet referred to as Paul in the book of Acts and Saul is always listed second, as the subordinate – which of course will change).

The Miraculous Escape (12:1-25)

I love this story for both its power and its humor. Peter thinks he is dreaming until he realizes he’s outside the prison gates and fully awake. Rhoda shuts the door in Peter’s face and Peter just keeps knocking on the door. Herod, after executing James (what a terrible tragedy that must have been as the church lost one of its big 4 – Peter, Andrew, James and John) now goes after the #1 figure in the early church. But in the end, Peter is miraculously spared and Herod is the one ends up dead.
What a dynamic history we have as the Church. What will it take for the Church to recover her dynamism in Western Europe and North America? It would take a fresh move of the Holy Spirit. We could and should pray for that. But I wonder if having a dynamic, bold and no longer co-opted church might mean a new round of persecution for those who follow Jesus.

Acts 10:24-11:15: No Favoritism (Inclusion) Friday's Reading!

More Than We Think

Peter arrives to a whole household (family, servants, friends), rather than just a meeting with one person. People in sales know that each customer is connected to a network of up to 200 or more (sometimes much more). Meeting a true need for a person or gaining a fully satisfied customer will have an impact far beyond that person. This is why I believe authentic witness in our everyday work settings has been greatly underrated. Hunger for the love of God and the desire for a better and more productive life is all around us. If we build genuine relationships with people, then when we have the opportunity to share faith it is not only heard by that person, but also by many others in that person’s network.

Peter notes right away the uniqueness of their meeting. He is learning the lessons of “inclusion”, rather than “exclusion” (our theme for this week in Slaughter’s book). It’s easy to underestimate what Peter was facing. For a Jew there were two kinds of people, Jews and the ethnoi (the other nations), God’s chosen and “the others.” It was and continues to be an exclusive religion. Jews are not out to convert others, they are just to be a faithful separate people. Jews can and are called of God to bless the world, but they do not desire for the world to become Jewish. Christianity, on the other hand, is meant to be an “inclusive” faith that constantly broadens in influence and number. The Holy Spirit drives us toward inclusion, constantly taking down barriers between people and overcoming divisions based on history and customs.

Gentiles Receive the Spirit

Peter, after preaching the gospel, is surprised to see that the Holy Spirit falls upon the people even before they are baptized or make profession of faith, right while Peter is speaking. That must have been one astonishing moment. Peter goes back to the disciples in Jerusalem and things do not play well. It took a lot of persuasion to get the “buy in” of the Jewish Christian leadership. Isn’t it interesting how quickly we determine the ways that God acts or does not act? The religious leaders were sure that Christianity was to be a Jewish movement, but it was more than that. Their first reaction then was to resist this move of the Spirit.

You and I live in a time when the Holy Spirit is moving in new ways that require risk and the real possibility of failure. In the days ahead, the Church may well have to learn to fail forward! I wonder what surprises God has in store. What things will we end up doing that we have never done before? What resistance points will we find in ourselves and in those around us?

Acts 9:32-10:23: Peter's Big Surprise

I have been in Lubbock for a pre-surgery (knee) meeting with Reece's doctor and to meet with a mortgage company, etc. So I have gotten behind.

The Return to the Ministry of Peter (9:32-43)

Jesus had promised that the disciples would do the things he did and even more. Here Peter carries out two miracles that were ones Jesus did, the healing of a paralytic and the raising of Dorcas from the dead. In the book, Like a Mighty Wind, by Mel Tari, the revival on the islands of Indonesia included quite a number of resurrections. The present revivals in Africa and Latin America are also loaded with miracles of all kinds, including a few resurrections. Is it possible that the western-European mindset (from which US thought descends) gets in the way of the miraculous? That question does haunt me from time to time.

God Prepares the Way (10:1-7)

We have seen this pattern before in chapter 9 (with a vision to Annanias before he meets Saul) and it is to some degree implied in chapter 8 (God sending Phillip to Gaza so that he will be able to answer the questions of the Ethiopian). Who is Cornelius? First, he is a Gentile. Second, he is part of the Roman army with responsibilities for 100 men (thus the name “centurion”). Third, he is a God-fearer, one of those who had a general belief in God and were seekers. Many of these came to Jewish feasts and events. Cornelius is told to send for Peter as an answer to Cornelius’ prayers. Again, notice that Peter will not be taking Christ to Cornelius. He will only make Christ more obvious.

The Dropping of the Sheet (10:8-23)

Some of the things we think are unchanging about our faith are not. Peter discovers this in an astonishing way. The Jewish food laws were central to who Jews were. They ate what was “clean,” not what was “unclean” (what those unclean Gentiles ate). When Peter goes to Cornelius’ house, will there be mainly Jews or Gentiles living and working there? The answer of course is, “Gentiles.” Will they be eating kosher or non-kosher food? The answer is “non-kosher” is what will be eaten. Peter, as a missionary must learn to be multi-cutural. It must never be forgotten that the receptiveness to the gospel by Gentiles and the resistance to it by Jews was the single greatest surprise in the book of Acts. Following Jesus was to lead to the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, not to save the whole world.

The event with the sheet also tells us that God is not bound by structures or plans of the past. The accomplishment of the mission is more important and allowing God to be who God chooses to be is more important than the structures we tend to make sacred over time. For Peter it is repulsive to think about eating “unclean” foods, but God invites him to see that what was once unclean is now clean for the work of reaching new people. John Wesley, when he was denied the freedom to preach in the Anglican Church said, “I decided to be more vile,” and began preaching in outdoor gathering places throughout England. When I am arguing with my Southern Baptist friends about female preachers, I often point to this passage. I have seen the hand of God on so many women for preaching and ministry that I know God is not restricted to first century standards.

The gospel now takes Peter where he thought he would never be. So it seems to be with all who truly follow Jesus.

Acts 9:1-31: The Damascus Road Experience

Acts 8:1-3 introduced us to Saul of Tarsus, a radical Pharisee, who was bent on destroying “The Way”. His job was to catch all the followers of Jesus who were fleeing Jerusalem and Judea. When Stephen was stoned, they laid their coats at the feet of Saul. Notice that Saul was not heeding the advice of Gamaliel in Acts 5:34ff, but choosing the more radical approach. He would be just as radical a follower of Jesus Christ after his conversion. Paul describes his attitude in Acts 26:10-11 (from The Message),

“I admit that I didn’t always hold to this position. For a time I thought it was my duty to oppose this Jesus of Nazareth with all my might. Backed with the full authority of the high priests, I threw these believers – I had no idea they were God’s people! – into the Jerusalem jail right and left, and whenever it came to a vote, I voted for their execution. I stormed through their meeting places, bullying them into cursing Jesus, a one-man terror obsessed with obliterating these people. And then I started on the towns outside Jerusalem.”

At the edge of Damascus, he has his stunning and blinding experience of the risen Christ. Alright, now I’m jealous. Who wouldn’t be a believer if you had that kind of experience?! There is very little doubt that Saul had a dramatic encounter with Christ. But very few have something like this. I had a friend in high school who used to make up experiences of Christ so that he could tell of a more dramatic experience than others. Each of us has his or her own experience of Christ and from it we have a very important story to tell. Most people’s stories of faith are not with blinding lights or audible voices or life-saving rescues. We must allow the Holy Spirit to draw people by a variety of means, because the variety communicates to a wide variety of people. The conversion of Saul is not a pattern for encountering Christ. It is an illustration of the power of God and what it can do. Your story of faith is the same.

How would you have liked to have been Annanias? I love the argument he has with God. Yet he not only cares for Saul in his blinded condition, he also prays with him to receive the Holy Spirit. Saul received his sight and was baptized. Notice in vss. 15-16 that Saul’s future service is described in terms of his impact and his suffering. Obviously, it would have been Annanias who introduced Saul to the believers in Damascus. Notice how the Holy Spirit is working in Acts through high-profile and low-profile people. What can happen in us when we are yielded Spirit-filled followers of Jesus Christ?

Saul, after his conversion, becomes a target of those who were his friends. He is sneaked out of Damascus in a basket by his new friends in “the Way.” But his welcome in Jerusalem is not warm at all. It would take a certain leader in the church to convince the leaders that Saul was trustworthy. His name? Barnabas. Soon they would become partners in ministry together. Verse 31 gives another progress report:

“The the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.”

Acts 8:4-40: The Ministry of Phillip

The Conversion of Simon the Sorcerer

Another one of the “seven” after Stephen was Phillip, Phillip the disciple of Jesus. In Acts 1:8, Jesus promised that ministry in the Spirit would enable them to be witnesses “in Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.” Through Phillip, the gospel hits Samaria. The conversion of Simon the Sorcerer is interesting. His conversion is not very pure, for he really follows because of the miracles he was seeing (a greater kind of magic in his eyes). When he sees the people receive the Holy Spirit, he’s even ready to pay for the ability to do that.

Maybe all of us come to Christ partly out of impure motives. Some do it for business reasons, others to please a family member, and still others just because they have the need to connect with other people. I have even had to face some of the less pure reasons I am in ministry. Some are pure, while others can be that I want to be approved by lots of people or I have a great need to be needed or I have special power or authority needs. These lesser motivations for following and serving Christ eventually get tested and we get reduced to the place where we follow Christ with no ulterior motives and where we share in ministry just because we are called to do it and are honored to do so.

The people in Samaria hear from Phillip the good news of Christ, but it is Peter and John who open them up to the dimension of the Holy Spirit. We will see this again in Acts 19 with Paul. My own experience is similar. I was taught to put faith in Christ, but I was not taught to open up to the dimension of the Holy Spirit. When I was 14 I accepted Christ as Savior and Lord. But it was two years later that I asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I did not “speak in tongues” as some of my Pentecostal brothers and sisters did, but my faith did open up in a new way. From then on, I was bolder to share my faith and my life in Christ became more than just what I could do in my own strength.

I believe that this is what John Wesley experienced when he said his “heart was strangely warmed.” Prior to that, he had a sincere faith and even did missionary work in Georgia, but it was the experience of Christ within through the power of the Spirit that set his heart ablaze and created the Methodist movement.

One of my commitments in ministry is to “despookify” the Holy Ghost. People have made the Holy Spirit super mysterious on the one hand and spooky and weird on the other. My experience is that most people who get the Holy Spirit and became weird were that way in the first place. You may be asking, “Can’t you receive Jesus in your heart and the filling of the Holy Spirit at the same time?” Yes, indeed and many do. In fact, in Acts 10:44-45, the Holy Spirit falls on the people before they put their trust in Christ. But if we are not aware of the Holy Spirit dimension of God in our lives, we will not be open to it. It is in the dimension of God the Holy Spirit that we experience the power to live the Christian life, to share of our gifts in partnership with God (Corinthians 12:1-11), and grow in character and love to become like Christ (the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23).

The Conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch

Sometimes we are made to feel that we must force ourselves to share Christ. My experience is that people who are growing in Christ and led by the Spirit will share Christ naturally. We do need to help people know how to share their faith, but we don’t have to create artificial situations or strategies to make witnessing happen. Biblically, one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to prepare people’s hearts to receive the good news of Christ. We don’t really take Christ to people, we just share the Christ who is already there. Furthermore, most people don’t respond in faith the first time they hear the gospel. People who have researched this say that it takes an average of twelve people to make a witness before most people respond.

What Phillip finds is a seeking heart, a person who is ready. He shows his readiness by the questions he is asking. The eunuch wants to know about the words of Isaiah, a classic text in which Christians often see Jesus. With such an opening, it was easy to share Christ. So what do we do while we wait for these openings? We live as the hands, the feet, the encouraging words and the shoulder to lean on of Jesus. We genuinely care and share with people, whether or not they ever respond in faith with us. They may well respond with someone else. But we don’t offer care so they will convert. People will smell a hidden agenda a mile away. But if the people of God are the hands and feet of Christ and they are sensitive to the leading of God’s Spirit, then witness will not be difficult. In fact, it will be hard to keep quiet.

We live in a day when evangelism has become a dirty word, partly because it has been contrived (something we must do with certain expectations of response). Instead, let’s grow in our walk with Christ in the power of the Spirit and build authentic relationships with people. Then let’s watch and see what opportunities start to show up.

Acts 7: The Martyrdom of Stephen

In chapter 6, verse 5, we were introduced to "the seven," and Stephen was listed first. It was common in Biblical times to list leadership first, but it may be that he was listed first because of what was to happen to him. Acts 6:8 tells that he did many "signs and wonders" among the people and that his actions triggered a debate among some synagogue radicals. The description of Stephen was that he was full of the Spirit, persuasive and had a shining face.

In chapter 7, Stephen answers his accusers with a sermon that is extremely confrontational. When someone tells me they have a calling to prophetic ministry (meaning to challenge with boldness the things that are happening that need to be reformed), I remind them of the historic price of the prophet. You get the impression that Stephen knows what is about to happen, so he just let's it rip. Luke records the sermon in great detail. I wonder who heard it that would have passed it on to Luke. The sermon is a historical review of the stubbornness of God's people to respond to God's leading. It begins with a fairly netural stance and then turns stronly at verse 39. He sees the resistance of these leaders as a repeat of the pattern of rebellion that happened with the golden calf (Exodus 32) and the worship of other gods that led to the exile in Babylon of the southern kingdom.

They eventually stone him and we are introduced to a radical Pharisee by the name of Saul. He will be important to the rest of the study of Acts. Two things strike me about this passage. First, because of Stephen's experience of Jesus, he saw the scriptures in an entirely different light. Knowing Christ does change everything. Second, there is a price for sharing the good news of Christ. For in presenting the gospel, we are having what one writer calls "a lovers quarrel with the world" (Stuart Briscoe) and also a lovers quarrel with the religious status quo. Not everyone will find that quarrel appealing, but it is absolutely necessary that we have that quarrel. What's the old adage? "All it takes for evil to prevail is for a few good men to do or say nothing."

One day, my dad was traveling in one of the rougher neighborhoods of Pittsburgh to an industrial account. He saw a house on fire, but no one was trying to put it out. They were playing and conversing in the streets, but no one was paying attention to the fire. It had become normal for them. I wonder if that isn't a metaphor for the church in our day. While the world around is spiritually, morally and socially "on fire", we just go about our business as if that's the way things are supposed to be. The abnormal has become normal. How might God use us to change that?

Acts 6:1-15: Expanding the Base

The early church in Acts 6 experiences the same problem Moses encountered in Exodus 18. There is a limit to the number of people with which we can directly do ministry. Some say that number is 75, while others say it is really as low as 12 and that Jesus chose his 12 disciples for that reason. In this passage, the apostles, despite their best efforts, were having people drop through the cracks (the Grecian widows)and they were becoming so busy with the care of a growing number of people that they were unable to offer the preaching and teaching they needed to do. Notice that the people of the church were interpreting the lack of care for the Grecian widows as an ethnic slighting. While the Jewish believers may have been unintentionally insensitive to the needs of their Grecian members, the truth was the church was no longer structured appropriately for their size. If the apostles did not address this issue, the early church would have ceased to have sustained growth because it would have been limited to those the apostles could care for.

One of the things I learned early on in my growing ministry in Odessa, Texas was that if I didn't change the way I did leadership, I would end up undoing the growth we had and might even shrink the church to fit me. The truth is that most churches are structured about one or two sizes below what their active congregation needs. Mid-size churches (attendance 80-200)are structured like small ones (still trying to involve everyone in decision making and relying on two or three key leaders), while large churches (200-350) are structured like mid-size (still trying to work with just a few classes and two full-time staff with some part-time folk), and very large churches like St. Barnabas (350-800) act like a large one with key staff and a few key leaders in power with lots of people volunteering to assist. The truth is St. Barnabas, in order to be at our best, must further develop leaders of leaders so that our ministry can have its greatest impact (both on staff and as unpaid servants).

Notice the key qualification of those who were chosen: "Brothers, choose seven from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attentions to prayer and the ministry of the word." Spiritual walk with God and moral character in scripture are always higher qualifiers than giftedness, power of personality, or experience. Hopefully, we are calling forth and developing those who are a combination of great faith and giftedness. One of the great challenges of the 21st century mainline church is to develop a new generation of spirit-led and gifted leaders. We didn't do that very well in our last generation, so the church is short necessary gifted and spirit-filled personnel for staff positions: pastoral ministry, music ministry, youth ministry, children's ministry, evangelism, pastoral care, and Christian education. But the church has also not developed laity leadership for teachers, leadership on committees and task forces, care ministries, ministry beyond our walls, and so much more. As far as I am concerned this is job #1 for the United Methodist Church and for my own life.

Verse 7 give us the result:

"So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith."

Will you join me in calling people along side yourself who are filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom and show promising gifts for leadership? Or will we shrink the church to fit what we already are? Actually, that's what the mainline church has been doing for more than 40 years. It's time to turn that around, for the sake of the church and even more for the sake of our hurting and hungry world.

Acts 5:12-42: The Signs and Wonders People

We have been told in Acts 2:43 about the signs and wonders the apostles were doing and we see them now. I so wish I could have been there and seen people being healed as the apostles’ shadow went by them and other great events. Literally, we may not see these things happen, but there is a sense where we see this happen all around us. For right among the people of St. Barnabas I see miraculous answers to prayer (not all as instant as the book of Acts but they still happen) and I do see people becoming whole (physically, spiritually, emotionally, relationally) in the shadow of the love and grace of their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Then when I add the ministry we are doing as “salt and light” in the world around us, the miracles only multiply (in classrooms, workplaces, soccer fields, and other places). We still are “signs and wonders” people.

The response of the religious status quo was to arrest and persecute the apostles. We must never forget that the Jewish leadership saw the Christians as a dangerous and heretical cult, much as we might see the folks with David Koresh in Waco or Jim Jones. We were called “the Way” and were seen as a group that needed to be stopped. The Jewish leaders were so full of the religion they knew, they had no room for a fresh movement from God. We can become the same way.

The Holy Spirit springs the apostles from jail and that leads to a direct confrontation with Annas, Caiaphas, and the gang. The speech from Gamaliel is interesting. Gamaliel was one of Saul’s (who became Paul) teachers and very well respected in his day. Rather than make a big stir, Gamaliel shows them other movements that were “flash in the pan.” Things took care of themselves. He gives the impression that he expects this Christian movement to be similar. But what he says at the end, in verse 39, is what becomes part of the rhythm of the book of Acts:

“But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting with God.”

The disciples leave rejoicing that they have been counted worthy to suffer for Christ. They are not only signs and wonders people, they are people of the cross. How are we “signs and wonders” people at St. Barnabas and how are we “people of the cross?”

Acts 4:32-5:11 - Economic Community

Part I – All Things Common

Not only did the early church meet regularly for worship, study and eating meals, they also shared property. For us as capitalistic-raised USAmericans who deeply care about property (the Cottons are busy working on securing a home now), the idea of everything being “held in common” feels odd and maybe even wrong. Furthermore, there is no evidence that this arrangement continued for very long in the early church. It is really the ideal form of “communism,” in which the accumulated wealth of the community is redistributed by a central authority (the apostles) according to the needs of the people. It seems to work only on a very small scale, mainly due to human sin. The central authority tends to become power-oriented rather than service-oriented and individual initiative is squelched (as we have seen in communist governments of the 20th century). The question I am starting to ask is even if the structure doesn't hold (pure communism), does the priority of everything belonging to everybody still hold as a spiritual principle?

It's worth asking what it would be like to be in a community where very little is “mine” and everything is God’s. Economically, it would mean the debate about the “haves and the have-nots” would be over. There are some who argue that pastors should be equally compensated throughout the system or even compensated to the level of their family need, a radical application of Acts 4:32ff. In Mexico, for instance, the pastors consider the greatest appointments to be the ones where the most ministry can be done, where the biggest challenges are, not where the best salary is. There really is a sense in the early church that what we have in resources (talent, training, time, physical prowess and strength, and wealth) have a claim on them by God for the benefit of others. We are “blessed to be a blessing.”

This passage has special meaning for us in that one of the early people who made this kind of economic sacrifice was Barnabas. He sold everything and put it at God’s disposal into the hands of the apostles. It is there that we learn that Barnabas might have been his name in the community (as “a son of encouragement”) and that his given name might have been Joseph. Barnabas’ commitment to community was complete.

Part II - Lying to God

The story of Annanias and Sapphira is just downright weird. They lie about what they have and only say they are giving all their property. If you had wealth or property for which you had worked hard, it would be very tempting to want to keep some back for yourself. The apostles catch them in the lie and the Holy Spirit strikes them both dead. I guess that’s what happens when you lie to your preacher!

I think we’re all glad this standard doesn’t still happen today. But the seriousness of what they did is worth considering. They were joining a Christian community where the expected commitment was giving everything to God, no holding back. The economics was merely a sign of that total commitment. Annanias and Sapphira did hold back.

Quite often, with our busy, distracted and proprietary lives, God ends up with our leftovers (our leftover creativity, time, and wealth). I have discovered that what I do fully give over to God is where I experience true partnership with God in what I have and do. When God is only given our leftovers, we end up being the ones in spiritual and communal poverty both individually and corporately. While I’m not for going back to this fully communal model of being the church, I am convicted about how my sense of personal ownership and status gets in the way of me being fully deployed for God for the benefit of others. How about you? How might the people of St. Barnabas better carry out this bibical model of community?

Acts 4:1-31: Facing Off with the Foes of Jesus

The names in this passage may be familiar to you. Annas, Caiaphas, and John were part of a family arrangement in which led the Sanhedrin for most of the first century. They were strongly connected to the Herods that ruled and the Herods were connected to Rome as puppet leaders. The opulent wealth of Annas and Caiaphas is well documented. They were religious conservatives calling for strict observance of the law in contrast to the liberal Pharisees who added to the law with laws of their own. The Pharisees were also more committed to eventual revolution from Rome, rather than cooperation. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of anybody, and especially not of Jesus. The bottom line is that Peter and John have been imprisoned by and are now being interrogated by the very ones who orchestrated the crucifixion of Jesus, scary and corrupt people with great power. Again, the boldness of these disciples is remarkable.

The disciples are clear in saying that the miracle of the healing of the man at the Beautiful Gate was not in their own power, but in the name of Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 is a verse that is being freshly interpreted in our day and time:

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved."

Three years ago, I taught a World Religions and Philosophy course at Texas Tech. In that class of 38 students, there were 4 Hindus, 1 Buddhist, 1 Muslim, 1 Daoist, 3 declared atheists, 3 agnostics, 4 Baptists, 5 United Methodists, 9 Roman Catholics, and 5 Interdenominationals and a few undeclared. Some might have preferred that I began the course by quoting Acts 4:12, telling them that if they didn’t follow Jesus they were going to hell. Such an approach would have been contrary to the teaching posture of Texas Tech, a state university, but also a very poor strategy for Christian witness.

What Peter and John do is present Acts 4:12 positively. They have healed by the power of Jesus and they have found him to be the power of salvation for their lives and for the world. We now live in a world where people of other religions are our neighbors – our friends, our doctors and nurses, our co-workers, and our classmates. The 2 dominant religions in our world are Christianity (2.2 billion) and Islam (1.4 billion). Both have believers who think the other is going to hell. At a time when the world itself is at risk because of the religious disagreement between these two, telling each other that they are going to hell is a BAD strategy! We can positively present Christ without damning all the rest and allow judgment to be in the hands of God. What is your feeling about that?

I finish today’s reflection with a note on the role of prayer in the early church. They gather for prayer when Peter and John were arrested. They believed prayer was not only a good thing to do for their spiritual growth it was the power of survival for them. Prayer can be perfunctory and ritualistic and have little power in our lives, but that is not God’s design. Prayer in the name of Jesus is a powerful thing and the core activity of the Church.

We have finished our first week of Bible Study together. Thanks for being in the class and for growing with me in the book of Acts.

Acts 3: The Healing at the Beautiful Gate

Acts 3: The Healing at the Beautiful Gate
This is the first of the healing miracles of the book of Acts. When I was a teenager, there was a chorus groups sang from this passage,

Peter and John went to pray, They met a lame on the way. He held out his palms and he asked for alms, But this is what Peter did say, “Silver and gold have I none, But such as I have give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, “Rise up and walk.” He went walking and leaping and praising God, Walking and leaping and praising God. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”

Quite often, those who are in need find the church to be a safer place to ask for help. The disabled man asks for money so that he can survive. Notice his location, outside the gate. In the folk theology (the kind people believe whether its biblical or not) of the day, the man is disabled in punishment for his own sin or his family. He is being punished by God. The idea is that God blesses good people and God punishes bad people, so if bad things are happening you must deserve it somehow. Rabbi Harold Kushner’s book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People was written to address that folk theology. Peter and John tell the man that they have no money, but they do have something else to give him. They heal him in the name of Jesus.

Two things strike me in this passage. First, the book of Acts has no problem with miracles. They pray and they happen. In fresh movements of God’s Spirit in church history miracles are often a part of them. In the revivals in Latin America and Africa today, miracles are common place. It’s almost as if the smarter and more self-reliant we become, the less the miracles occur. Do we as United Methodists have room for miracles in our belief systems? Now when we do, then we have to admit that lots of times we pray for miracles and they do not happen. The disciples of Jesus had the same problem. But do we truly believe that God can do and often does the supernatural among us?

Second, the book of Acts joins together good deeds and the proclamation of Jesus. We don’t just give people what they need, we tell them about Jesus (the thing they need most of all). It seems that the church goes in extremes where we are all talk or all action. Peter shows us the blend.

Peter then preaches another sermon. Like the sermon in chapter 2, his words are bold and confrontational. We’ll see tomorrow that they get a very predictable reaction.

Acts 2:22-47: The First Sermon in the First Church

The Preacher

The disciple who denied he knew Jesus in private is now preaching the first sermon in public before thousands (with more than 3,000 converts!). How do we explain the difference? First, we have the power of the resurrection. Because Christ is risen the movement to make the kingdom of God present in the world continues, in fact at a greater pace with greater power than before. Second, we have the power of forgiveness. Peter’s forgiveness by Jesus and his reinstatement following his denial (I recommend a quick read of John 21:1-19) have set Peter free to be more than he ever thought he could be. I will resist a sermon on forgiveness and its power at this point! Third, there is the power of the Holy Spirit, empowering Peter from within. The scared Peter ready to protect his own skin has now become the bold Peter who will tell anyone the good news of God’s love, confronting the very people who took the life of his Savior. I am reminded that the biggest witness you and I have is the witness of our own changed lives. What difference has your relationship with God in Christ made in your life by the power of the Spirit? A question you will be asked at our next class meeting is “Who were you before Christ (BC) and who are you after your relationship with Christ (AD)?” For some people that change is a single dramatic event with a date and time, while for others it is a process that happens over time with key points of growth but without a definite date and time. But the presence of Christ within us by the power of the Spirit is transforming. Just ask Peter.

The Crowd

Pentecost was a marvelous feast for which many made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Those who heard were a mixture of Jews and God-fearers (a growing number of Gentiles who had a faith in God but had not yet converted to Judaism). Many of the early converts to the Christian faith and the first generation of leaders were God-fearers.

The Sermon

For an uneducated fisherman, this is a pretty sophisticated sermon, in fact one that is a pattern for most of the preaching to come. First, it is a presentation of Jesus as crucified and risen. Second, it draws on the scriptures in a way that the people would have recognized. He is proclaiming God’s word empowered by God’s Spirit. Every good sermon, or Sunday School class lesson for that matter, should do that. Third, he invites them to a point of decision – “Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) In the baptism of John the Baptist people confessed their sins and were baptized as a sign of cleansing and an intent to live better. Christian baptism is that and more. It is a life change as we become more than religious people trying to be better, but instead people who are newly alive by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Community

The sermon did not exist in isolation. The people were invited into community in which they met regularly in worship, holy communion, fellowship and service. In the Wesleyan movement that started what is now the United Methodist Church, John and Charles Wesley, following the preaching and singing in their open air meetings, converts were invited to be part of small gatherings to encourage their faith and growth in Christ. The power of recent movements like Promise Keepers and the Walk to Emmaus to effect lasting change is not just the powerful events, but also the covenant groups that followed them (in which people are encouraged and held accountable for their relationship with God and witness). Just as the first sermon was a great pattern for preaching, so this short description in verses 42-47 (which is repeated again in Acts 4) is a pattern for being the Church. When you look at the ministry of St. Barnabas, how true to our roots are we? As we seek to be a movement of the Spirit in the 21st century, what should our ministry look like?

Acts 2:1-21: "More Than a Birthday Party"

As a child, I was taught that the main thing about Pentecost was that it was the church's birthday. I know now that it was and is a whole lot more. In fact, I believe that rediscovering Pentecost for our own day and time is as important as rediscovering the cross and the empty tomb. Theologians like to talk about Good Friday and Easter as "the Christ event," but Pentecost is what completed the Christ event, as the Christ who died and rose again became the Christ indwelling the people of faith with his presence and power. Before Pentecost the people who followed Jesus were a scared to death group of disciples (were they next to die?) who were gathering together in hope that they would receive what Jesus promised. After Pentecost they are a movement that changes the world. It's worth asking whether the present United Methodist Church looks more like the church pre-Pentecost than post-Pentecost.

It had only been six weeks since the death and Resurrection of Christ. The people gathered to do as Jesus instructed in Acts 1, to wait until they were filled with God's power. Then the Holy Spirit comes upon them like "tongues of fire." John the Baptist said Jesus was the one who would "baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. John Wesley said of his preaching, "I just want people to come and watch me burn." It is out of that experience of being set ablaze by God's Spirit that the "scared to death" disciples became disciples who boldly proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ.

As they step out in that boldness, they are given the ability to speak in other languages by the Spirit. In this instance, they are given the ability to communicate with others in their native tongue. There has been debate about whether they were speaking in different tongues or the people heard it that way. In others words, was the miracle in the speaking or in the hearing? Did they speak in ecstatic utterance, much like we hear in charismatic or Pentecostal worship today, and it was heard in native languages? Did they speak in Aramaic (the language of the disciples) and it was heard in native languages? Or did they speak literally in the home languages of the people who heard them? I'm opting for the third. Furthermore, I think it is important that we today learn to speak by the power of the Spirit in the native tongue of 21st century USAmericans in Arlington, Texas. Too often, even in this blog, I write in "church-ese," in a code that only church people can understand. For a bible study like this, it may be acceptable, but not in our witness. We sing hymns in a language and style few people still understand (have you found out what "raising your Ebenezer" is yet?)and even if they understand the English, they don't talk that way anymore. Even the bible was originally written in "koine" Greek (the language of the common people) not classical Greek (the language of the scholars). Most Christian witness is seen and heard by those outside the church as a foreign tongue.

The disciples are accused of being drunk. The translation of the Greek is kind of fun at this point. It can be translated like your Bible, "these men are not drunk as you suppose." The passage can also be translated, "these men are drunk, but not as you suppose." In other words, they are filled with a different kind of wine, the wine of God's Spirit. As we make our witness for Christ it is important that we update our language, make new connections with people and become more culturally relevant. But it is even more important that we be filled afresh with God with God's Spirit. It is God at work in and through us, not just us at work in the name of God.

The disciples then tell the people that what they are seeing is the fulfillment of the prophet Joel. My guess is that the disciples had seen and heard that prophecy hundreds of times before and it meant very little. Now it is life-giving. He then invites the hearers to call on the LORD and be saved. I still am amazed every time I read this passage. And each time I read it, I continue to ask, "What would happen if the United Methodist Church (and other church movements for that matter) experienced a new Pentecost?" How might it be the same and how might it be different?

Acts 1:12-26: "Who gets the short straw?"

Judas was a problem. A careful reading of the gospels shows that he was a controversial member of the disciples from the beginning. Luke and John’s gospels have nothing good to say about him and John’s gospel accuses him of embezzlement. Judas’ suicide is described differently between Matthew 27:5 (by hanging) and Acts 1:18-20 (by jumping to his death). Acts 1:17 says of him, “he was one of our number and he shared in this ministry.” Judas was a casualty. One of the things we did not talk about in our short review of the history of St. Barnabas on Wednesday night are the relationships that worked and did not work that shaped how our church has gotten where it is. Even in his closest circle, Jesus had someone who betrayed him. Lest we think that sharing the gospel has a guaranteed success rate (“If God is in it, it must succeed.”), the example of Judas gives a reality check.

But what about the method of choosing Judas’ replacement? They pray and then they cast lots, evidently because they couldn’t make up their mind between Joseph Barsabbas or Matthias. In the end, Matthias is chosen but neither one are mentioned again in the Bible. Is anyone else besides me a little uncomfortable that they played a game of chance to choose leadership? Maybe for next year’s nominating purposes for church officers we should play, “Rock, Paper, Scissors!” At the same time, have you ever, despite your most fervent prayers, been unable to see a clear decision and yet you need to make one anyway? The Bible doesn’t hide the truth that God uses common things for his purposes. There is a pattern here – choosing the foolish things of this world to shame the wise, using ordinary people like you and me to do the extraordinary.

But then there is this other issue, that what appears to be chance occurrences end up later to be part of a pattern of God’s guidance. We have so much that happens good or bad to us out of chance (conception at child birth, winning the lottery, an audit, finding or not finding a parking place, being born at a particular time or place where a one in a lifetime opportunity happens.), yet God seems to work in the midst of all that. That’s why I said in an early sermon “God is in the mix.” It’s interesting to see what God uses in our lives, and quite unpredictable.

Acts 1:1-11 "You Shall Receive Power"

Verse 1

The book of Acts is the second part of a research project written by Luke and presented to Theophilus (which interestingly means “lover of God”). Luke was a physician who traveled some with Paul. He is the only writer of the gospels and of Acts that freely admits the use of sources. Traditionally, the book of Acts is called “The Acts of the Apostles,” but it would probably be best called “The Acts of the Holy Spirit.” This is the story of the church moving from being a scared-to-death small group to becoming an empowered movement that takes Eastern Europe and Asia Minor (present day western Turkey) by storm.

The two major themes for this reading are waiting for the Spirit and receiving the Spirit. The promise is that they will receive the gift of the Spirit and that is the key to all that follows. Two quick questions come to mind that will be more fully answered as we do this study together. We will take a first stab at them now.

Question 1: Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is the third dimension of God in which God works around, in and through us. The Holy Spirit is present at creation in Genesis 1 as brooding over the chaos, as creative power waiting to be released. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come upon people and give them superior strength (Samson), insight (Samuel), speed (Elijah) a sense of God’s presence (David). It is important to remember that the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts was revealing a dimension of God that had always been there. In John 14:16, the Holy Spirit is referred to as “another counselor” (advocate, comforter, literally ‘one called along side to help’). The word another in Greek is either heteros (another of a different kind) or allos (another of the same kind). The word here is allos. Jesus is sending one like himself to be with them forever. In the Spirit, the presence of God in Christ becomes portable in you and me. No wonder Jesus could promise in John 14:12 that “the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and in fact, will do greater works than these because I go to the Father.” By the power of the Spirit, Christ literally multiplies himself in you, me and everyone who believes and follows.

Question 2: What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

Baptism is such a rich term that means “sprinkling” (Jewish baptism) “washing” (secular Roman use in the washing of eating utensils), “dipping,” “pouring,” and “immersing “(used in religious settings and secular settings – including the sinking of a ship). Baptism, when related to the Holy Spirit as we shall see in Acts 2, seems to be related more to the idea of pouring. It’s made me wonder about all our quibbling over methods of baptism. Jewish baptism of Gentile coverts was done by the shaking of a cat tail at the riverside. Baptism as immersion entered much later in history as a symbol of the move from death to life in Jesus Christ. I wonder how much water John the Baptist used. Was he near the shore giving new meaning to shaking the cat tail? Did he submerge the people under water? Or did he take them out in the water and pour it on them? The use of the Greek that Jesus came up out of the water would have been used if he was fully under or just went back to shore. Some of us who have fought so strongly over baptism may be very surprised when God clears it up in heaven some day. That’s why I’m pleased that the United Methodist Church allows all three methods of baptism (sprinkling, pouring and immersion). In connection with the Holy Spirit, baptism means the pouring out of God’s Spirit on the world in and through us.

Jesus must have shaken his head when the disciples asked about the restoring of the kingdom. They are still hooked on their version of the kingdom in which Israel executes military and political triumph over those who have occupied Palestine. They see Jesus’ resurrection as a sign that Jesus would be their desired conqueror after all. But the movement is neither military nor political, though it will have military and political consequences. Acts 1:8 is key to understanding the entire book of Acts. “You shall receive power” is the promise of Jesus. The word for power is dunamis, the word from which we get dynamite or dynamic. By the Holy Spirit, God fills us with an explosiveness, a dynamic that allows us to fully live the Christian life and fulfill our calling. Want a dynamic preacher? Pray that he or she will be filled with the Holy Spirit. Want a dynamic church? Pray that God will make us a movement of His Spirit, taking God’s explosive love into the world.

God Calling VI (Finale): You and the Blues Brothers

Matthew 28:16-20

To growing love and growing unity, we add growing mission. The old adage is that “it’s hard to see the forest for the trees.” The sharing of our spiritual and natural gifts and fulfilling the call of God on our lives is part of a much bigger and grander work. As the old “Blues Brothers” movie says, “We’re on a mission from God.”

Picture yourself as those disciples. You have just experienced the horror of having your leader falsely charged and brutally crucified. You ran for your own lives and feel like you let the master down. You are absolutely confused about the direction of your life, because you have been following Jesus 24/7 for three years. Then you discover that Jesus has risen and he is sending you back into the mission field, but this time it is without him. The mission is still the big picture of your life. So it is with you and me. We share ourselves as part of God’s bigger picture of the redemption and transformation of the world. It is that mission for which others have gone before us, often at great sacrifice.

This passage is theme of the entire United Methodist Church, but there is often great debate about what “making disciples” means. Is it leading people to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Is it teaching people the basics of the Christian faith? Is it feeding the hungry and clothing the naked? Is it changing the lives of people and the systems in our world that are unjust and harmful? For a long time, we have majored on one of these four things, believing that doing one would lead to the fulfillment of the other three. We now know that is not the case. “Making disciples” means intentionally doing all four of these things. That’s why the missional cry for the United Methodist Church is “Make disciples for the transformation of the world.” I like that statement a lot.

Where do we make these disciples? The answer is both inside and outside the church. But clearly the greater part of that work is outside the church! That’s why your spiritual and natural gifts have been given to you – to make the life-changing world-changing presence of Christ real right where people live, any time and any place.

The promise of this passage is as we “make disciples”, he will be with us always. I have appreciated the WWJD campaign that asks, “What would Jesus do?” But the truth is that it is the wrong question. Christ is risen and still at work in the world. Christ indwells us by the Holy Spirit. Following Jesus is not hypothetical. It is a present reality. As the Easter hymn sings, “He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today.” The proper question is “WIJD” – What Is Jesus Doing? And once we figure that out, we do it along side him, sharing our spiritual and natural gifts, allowing our greatest passion to meet the world’s greatest need.

This is the final blog entry for this Spring Master’s Program class. What a joy it has been for Matt and myself to share with you in this daily Bible Study and this wonderful class. Our prayer is that your walk with Christ has been advanced, that you have become clearer about how God has “graced” you, and that you are more intentionally listening and seeking to fulfill God’s call on your life. May God fill you with His Holy Spirit to the point of overflow. Amen and Amen.

God Calling V: The Call for Growing Unity

John 17:6-26

If love is the disposition from which we share our spiritual and natural gifts, then unity is the environment in which that sharing becomes powerful. While what we find in Matthew 6:9-13 is what we often call “The Lord’s Prayer,” it is really a teaching model. The prayer by Jesus himself is found in John 17. It was a prayer given just before Jesus was crucified, about how the disciples would function in his absence. It is full of passion and deep care for his disciples.

First,in verses 6-10,Jesus thanks God for his relationship with his disciples. Before they were his disciples, they belonged to God. So in spending the three years with his disciples, Jesus saw these friends and co-workers as a sacred trust. He has poured himself into them and now is relinquishing them back into God’s hands.

Second,in verses 11-12,Jesus prays protection for them, so that they can be one. The chief strategies of the devil could be summed up in three Ds: distraction, dissension and division. If we can be kept so busy that we are unable to focus on the things and people that are the most important…If we can be led into picking each other part rather than complementing each others weaknesses with strengths…If we can be fractured into power groups and conflicted relationships rather than functioning as Christ’s body, then the devil succeeds at disempowering God’s people. The sly part of this is that often the devil uses the most well-meaning and most spiritual people to get the job done. Know wonder Jesus taught to pray, “Deliver us from evil.”

Third,in verses 13-19,Jesus prays for us to be sent into the world without becoming of the world. We are sent into the world just as Jesus was sent. Jesus, in his resurrection body, would repeat this saying, “As the Father has sent me, so send I you.” (John 20:21) How can we be “in the world” without becoming “worldly?” Jesus would say in Matthew’s gospel,

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is not longer good for anything…”

Jesus knows that ministry as laity and clergy is hazardous duty. In trying to save souls, you can lose your own soul – losing your sense of God, your integrity and your effective witness. Nothing hurts the mission of the church like worldly Christians. That’s why daily prayer, regular worship with others in the body of Christ, study of the scriptures, and accountability with people whom you love and trust is so important.

In verses 20-26, the prayer shifts to you and me and everyone who was to become a follower after the death and resurrection of Christ. He prays for our unity, that our oneness would reflect the oneness of God and Christ. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three-in-one: different in function but one in essence and purpose. The body of Christ must learn to be diverse without being divided. And in our oneness with each other, we end up developing an even greater oneness (both individually and corporately as the Church), oneness with Christ.

Growing Love, Growing Unity … I wonder what could be next.

God Calling IV: Motivational Gut Check

I Corinthians 13

Matt and I have already done a four-sermon series on this text and we devoted an entire class session to it. All that would seem to be left is to memorize it. But even if you have already done that, the real key is to live from the center of selfless sacrificial love. In our spiritual gifts study, we have seen that the gifts we are discovering were often dormant before we met Christ or allowed the Holy Spirit to fill and guide us. The closer and more integrated our walk with Christ is, the more these gifts become operative at home, at work, out in the community and in church. But what is the attitude or disposition from which we share those gifts? If I offer the gift of proclamation or prophecy and my motivation is frustration, anger or the desire to straighten people out more than it is to speak a word from the Lord that will bring people into line with God's purposes for them, then the gift has been compromised. If I share the gift of generosity or servanthood so that I can feel significant or have people bless me with deep thanks more than I desire to serve them so that their lives are blessed and enhanced, then the gift is compromised. The more love-motivated we are, the freer we become to share both our natural and spiritual gifts for the greatest impact. The more I read I Corinthians 13, the more I see I need the grace of God to make me the loving child of God I was meant to be.

One of the great disciplines of the church is called "an examination of conscience." It is not an invitation to guilt trips, but rather an invitation to see what is broken, what is wrongly focused and what needs to grow. If in reading this passage, I notice that I have been rude and unkind lately, it is good to ask why I was that way. Perhaps I was rude because the person, the comments or the situation exposed an insecurity or inadequacy in me and I reacted. That means something is broken or hurt and needs healed. If I notice that I have been "insisting on my own way" lately, what need for validation and the sense that I have to be right is feeding that? Something is either broken or misaligned and needs put right. At least for awhile, it might be good to review the Love Chapter about once a week to be sure that the way we share ourselves in life is healthy and Christ-like. And always remember that we are a work in progress. The ideals of this chapter are, in the end, unachievable on our own. But they become more and more a reality as we allow God to do His great work of grace in and through us. Have a great day in the love of Christ.

God Calling III: Worship in the Vernacular

I Corinthians 14

The New Testament was written in Koine Greek (the Greek used by common folk) not Classical Greek (that used by the educated). In Jesus' ministry, his native tongue was Aramaic, which was the language of the common Jew from 539 BCE (following Israel's return home from exile and the building of the second temple in Jerusalem) until about 70 CE (the invasion and destruction of that temple). A similar theme is found in the Reformation that God's Word be allowed to be translated from Latin into the different vernacular languages of the people. In the Methodist movement, the Wesleys did not permit worship in Latin. At the same time, religion tends to offer an alternative way of experiencing life and reality. At its best, it is a better way of seeing things from the perspective of faith through a relationship with God. To talk about "life in the Spirit" and studying spiritual gifts is one way of exploring this alternative way of life. Jesus' mission was to demonstrate and to proclaim the kingdom of God in this world. The long-term strategy for that was the creation of the Church. At it's worst, religion can become an exclusive club with exclusive practices, including languages and codes.

Glossolalia, ecstatic utterance described in I Corinthians 12 and 14 (and in parts of the book of Acts), what theologian Michael Green calls "a love language unto the Lord" had become a major feature of the worship life of the Corinthian Church. In Pentecostal and charismatic worship, speaking in tongues is used both privately and in public. In private, it is often called a "prayer language." It sounds to the ear, like a form of babbling, a free form of speech that is a celebration of God's presence in prayer or singing. In I Corinthians 14:2, Paul writes, "For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit." In 14:18, he writes, "I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you." So Paul himself worships in this way.

In Pentecostal and charismatic worship, this free form language is both spoken (usually subdued so as not to stand out as an individual – though I have sung concerts in Pentecostal settings where the "prayer language" grew quite loud as a group) and sung (quite a beautiful and ethereal sound, the free form sounds sung in the sounds of a single chord - much like an overtone series on a guitar). When I was at Oral Roberts University, Sunday evening vespers had this as a regular practice. Singing "in the Spirit" would go on for several minutes, even 10-15 minutes. Though I rarely attended, for a reserved Presbyterian at the time, it was an unusual and impressive experience. If you have friends who worship in Pentecostal , Assembly of God or interdenominational charismatic churches (Trinity Church in Lubbock, for instance), you may want to ask them about "praying or singing in the Spirit." At the height of the charismatic movement in the United States, during the 1970s, praying and singing in tongues was more prominent than it is today.

Paul's dispute with the Corinthians was that they made this largely private worship practice a central feature of their public worship. It is not a taught language, so no one could translate. Therefore, in public, Paul required that speaking in tongues in worship, when offered individually must be accompanied by another spiritual gift, the interpretation of tongues. As such, the message is understandable to everyone present and functions in the same way as prophecy, as a message given from the Lord.

In Pentecostal and charismatic worship, a person will speak out individually in glossolalia (free form or ecstatic speech). Then the worship will become very quiet as the worshipping group expectantly awaits someone to receive an interpretation. As such, it is not considered a literal translation, but a representation of the same message in the vernacular where everyone can understand. When you took the spiritual gifts survey, 24 of the questions were on speaking unknown languages and interpreting them. In United Methodist settings, as well as most mainline settings (the writer of the survey is a Presbyterian), most people mark "rarely" or "never." Some denominations forbid the practice entirely, relegating tongues and interpretation as a purely early church phenomenon that is now extinct and unnecessary.

For Paul, the problem with the Corinthian use of tongues was they were making it so strange and mystical that it had no practical value, but was rather the practice of people who saw themselves as "more spiritual" than others. I call this "super-spirituality", and it is a hazard for any religious body. Of course, there is the opposite extreme, "empty spirituality," where worship and devotion are just a rehearsal of learned creeds and songs without there being a sense of God's presence among the people. That one is the much more common hazard.

The bottom line for Paul is that the gifts of the Holy Spirit must be practical, including speaking in tongues and interpreting them. Spiritual gifts make the ministry of Christ portable, public and practical in the lives of people. How is God using your gifts to do that?

But I have an even more haunting question. How much of our present day worship and ministry is really in "the vernacular", in the language and practices that are accessible to people and their needs? Much of the language of the church is full of theology: justification, sanctification, pneumatology (the study of the Holy Spirit), eschatology (the study of Revelation and second coming themes), soteriology (understandings of salvation), ecclesiology (understandings of the church), et cetera ad nauseum. We talk about faith, grace and salvation as if the people around us really understand what we're talking about. Is the church speaking Latin again or speaking in tongues that are largely unknown or at least outdated? It is true that the language of faith communicates a reality that is hard to describe in secular terms. In music, we need a score. In football, we need a playbook. In the military, we need a manual. We need to be people who will communicate the reality of God's world-changing love, power and grace in the vernacular. We also need the gifts of the Spirit to be shared in ways that people can receive and understand them. In the end, that's what this course and what God's call on your life is all about.