1
The Message for Sept 24, 2017
Radical Discipleship – I Believe in the Holy Spirit
Romans 8:26-27 & 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Rob Miller, PastorTools
Reality Television has become a worldwide phenomenon.
According to Wikipedia -- Reality Televisionis atypeofTV programingthat documents supposedly unscripted real-life situations, and often features an otherwise unknown cast of individuals who are typically not professional actors, although in some showscelebritiesmay participate. It’s different fromdocumentary televisionin that the focus tends to be on the drama, the personal conflicts, and the entertainment rather than educating viewers.[1]
We humanslove to add competition to everything. TV is no exception. In competition-based reality shows, the producers add other elements, like –
- participants are eliminated per episode,
- a panel of judges decides who stays and who goes,
- the concept of earning “immunity from elimination.”
This type of TV became ubiquitous(everywhere at the same time) in the late 1990s with global success,throughTV shows like -- Survivor,Idols, andBig Brother. Reality TVhas become a regular part of TV programming ever since. We can thank MTV for starting all of this reality stuff.
In 1981 MTV gave us the firstmusic video with many more to follow over the years. As the worldbegan to change, MTVchanged with it and gave us the first “reality show” in 1992 called, “The Real World.” It was a different kind ofTV show.
The first episode of "Real World" focused on what happens when you put seven strangers in a house together, and as the participants said, “people stop being polite, and start being real.”
The world watched religiously–and has been watching religiously for the past 25 years -- stopping their own real worlds to watch a real world show on TV -- a real world show that probably has nothing to do with our own lives, but for some reason, perhaps because of all of the hype, or the combative nature of the relationships, or the camera angles –it seems like it is real.
Reality TV gives us a glimpse into the “real” lives of people. A spin-off series is “True Life”whichhas been airing since March of 1998.
“True Life” is a show that doesn’t put strangers together so their "true selves" will come out. Instead, they take advantage of the real life situations that people are already dealing with in their own lives.
Every True Life episode reveals what a person is dealing with:
- True Life: I'm in a forbidden relationship
- True Life: I have pushy parents
- True Life: I'm a gay athlete
- True Life: I have epilepsy
- True Life: I'm breaking up with my religion
You can go to the True Life webpage and watch every episode they ever produced. And as you watch you naturally begin to askyourself questions like:
- What is real about life?
- Is there one universal reality or do each one of us live totally independent yet interconnected realities?
- What is reality?
- What do I need to change in my life to make it more real?
Through questions and camera work and editing, the show “True Life” seeks to guide the viewer to find our own answers to life’s questions.
I tell you all of that to tell you this -- that is exactly what Jesus says the Holy Spirit does for us. As Jesus prepared his disciples for his departure through death on the cross, Jesus tells them that he will send the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth (see John 15:26-27).
The Holy Spirit seeks to guide us into findinganswers to life’s questions.
Today we consider the third part of the Apostles’ Creed. The part about the Holy Spirit… The part that goes like this…
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Holy Spirit makes all of these things possible because the Holy Spirit is ubiquitous - everywhere at the same time at work in all of our lives simultaneously. That’s part of the mystery of the Holy Spirit.
This mystery includes how the Holy Spirit makes the church possible, the communion of saints possible, the forgiveness of sins possible, the resurrection of our bodies possible, and the life everlasting possible for each one of us.
We have a part to play in all of these things too -- as guided by the Holy Spirit.
The main role of the Holy Spirit is to be at work in our lives to maintain the bridge between us and God - the bridge that Jesus made possible through his cross and resurrection. That was our topic last week.
This week we focus on how the Holy Spirit continues Jesus’ work in the worldin us and through us. Keeping us connected to God and connected to one another. The Holy Spirit makes this connection possible by gifting us for God’s work in the world…
St. Paul put it this way in his letter to the Christians in Corinth…
Now about the gifts of the Spirit,brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.You know that when you were pagans (unchurched/nonbeliever),somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,”and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,”except by the Holy Spirit.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyoneit is the same Godat work.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom,to another a message of knowledgeby means of the same Spirit,to another faithby the same Spirit, to another gifts of healingby that one Spirit,to another miraculous powers,to another prophecy,to another distinguishing between spirits,to another speaking in different kinds of languages,and to still another the interpretation of languages. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit,and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. (1 Corinthians 12:1-11)
The Holy Spirit has gifted us for God’s work in the world through the church. We are all gifted. We all have gifts to share – at least one gift to share.
Here’s the amazing thing -- sharing our gifts with others in and through the church and our gifts grow - but keeping our gifts for ourselves and our gifts die. The odd saying, If you don’t use it, you will lose it, is reality.
There is a place in this church for you to share your God-given gifts. We will allbe the better for it when you do. That’s why God gives gifts to us in the first place to share them.
If you don’t know what your gifts are, we’ll be glad to help you discover them in our Church 301 class to be offered in the next month or so. Watch for it.
More importantly though -- watch for the ways the Holy Spirit is active in your life. Often –active when we least expect it. Often –active when we are at our weakest.
St. Paul saysthat in our weaknessthe Holy Spirit plays a special role in our lives. He writes in Romans 8…
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedeswith sighs too deep for words.And God,who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spiritintercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)
The Holy Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words… Picture this -- when we sigh the Spirit interprets that as a prayer.
When we think aboutthe Holy Spirit, reality may be one of the last things we think of. The Holy Spirit seems to be the most supernatural, the most “unreal” of the persons of the Trinity. Even the Holy Spirit’s effects seem to be outside of the norm of reality–
- speaking in tongues,
- great indoor winds,
- fire dancing above people’s heads (see Acts 2).
It all seems like something that if we were watching it on TV, we would say it was special effects.
So because of that, because the Holy Spirit seems so unreal, we tend to put the Holy Spirit in the world of the fanciful, the extraordinary, and ...quite frankly... the ignorable. Something we ought not do according to Jesus.
He says something about “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” It appears to be a sin to ignore the Holy Spirit. So don’t do it – don’t ignore the Holy Spirit at work in your life.
Why do we ignore the Holy Spirit? I wonder…
Maybe it’s for the same reason that we tend to ignore the producer or directorthat sit behind the television shows we watch. Like the director or producer, the Holy Spirit stands behind the scenes and points us toward the truth – the truth about Jesus, the truth about ourselves, and the truth about the world we live in.
That is how the Holy Spirit works in our lives - rarely “on screen” –always “behind the scenes.”
Always revealing the reality of life to us – real life – a life of faith – a life of constant self-improvements, helping us find the answers to the questions of life.
Consider this…
The Holy Spirit is the producer and director of our lives
- controlling the camera angles,
- zooming in to reveal our sinfulness,
- leading us to learn from our mistakes,
- and empowering us to make the necessary changes in our lives whenwe need to.
Be open to the work of the Holy Spirit at work in your life…
How do we know if the Holy Spirit is at work in someone’s life? We can seeproof or what St. Paul callsthe fruit of the Spirit.
ThefruitoftheSpiritis love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
The reality is – try as we might - we cannot produce that fruit on our own. Only Holy Spirit can within is.
So my prayer for you this week is that you will go and live a real life as guided by the Holy Spirit and allow the Holy Spirit to produce in you and through the wonderful fruit of love,joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Amen
[1]