Being Pentecostal

A religious cynic once said, “God made humanity on the last day of creation. When God realized what He’d done, He took off and went into hiding. The search to find God is what we call ‘religion.’”

Wrong answer. That’s not what Scripture says. When God created humanity, God said it was “Very good.” God didn’t take off and go into hiding. On the contrary, from the very beginning God made Himself totally accessible to humanity. More importantly, God wants a personal relationship with us. God created us. We are God’s creative masterpieces. And an artist doesn’t just walk away from his or her piece of art.

There was a nature show on television about a black bear that gave birth to two cubs. One cub died right away. Three weeks later the mother died and the remaining cub was left to fend for itself. An orphaned cub in that condition is like a walking buffet for predators. And of course the camera immediately showed a hungry-looking mountain lion.

One day the orphan cub encountered a giant male black bear. The little cub cowered at the bear’s sheer mass. The larger bear peered around and seemed to realize that the mother bear wasn’t anywhere to be found. He gave the little cub a friendly nudge. The camera then showed the little bear happily trailing along after the larger one. The little guy was adopted. Papa bear proceeded to show the cub how to grub for insects and how to catch fish and how to scratch his back against a tree.

One day the two bears became separated. The cub began to cry and looked frantically for his new father, but couldn’t find him anywhere. The cub approached a stream where he’d learned to fish and something caught his attention. He looked up to see a mountain lion ready to pounce. That same mountain lion had stalked the cub for the entire show. There was no way that mountain lion would’ve gone for that cub with Papa bear around, but now….

The camera zoomed in on the cub. He automatically mimicked the posture of his adopted father when threatened. He stood on his hind legs and bared his teeth. Then, in exactly the same way his new father would have done, this cub let loose a mighty growl that should have reverberated throughout the forest. But only a tiny bear cub squeak came out.

Well, you know what was coming. But, to everybody’s astonishment the mountain lion lowered his head and ran off in the opposite direction.

The camera panned back to the proud little cub still standing tall on his hind legs. And then all the viewers saw what that little cub could not: a few yards behind him, at full, ferocious height, his sharp, white teeth bared in a snarl, stood Papa bear. He may not have made a sound, but he was there.

And even though the cub couldn’t see his father, his father stood guard, protecting his young. The little cub had power available greater than anything he could produce on his own. There was a greater power watching over him.

Jesus said, “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them” (John 14:21).

We may not see or hear the presence of God all the time. But the power and presence of God is always available for us. No matter how frightened or alone we feel, no matter how much we feel abandoned or how weak or powerless we believe we are, that doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit isn’t here. That doesn’t mean we are not loved.

God protects and provides for us. We are God’s treasured possession. We are God’s children, brothers and sisters of Christ Jesus. We’re friends of Jesus. And Jesus promised He will never leave us orphaned. He promised to be with us always through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

We may feel separated from God, but God doesn’t go anywhere. God is always with us, even when all we can see ahead of us is that hungry mountain lion.

When the day of Pentecost came, says the writer of Acts, all the disciples of Jesus were together in one place. They were in hiding from the authorities, afraid of being linked to Jesus and being arrested themselves.

Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven. Then something else happened that was even more startling. Those gathered saw what appeared to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of those who were gathered in the room. Then to top it all off, all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

When the wind of God blows, amazing things happen.  The Greek word for spirit (pneuma) is also the word for wind, as it is in the Hebrew (ruach). That, of course, is no accident. God breathed into man his own breath. He gave man of His own Spirit – thus the relationship of wind and Spirit.

Wind, like the Spirit, is not only powerful but it is also mysterious. It is invisible, but we can see the trees rustle as it passes by. It can be as soothing as a gentle breeze on a warm summer night or it can come with the destructive force of a tornado or hurricane.

The Holy Spirit excites and empowers. It brings people together and helps them to love one another.  It equips them to go out into the community with the good news.

There was a man from Louisville, Kentucky, who, many years ago, had to travel to St. Louis on business.  On Sunday morning, he left his downtown hotel looking for a place to worship.  The streets were quite deserted, but finally he saw a policeman and asked him for directions to the nearest church.

The stranger thanked the policeman for the information and was about to walk off when he turned and asked the policeman: “Why did you recommend that particular church?  There must be several churches nearby that you could have recommended.”

The policeman smiled and replied: “I’m not a church man myself, but the people who come out of that church are the happiest looking church-people in St. Louis.  I thought that would be the kind of church you would like to attend.”

What a testimony those happy Christians were making to the reality of God’s presence in their midst. That kind of happiness is present in churches where Spirit-filled people feel close to one another and to God. Notice how Acts describes the church at Pentecost. “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.”

On the day of Pentecost, the silence of the church was broken. With the help of the Holy Spirit, church members went and talked openly about God’s deeds of power and about the salvation offered by Jesus. The words spoken by Peter and the other apostles were inspirational, and they sparked the explosive growth of the Jerusalem church.

Then, as now, God-talk has the power to change lives. We are like the little cub facing the mountain lion.  But we have Papa bear, our heavenly father, backing us up and offering us the gift of his Holy Spirit.

Can we accept the gift and talk openly about our faith? Could we be a Pentecostal church?