Men began to call upon the name of the Lord

Read Genesis 4:26

You have to love Genesis.  It is the only book of the Torah where the Greek and Hebrew titles agree.  Bresheet means beginning as does Genesis.  The rest differ as the Greeks wanted a title and an author and based their title on a general understanding of content: however, the Hebrew people knew their books by the first few words. 

For instance, Exodus was called Shemot, meaning names.  Exodus begins with These are the names…

Viyikra, meaning and he called becomes Leviticus. Midbar, meaning in the wilderness shows up as Numbers.  Devarim which means words becomes Deuteronomy.  None  of these match the titles assigned in the Greek translation, but Genesis does.

In the beginning begins the first creation account.  At the end of which God declared all things very good.  A good start to creation, don’t you think?

This is followed by the second account of creation told with a greater focus on humankind.  So far, so good.  The creation is off to a good start.

You know what’s next.  We can’t even get three chapters into the story until it seems to go south.  The serpent makes his pitch, Eve makes her evaluation, and then she breaks the one and only commandment given to her husband, which he has surely passed on to her.  They knew his directive and Eve broke it anyway.

Afterwards Adam take a bite as well.  He was an easy sell.  So much for male leadership in the first family. 

Have you seen the pictures and meme of something totally messed up and the caption, “You had one job to do?”  I like the one where the Minnesota midfield logo is centered on the 45 yard line. “ You had one job!”

Adam and Eve had only one thing not to do.  We can look back on them and blame the fall of humanity on them, which is normally what we do.  We mitigate the blame a little bit by asking ourselves if we would have done any better.  Maybe we would have held out longer.  Maybe not.

The next thing you know, 25% of the people noted in the Bible commit murder at the same time.  The murder rate was also 25%.   Okay, Cain killed his brother, Abel.

We sometimes look at and classify Genesis as history.  Sometimes we note it as a faith statement. It is in many ways, but it is also prophetic.  We often ignore that.  The one command which brought disobedience was followed by over 600 that brought disobedience.  Disobedience continued through Noah and the flood and Moses and Joshua to the Messiah.

All were bound over to disobedience.  No one, not even the patriarchs, managed to bear the burden of obedience. 

We see that as the law increased, sin increased even more.  Disobedience increased.  Doesn’t that just mess up the whole story?

Not if the only way to be right with God was through the work of God himself. Only the Messiah could fulfill the law, live by the complete law, and only through the blood of the Messiah could we be made right with God.  Only through him could we receive the Spirit of God.

We are creatures of the flesh and if we jump forward to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus noted that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  Even these words spoke short term prophecy.  As Jesus struggled to see his mission through to completion—which he did—his closest followers succumbed to their flesh.  They fell asleep once again.

He told them to continue in prayer so they would not give into temptation but the flesh was too strong for them.

Jesus lived in the flesh though his flesh did not conquer him, but he was the only person ever who could claim this victory.

So the story of the Torah and the rest of the Old Testament is one in which God stayed with us through our disobedience to his word, his directives, his loving guidance.  Some found favor with God but none could fulfill all of his commands, even when there was just the one.

This whole story could have ended shortly after it began.  This judgment that we believe is to come could have come and gone quickly and this whole humanity thing could have been put in the books.

But God stayed with us through it all because he is God.  He is love.  He loves us.  He has something incredible in store for us now and through eternity.  He has given us his Spirit as a deposit on our inheritance as his sons and daughters.

And all had not gone astray.  Keeping God’s directives was one thing, but seeking him even in this weak human flesh was another.

In what seems totally out of context considering the way this whole creation story was going, we find these words.

At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.  Some translations might say people began to proclaim the name of the Lord.

In this screwball story where the flesh is racking up wins, the people began to call on the name of the Lord.  But there is no revival.  There is no obedience.  There does not seem to be widespread worship of the one true God.  This, like other parts of this book and the rest of the Torah, point to future.

But people began to call on the name of the Lord.  Where does their help come from?  It comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

We see the prophet Joel talking about the Spirit of God being poured out.  Peter talks of Joel’s words in his first big sermon.  His message leads up to these words.  Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.  

Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved!  Now that’s something to be excited about.

Okay, that makes for a nice sermon but consider today’s world.  Disobedience to and even contempt for God are commonplace.  I don’t know that I see much future for our nation other than some fire and brimstone.

The creation story was on that same track but somehow men began to call upon the name of the Lord.  This did not abate the problems of humanity but some called upon the name of the Lord.

Some began to call upon the name of the Lord.  My prayer is that we will see this again in our country and in our time.  People will begin to call upon the name of the Lord .

The big catalyst here is that one day soon the Spirit of God will be poured out and those who are not anchored in rebellion will call upon the name of the Lord.

Those who are struggling in the flesh will call upon the name of the Lord.

But we have salvation.  Must we continue to call upon the name of the Lord?

Let’s consider this.  Do we obey all of God’s commands?  No, but if I live a life of love, I have fulfilled them.

Are we consistent in living our lives in love?  Not exactly.  I have good moments and bad.

Even with salvation, we wrestle with the flesh.  We get angry.  We have to be right.  We make our desires the center of our world and seeking God gets bumped down a notch or two.  Love gets some time in our hearts then gets evicted and invited back and then stuck in a corner.

We still wrestle with the flesh.  Paul would call it the old man, the old creature.  Even as redeemed men and women we must continue to call upon the name of the Lord.  Where does my help come from?  It comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

We likely won’t be able to fully obey God until we live continually in God’s presence.  The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  One day we won’t contend with sinful flesh. The Spirit wins.  God wins.  We win.

But in this day, we must continue to call upon the name of the Lord.  This is more than prayer.  This is a lifestyle.  This is in all your ways acknowledge him.  Let’s call upon the name of the Lord.

One way that we often forget to call upon the name of the Lord is in Thanksgiving.  Our requests are lined up and ready to go but sometimes we get so wrapped up in our needs that our thankfulness is consumed by our flesh.

We are a thankful and grateful people even if the world is not.  Even as we struggle with the flesh and even as we struggle with disobedience and even as we struggle getting ourselves out of the judgment seat and into the arena, out of the bleachers and on the playing field, out of philosophy and into practice—even as we struggle with our modern-day trials of the flesh—we are to be thankful.

Thank you, Lord, that you are God.

Thank you that you are love.

Thank you that you love us.

Thank you for your directions given for our own good.

Thank you for the Spirit that lives within us and who is a deposit on things to come.

Thank you for your command to love one another and that we may fully live.

Thank you that you hear us when we call out to you.

Thank you that the spirit that you placed inside us when you made us a living being can converse with the Spirit you placed inside of us when we received Jesus.

Thank you that they can talk directly and I don’t have to compose a prayer.

Thank you that you will finish the good work that you began in us.

Thank you that you did not abandon us in our disobedience.

Thank you that you have things in store for us that are beyond our imagination.

Thank you that you have called me friend.

Thank you that our present suffering is nothing compared to what you have in store for us.

Thank you that you trusted me enough to commission me to take your gospel to the world.

Thank you for the trials I experience that I might grow in your grace.

Thank you that sometimes your answer to my prayer is no.

Thank you that I may understand that your grace is sufficient for me.

Thank you for the things of this world that make me rich as compared to the rest of the world.

Thank you that those things have not become my god.

Thank you for the body of Christ so I need not navigate this life alone.

Thank you for your holy word that was preserved as it was passed down orally generation to generation, written and translated with great fidelity and available to anyone who wants it, and that sometime soon will be written on my heart.

Thank you that I proclaim Jesus is Lord and know this to be true without any doubt.

Thank you that your grace goes beyond my sin.

Thank you that you have called me to live in such a way that I will be known by my love.

Thank you that your mercy and grace have not expired even in this twisted and perverse generation.

Thank you that we know you best through your Son who died as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Thank you that by knowing him we know you.

Thank you that we know you by the Spirit who lives within us.

Thank you that we may call upon your name.

Amen.

The Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost

Read Acts 1-2

This morning we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  We mostly take our scriptures from Luke’s second chapter in Acts, but the story begins in the first part of the first chapter.  It’s something of a prologue to what happened on that glorious day.

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.  After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.  On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

In Johns gospel, we see and extensive discussion of Jesus leaving this world and the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Those who listened to Jesus were not yet ready to hear.  In fact, even the resurrection left the disciples stunned and struggling.  Only the coming of the Holy Spirit would take them from confusion to clarity.

These followers whom would soon be called apostles, were obedient but still not quite sure what was coming.  They were familiar with the Holy Spirit.  Who wasn’t?  This Spirit of the Living God hovered over a formless earth at creation. 

They knew that it was the Holy Spirit that spoke through the prophets and even from perhaps their most revered king, David.

But how would this Spirit be known to them?  How would the Holy Spirit impact their lives? 

What could they do?  They could stay together and hang out in Jerusalem as directed. They could pray all the time and they did. Oh by the way, while they were just chillin’, they selected Matthias to replace Judas. 

Then the Day of Pentecost would come.  Pentecost is not a New Testament revelation.  Pentecost goes back to the Passover, Festival of the Unleavened Bread, and the First Fruits offering, sometimes called the Wave Offering.  

There would be worship services on the first day and last day of the week. 

There would be food offerings all week.   Nobody is eating of their new crop until this First Fruits Offering.  It is this wave offering—the first part of the First Fruits—from which we count 50 days.  The Wave Offering begins on the day after the Sabbath and so we count seven Sabbaths—seven full weeks—and then the next day begins a series of offerings from grain and bread to live animals for sacrifice.

All in all, it was a period of 50 days that the Hebrew people knew as the Feast of Weeks.  The Greek language provided a modern name for this 50^th day, Pentecost.

By all that had been given to God’s Chosen People in the law, Jerusalem should have been a very busy place.  The town should have been full of Jews from all over and it was.

These followers of Jesus were all in one place and there came a sound like a violent wind.  Imagine hearing the sound of a tornado encircling you without getting picked up and blown to Kansas.

Now imagine this fireball with flames—tongues of fire to keep the original description—that separate and go to rest on each believer.

They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in languages that they did not know.

Evidently, they went outside because a crowd had gathered, perhaps in response to sound of a violent wind.  It sounds like there were a bunch of Okies in Jerusalem.

That sounds like a tornado over there.  Let’s go check it out.

We don’t get the whole logistical picture but we know that these men filled with the Holy Spirit started speaking to people from all over the region in their native languages.

We know that there were Jews from all over.

Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs.

We know that there were a bunch of people.  How do we know this?  Because without a change in geography, at least 3000 would come to believe in Jesus as the Christ and as their Lord.  So later when Peter gave his first ever altar call, we don’t’ know if everyone responded or just 10% but we do know that there were 3000 who did.

These apostles had 40 days with their risen Savior.  Jesus comforted and affirmed what he had told them before, but they were not ready for what he had in store for them.

They had another 10 just waiting to see what was next.  Then came Pentecost.  Then came the Holy Spirit.  Then there was no delay.

The church based upon the profession that Jesus is Lord, that he is the Christ, was being constructed.  The church began in Jerusalem just as directed by the Lord. 

At first, some tried to dismiss what was happening.  Galileans speaking in languages that they did not know could only be because they were drunk.  That must be it.  I know that I speak other languages so much better if I am inebriated.  Not!

But this explanation turned into a provocation and Peter stepped forward and responded. 

First, he said that they are not drunk at this hour of the morning.  Come on guys.  Be real.  This is what the prophet Joel prophesied.  God’s Spirit has been poured out.

Then he said, let’s talk about this Jesus.  He had some good credentials.  You should have recognized them as being from God—miracles, wonders, and signs.

But you didn’t.  Instead you handed him over to wicked men to be killed.  This happened to be necessary but Peter did not dwell on this part at the time.

He jumped to the fact that God raised him from the dead.  He appealed to the crowd’s biblical knowledge of David.  David had long since passed but his descendant would sit on his throne forever.  David’s body had long since turned to dust but Jesus was raised from the dead.

Peter made sure the people understood where they stood.  This man called Jesus whom you killed was the Messiah that you have waited for so long.  You killed him.  God raised him from the dead.

The people responded, “What do we do?”

Peter replied, “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.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

With many words that we do not have and with these that we do, Peter beckoned the people to be saved.

Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.

Many came.  The Covenant Community was formed.  The family of faith was formed.  Believers took care of each other.

We could use that same altar call today.  Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.

As directed, the gospel was witnessed to many in Jerusalem.  By the witness of the many who had come from all over and by the apostles who would soon go out in so many directions, the mission to call people out of the world to follow the Christ would begin.

Do you know the word ekklesia?  It means being called out and gathered in an assembly.  We are called out of the world, set apart from the world and made holy, and sent back into the world with good news.

The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is a story that bears repeating, at least once a year.  People were being called out of the world to be one people in God’s name.  It was indeed quite the kick off event for this new church.  These apostles belong to the same church that we do.  They lived the same commission that we have—take the good news to your neighbors and then start working outwards.

We have the same commission that they did but it seems that we don’t have the same passion.  It seems that we have grown comfortable with being surrounded by the lost and the disconnected.

It might be that we have never had flames dancing on our heads.  It could be that I had to learn a foreign language the old-fashioned way.  It could be a lot of things.

Today, I will proffer that we are not quite ready to surrender to the Spirit of the one true God who dwells within us.  We are not quite ready.

There is nothing in this world that is holding us back.  It’s all us for God’s Spirit is living within us.  So, what do we do?

We have repented.

We have professed Jesus is Lord.

We have been baptized.

What do we do?

We get out of the way.  We let God’s Spirit start the day.  We let God’s Spirit prioritize our lives.

We make time just to be in the presence of God.  Remember, Be still and know that I am God. 

We pray and pray some more.  We maintain an ongoing conversation with God.

The Day of Pentecost was described from the outside.  Powerful sounds and fiery images.

Our spiritual growth comes from within and may not be instantaneous, but we must surrender to God’s Spirit if we are to live to the full and our lives are to be pleasing to God.

If we don’t back off and we don’t give into fear, we will realize the power of the Spirit that lives within us.

We probably won’t preach to a multitude and see 3000 come to profess Jesus in a single event, but we each may reach 3000 people with the good news.  One here.  Two there.  Three at the ball game.  Four in Walmart.  Another on the phone.  Another with a short conversation while delivering a bag lunch full of love.

We don’t show up with a script.  We travel with the Holy Spirit who will gives us words when we need them.

We don’t have to give people a card or wrist band but these are good tools for this century when people forget so easily.

We do need to have a heart ready to surrender to God’s own Spirit.

We do need a teachable spirit.

We do need to have daily and intimate conversations with God.

We do need to trust God.  Trust in the Lord with all of our heart.

We do need to live by faith.

We do need the desire to obey God and his commands are not a burden.  We need to want to do what he wants us to do.

We do need love to govern our choices.  We must not be dissuaded by our own understanding.

We must desire none to perish.  God’s heart must overwhelm our heart.

We must long for inclusiveness for those who are lost.  We must have a heart to call them home.

We reach out to the lost not to join them but to call them to the abundance of living in community.  Think of the community that emerged so quickly after the coming of the Spirit.  We are not all going to live in Jerusalem or even in the same town, but we are all part of the same covenant community.

God’s Spirit is alive within us.  We don’t need tornado sounds and images of fire.  We just need to be the new creature that we have been made in Christ Jesus.

We should not compare ourselves to the apostles with fiery heads but to those with whom Peter taught.

And you will receive—today I will say that we have received—the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

We have received God’s Spirit!

We just need to get out of the way.  We just need to live by the Spirit within us.  We need to quit resisting the Spirt that lives within us.  We must do the work of the church rooted in our profession of faith and propelled into the world by the Holy Spirit working in us.

Let God’s Spirit take charge of your life!

Amen.