PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Acts 2:14–21 (NIV)
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
CONSIDER THIS
Our movement, (aka the church Jesus is building,) began with phenomenology: tornadic sounding winds, tongues of fire descending on people, men and women speaking in foreign languages they could not themselves understand. This was not a pre-scripted ceremony as one might expect at say, a Passover celebration. This was live reality television. Things were happening that were not in the bulletin. The Holy Spirit did not come with an announcement of his arrival. He just arrived.
Note the two very divergent responses from those present.
1. Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
2. Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
As it was then, so it is now. When the boundaries of one’s experience with God are stretched, it reveals two basic responses: self-abandonment or self-protection. The former marvels in stunned awe. The latter mocks with sarcastic antagonism.
To be sure, much of what gets passed off as Holy Spirit phenomenology these days may be dramatic expressions of human personality, but how we respond says much more about us than it does about them.
Years ago when I was in seminary a traveling revival descended upon our town. They had come from a Vineyard church called the Toronto Airport Fellowship in Canada. Never before or since have I witnessed the kinds of apparently supernatural phenomenology occurring in those meetings. Fireworks abounded, but so did miracles. And yes, it split our community into two groups; those who marveled and those who mocked. It always does.
At one of the evening services I approached one of my seminary professors and asked his take on what was unfolding. I will always remember his response. In a spirit of awed humility he said, “J.D., there’s a lot happening here that is clearly of the Spirit, and yes, there are some things happening that are clearly being driven by human personality. Don’t be afraid of this. Lean into it with discernment.”
Let me close today with a few simple rules of engagement when it comes to spiritual phenomenology outside our comfort zone.
1. Never make fun, belittle, or mock another’s experience of the Holy Spirit.
2. Resist the compulsion to be a spiritual thrill seeker. I call them storm chasers. (Oops! I think I just broke rule #1.)
3. Suspend your initial need to make a snap judgment, lean into the possibilities, and instead ask the question of true spiritual discernment, “What does this mean?”
4. Live a scripture-saturated life. Everything always comes back to the governing story of our lives. We will say more tomorrow, but that is exactly what Peter is doing here with his recounting of the prophecy of Joel.
THE PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I am your witness.
I receive your righteousness and release my sin.
I receive your wholeness and release my brokenness.
I receive your fullness and release my emptiness.
I receive your creativity and release my chaos.
I receive your healing and release my sickness.
I receive your joy and release my despair.
I receive your rest and release my striving.
Come Holy Spirit transform my heart, mind, soul, and strength that my consecration becomes your demonstration; that our lives become your sanctuary. For the glory of God our Father, amen.
THE QUESTION
When it comes to the phenomena surrounding the Holy Spirit do you tend to be one who responds with abandonment and awe or with skepticism or suspicion or even cynicism and sarcasm? What is it about you that makes you respond in this way? Remember any such encounters in your Wake-Up Call Journal.
THE HYMN
Today we will sing one of Charles Wesley’s many hymns on the Holy Spirit, “Spirit of Faith Come Down.” It is hymn 289 in our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
P.S. Two Holy Spirit Resources that will interest you.
From the start, Seedbed has worked to develop a robust response to the church’s often anemic resourcing around the Holy Spirit. We recently released an excellent book, The Holy Spirit: An Introduction, by Dr. Matt Ayars. I would also point you to two of my prior Wake-Up Call series books you will love. The Gospel of the Holy Spirit (tracking the Gospel of Mark) and Still Day One: Living in the Day After the Day of Pentecost. It’s one of my very favorites. Today only, use WUC15 as a promotional code to get a 15% discount off these resources.
Subscribe to get this in your inbox daily and please share this link with friends.
3 Responses
A Good News Bulletin in the Form of a Testimony
The greatest signs and wonders are changed human hearts. If God’s other miracles don’t cut to the heart and release an ongoing sense of awe among us and within us, we’ve missed the marvel. Every day my heart is strangely warmed and burns within me as Christ walks and talks with me. I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior’s love for humanity. Joyfully, joyfully I adore Him.
Christianity doesn’t start
Until it’s revealed to your heart
By the living and powerful word
Of Christ speaking inside you.
How do I personally respond to apparent supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit? I’ve spent the majority of my adult life in religious gatherings where those types of things didn’t normally occur. In my former faith tradition, such unscripted happenings would have been forcibly suppressed. Worship assemblies were highly liturgical and stoic. Folks who displayed such behavior would have been labeled enthusiasts. Back in the late 60’s through the 80’s this particular branch of Lutheranism was highly resistant to the Charismatic Movement, and eventually drove off any clergy and congregations that embraced it. This was the setting for my spiritual formation. But, along the way, (that’s a whole other story), I did come into intimate fellowship with some Pentecostal/Charismatic believers and gatherings. The only HS manifestations that I’ve ever personally viewed were the demonstrations of the gift of tongues and some so-called prophecies. When used in prayer over people, I accepted the gift of tongues as valid. At other times, when used in a way that appeared to me to be a way to get attention, especially when no interpretation was available, I was not impressed. I personally self- identify as a cautious continuationist.
Winds, tongues of fire, foreign languages spoken where foreign ears could understand, the invisible made visible.
Physical evidence of the spiritual presence of God.
When an event can’t be logically or rationally explained, it’s of God, unless it’s man mocking God with illusionary miracles for their purpose gain.
I have noticed in the scriptures that neither Jesus nor his disciples bragged, exaggerated, or sought recognition for a miracle.
They never patted themselves on the back, “Did you see that?”
Do you desire to witness a miracle?
Look in the mirror.
Psalm 139:14
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Staying 💪’n Christ
Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.