Pilgrim Soldier

Today is Pentecost and I’m off over to preach at Riga 2 Corps this morning. As far as I can remember this is the first time I’ve ever preached at Pentecost and having known for a few weeks I’d be preaching, I had really been wondering what it was I should be saying. Then earlier in the week I was re-reading the Pentecost story and something I’d never realised before leapt off the page at me, and I’d found what God wanted to say.

I think the majority of sermons I’ve heard at this time of year have centred on either the receiving of the Holy Spirit itself, urging those in the congregation to experience the power that comes from the indwelling of the Spirit. This is something that is good to hear on a regular basis, but what I noticed puts the whole event into perspective. It was actually something that was missing from the text (if you can say that about the Bible without being deemed a heretic) that grabbed my attention.

And the missing words? They went outside!

The whole of Acts after the receiving of the Holy Spirit, tells us the story of what happened when the believers left the building in which they received the Spirit. Think about it for a moment. From what I understand scholars reckon there were around 120 people in the room that day, it wasn’t only the apostles. Now if you’ve ever been in a room where 120 people were talking, all at the same time, you will understand how difficult it is to try and pick out one conversation. Yet the people from all over the known world could hear the believers speaking in their own language. I just don’t think this would have been possible if the believers had stayed indoors.

And for me that is the real central message for this Pentecost. It is very easy for us to experience the Holy Spirit’s power and want to stay in the place where we receive it, to spend time in worship. We make the location a Holy place and build up either real or symbolic altars.

Yet the reason the Holy Spirit was given to us was actually so that we would be able to fulfil Jesus’ Great Commission. He commanded his followers to go and make disciples, and promised to send the one who would make this possible. It remains impossible if all we want to do is wallow in the place where we experience the Holy Spirit. If we don’t get up and get out into the world after receiving the Spirit, then what was the point of receiving that power in the first place?

So that’s my challenge today. By all means celebrate the receiving of the Holy Spirit, and seek to receive more of the Spirit’s power today, but please make sure that you take that power outside at the end of your whatever type of corporate worship you have, and use it where it was supposed to be used. Outside!