Pentecost - Fireworks Or Fulfillment?

Today is the day on which we celebrate the Ascension of Christ, 10 days before Pentecost.

So last night I wanted to prepare my people for 10 Days of Prayer between Ascension and Pentecost. I used the presentation below as the context for handing out a 10 Day prayer guide and encouraging its use.

In most churches that take the Bible seriously in the United States, remembering the Ascension is unheard of and thinking about Pentecost is almost equally unheard of unless talking about the "charismatic issue".

Pentecost in that way of thinking seems to have been God's "random act of fireworks" - sort of a 4th or July celebration to kick off His new "gig" called the church. (Some of us were even taught that the church was a "parenthesis" in God's real plan, sort of a heavenly afterthought).

Seeing the Day of Pentecost as

1. The beginning of restoring the glory lost at the Fall (Genesis 1 -3)

2. The beginning of the reversal of the dispersion and confusion of tongues at Babel (Genesis 11)

3. The beginning of the fulfillment of Moses' wish that all God's people would be filled by the Holy Spririt (Numbers 11)

4. The crowning achievement of Christ's work

5. The establishment of Christ's reign in the Ascension and Pentecost as Christ's Ascension gift of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4)

were all alien to me growing up. Likely they are alien to the people you serve too.

And while much more might be said on the subject, I chose to address these topics in the form of a story. So, beginning at Creation (with much fast forwarding to the particular stories noted above) I told the storyline of the Bible as it related to Pentecost. The same could be done for the concept of Propitiation/Sacrifice/Atonement or any doctrine as Jack Day's books discuss.

After the story we reviewed and discussed the story so that the events from Ascension to Pentecost were seen in the light of Jesus Christ's ministry and as it's Fulfillment - not a random act of "Fireworks".

The people loved the story format. It drew them in and got them thinking. I thank God that He exposed me to Bible Story Telling just for moments like last night!

Image: Garofalo's Ascension of Christ

John 15 & More On Mixing Stories With Series

Last time I mentioned preaching through the 7 Basic Commands that Jesus gives the Church.

1. Repent and believe
2. Be baptized
3. Love God and your Neighbor
4. Feed on God's Word daily and Pray
5. Celebrate the Lord's Supper
6. Give
7. Make Disciples

It is part of my larger plan of preaching through the Book of Acts and preaching on these commands is, in essence, an exposition of Acts 2: 36 - 47

Telling the same story 7 times gets a bit old and reading the same passage 7 straight weeks could leave the church feeling you've not been doing your homework or were too lazy to change the bulletin.

So in this case I've used stories - such as the story of Jonah - to explain this story in Acts.

When I told the Story of Jonah, I let them know that it was my way of explaining Jesus' command to love God and our neighbor.

Last week I chose John 15 though it is more a metaphor than a story to explain the theme of Jesus' insistence that we feed on God's Word and Pray. Frankly I read it instead of "telling it" because it was too dense for me to memorize by Sunday! (Sorry I am not a perfect bible story teller!) I always try to read with feeling however to make it as much like a good story as possible.

Normally the promise given for prayer in John 15 is taken out of context to mean just pray, squeeze your eyelids together tight and grunt to show your "belief" and voila you'll get from God "whatever you wish".

Jesus of course said that on 2 conditions, that we "abide" ("remain", "live in", "remain vitally connected") in Him and His words in us. The second condition was that we do these things to bear fruit for God's glory. Very few people want a Ferrari for God's glory, but I suppose someone could. So these prayers that flow from our relationship with Jesus Christ are not for our comfort and ease but God's Glory and honor based on the Word of Christ abiding in us so that we might bear fruit.

What prayers have we prayed specifically in order that we may bear fruit?

William Carey said "Attempt great things for God; Expect great things from God". Attempting such things begins with praying for great things, great fruit to grow from your life and ministry for the kingdom of God.

What fruit are you asking God to bear in your life? How has the word of Christ inspired your prayer and vision?

When our affections are shaped by the love of God and formed by Christ's Word, then we may "ask whatever we wish" and see God do great things.

Stories in Acts 1 & Meta narrative

Acts 1 in itself is composed two stories, the introductory narrative and the narrative about the re-formation and reorganization of the church after the apostasy of Judas.

But the first chapter as a whole is a story that recapitulates another theme in scripture: entering the Land or Earth.

Adam was to fill the land/earth with the image bearers of God.

Noah was to do the same.

Abraham and his offspring were to fill the earth with covenant keepers.

After the Exodus, Israel, the kingdom of priests were to enter the Land and fill it with the worship of God.

Yet all these attempts were marred by hopeless sin, rebellion and ultimate failure.

The narrative in Acts is part of this larger theme of filling the earth and entering the Land, but is distinctive because the Sinless One who infallibly inherits all the promises of God is Risen. The Spirit of God who hovered over the creation in its formation now comes to form the new creation and it will triumph because the Holy Spirit transforms our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.

The narrative of Acts one must be read in light of the larger theme of entering the land and filling the earth and, of course, Romans 8 dovetails with it perfectly when we recognize this.

So to tell the full "story" of Acts 1, we tell at least 3 stories... the two constituent narratives and the meta narrative that begins at Genesis 1:1.