So . . . I've resisted blogging for as long as I possibly could (okay, maybe not as long as I possibly could -- I suppose I could have responded with vitriol when Tim brought blogging up), but the powers that be have finally roped me in. And by the powers that be, I mean our elders, represented particularly by Tim. By the way, and just as an aside, with all the various wordsmiths in the world, could we, the human race, have not come up with a better term for this activity than "blogging"? Whatever "blogging" is, it doesn't sound pleasant, and therefore something I'd like to engage in, or that would be worth my time -- which is perhaps why I have resisted it until now. The other reason is that, blogs, like Facebook (avoid games like Farkle and Mafia Wars like the plague), MySpace, and the internet in general, can be a gigantic time-suck. And by time-suck I mean a black hole into which time is sucked without any hope of escape, never to be seen, heard from, or used productively again. You sit down at the computer to check your email at one pm, then Facebook (hey, look, quizzes!! What is my philosophy? Which Harry Potter character am I? How well do I know 1980's sitcoms? I HAVE TO KNOW!!!!), then read a few blogs -- and the next thing you know, it's five pm, you've failed to teach all of your afternoon classes, or turn in that report, or do whatever it is Richard does, or change/feed/play with/keep alive your infant. Hopefully, this blog won't be like that. For one, hopefully you won't spend that much time reading or posting on it, and for another, hopefully what you read and discuss here will be worth whatever time you spend doing those things.
That said, let me say a bit about what I think the blog is supposed to be. Primarily, I think it should be another way of fostering community, communication, and study at REC. To be honest, most of us (at least those of us who don't work at Tri-Med or use offices there -- wait, that's almost everyone), okay, some of us, simply don't see one another enough to be as involved in each other's lives as we should be in order to grow in faith and community together as we should. After all, we are a far cry from having all things (possessions) in common. Hopefully, we can use this blog to remedy that a bit. That said, we (the elders and myself) would like to use the blog to post comments and conduct discussions about just about anything and everything relevant to the community of faith. This includes but is not limited to comments and points of discussion concerning sermons (whether those at REC or those heard or read elsewhere), core seminars, or home group studies. We are particularly concerned that we focus on these things not just for the sake of our intellectual amusement, and alternatively that we not use the blog as simply a means of social interaction, but that we focus our discussion, our "blogging" (shiver), with an eye toward the development of our Christian lives. What we don't want the blog to degenerate into is, say, a discussion between JUST me and Doug about some philosophical problem (Doug: So how many angels CAN you fit on the head of a pin? Jay: 42. Doug: How do you know that? Jay: Because 42 is the answer to everything -- Douglas Adams says so.) In other words, the elders and I want this to be relevant to you, and for that to happen you have to help us -- by asking questions, posting comments yourself, and generally contributing to the "life" of the blog (shiver).
With that, let me begin by asking a few questions about last week's (9/6) sermon (I was with the kids this week and so haven't heard Chad's sermon yet). Tim talked about Pentecost and the four things concerning it that are clear: 1) The giving of the Spirit was the final act of the saving ministry of Jesus. 2) The inauguration of the new era of the Spirit living within the people of God -- the baptism of the Spirit equivalent to salvation happens one time in the life of the believer (I Cor. 12, Gal. 3:27). 3) The promised power given needed to fulfill the mission assigned to the church by Jesus -- the filling of the Spirit is repeatable in the life of the believer. 4) The first "revival" -- a special, unusual visitation from God by which a whole community becomes immediately aware of the powerful, awe-inspiring presence of the Holy God. I would love to get any thoughts that you have concerning these four elements, as well as the following: in a way, Pentecost seems to reverse what happens at the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9). At Babel, God confused the one language that people spoke so that they spoke many languages but did not understand one another. At Pentecost, the people speak many different languages but they do understand each other. Is there any significance to this? If so, what is it?
We look forward to your comments and questions.
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Thanks Jay for taking the time to do this. I looked forward to the blog before but after reading your first post I am even more excited about the potential of it! Like Jay I have long been skeptical of how helpful blogs might be. Yet after recognizing the time I spend pursuing various blogs and how helpful many of them are to me, I grew excited about the opportunity of a REC Blog – and Jay was gracious enough to undertake the effort.
ReplyDeleteI think the comparison between Pentecost and Babel fits. At Babel we see an effort initiated by man to go up (or build up) and make a name for himself – independent of God. At Pentecost we see an effort initiated by God to come down and make a name for Himself. At Babel we see a display of man’s arrogance and self-reliance, while at Pentecost we see a display of man’s need for God and dependence upon Him for empowerment. When onlookers attempted to interpret the events as the result of human effort, Peter would not allow this. Instead he – aided by the Spirit – immediately, correctly interpreted them as the work promised by God in Joel 2
Acts 2:17 (cited from Joel 2): “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; . . ”
Jay, many thanks for helping with this. I'm excited to see what will happen with this blog in the future.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be an interesting connection between Babel and Pentecost in this respect: At Babel, one of the problems seems to be that the people were not obeying God's original instruction to man in Gen. 1:28 - "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it." They were remaining together, building up; but they were not spreading out across the earth and subduing it. So in Genesis 11:9, after the Lord confused the languages, the last words of the Babel passage are: "And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth." Something quite similar happens with the believers throughout the rest of the book of Acts after Pentecost: they are dispersed over the face of the earth.
I'm not quite sure to make of the connection between Babel and Pentecost in full, but it is telling that following both cases, the Lord sends people across the face of the earth.
This comparison between Babel and Pentecost is very helpful. What comes to my mind is the opposite of chaos and confusion being peace which Jesus promised to leave His disciples (John 14:27). In Acts 9:31, following Paul's Damascus road experience, we see the peace and unity which was present throughout the church: "So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied." It is encouraging to see the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as a body, purifying and sanctifying the bride of Christ. I am encouraged as believers experience peace and the comfort of the Spirit amidst great difficulty. I am also encouraged by the peace and unity which is present among brothers and sisters in Christ. Praise God for the fruit of the Spirit in our lives!
ReplyDeleteChad
I think the parallels with Babel are interesting, but as I said to Tim following the sermon I think there is another aspect of Pentecost largely forgotten or neglected more likely which I think in our very Charismatic age is important to think about. Namely that it was at Pentecost that the Church was born. Prior to it there were the eleven and the 120 and afterwards there was the Church. It was the coming of the Spirit which built the Church and I think that our (well OK not us at REC specifically) tendency to think of Pentecost as something which is experienced by each and every believer is so troubling.
ReplyDeleteOf course any and all who are saved receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and not as a seperate event and neither in part to be paid in full later, but that salvation itself is the baptism of the Holy Spirit because that is when God takes up residence in us and writes the Law on our hearts of flesh. However, the problem of thinking of the Holy Spirit apart from the context of the Church easily leads others into thinking that since God is with us we do not need Church, or that Church is wherever we happen to be while thinking of God. I think nothing is further from the truth of Scripture especially given that Hebrews tells us to not forsake the gathering together.
It is at Pentecost that the Holy Spirit birthed the Church which fulfilled the promise of Christ to build His Church and completed the work of salvation wrought by Christ. It is also, I think, a mushy understanding of this fact that leads people to have a mushy idea of Church and by extension a mushy idea of the believer's place in it. After all if Church is where I happen to be then Church is also what I want it to be and serves the purpose I think best suited for it. In short a mushy understanding of Church leads to congregants wanting to be pleased with Church which leads to professionalism in the clergy which leads to infotainment centered worship and Church quickly becomes about tickling the ears of the audience in stead of worshiping God.
But it is not our Church which was built at Pentecost and it is not for our satisfaction that it was built, but rather that He may be glorified in Heaven and on Earth for what He has done.
In the same way it is not my experience of God which matters and neither did God save me only for my own good, but also for His glory that I may worship Him in Spirit and Truth and He has given the Church to facilitate the very worship He demands.
It is therefore I think of great importance that we keep this idea front and center when we gather to worship or else we will profane the very Church which Christ has given for His own praise and the upbuilding of our souls. And if we do not, then we can expect to see a continuation of the building of great structures to house thousands of the entertained without the messy interfering of God or the Gospel, and while such buildings may be full on sundays they do not honor God and so have proven that they have forgotten that the Church of Jesus Christ will stand at history's headstone and no accomplishment of man will weigh more than straw on that day.
God Bless
Ray