"His Presence Our Strength"
Sermon Preached by
The Rev. David McMaster
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Text: Acts 2:1-21
Pentecost has been called the birthday of the church. On that festival day many years ago, God empowered the apostles and disciples. He poured out his Spirit, and they bore a powerful witness to Jesus Christ and the salvation that is in him.
Today, at a time when most churches are declining in membership and attendance; at a time when denominational leadership in various places is thought to be in a constant state of crisis and flux; at a time when the temptation is for congregations to succumb to a siege mentality and focus on private spirituality of the individual or group; we are moved again by the sheer power of the second chapter of Acts. The events that occurred at Pentecost function as an antidote to the church's plight. On Pentecost, Christians are summoned to raise their heads, look beyond their own little corner of the town, and recognize anew that God has empowered, and God can empower.
The church is in need again of God's strength, but so are we as individuals. We often need a source of strength as we live out our lives - when things go wrong, when we err, when stress causes us to wonder if we can continue, when we face illness and death, when we live with fear.
Speaking of fear, I recall a time in my twenties when I took a group of young people to some cottages up north. It was a rather desolate spot, and as the evening came I could tell that the teenagers were not going to get a lot of sleep that night. I, however, needed sleep, so I decided that I would go alone to the cabin farthest away from the centre of the camp. It would be quiet there, and I could get some rest. After darkness fell, I took my flashlight and off I walked to the farthest cottage. I got there, looked around a bit and promptly turned in for the night. But there was a problem. I had grown up in a place where imaginations - fed by stories of ghouls and goblins and all manner of evil lurking around the corner - are much more active than they are, perhaps, in Canada. So using only a flashlight, since there was no power, I got up, checked for bogey men and went back to bed. As I lay there, my mind suddenly went back to some camp-horror movies I had mistakenly watched - mass murderers running around youth camps and that sort of thing - and here I was in the farthest cabin, alone. It was pitch black, and the silence was deafening. In spite of my good intentions, I had a rather restless night alone in the woods.
In situations like that, many people fear the unknown. But have you ever noticed that in the same situation if another person is present, everything seems fine? I experienced that on the following night when a couple of the older teens realized that they too would like some sleep and joined me at the farthest cabin. The fact that others were there for some reason brought peace of mind, and I slept like a baby. We fear the unknown, but if there is someone else along to walk beside us on our journey, their presence brings peace, strength and even boldness.
This can apply in many ways, whether it is times of fear, the problems we incur living in our fast-moving society, or attempting to follow Christ in a world that can be unfair and crooked. There are times when we need support; someone to walk alongside us. Life, the Christian life in particular, is not always easy, and so I would like to remind you this morning that there is a source of support and strength for all our situations. In God's presence with us there is strength, and we see that presence at work again in the second chapter of Acts and the story of Pentecost.
The power of God's presence can be seen throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament Psalms, a lack of God's presence leads the psalmist to cry out, “Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?” “Where are you Lord?” “I am sinking into the depths, where are you?” When God's presence is felt, however, he gives thanks and says, “I love you Lord, my strength...” or “O my God, in you do I trust.”
Earlier in the Old Testament, we can read of Moses struggling with God's call to lead the Hebrews out of captivity in Egypt. At times he questions God, saying, “I cannot do this, I can barely speak.” He feared to step out on his own unless God would go with him. He worried about the people and that, unless there was someone with them, they shouldn't wander into the unknown. While Moses' comments in Exodus, Chapter 3 have to do with the distinctiveness of Israel, they also have something to do with a fear of going it alone. A people needs their God to be with them, to protect, strengthen, and help.
God's presence became a mark of Israel the nation. In the early days as they walked in the wilderness, when the tabernacle was built for the wandering tribes, it was important that God's presence was in it and recognized by the people. At the end of the Book of Exodus, we read of God's presence descending as a cloud pillar and filling the tabernacle. Several hundred years later when the temple was built, again God's presence is depicted as coming down and filling the temple to make it holy, and to assure the Israelites that he was with them. In his presence was their strength - a strength beyond all strengths.
It is the same as we move up to the days of the New Testament. We come across God's supreme revelation of himself in Christ Jesus. He was Emmanuel, which literally means, "God with us." This powerful presence was felt by Jesus' disciples. When Jesus was with them, they were fit for anything. When he was away or asleep, as in a boat during a storm, they feared. While awake, both storm and disciples were calmed. With them, they eagerly obeyed his command to go out and bring the good news to the people. When he was taken from them, when he was arrested, tried, and crucified, the power that his presence brought seemed to disappear as they fled. Days later, following the resurrection appearances, excitement returned, they were buoyed by his presence. But soon he left, ascended to the Father, and they huddled in a room, waiting, perhaps in fear of those who had killed Jesus, for the fulfilment of his promise. And so it was on the 50th day after the Passover, the day of Pentecost arrived. It was the time of celebration of the Feast of Weeks, and we are told that a great sound came from heaven like the rush of the violent wind. Then something akin to divided tongues, like fire in their appearance, came among them. A tongue rested on each of them and we read in the second chapter of Acts that they were filled by the Holy Spirit.
With this movement of the Spirit, a miracle occurred: the expressions of the disciples were heard by the crowds in Jerusalem in their native tongues. But it isn't the miracle I want to focus on here. Of additional importance is the fact that, in Peter's sermon, we see the disciples become empowered to speak boldly about God's deeds and power. God was present again. The power of his Spirit strengthened and empowered disciples who, just weeks earlier, had denied Jesus and fled when the crowds took him.
Let's talk about the Spirit for a moment. The Spirit was promised by Jesus in the Gospel of John, chapter 14. He said, “I will send you another paraclétos, the spirit of truth who will be with you forever, he will teach you all things, peace I give to you so do not be afraid and do not let your hearts be troubled.” With the ascension, the disciples had lost the vital presence of God in Christ. At Pentecost, another paraclétos was with them. This is a Greek word which is difficult to translate, but means something like, “one who is called to one's aid.” It can carry the legal meaning “advocate.” It has been traditionally translated as “comforter” (and a great old gospel hymn, “The Comforter has Come,” celebrates this.) The problem with the traditional term “comforter” is that it is a little misleading to modern ears. When first used in the Tudor English of the King James Version, the verb, “to comfort” derived from the Latin fortis meaning “strong” or “fortify.” In that day, “to comfort” retained a good deal of thrust of the word fortis and meant “to strengthen.” Thus, for the disloyal person, “to comfort the king's enemies” meant “to aid and abet” them. In more positive terms, it meant to be an advocate for, to strengthen another person. And so in the days of his earthly existence, Our Lord strengthened his people by his physical presence. With the promise of paraclétos, the Holy Spirit, he was pointing them to his continued presence in another sense, a spiritual sense. This is the Spirit that came at Pentecost as a paraclétos - a strengthener, a comforter, a fortifier, a counselor who would abide with the disciples always.
That Spirit gives us strength in all things. I saw this in the life of a good friend of mine. Ernie was a Wesleyan Methodist minister. He emigrated from England to Canada with his wife and child in the early ”˜90s. Unable to secure a ministry position initially, he worked in another field, took some courses at McMaster Divinity College, and he and his family attended my former church. Ernie and I became friends but none of us were prepared for the path that life was to hand him. At age 39, Ernie developed leukaemia. Several times he wound up in Princess Margaret Hospital, and throughout his battle my respect and admiration for Ernie grew and grew. He handled every downturn and upturn with faith and a grace that I have never seen before. He introduced me to others who were struggling through similar things with great dignity. He gave me insights into life that I had never had. On one occasion, he told me that he had been through this before, except from the other side. He had watched his first wife die from disease and he said, “You know, David, it is much harder for the healthy spouse to watch a partner die than it is for the dying person.” On another occasion, I was so mesmerized by the dignity Ernie displayed that I asked him how he was doing it. He said he knew that God was with him and whether he lived or died, God would still be with him. Then he pulled out a hymnbook and read me some words.
Every day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,
He whose name is Counselor and Pow'r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.
That was the second verse of a hymn that I had never heard before, “Day by Day and with Each Passing Moment.” We sang that hymn a few weeks later at Ernie's funeral, for it encapsulated the strength Ernie found in the presence of God. A Psalmist put it this way: “Even in the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art with me and thy rod and staff they comfort me.” I want you to know that whatever situation you are in, whether ill health, distress, a struggle at work or any other part of life that has gone awry, in God's presence, there is strength.
When we consider our Christianity and the church in general, God's presence can help there too. We saw it with the disciples. When the Spirit of God came, that rather motley crew that was so willing to desert and flee their master and teacher when Jesus was taken, was emboldened. They went from fear to fearless preaching, from denying Jesus to elevating him in the face of those who would kill them because God was with them and in them. They were empowered for service, empowered to live as Christ had taught them, empowered to speak boldly of the greatness of God's acts, empowered to suffer for their renewed faith, empowered even to die for what they knew to be true.
Let's go back to the beginning. In recent years some have been questioning the future of the church because of things like declining membership and attendance. It is a time when the temptation is for congregations to succumb to a siege mentality, to circle the wagons, and focus on private spirituality of individual or group. Some feel they are just presiding over the slow death of the church. But we are moved again by the sheer power of the second chapter of Acts. The message of Pentecost functions as an antidote to the church's struggle. On Pentecost, we are summoned to raise our heads, look beyond our own little corner of town, and recognize anew that God is with us, and in his presence, there is strength. I wonder if we are open to God's Spirit, to God being with us, to seeing the power of God work among us again. I wonder if I could encourage you to pray for God to be among us, and to pray for the church throughout the world - particularly in the west - and for God to be present again and empower hearts, minds and voices? As we cultivate his presence in our lives, just watch what he does! Amen.
This is a verbatim transcription of the original sermon.