We Must Have Power

The church needs people with purpose. The church needs to be people powered by the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost the disciples were given the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. They were given power. It is hard sometimes to relate to a concept of spiritual power. Too often, I fear, we get the misconception that when the disciples received the Holy Spirit they became spiritual supermen. Nothing could be further from the truth. These men had far less talent, creativity, resources, and education than modern people today. What they did have was compulsion. It was this motivation that thrust these dozen men out into the world with a message of redemption and by the end of the first century over a half million people had been brought under the Christian banner. That is power.

People of the Bible are witnesses to this power. The words from Ezekiel date to a period of conflict and warfare in the history of the Hebrew people. They were in exile in Babylon, Ezekiel among them. Jerusalem had fallen to a great nation contending with other great nations. Jerusalem and the people of Judah were only small players in this military contest, but not to Ezekiel, not to God. “Can these bones live?” These are words that continue on lips this day. For some people there is a hopelessness that we feel through the greater and lesser crises of our lives. People pat us on the backs and say, “You can’t do anything about it, get used to it.” We feel scattered, disconnected, and dry. Can these bones live? Around us hangs the heavy weight of “no.” We feel trapped, in the dark, behind a great obstacle.

It’s so easy to lose heart and hope, to assume that things have gone too far. It’s too late; there’s nowhere to turn. To assume it’s over. You can’t get the grades that parents demand you achieve. You can’t get into the college of your choice. You can’t find meaning in your job that has become weary and boring. You find that your family is not the perfect family you read about in story books. You want to have children but cannot. You want to have purposeful work but your health won’t allow it. You want to die but your tired old body won’t let go. Against such despair the church proclaims that the love and power of God in Christ Jesus is come into the world. Out hope is not reserved for another day, another life, another world. Can these bones live? By the grace of God the answer is surely “yes.” We have the power to change, grow, gain control, find acceptance, be comforted, gather strength, whatever we need to renew and rebuild our lives.

We need not despair. The Christ who lives in us is the resurrection and is the life. Meaning, promise, and purpose can’t be held hostage to the limits of the conventional wisdom surrounding us or to the narrowness of our own experience. Can these bones live? Listen to the rattling across the valleys of our lives. We who have our hope in Christ live in him, and we can take hope and give it to one another, and to others beyond. 

A few years ago in the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, a float stalled. Frustration increased quickly because other floats could not move in this nationally televised event. Mechanics quickly surveyed the stalled float, searching for the problem. Finally, someone had the presence of mind to check for fuel. That’s right. It was out of gas. This became even more embarrassing when the crowd realized that this float’s sponsor was one of the major oil companies. The power available to every Christian far exceeds fossil fuels, or even nuclear energy. The Holy Spirit is the greatest power in the universe. Ask for a daily in-filling.

Go with God,

Pastor Qualley