Weekly Message 8/06/2010

What Does It Mean To Be An Interfaith Christian Bridge Builder?

Part 2 – Listening to the Holy Spirit

 

In Part 1 of this mini-series I talked about building bridges with God and with other faiths. Our world today with the advent of cell phones, computers, and the internet has become far smaller.  The spiritual crises that people face are immediate and devastating.  The Church of Interfaith Christians must be brave enough to approach the world with the understanding that Truth cannot be contrary to Truth, and that if Christ is the Son of God, and the Word that brought all things into existence, then such a God, is neither fearful of, nor deaf to any man, woman or child who prays to God, no matter the semantics. A challenge that faces all men of faith and of good-will today is to realize the limitations of our words and to recognize that there truly does exists a language of the Holy Spirit.

 

One  God created the Heaven and the Earth, the sun and moon and stars that light up the day and night, the gardens and orchards that give us food and herbs, and the skies that give us rain.  One God created children of all colors, who freely go to play with one another, until they are taught not to.

 

 

If God is abundant in mercy, why are we His creations, reticent to reflect that mercy which He offers so freely.  We have been Divinely ordained to live together as brothers and sisters in the same God.  The will to live in peace is a way in which we build bridges with each other and with our fellow man.  Using the language of the Holy Spirit to communicate with God and with each other builds the bridges even stronger.  Let’s talk about the Holy Spirit a bit.  In the Old Testament are references to the Spirit of Yahweh (God).  In the New Testament the references are to the ‘Holy Spirit’ or ‘Holy Ghost’.  I will mostly be quoting from the New Testament.  I will list the translations I quote from because some are clearer than others.

John 14:16-17, TLB: "He is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive Him, for it isn't looking for Him and doesn't recognize Him. But you do, for He lives with you now and some day shall be in you."

John 3:5-7, TLB: "Jesus replied, 'What I am telling you so earnestly is this: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Men can only reproduce human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven; so don't be surprised at My statement that you must be born again!"

Luke 11:13, TLB: "And if even sinful persons like yourselves give children what they need, don't you realize that your heavenly Father will do at least as much, and give the Holy Spirit to those who ask for Him?" Acts 5:32, NIV says, "We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him."

Acts 5:3,4, NIV. "They Peter said, 'Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.'"

Ephesians 4:30, NKJV "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

Matthew 18:19-20, TLB. "I also tell you this—if two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask for, My Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together because they are Mine, I will be right there among them."

Acts 9:31, NKJV.  "Then the churchesthroughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied."

Matthew 10:19-20, TLB. "When you are arrested, don't worry about what to say at your trial, for you will be given the right words at the right time. For it won't be you doing the talking—it will be the Spirit of your heavenly Father speaking through you!"

John 4:23-24, NIV. "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

Romans 8:26-27, NIV "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."

 

We are told that every time we gather together with other believers, God is in our midst. God is speaking to us all of the time. Unfortunately, we just miss it and only hear a fraction of what He is speaking to us. Just imagine, if we heard everything that He spoke to us, where we would be spiritually!

 

The first lesson mentioned in the New Testament concerning the Holy spirit is found in Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs-- in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

`In the last days it will be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

and your old men shall dream dreams.

Even upon my slaves, both men and women,

in those days I will pour out my Spirit;

and they shall prophesy.

And I will show portents in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.

The sun shall be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood,

before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.

Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' "

The miracle of the Holy Spirit here is in the hearing or listening as evidenced by thesewords included above: “And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.  Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?”

The miracle of the Holy Spirit is in the hearing of the language of the Holy Spirit.  First we ask for God to give us His Holy Spirit that we may understand His truth and hear his truth.  God speaks and when we are attuned to God we hear.  This is so important for the ‘Bridge Building’ we need to be about doing.

Not only do we find the common ground to talk from, the interreligious dialogue to use but each and every one of us should pray and be willing to listen to us the true teachings of Jesus are revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.  Each one of us will hear the truth in our own heart, mind and soul.  We will hear the truth spoken in our own language and will understand.  We will also be confident that those we are working with to build bridges will be hearing the Holy Spirit speak the true teachings of Jesus Christ in their hearts, minds and souls and in the words of their own language they can understand.  In this way Jesus (God) will be in each of us and will walk among us working with us in the building of bridges.  And so our mutual understanding is enhanced and we are able to act for the common good promoting justice and equality and alleviating suffering.

We will continue the topic of Bridge Building in the next message.

Blessings, Reverend Sharra