Livin’ la vida Sanctificada 

 (Living my life of Sanctification)

Pentecost Sunday, May 11, 2008

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.  Acts 2:1-4, NIV

They began to speak in other tongues, in other languages, as the Holy Spirit enabled them.  The power of the Holy Spirit lifted them up and put them in a place where they were able to do the impossible: speak in languages they did not know to reach out to the people who did not know Jesus.

You just heard the first four verses from Acts chapter 2 this morning spoken in Arabic, German, Spanish, Latin, French, Greek and Hebrew.  You just saw with your own eyes the presence of the Holy Spirit in Carla, Gordon, Dottie, Cheryl, and Dana as He stood them up to proclaim to us the message He wrote in His word in languages most of us cannot speak.  You just witness an Acts chapter 2-like occurrence right within the walls of LCC.

The title of this message today is Livin’ la vida Sanctificada.  You may remember the popular song a few years ago called ‘Livin’ la vida loca’ – living my crazy life.  We are livin’ la vida sanctificada – living the life of Sanctification.

Sanctification is one of those big, ‘churchy’ words, and it means living a life of Holy Spirit fueled transformation, change, and renewal as He works in us to make us more and more like Jesus.  It means living the life of dying to the old self and coming alive to the new life in Christ.  It means becoming what has already been declared that we will be: a Holy Spirit transformed child of God.

We’ve just been visited by, touched by, and in the presence of the Holy Spirit of the living God.  And His word was just proclaimed to you in the speaking of foreign tongues.  How did this happen?  We simply got out of the way and let God’s Word flow in and among us, and have its way with us this morning.  It wasn’t a matter of us getting God to come here, He was already here.  It was a matter of getting out of the way, and letting God have His way.

It’s a good and great thing to do, to let God have His way with us.  If we do this we will see Holy Spirit- results, not simply human results.  We will see lives changed, hearts mended and strained relationships getting better or even repaired.

How do we let God have His way, not only at church but in our individual lives as well?  It’s fairly simple: we let Him do it.  We let His Holy Spirit have His way with us the way He did with these first believers.  This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD…” ^[1]

Jesus said in John 5:17 “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”   We always assume that our God is up to something, because He is, and rather than attempt to stop, curtail or hem Him in with our best plans, spreadsheets and regulations, we submit, and we join Him on the work He is already doing.  If what is happening, if what is ‘going on’ is of human origin, it will fail.  But if it is from God, it will not be stopped and we will find ourselves fighting against Him.[2] 

We talked about this last week in our Adult Discussion time: the invitation of Jesus is to let the Holy Spirit flow in our lives.  Will we let it, or will we put up a barricade?  Will we submit to the flow and find new life, or will we fight against it and pull back from it because it’s not what we’re used to, not the way we do things?  At LCC we say we are here “To renew lives with the light and love of Christ.”  To ‘renew’ means to get rid of the old and make a new life.  Are you ready for that? 

That’s the real question today.  Do we want a ‘natural’ church, a ‘natural’ life, or do we want a ‘supernatural’ one?  A church and a life where the Holy Spirit flows freely, and does the work of getting rid of the old sinful nature, and renews lives – literally makes lives new – in light of the salvation Christ won for us?  No excuses, no attempts at explaining what we think the word of God really says or how it should really be applied, but rather just letting God be God, letting Jesus be the Savior that He is, and letting the Holy Spirit move in…and take over.

Jesus came across two very different experiences as He traveled, one experience was in His hometown of Nazareth, and the other was in the town of Nain.  In Mark we read, Jesus …went to his hometown {of Nazareth}, accompanied by His disciples.  When the Sabbath came {the day of people gathered together in worship just like we are doing here today},He began to teach in the synagogue {the local church}, and many who heard Him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given Him, that He even does miracles!  Isn’t this the carpenter?  Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon?  Aren’t His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him.  Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”  He could not do any miracles there, except lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them.  And He was amazed at their lack of faith.^[3]

The people of Nazareth couldn’t believe that it was possible – that God Himself had come to them.  And so they took offense at Jesus, and ended up running Him out of their safe ‘church’ their safe ‘lives’, and in His human nature, Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith they had.  He was amazed at the barriers they put up to having God move in and among them.

But then there was the other extreme.  Luke records this: Jesus went to a town called Nain, and His disciples and a large crowd went along with Him.  As He approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out – the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.  And a large crowd from the town was with her.  When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, “Don’t cry.”  Then He went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still.  He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”  The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.  They were all filled with awe and praised God.  “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help His people.” ^[4]

In Nazareth they rejected Jesus, and the end result is they were left in the dead and dying state of their sins.  In Nain they saw the power of God – the power of the Holy Spirit working through Christ – and recognized it for what it was: “God has come to His people.”  And they were changed, they were renewed with the light and love of Christ.  Where there was once death, there was now life. 

So where do we want to be, a resident of Nazareth, or a resident of Nain?  Are we the “First church of Nazareth,” or the “First church of Nain”?  Is the Spirit invited or resisted?  Poured out or kept out?  In our lives, in our families, in our church, in our community?  We’ve come in contact with the Holy Spirit today in the pronouncement of the Word of God, the very words the Holy Spirit caused to be written.  He’s called us, He’s gathered us, and He’s come to us.  In a few minutes we’re going to gather around this altar and meet Jesus in a real and personal way in His body and His blood and receive forgiveness for our sins.  Will we let Him have His way with us?  Will we come with an acknowledgement of our sins as God defines what sin is, and the desire to turn away from them?  Simply put, will we let God have His way with us?

How do we let God have His way?  We get out of the way!  We let Him be the leader in our lives.

We ask Him about everything.  When we ask we are seeking to get guided, not to guide.  We’re looking for the path God wants us to be on, and we’re asking that it be pointed out and made clear.  We are not pointing to the path we’re already on and then saying, “God bless where I am!”

We get to know Him and love what He loves, and hate what He hates.  How will we know what He loves and hates?  We spend time in His Word – He makes it very clear there.  Here’s a ‘dangerous’ prayer you can pray: “God, let my heart break over the things that break Your heart; let my heart rejoice over the things that make Your heart rejoice.  And move me to do something in both cases.”

We have the attitude of ‘more of Him and less of me.’  When John the Baptist was at the height of his ministry, Jesus came on the scene and started His ministry.  When John’s friends came to him complaining about Jesus and the attention He was getting, John said one of the most profound statements in all of scripture.  If people would follow what John said the world would be a much different place and the Holy Spirit would be reigning in the lives of Christians and in Christian churches in a fashion unlike any we have ever seen since the time of the early church.  The statement John made?  “{Jesus} must increase, and I must decrease.”[5]  In other words, more of Jesus, and less of me and what I want and what I think.

We have ongoing conversations with Jesus.  You may remember I used this analogy last Summer: you can’t have a relationship with someone you won’t talk to.  Try that in your homes this week.  Go for the next seven days and don’t speak one word to anyone else in your home or in your family.  See what your relationship is like at the end of the week.  It is the same with God.  In Ephesians it says, “Pray in the Spirit with all kinds of requests”[6]  and in 1 Thessalonians we’re told to “pray without ceasing”[7] – to have an ongoing conversation with our Savior.  What if we don’t know what to pray?   "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 (NIV) in groans too deep for words (ESV).”^[8]  

Praying constantly, or have an ongoing conversation with Jesus means an attitude of openness to Him and His Spirit; to be aware of His presence in our lives, to live in light of it and to not only talk with Him, but listen to Him, too.  It doesn’t mean repeating different prayers over and over again.  In fact Jesus even said that when we pray we should not just keep babbling.[9]  Rather, it’s an ongoing relationship with Him, that includes talking honestly with Him, and listening for His reply.

Today is Pentecost.  Today is the day we celebrate the Holy Spirit pouring Himself out on the early Christian church in a way that has been unmatched in all of history.  Today is the day we gather together in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  What will we do with today?  Where will we go with today?  What would the Holy Spirit do with us, and will we let Him?

You see the Holy Spirit brings a clear message to you and me today – Jesus is real.  He is a present reality, not just some person of history.  He is our God who took on flesh and bone for you and me.  He is the One who lived and died for you and me.  He is the One who rose again from the dead for you and me.  And He is the one who will come again for you and me.

Until that time He sends His Holy Spirit to you and me, to give us faith, to teach us, and to change us to be more and more like Jesus.  And until that day when Jesus comes again we pray “Come Holy Spirit, come!”  Now, the question is, are we ready?  Are we going to live la vida loca in Nazareth, or live la vida sanctificada in Nain?

I say we go to Nain, and let the Spirit flow.

Amen