Minister: Rev Marv Vose

Lost Part of the Trinity:
If I Want More of the Holy Spirit, How Do I Get It?
Galatians 5:13-26

We have been talking about the Trinity for the last couple of weeks.  This will be our last of the three-part series.  But if you missed any of the messages, they are on the website and we have CD's available in the store.  We will also be producing a single CD with all of these three messages on one CD.  If you are serious about the Holy Spirit, that is a great way to keep reminding yourself.  Just put those in the CD player in your car and listen to them. 
Today, I want to start with a word game.  It's very simple.  What I want to do is say a word and then I want to have you think of the opposite of that word.  Does that make sense?  For example, if I said, "yes," you would probably think "no."  I'll ask some of you to share what you are thinking.  Ready?  Here goes.
What do you think of when I say the word "love?"  (Ask someone.)  What do you think of as the opposite of "joy?"  (Ask someone.)  I had a person tell me that joy was when your kids finally had teenagers and they started acting exactly the way their parents had acted when they were teenagers!  That's probably not what we mean when we say joy, is it?  No.  That's more like justice! 
Here's another word.  What do you think of as the opposite of "peace?"  (Let someone answer.)  One lady shook hands with her pastor after church on Sunday and said, "Pastor, your sermons are like the peace of God.  They pass all understanding!" 
I asked you about love, joy, and peace.  Does anyone know what those three are?  They are the first three fruits of the Spirit!  And that is the scripture I want to read for today.  The apostle Paul is talking about the struggle that goes on in people between what he calls the flesh and the Spirit.  We might translate that into the struggle between our human nature and the divine nature that the Spirit brings.  Here's the scripture where Paul talks about these fruits of the Spirit.  (Read the scripture.)
            I like the fruits of the Spirit.  And I don't know about you, but I don't have enough of the fruits of the Spirit.  When my life is overflowing with love and joy and peace and the rest of those, I like my life better.  When there is an abundance of peace and joy and patience and kindness and the rest, I like myself better.  And life goes better!  Maybe I am just greedy, but I want more of those fruits of the Spirit! 
            If I need more of the fruits, then that means I need more of the Spirit, because that's the way it works.  The fruits grow out of the Spirit. They are the natural result of the Spirit.  Paul was trying to tell us that you can tell what's happening in a person by the fruits you see coming out of that person's life.  If you see "immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, rage, selfishness" then you know what is at the core of that person's life.  But if you see "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" then you know the Spirit is present and working in that person's life.
            A little boy had been listening attentively to the pastor's sermon.  As they left the service, the Mom asked her son what he had heard.  He proudly stated that he had heard that "Jesus had died, so that we might have ever-laughing life!"  He didn't quite get the language right, but one of the fruits of the Spirit is joy!  And Jesus died to make all of those fruits of the Spirit possible in our lives!  If you remember from last week, we talked about the activity of the Trinity.  God is described in terms of what God does.  God the Father creates-creates the universe, the solar system, the world, each of us.  God as Jesus lived and died that we might be saved.  His action is salvation.  And what does the Holy Spirit do?  What is the activity of the Holy Spirit?  In the Nicene Creed it clearly states that the Spirit is the "giver of life."  And what a life the Spirit gives to us-one filled with love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control!                   
            Last week we ended with this question, "How do we get more of that Spirit?  How do we get more of that fullness of life that God has available for us?"  And I promised you that we would talk about it this week.  And we will.
            If you look at scripture, you will see lots of different ways that the Spirit becomes obvious in a person's life.  When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove.  So it happened right after his baptism.  Three weeks ago, we read the scripture where Paul was introduced to some new disciples and he asked them if they had been baptized by the Holy Spirit.  When they answered that they didn't even know what the Holy Spirit was, Paul baptized them and laid hands on them and then they received the Holy Spirit!  If you look at the early Christian community described in the Acts of the Apostles, they were waiting just as Jesus had told them.  They were "together" and they were in "prayer."  Then, on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit blew through their gathering place and they were never ever the same!
So there are lots of different ways in which the Spirit works.  After all, this is the Spirit of God.  The Spirit can do whatever it wants, whenever it wants.  It isn't restricted by a specific manner or mechanism.  It's less about technique and more about desire.  It's not a liturgy but a willingness to receive.  It is about wanting the Holy Spirit and just asking for it.                 
            In the gospel of Luke there is this wonderful passage about prayer.  "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."  Most of us have heard that beautiful affirmation of prayer.  But sometimes we don't pay attention to what follows.  "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead:  Or is he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?  If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"   
            Had you ever noticed the focus on the Holy Spirit?  God wants to give it!  We need to ask!
            Still there are a couple of things that show our willingness and our desire.  For example, you need to be a Christian.  That's a first step.  If you aren't, now is the time.  Stop listening to me and start praying.  You can do it now.  Just tell Jesus that you want him to be your Lord and Savior.  That's the first step.  And that's obvious to everyone.
            But there is another thing that is more subtle, but just as essential.  We have to be spiritual enough to have room for the Holy Spirit.  In I Corinthians 2:14 it makes it clear that we need to be spiritual persons.  This is the way it is expressed in the Message.  "The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can't receive the gifts of God's Spirit.  There's no capacity for them.  They seem like so much silliness.  Spirit can be known only by spirit-God's Spirit and our spirits in open communion."  
But we live in a very concrete world.  Many people have a very difficult time fining space for the spiritual in their world view.  So I want to share with you a model that makes space for the spiritual in each of us.  It comes from Morton Kelsey, a Christian writer and professor.  I've shared it with you before, but it makes such sense that I want to do it again.
Let me first of all draw a triangle on this newsprint.  Let's pretend this stands for a person.  We tend to approach the world with our five senses and our intellect.  That is how we know things.  That is how we make decisions.  That's how we live.  That is our conscious life.  But that doesn't have any room for the Holy Spirit.  So let me extend the lines on the sides of the triangle.  This creates a space for the unconscious.  Some psychologists call this the psyche, but the word "psyche" is simply Greek for "soul."  So this unconscious part of us is, in religious language, our soul.  It is the place where the Holy Spirit works.  On occasion the Holy Spirit will break into the physical world, but most of the time it is operating deeply and gently within us.  Our spiritual disciplines-prayer, meditation, reflecting on scripture-help us to move from this upper part to the lower part and make contact with the Spirit.  When we really worship that is what happens.  We open ourselves to that Spirit within us.
Does that help?  Does this model make some room for the spiritual in your concrete living? 
            The Spirit is available for all who want it.  It is available for those who seek it.  But you need to know that if you are really serious about getting the Holy Spirit, your life will never be the same.  It will be far better!  You will have more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithful and self-control.  And all of those things are wonderful!  Who wouldn't want more of them?     
But as you become more alive, you will be called to do more in ministry.  There will be more challenges.  God will provide more opportunities for ministry, more opportunities to share and live the good news.  But here's the best part!  You will always have the power to be able to do it!
Bill Hybel's is the senior pastor at Willow Creek Church in Chicago.  In one of his books, he tells of having lunch in a restaurant with a man who was not a believer.  The man's friends had told Bill that he was the toughest, hardest hitting, most autocratic, hardhead, hardhearted man they had ever met.  Bill decided not to check what the enemies would have said! Twenty minutes into the meal and Bill would agree with them on everything they had said.
They were talking about everything but important things, when Bill sensed a leading from the Holy Spirit.  It seemed that the Spirit wanted him to "present the simple truth of Jesus dying for sinners as clearly as possible."  Bill didn't want to do that.  He was pretty sure he knew what the response would be.  But it was certainly Biblical.  It fit his gifts, so he decided to take a chance.  He changed the subject rather abruptly and asked, "Would you like to know how Jesus Christ takes sinners to heaven?"
And the man said, "Pardon me?"
Bill said, "Point of information.  Would you like to know how Jesus Christ forgives sinners and takes them to heaven?"
The other man reluctantly said, "I guess so."
So over dessert, Bill explained the plan of salvation as simply and briefly as he could.  When lunch was over, he went back to work, feeling slightly embarrassed. 
Two or three days later, Bill almost fell out of his chair when the man called him back.  He said, "Do you know what I did after our lunch together?  I went into my bedroom, got on my knees and said, ‘I'm a sinner in need of a Savior."
That man's life changed.  He became a strong Christian.  He mellowed out and became one of Bill's closest friends.  All because Bill was willing to take a chance and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  (Too Busy Not to Pray)
Would you still like more of the Holy Spirit?  God is just waiting for you to ask.  And today I want to help you ask.  We're going to pray together.  Here's what I'd like to do.  I'd like to pray a sentence and then ask you to pray it aloud as well.

Dear God, we know you love us.  You made us.  You saved us.  So that we might live, really live.  Your gift of life is for this world and forever.  We really want more of this life.  We want more of your presence.  We need more of your power.  We need more of the fruits of the Spirit.  And so we ask for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  We ask that your Spirit would work deeply and gently within us.  Make it happen in the name of Jesus.  Thank you.  Amen.