Catching the wind

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05.11.08

Pentecost

CATCHING THE WIND

NUMBERS 11:24-30; ACTS 2:1-21

Wind Power

Converting Wind to Electricity

I never cease to be amazed every time I drive past a wind farm

We had two of them near us in New York, and a third one was under construction when we moved
These are marvelous structures with giant propeller-like blades turning ever so slowly while they convert the power of the wind into usable energy
I have come to find out that those towers are as tall as a 40-story building—over half the height of the Empire State Building
Each blade is over 43 yards long, giving the rotor a diameter of over 86 yards, nearly the length of a football field
At that height, the wind speed is much greater than it is near the ground, allowing those blades to capture the energy of the wind and send it down through its long shaft into a generator that converts it into electricity

Wind power is much more than the gentle breeze that causes the trees to sway and the waves to roll into the shore

The power of the wind can blow a semi-trailer truck off the road and flatten buildings
We saw the power of the wind a few years ago as Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, and even more recently in the tornadoes that have decimated portions of the mid-South
Yet, it’s possible to harness the power of the wind into a non-polluting, never-ending source of energy that is daily renewable

As impressive as these massive wind farms are with their towering propellers, they too, might soon become obsolete

While these giant turbines do quite well at harnessing the power of the wind, they’re not really high enough to catch the wind in all its fullness
Wind does it’s best blowing six miles up in the air at the height of the jet stream
A company called Sky WindPower has developed a flying generator that looks like a cross between a kite and a helicopter
This device has four rotors mounted on an H-shaped frame that provide lift to keep the device in the air and turns dynamos to generate electricity
Attached to the device are aluminum cables that serve to tether the device to the ground and act as a conduit for the electricity they generate
If the wind slows down, the dynamos reverse themselves and turn the rotors to keep the device in the air

The Wind’s Potential

According to the American Wind Energy Association, turbines such as those we see dotting the landscape generate about 17 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually, but that’s only about 1% of U. S. electricity generation

The total amount of electricity that could potentially be generated from wind in the United States through wind farms has been estimated at 10,777 billion kilowatt hours annually
What effect these new flying wind farms will have remains to be seen since it is such new technology
New Jersey only generates about 8 megawatts of power through wind energy and ranks 27th of the 34 states currently generating wind power

On July 22, 1993, the wind turbine on the lawn of Spirit Lake Elementary School in Spirit Lake, Iowa began producing electricity

In the first 7 ½ years of its operation, that turbine produced 1,570,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, which would have cost the school district $124,900
That’s enough electricity for the 53,000 square-foot elementary school, and for all 264 homes in the Spirit Lake area for an entire year
In addition, it also produced a reimbursement from the utility company of almost $25,000 a year, money that is now used for the school’s instructional program

Capturing the Spirit

The Pentecost Paradigm

If you want to catch the wind, you have to put yourself where the wind is blowing

That fact is true for the wind energy industry, and it’s also true for the church
We can call this the Pentecost Paradigm
If the Christian Church is going to tap into the limitless energy of Holy Spirit wind power, we have to position ourselves correctly

On the day of Pentecost, fifty days after the death and resurrection of Jesus, a hurricane-like wind blew through the city of Jerusalem

Like the giant windmills that dot our landscape, the followers of Jesus who were gathered together in the upper room, grabbed hold of that energy and generated a power that has the potential to change the world
This was the power of God poured out on all believers through the Holy Spirit
The power of the Spirit of God has always been at work in the world, but never before had that power been unleashed as it was that day
That band of weak and fear-filled followers of Jesus was transformed into bold and powerful witnesses of the love and grace of God
From that day forward, the good news of Jesus Christ would be boldly and faithfully proclaimed to all the people of the world
And on that day, 3,000 people were persuaded to put their faith in Jesus Christ as they heard Peter preach the first-ever Christian sermon

Moses’ Hope

This Pentecost event was the fulfillment of the hope expressed by Moses centuries before as the people of Israel made their 40-year journey from Egypt to the Promised Land

One day, Moses gathered seventy of the elders with him at the Tent of Meeting
While they were gathered there, the Lord came down in a cloud and spoke to Moses
While the Lord was speaking, he took of his Spirit that had been imparted to Moses and shared it among the elders, and when the Spirit came upon them, they all began to prophesy

Two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, who were supposed to be at the Tent of Meeting, remained in the camp

And yet, the Spirit of the Lord came upon them also, and they, too, began to prophesy
Joshua, Moses’ aide, was alarmed, and implored Moses to make them stop, but Moses refused
He said to Joshua, “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them.” (v. 29)
This is exactly what happened on the Day of Pentecost
The Spirit of God was poured out on all believers, giving them the power to be prophets of the Lord

It’s important that we understand what the work of a prophet is

A prophet is not one who predicts the future
On occasion, they are able to read the signs of the times and predict what is likely to happen if people continue to live in inappropriate ways
But their primary mission is to call people back to faith, for the work of a prophet is to speak for God, directly, immediately, and faithfully
This is the gift the first disciples received when the Holy Spirit came upon them, and it’s the gift we are given when we turn to Jesus in faith
When we are given a gift from God, we are also given the power to use it
The coming of the Holy Spirit empowers us to do what the Lord has in mind

If you want to catch the wind, you have to put yourself where the wind is blowing

So how can we position ourselves to catch the wind of the Spirit?
The book of Acts provides us with a blueprint for building a church that can catch the wind
It suggests to us that there are four points to put in place, kind of like the four points of the flying wind generator: Community, Communication, Courage, and Clarity

Positioning Ourselves In the Wind

Community

Luke tells us that on the Day of Pentecost, “the apostles of Jesus were all together in one place.” (v. 1)

They weren’t in different places, they were gathered together in Community, they were all on the same page
This fact is important because when the Holy Spirit came, it came to one group in one house
If the apostles had been scattered—Peter in Capernaum, John in Nazareth, James on the Sea of Galilee, and the others scattered across the country—there wouldn’t have been a catching of the Spirit wind
Pentecost happened because they were all together and all of them received the gift

In order to catch the Spirit, we must continue to gather, to be together in one place

That’s increasingly challenging for us because we’ve become so individualistic in the practice of our faith
Christian faith is both personal and corporate
We come to the faith through a personal relationship to Jesus Christ, but that personal faith must influence the way we live in community
It’s impossible to practice our faith in isolation, so we must come together
But we must come together not only physically, but also spiritually
We need to be together on the same page, moving toward the same goal, seeking to serve the same Lord and Savior
Our mission must have a focus, and as a community we must work together to accomplish that mission

Communication

The second point is Communication

On that day, the apostles were empowered to speak in different languages as the Spirit gave them the ability
Everyone gathered in Jerusalem heard the good news of Jesus in a way they could understand
Christ’s Great Commission began to be fulfilled on that very day, for gathered in Jerusalem for that festival were people representing every known nation of the world at that time

The challenge for us is to position ourselves in such a way that we might clearly communicate the gospel to everyone in a compelling way

Let’s face it, our children and youth “speak a different language” than those of us from older generations
And not only is the language different, they have different means of communicating with each other—email, cell phones, text messaging, etc
Add to that the fact that we live in a multi-lingual, multi-cultural society
Yet too often, we continue to try to communicate the gospel in the same way we did fifty, or even a hundred, years ago
These are different times, so we need to learn to communicate differently in our worship and witness
The message is still the same, but the method of communicating that message must constantly be changing if we are to continue to be faithful to Jesus’ Commission of bringing the good news to every nation in every generation

Courage

Thirdly, in order to capture the wind of the Spirit, we need to develop Courage

While 3,000 people came to faith on that first Pentecost, not everyone there was open to what the apostles had to say
Some accused them of being drunk at 9:00 in the morning!
It took guts for Peter to stand up and speak to this sneering crowd
This is the same Peter who was afraid to admit that he even knew Jesus just a few weeks before
But now, empowered by the Holy Spirit, Peter’s fear was gone and he proclaimed the good news with boldness

Peter didn’t shy away from conflict, and neither should we

Being a Christian isn’t always popular, and we face a lot of pressure to give in and go along with the crowd
The challenge before us is to take a courageous stand for what we believe and to speak boldly as we describe for others what we see God doing in the world

Clarity

The final point for catching the wind of the Spirit is Clarity

It’s our responsibility to clearly explain what God has to say and make the Word of God relevant for people today
It’s not our responsibility to invent new scriptures or so corrupt the Scriptures we’ve got to make them say what people want to hear

Peter took a passage of Scripture from the prophet Joel that was often confusing and difficult to understand

For this passage of Scripture, written in the 9th century BC, Peter provided a commentary that awakened the people to what God had to say
Because of his clarity, they understood what was happening that day
They were awakened to the power of the Holy Spirit
They understood the significance of God’s Son, Jesus
They were convinced that everyone who called on the name of the Lord would be saved, forgiven, and made right with God, no matter what nation of the world they came from

Making the message clear is one of the most important ways we can position the church to catch the power of God

God’s message is for everyone
God’s love reaches everyone
Jesus died to save everyone
New life is possible for everyone
It is our responsibility to make that clear to everyone

These are the four points of a church that catches the wind of the Spirit of God

A Community that Communicates with Courage and Clarity
Such a church will be in a position not only to catch the power of God but also to put it to work in the world