“The Gospel of Power”
June 8, 2014
THE SOLEMNITY OF THE CHRISTIAN SHAVUOT
Acts 2: 1 –
11/Psalm 104: 24 – 31/1 Corinthians 12: 4 – 13/John 20: 19 - 23
His Excellency
The Most Reverend Ariel Cornelio P.
Santos D.D.
of the
Archdiocese of Manila
the
National Church in the Philippines
and the
Territorial Church of Asia
International Communion of the
Charismatic Episcopal Church
We
celebrate today the Feast of Pentecost. More than just a day, we celebrate
the fact that the Spirit of God has given life to His Church. This same
Spirit is in us. This same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead
is at work in us in our mortal limited bodies. This Spirit, which is unlimited,
eternal and immortal, is at work in us to give life to us. This is what
we actually celebrate. It is not just a day but the truth that God’s
Spirit is in each one of us.
In
the Creed, we say, “We
believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life.” He is Lord.
I want us to acknowledge two things: one, He is Lord. The Athanesian
Creed says, “So the Father
is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord.” When
you say, “Lord,” it means He is the One who is obeyed. When we call
somebody “lord” that means his will is done. The lord says something, the
servant does it. Two, God is the Giver, the Source of all
things. We acknowledge that everything comes from Him, particularly
good things. All good things come from Him – the Lord and the Giver. God
is the Owner of all things. Even things we call our own are not really ours,
but His. He lends them to us as stewards. Our lives are just
borrowed from God, and we are to make the most out of it because God gave His
life. What we make of it is our gift back to Him.
We
don’t own anything; God does. We owe everything to Him. Naked we
come into this world and naked we will leave. We are just stewards of the
things He actually owns. This is not our life. What you are wearing
is not your clothes. They are provided for you. What you do, like your
job, God gave to you. God gave to you your business. Your power to
make wealth, God gave to you. Your ministry is not your ministry. It is
God’s ministry and He happens to allow us and give us the privilege and the
honor to participate in His ministry. It is His, not ours. It is
His office, not ours. He lets us occupy a certain thing or to let us do
something. He gave us talents and abilities so that we can perform those things
for His glory. It is all His – His administration, His ministry, His works, His
way. We forget these very basic things.
1Corinthians
12:4 says, “It is the Spirit who is the Owner and the Lender of gifts.”
As such, He works all things in all persons just as He wills. He wills,
not we. We don’t impose our ministry on God’s ministry. We don’t
tell Him, “Well, this is my gift (which was in the first place given by God) so
I should be in this place.” We don't tell God that. God, the Holy Spirit,
works all things in all persons just as He wills, just as it pleases Him.
He gives to us; He takes away. He is the Boss; He is the Lord, and
what He wills is what He would do and what He will work. We
actually have no say or right to question. Our job is to submit to God’s
design. We are to submit because one, He is Lord; two, He is the Source
of all things. We don't own anything. We cannot boast. We can
only boast in the Lord and in our obedience to Him.
John
15:5 says that apart from Him, we can do nothing and we have no authority to do
anything. In a police department, all the police work is under the
chief’s authority. They are given badges. When a cop errs or needs
to be suspended, the chief asks for his badge and his gun. He may still
have a title, but he doesn’t have authority without that badge. We derive
our authority from the Holy Spirit. We cannot operate on our own.
We need His seal, His badge, His approval and we need His clearance. This
is the way it is in His design. We are servants purchased with a price,
and we have no rights. This is the plain truth because God does not owe
us anything.
In
the Parable of the Slave, the slave works in the field the whole day, twelve
hours in that setting, and comes home very tired, sticky, and muddy and sees
his master with his feet up, with an iced tea on his right hand, watching
TV. The master says to him, “Fix dinner for me. I know you are
tired, but cook and prepare dinner for me. After you have cooked, take a
bath because I don’t like your smell. When you have prepared the food and
cleaned yourself up, then you can stand and serve me my dinner.” Jesus
says, “Does the master thank the servant? He doesn’t have to because he
is a servant.” Jesus is not painting a picture of cruelty, but a
picture of humility and understanding our place. We need to understand
our place. God is our Master; He is Lord and we are His servants
purchased with scars. We are not even worthy of thanks. God will
reward us. It is up to Him for He is Lord, but we should not be after
it. What He does to us is up to Him. The good thing is He is a kind
Master, not a cruel one. He is just teaching us humility. What He
provides is more than enough and we receive it with joy.
Psalm
123:2 says, “As the eyes of
servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of the maid to the hand
of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God until He shall be
gracious to us.” God
is gracious! Psalm 104:27-28 said, “They are all creatures of
God. They all wait for Thee to give them their food in due season.
Thou dost open Thy hand, they are satisfied with good.” From God come all
good things just as He wills. The New Testament says that God has appointed in
the Church ministries. He appointed because He is Lord. We
understand what we have and what we are to participate in. Our
participation in His work is a privilege, an honor, a joy, a fulfillment. It is
not punishment, not fulfilling His despotic, tyrannical whim. It is what
sustains in our life.
Ephesians
1:9 says that God’s intention is kind. Yes, it is a responsibility but it
is more than that. If we understand it, we would look at it more like
privilege and honor and joy than a responsibility. Responsibility becomes
less of a responsibility and tediousness and more of a joy when our hearts are
right. We pray, “Thy will be done.” We acknowledge that He is
Lord. Why is His will to be done? One, because He is Lord.
Two, He is King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God. Whether
we are convinced of it or not, He knows better than we. It is true that
we don’t know everything.
On
our way to Church, my family was more than thirty minutes delayed than usual to
get here. For some reason, our van almost overheated. Something was
wrong so we had to stop three or four times to add water to the radiator to
cool the engine down. We had to wait until it would cool down. The
second time we did that, I saw the Holy Spirit. He did not look like a flaming
fire. He was in gray, a deacon. He was running toward us and I did not
recognize him until he was closer to us. He helped me and he gave me
wisdom. This is what the Holy Spirit gives us on our journey –
wisdom. He gave me a tip and it worked and helped a lot. In another stop,
somebody gave his opinion again - another professional opinion which was
correct. The last stop, two bystanders gave their opinion. They
were well meaning but their opinion was wrong.
We
need to listen to the right voice, the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Some people mean well, but they don't know it all. I, the
driver of the van, who is responsible for my family needed to listen to the
right voice, the Holy Spirit. I had to discern what is good and what is
not good. On our journey, we have the Lord, the Holy Spirit, to lead and
guide us. Did we make it? Yes, we did. There was a price, but
we did make it because this is the promise of God: you will make it because I
am with you all the way.
We
will make it because the Spirit is in us. This is what Pentecost is all
about. Psalm 104 says that His works are done in wisdom. It is not
our will; it is not what we think, not what we want or not what we will.
We are not omniscient; we are not all-knowing; we are not wise.
1Corinthians 13 says that we know in part only. We see and prophesy in
part. God knows everything.
In
the Priest’s Bible Study, part of what we were talking about is the Age of
Enlightenment. The definition of enlightenment to those who lived at that
time was learning without tutelage – learning without somebody teaching
you. It is learning on your own. No disciple; no mentor; no
teacher. We have Google; we have www.ask.com; we
have the internet; but this is dangerous and rebellious. The Book
of Judges says it twice, in Judges 17:6 and Judges21:25, “In those
days, there was no king (or
lord or somebody that they feared and respected and followed) in
Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” It is
making the mistake of thinking that they know it all, but they don’t. It
is God who is All-knowing. Why did they do what is right in their own
eyes? This is because they had no king that they submitted to.
Understand
that we need to yield to God because He is the Lord; He is wise; He is the
Owner; and He is the Giver. We freely receive from Him which is why
we are commanded we must also freely give. Acknowledge that our gift is
from God. Our gift, our talent, our possessions are not ours, and
certainly not ours to withhold and to not use. God did not give
your gift, your talent, your ability, your wealth so that you don’t use
it. It was given to you to use it. Freely you have received, freely
you give; freely you share and freely you use and be used.
Even
forgiveness and peace were given to us not for us to withhold, but for us to
share. We were given that authority. Even Jesus forgave.
Jesus said to His apostles who left Him at His time of death, “Peace be with
you.” Peter denied Him three times and Jesus said to him, “Peace be
with you.” Freely you have been given forgiveness and peace, freely you
share it. We need to understand that we are channels of blessing, of
peace, of forgiveness and of all good things. The good things must not
stop with us. They should continue to flow –ever flowing. Ever
blessing, ever blessed. Neither are our gifts, talents, and possessions
ours to enrich ourselves with. This is not the purpose. Understanding
this, we are in a good place and can work in unity.
I
cannot emphasize enough that He is Wise; He is Lord; His will is
followed. Our part is to submit. His will is the proper working of
each individual part. He works all things in all persons. Each
individual part, no exception, work for the common good to the building up of
the Body of Christ to one mature man in the image and likeness of Christ, the
fullness of the Godhead. Ephesians 1:9-10 talks about this administration
which is suitable to the fullness of times. That is, the summing up of
all things in Christ; the restoration, the reconciliation of all things to God,
in Christ, through Christ, and through His Body. Jesus is seated at the
right hand of God, resting, waiting for His Body – His hands, His feet to move
and to restore all things and to sum up all things in Him and in His
Name.
In
the tower of Babel, they spoke in different tongues, but they spoke different
things and they were in confusion, in disorder, and were scattered. Pentecost
is the beginning of the reversal of that. During Pentecost, they spoke in
different tongues, but they were speaking of the same things, which were the
mighty deeds of God. They were in unity, in order, after restoration, and
concerned about reconciliation. Our mission is the reversal of death and the
ramifications for the results of death for the life of the world.
Confusion,
disorder, scattering, division are results of death and sin. Life is
reconciliation. Life is restoration. Life is bringing back to wholeness.
This is what the Spirit has given to the Church. The Spirit of God has given
life to His Church. He is expecting the Church to spread that – not withhold
and to work against it by sowing deeds of death and sin and discord and
division and the opposite of reconciliation and of restoration.
The
Spirit of God is omnipresent. Jesus said, “When two or three are gathered
together in My name and are united, then I will be there.” I don’t
believe that if they don’t gather in His name, He is not there. The Holy
Spirit is Omnipresent. The Psalm says, “I go to the mountains, You are
there. If I go to Sheol, You are there. If you go to the bottom of
the sea, You are there.” Jesus is everywhere, but our sensitivity to Him,
is at its peak, at its highest when we are in unity and we serve the common
good, not ourselves. This was the spirit at the Book of Acts.
They sold their possessions for the need of all. No one was thinking of
himself.
At
that point, they were in a good position to turn the world upside down. From
120 persons, they added 3,000 souls. In a few days, it was another 5,000
and they witnessed and went out into the whole world. It was not because the
Holy Spirit was not there before, but because when they were in unity, the
fullness of their ability was realized. At that point, by His grace and
His infilling, the Holy Spirit came down upon them in a way that they never
experienced before. When we are in unity, we serve the common good – not
individual self; then, our sensitivity to God’s voice, the Holy Spirit’s
working is at its peak. At that point, by His grace, by His filling us,
we fully realize His power, His ability in us to fulfill our task.
We
are on our journey and our task is to march upon the land. We march as
one, in cadence, following the leader as he follows God. Romans 15:4
says, “Whatever was written
in earlier times was written for our instruction so that by perseverance and
the encouragement of Scripture, we might have hope.”Hope does not
disappoint. Man might disappoint. Circumstances may
disappoint, but hope does not. Never lose your hope. Hope comes
through perseverance and the encouragement of Scriptures and Scriptures were
written for our instruction.
In
the journey of Israel, they had to learn and it took them forty years to walk
together. Speaking to you on material terms but to mean spiritually, on a
journey, on your way to the Church, you have a family. You get up at a
certain time, but your children don’t wake up with you. You have to rouse
them from sleep. It is time to get up. The parents get up and you have to
wake up the children. You feed them breakfast. Some of them eat
fast; some of them eat slower. You are under time pressure. Some of
them take one hour in the shower. The father, as the leader, carry all of
these things on his shoulder. Do the children look at the time? No,
but the father does. The pressure is on the father. There are other
mature members in the family that can help the father. The father tells
the elder siblings to take care of the younger ones – to eat, to dress.
On the journey, all leave in one vehicle. You don’t leave anyone behind,
and you need to understand that you go on a journey together. It takes
responsibility. We acknowledge that some are not as fast as others, not
as strong as others, and not as mature as others; but we all need to go
together as one mature man.
This
is the Church. We who are strong help those who need strength. Some don't
understand. Some will say, "I want to sleep. I don't want the
food." They complain and they grumble because they don’t understand
fully. We need to be patient. They don’t see everything. God
is faithful to us. We made it here. The Israelites took 40 years because
of their weakness, but God was faithful to them and their sandals did not wear
out on them. God sustained them all these forty years in the
wilderness – without any supermarket or sari-sari store on the way. He
sustained them all.
The
Promised Land is what we are looking forward to reach. We will reach it
and we will reach it faster when we are in unity. It is not for us, but
God’s working just as He wills. I remind you of the words of the
Corporate Petition, “We pray
to God for a monument, a declaration of His greatness for generations to come.
So that all men may turn to Him and His name be magnified forever.” What we pray for, what we
desire, and what God promised to us is first and foremost a witness. It is not
a convenience for us; not something we will be able to boast about. It is
first a witness which is the purpose of the Holy Spirit coming to us.
“You shall be My witness when the Spirit has come upon you.” We are to
witness to life. When Matthias was chosen, Peter said, “Somebody
has to replace Judas and he is to be a witness with us of Jesus’
resurrection.” That is what the Spirit in us is for so that we can be
witnesses, not of a historical fact that a person died and rose again. It
is not so that the cable channels have something to report. More than
that, we are witnesses for the sake of life that Jesus is alive and He lives is
in us. This is why the Holy Spirit fills us.
This
is what Pentecost is all about. This is what the kingdom of God is all
about because this is the way it is in this Kingdom.
LET US CONTINUE OUR REFLECTION
WITH
CARDINAL OF
HOLY MOTHER CHURCH
AND
VENERABLE PRIMATE
OF
THE PHILIPPINES
THROUGH
THE WORD EXPOSED
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