Holy Indifference!

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon is entitled Four Eyes, and my focus is Acts, Chapter 2. … Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Four-Eyes! Kids called me that as soon as I started wearing glasses. Kids have called their classmates four-eyes for over 100 years. Four-eyes is simply slang for a person who wears glasses. Four I’s is also the title of my sermon. Four I’s as in the letter between H and J, and not the organ for vision. Four I’s: intoxication, indwelling, involvement and indifference. Intoxication and indwelling from Acts; involvement and indifference from our place in the world today.

First, intoxication. We commonly understand intoxication as drunk. Picture Mayberry’s Otis or the lovable Foster Brooks. Drunks. Only for 400 years have we understood intoxication as drunk on rum, rye or red wine. Before that, intoxication meant poisoning. The root word – toxic – pertains to Greek warriors who dipped their arrows in poison before combat and shot them at their enemies.

Intoxicated is what the apostles’ opponents claimed they were. And while I enjoy the way the New Living Translation puts it – “They’re just drunk, that’s all!” – the one that reads – “They had too much new wine” – is ironic. Ironic because in the Old Testament, new wine or sweet wine symbolized the joy and abundant blessings that God would give his people in the messianic age. In Joel, we read, “On that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk.” (3:18)

In Amos, we read, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.” (9:13-14)

Jesus hinted that he would give the new wine of divine life when he turned water into wine at Cana. In another place he said, “No one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins – and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.” (Mk 2:22) And so, at Pentecost, new wine is the Holy Spirit, the gift of love that is poured forth into our hearts.

Though the crowd heard diverse languages from a group of Galileans, their reactions differed widely, from bewilderment to scoffing accusations that the believers were drunk; however, miraculous signs invite faith but do require an explanation of what they signify. In other words, the apostles were intoxicated, but not poisoned. Intoxicated with the Holy Spirit, but not wine.

From intoxication to indwelling. Indwelling describes a medical condition, such as a catheter, but more commonly describes an inner guiding force. Something takes up residence within you and becomes part of you, such as a catheter or a spirit.

Something took up residence in the apostles and became part of them. Acts described this force as the Holy Spirit that descended from heaven like a terrifying wind, filled the house and then rested on each believer.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost reminds us how indispensable the Spirit is for our faith and salvation. Pentecost reminds us that we are not saved by doctrinal orthodoxy or our determination to follow scrupulously rules and commandments. We are saved by the acts of God.

The indwelling Holy Spirit bestows on us the virtues of faith, hope and love from which all other Christian virtues and actions follow. As it did in the first believers, the Spirit produces in us a particular kind of fruit. St. Paul listed the fruit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal 5:22-23) In short, the Holy Spirit dwelling within the believer produces the character of Jesus.

On Pentecost, the Trinity imparted a gracious gift that produced in each believer the character of Jesus. Frightened men and women who hid from authorities no longer feared dungeon and death. They faced it because the character of Jesus now dwelt within them. The character of Jesus dwelt within them.

From indwelling to involvement. Acts teaches us that on Pentecost, the believers did not remain in the place where the Holy Spirit descended upon them. Rather, as soon as they received the Holy Spirit, they began to witness.

Following Jesus’ last command – You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth – their witnessing flowed naturally. (Acts 1:18)

Their witnessing began in Jerusalem, and quickly reached Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Libya – the cities and regions mentioned in verses 9 and 10. The Gospel spread like wildfire because Christians – filled with the Holy Spirit – cut people to the heart with words like repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; and save yourselves from this crooked generation. (Acts 2:37-40)

Christians spoke like that because they were intoxicated with the power of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Spirit brought about their ability to speak other languages, but it was clear that the church was not building a language institute but a body of believers sent to every nation on earth. Christians involved in the world resulted in 3,000 baptisms on Pentecost.

Folks, I have preached and pastored since 1987. I participated in gatherings of a million Christians, and several years ago I traveled to Ecuador where I witnessed the phenomenal growth of Evangelical Church, but I never heard of a baptism of 3,000 people. This occurred because Christians intoxicated with the Holy Spirit were involved in the world.

Christians intoxicated with the Holy Spirit involved in the world. … Folks, are you intoxicated with the Holy Spirit? Does the Holy Spirit dwell within you to the degree that you speak and act like you drank too much? Are you involved in the world?

Apart from voting, most Christians avoid involvement in the world. We excuse ourselves because we dislike politics and despise dirty tricks. Yet, we see that Jesus involved himself in the lives of thousands of people by teaching God’s Word, forgiving their sins, healing their infirmities and quenching their hunger. In short, Jesus challenged the establishment.

Jon Kuhrt, a Christian involved with London’s homeless recently wrote, “We have no choice about being political because if we choose not to engage then it is a vote for the status quo … Christians [must] be involved because we believe in a God who cares passionately about his world and his creation, and consequently how it is run. The Bible is hugely political – in that it is about how God wants people to behave and act towards him, and towards each other. This involves economics and law because these are tools that need to be used to build justice.

As believers in God, we have much to bring to politics – a deeper commitment to justice and compassion which throughout history has made a difference in the political sphere through people like William Wilberforce, Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu and many others.”

Kuhrt goes on to say, “Be involved in your local community – what issues do local people care about? How can you help make a noise about key issues local to you?  How does your church or youth group connect with issues of justice either locally or globally?  How can you build knowledge of what is going on and get passionate with others about making a stand?

Join the Christian group of the party that you believe in and be an advocate for Jesus’ politics within it.  Be brave and courageous – don’t just follow the crowd, but be willing to ask the difficult questions.” Be involved, but be indifferent.

Hence, my last point, indifference. Indifference does not contradict my previous point. By indifference I do not mean apathy or a “who cares” or “whatever” attitude. On the contrary, holy indifference means total openness to God’s will in one’s life. In other words, whatever God wills for me, I will strive with all my heart, mind and soul to conform to His will. I will not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short one.

So, how did Jesus expect His disciples to attain holy indifference? How did the first Christians achieve acceptance of God’s will? How did sentenced Christians bring glory to Christ? Through a constant, dynamic prayer life which led them to total confidence in God and a willingness to give themselves wholly to the Trinity.

They were indifferent because they knew God directed them. Their love for Father, Son and Spirit was so deep that all obstacles between God and themselves were removed to the point that they knew how to use things properly, for example, talent, money, property or politics to glorify God. They were able to do so because they recognized that all things came from God, and that all people were from God. Hence, the first Christians not only withstood their enemies’ insults about intoxication, but also welcomed them if they brought glory to Christ and His Gospel.

Friends, four-eyes is not the worst insult people will hurl at you. Intoxication is not the worst accusation people will make. A Christian intoxicated with the indwelling Holy Spirit involved in the world who employs holy indifference will make all the difference needed to bring about God’s Kingdom because of what Father, Son and Spirit have done. Allow this God to work in you, and know that when He does, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.