Calvin Synod Herald, 2008 (109. évfolyam, 1-10. szám)
2008-05-01 / 5-6. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 3 Receive the Holy Spirit “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” These words from John 20:21 - 22 embody the basis for our mission as Christians and as a church. We celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, when all the disciples received the Holy Spirit. This event related by John took place the day affér the Resurrection, when Jesus first met with the disciples in the upper room. They had been empowered to fulfill His mission from that day on. The Pentecost event reinforced and re-empowered the disciples - and all subsequent believers - from that time on. It is this power which enables us, as Christians, to continue His community and His mission. In spite of the receiving of the Holy Spirit, shortly thereafter the disciples ended up going back to those things they felt most competent and comfortable with. John 21:2-3 tells us “Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, T am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat; but that night they caught nothing.” Jesus came to them on the shore, observed what they were doing, which was not His work, but what they the disciples happened to be good at, and He asked them (w. 5, 6): “’Children, have you any fish?’ They answered him, ‘No’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’” While Jesus was the carpenter and they were the fishermen, still He had a better understanding of what they should have been doing than they did. He suggested they cast their nets to the other side of the boat - it has been said that this was the “deeper side” - and indeed they did and caught more fish than they could imagine. There are three messages here. First, that Jesus does indeed better know how to order our lives than do we, when we depend upon our own “expertise” - however great it is. Second, the disciples, by fishing in what was quite possibly the shallower water, were playing it safe - deeper water is more dangerous, more uncomfortable to deal with. When we “play it safe,” when we do not risk what might be perceived as “uncertainty” in life, then we will never experience that overwhelming “catch” the disciples only experienced when they ventured “to the other side.” And finally, the greatest lesson - once the disciples had received the power of the Holy Spirit, they were wasting their time going back to their former lives, utilizing only their “worldly” skills and talents with worldly perspectives. Having received the Holy Spirit, we have also received the mission and mandate of the Christ, most succinctly given to us in Matthew 28:19 - 20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” It is for this purpose we are called to worship, it is for this purpose we have our church fellowships, it is for this purpose we join in Christian brotherhood, it is for this purpose we have social events and noodle-making and sausage-making — “to make disciple of all nations” - all peoples. This is our mandate. This is the “true path” of our church. Nothing else is acceptable. Unfortunately, sometime we get caught up in some of the other aspects of “running a church,” there have been occasions where the existence of the “church” - meaning the building- is the reason for being. Or the “fellowship” with which we have become comfortable over a period of decades becomes the most important consideration of the “church.” For some the celebrations, or the work projects, or the fund-raisers, have become “The church.” Each of these are poor substitutes for the true purpose we were called together; none of these affirm or declare the resurrection of our Lord, our Savoir; each focuses on “temporal” needs or fulfillment of personal visions and goals of what we think the church is about. But in fact “your church” is “The Church”, The Body of Christ, embodied with the power of the Holy Spirit. Does your fellowship reflect this power of God in all that it does each and every day? Let us celebrate the presence of the Risen Christ in our lives by allowing the Holy Spirit to be the one who decides the activities in our daily lives, and in our Christian Fellowship: in our church- in His Church. Rt. Rev. Koloman Karl Ludwig, Bishop What Do You Expect To Find in the Bible? I. The Bible Is God’s Message A. God produced the Bible to educate people. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2 Timothy 3:16) B. That education enables believers to mature into what God designed them to be. “That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:17) C. The Bible is the only entirely reliable guide to what God expects. “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:19-21) D. God warns against any deviation from the Bible. “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19)
