Pentecost

Today we have a quote within a quote, “Too many churches have become mausoleums for the dead rather than coliseums of praise for a living God. They have lost the spirit of Pentecost! They have lost their enthusiasm. They have lost their joy for Jesus and find themselves suffering from what William Willimon calls “Institutional and spiritual Dry Rot.” If the Church is to survive the next millennium it must recapture some of the praise and enthusiasm it had two millennia ago.” - Carlyle Fielding

In Revelations we have the Spirit giving messages to the seven Churches of Asia. J B Philips paraphrases a key text in this way, “Let every listener hear what the Spirit says to the Churches: ‘To the victorious I will give the right to eat from the tree of life which grows in the paradise of God.’ Revelation 2:7

It’s almost as if the Scripture’s revelation has come full circle that we will be allowed to eat from the tree of life.

We have approached the subject listening in our daily devotions before, but so often in our day to day discipleship we soon forget or ignore this spiritual skill.

When I think of the way God allows His servants to suffer, I can’t help but remember the classic story of poor Jack, who was out jogging. As he passed a cliff, he got a little too close to the edge, and suddenly found himself falling. On the way down, he managed to grab a branch, nearly yanking it out of the cliff. When he caught his breath, he realised what a terrible jam he was in. He couldn’t get up, and letting go certainly seemed to be a poor option. He began to scream, “Hello up there! Can anyone hear me?”

In a moment, a voice returned.

“Jack, Can you hear me?”

“Yes, Yes, I can hear you I’m down here.”

“I can see you, Jack, are you alright?”

“Yes, but, who are you, and where are you?”

“I am the Lord Jack, I am everywhere.”

“The Lord? You mean God?”

“That’s me.”

“God, help me, I promise that if you get me down from here, I’ll stop sinning. I’ll be a really good person and serve you for the rest of my life.”

“Easy on the promises, Jack. First let’s get you down, then we can discuss those.”

“I’ll do anything, Lord, just tell me what to do, okay?”

“Okay, let go of the branch.”

“What?”

“I said, let go of the branch. Just trust me, let go.”

There was a long pause, as Jack thought of the offer.

In a moment, however, Jack let out a loud yell. “Hello, Hello – is there anybody else up there?!”

Soren Kierkegaard wrote: ‘A man prayed, and at first he thought prayer was talking. But then he became more and more quiet until in the end he realised that prayer is listening.’ – Interesting that the same letters that make the word ‘silent’ also make the word ‘listen’.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the spiritual instructions I have in Your Word and the warnings that help to keep me looking to Jesus. I pray that my devotion for You will not grow cold, but that in all things I will become more and more thrilled with the wonders of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour. May my love for You start to reflect, in some small way, the love that You have shown to me. And thank You for the many privileges that are mine in Christ, in Whose name I pray, AMEN.