Unstoppable

UNSTOPPABLE!

Mount Hope UMC

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Acts 2:42-47 New Living Translation (NLT)

The Believers Form a Community

⁴² All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper^[a]), and to prayer.

⁴³ A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. ⁴⁴ And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. ⁴⁵ They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. ⁴⁶ They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity^[b]— ⁴⁷ all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

            I imagine the apostles were like McFadden & Whitehead who penned the R&B song “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now”.  The words are relatable for me to the excitement of the newly formed disciples that are fire baptized and Holy Ghost filled and ready to be on the battlefield for the Lord.  I know you’re not that far removed from the world that you don’t remember the words to that song, are you?

Ain't No Stoppin Us Now!  We're on the move!  Ain't No Stoppin Us Now!
We've got the groove!

There's been so many things that's held us down but now it looks like things are finally comin' around.  I know we've got, a long long way to go.  And where we'll end up, I don't know.

But we won't let nothin' hold us back.  We're putting ourselves together We're polishing up our act!  If you felt we've been held down before.  I know you'll refuse to be held down anymore!  Don't you let nothing, nothing Stand in your way!  I want ya'll to listen, listen to every word I say, every word I say!

Ain't No Stoppin Us Now!  We're on the move!  Ain't No Stoppin Us Now!  We've got the groove!  Ain't No Stoppin Us Now!  We're on the move!  Ain't No Stoppin Us Now!  We've got the groove!  I know you know…

I would say the Apostles had the same feeling we had when we first accepted Christ - the confidence that we were invincible because of the Spirit of God that was alive and like fire shot up in our bones.  We had pep in our step, a glide in our stride.  We thought we had discovered the universe and all its secrets, and to some extend we had.  Many of us had out-of-body experiences because the Spirit was so active and alive in us.  We sizzled with the Holy Spirit.  If somebody touched us, they could get scorched we were so on FIYA!  We were unstoppable in our praise of Jesus.

So were the disciples at the beginning of the establishment of the church.  The Holy Spirit was so tangible, so palpable, physical, and real.  It was powerful.  They were so awe struck by their newfound reality that those who were on one accord began to come together to devote them selves to dig deeper into this new thing.  They were always together talking about Jesus’s teaching, being in fellowship, sharing meals, and in prayer.

They became a mighty force and as a newfound community, they went into the community and performed miracles and wonders with the power Jesus said they would have.  They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with the needy.  They went to worship together every day, not just on Sunday.  They were so full of the joy of the Lord that their spiritual strength could move mountains.  But most importantly, they couldn’t stop praising God and, because they did these things, the Lord added to their numbers.

On this First Sunday in May, on the 48^th day of our quarantine, we can look back and see how we have evolved from when we first went into quarantine and where we are now.  We have continued to meet and worship via the available technology.  We have started to become accustomed to the technology, which has been a real challenge for some of us.  Yet we continue to persevere.  We have enjoyed being able to stay in touch with one another, share with one another, continue to provide outreach to the community with our sick and shut-ins and Project Echo, and we have even begun a weekly Prayer Service.  In many ways we are echoing the beginning of the church.  We may be establishing a new church model in this pandemic and quarantined season.

             There has been revival in many churches where they have been reaching beyond their walls to those who are not regular attendees or even members of their congregation.  We have been blessed to have a couple of our young adult members to join us in Bible Study the past two weeks, thanks to Brother Vaughn and Sister Theresa.  We have been blessed to share that time with Sister Shalla in Oklahoma and Sister Isha in South Carolina.  We have become a church without walls or borders.

God’s Holy Spirit is sweeping through the city.  And it is UNSTOPPABLE!  God has redirected our attention to things of no consequence to things that will honor and glorify Him.  2 Corinthians 10:3-5 Paul says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.  For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” 

These new disciples were like family, but more importantly, they were on one accord.  They believed in the same thing and they worked toward accomplishing the same goal.  They did not look for self-advancement.  They wanted everyone to “taste and see that the Lord is good.”  You know how we are when we find something that blows our sox off.  We want to share it with everybody.  When we first got saved we couldn’t keep it to ourselves.  We told everybody about Jesus and what Jesus had done for us.  Some of our friends and relatives looked at us sideways and thought we had been drinking the kool-aid, but we didn’t care.  We were on FIYAH for the Lord and we wanted to burn people up with our flame.

Truth is, church, we should still be on FIYA for the Lord.  We should still have the urgency to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to whoever will listen.  As Romans 13:11 says in the Amplified Version, “Do this, knowing that this is a critical time.  It is already the hour for you to awaken from your sleep [of spiritual complacency]; for our salvation (final deliverance) is nearer to us now that when we first believed [adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Christ, the Messiah].”

Yes, church, some of us have hit the snooze button – perhaps more than once.  We have to admit that we have been putting everything before Christ.  Yet Christ put everything on the cross for us.

What life has taught me, and maybe some of you, is that nothing and nobody can stop what God has for you and me.  Ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no valley low enough, ain’t no river wide enough, and ain’t no devil big enough, strong enough or wise enough to stop the blessings God has for us who believe in, trust in, and rely on Jesus Our Redeemer, Our Savior, Our Brother, Our Healer, Our Friend, Our All in All. 

We can be excited church, just like we were when we first accepted Jesus into our lives.  We can be excited because He is still sitting at the right had of the Father.  We can be excited because His Holy Spirit is still indwelling in the faithful and in new believers.  We can still be excited because He is still using us to make new disciples.  We can still be excited because our flame is still burning – even if it is an ember.  We just need to whip that ember into a flame again through the Word of God, through fasting and prayer, through fellowship with like-minded people.  We need to let it burn bright so it can attract others.  You know what they say about a moth to a flame.  Jesus wooed us and we want to woo others to Jesus.

Once we were on the road to be consumed by the fires of hell, but now we are consumed by the fire of the Holy Spirit that is shot up in our bones.  Our parent told us there was safety in numbers.  You know why?  Because left alone to our own devices, we could be lured into the den of the enemy.  But if we are in a group, we have those who will cover us, look out for us, help fight our battles with us, pray for us, cry with us and support us.  As a group of like-minded people on fire for the Lord, we are unstoppable!

We celebrate the past and we look forward to the future because when we’re young, we think that tomorrow will never come.  Time is relative to what is going on in the present.    It has no immediate relevance because it is beyond our ability to fathom a future.  We can only imagine future in short spurts of spatial reality – tomorrow, next week, next month.  Next year is too far into the future to plan for.  We believe we have plenty of time to plan for the future.  And yet none of these days are promised to us.  Because through be told, all the plans of men have been cast aside by this plague, this pandemic, this quarantine, this stay at home order.  God just stopped life as we knew it on a dime.

When we were young adults, we began to start our own families and our focus was on career and family.  We began to think of planning a future for our children if we had them, our career goals and our eventual retirement.  Then we became busy doing and going; we attended worship services but there was not much time for ministry because of work, children’s’ after school activities and family commitments. 

At mid-life we began to think about our legacy to our children and grandchildren and the realization that our future is now measured as limited time on this earth.  The children are grown with families of their own and time is now available to pursue personal bucket lists and we became more involved in corporate worship and ministry.

Those of us who are seasoned saints know eternity is our future and while we are still involved in ministry; health, mobility and limited financial resources now limit what we are able to contribute to our congregations.

Through all these stages of life as Christians, we attend church, perhaps participate in Bible Study, Sunday School, Prayer Service and we get involved in ministries, perform mission work and/or go on mission trips.  In all these stages we are building a future for our personal eternity.  But what are we doing to preserve the church universal?  And how do we preserve it?  And do we want to preserve it in its present format with its present culture, rituals and traditions?

This reminds me of the story of Jesus’ anointing in Bethany, found in Matthew 26:6-12.  Let me remind you of this scripture from the New Living Translation.   

“Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy.  While he was eating,^b a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head.

The disciples were indignant when they saw this. “What a waste!” they said.  “It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”

But Jesus, aware of this, replied, “Why criticize this woman for doing such a good thing to me?  You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.  She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial.  I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.”

So, our focus should be not how inconvenienced we are by the quarantine and the stay at home restrictions, but what the future of the church will look like when these restrictions are lifted.  In the Scripture story of the woman with the alabaster jar she preserves the body of Christ for his pending crucifixion and burial and what she does becomes a memorial for the preservation of the larger cloud of witnesses that will be established after Jesus’s death.

Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 (NLT) when he passed the baton of leadership to Peter, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” (ESV)  Here, we have Jesus’s confirmation that the church that will be established will prevail against all enemies for all time.  But what did Jesus’ church look like then and what does it look like now?  And, what might it look like in the future?

         At the time Jesus began his ministry we know from Scripture that tabernacles and synagogues existed that were built for worship.  Before permanent structures for worship were established, worship was conducted by the Levites (or Priests) in traveling tents.  At this time, only the high priests were allowed into the Tent of Meeting.  We know this because Genesis 33:7 tells us “It was Moses’ practice to take the tent of meeting and set it up some distance from the camp.  Everyone who wanted to make a request of the Lord would go into the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.”

The Tent of Meeting was where God would meet with his people, Israel.  Another name for it was the Tabernacle of Moses.  When Moses went in to meet with God, the cloud of smoke would come down and stay at the entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses.  The reason the tent was set up outside the camp was because the people had broken fellowship with God at Sinai when they made the Golden Calf while Moses was receiving the commandments from God.

In the Law God gave Moses, he gave specific instructions to build a place of worship.  This “Tent of Meeting” or tabernacle could be taken up and moved each time the Israelites moved while they were seeking the Promised Land.  Tabernacle is the English translation of the Hebrew word “miskan” which means dwelling place.  This is where the very Spirit, the essence of God dwelt, but only at certain times.  When the tent moved, God was the cloud that followed the tent.  When the tent was set up, the cloud hovered over the tent.

So here we see the physical structure at the beginning was a mobile facility where the Spirt of God would inhabit when He wanted to talk with Moses.  Later, this tent or tabernacle would become a place into which the priests would go annually to offer animal sacrifices for the atonement of our sins.

In Hebrews 9:11, Christ is described as a better High Priest who entered once into the “greater and more perfect tent,” referring to his body to become a sacrifice that would completely satisfy God’s anger for all time because his perfect blood, his sinless blood, his perfect obedience, would cleanse his believers of their sins once, for all eternity.

As followers of Christ, we also inhabit a tent – our physical bodies.  These are now the tabernacles where the Holy Spirit dwells.  Now we are the tent/the tabernacle/the church.  On Sunday morning we take our tents into the physical space we call the Sanctuary to come together in corporate worship, praise and fellowship with God and each other.  In perfect worship and where two or three or more are gathered in Jesus’ name, God is in the midst (Matthew 18:20).  Just think about the power that we could have in worship and in our communities with everyone possessing the Holy Spirit multiplied by each of us!  So, if we think about it, today the tabernacle is still migratory.  We move from place-to-place and wherever we go, we take the church (the Holy Spirit that lives within) with us.

So, we can say that in biblical times, corporate worship was conducted in a physical temporary structure where God dwelled at certain times to provide instruction to the high priest who annually made animal sacrifices so that our sins might be forgiven.  We can say that this practice shifted when Jesus, who was our perfect sacrifice, died on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins.  We know that when he freely laid down his life, the veil of the temple that housed the Spirit of God was torn in two and God’s Spirit was disbursed among anyone who would repent and believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, the Holy One Promised in Genesis and prophesied by Isaiah.

We also know that knowing of His coming crucifixion, Jesus commissioned the apostles and named Peter to head His church which would withstand anything that would come against it forever.  And, we know Jesus instructed the Apostles to go into the world and preach the Gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15).  So, we can agree that we are now the church by the fact that the Holy Spirit now dwells within us as believers and, we agree and understand that like Peter and the Apostles, we are now disciples of Jesus Christ.  As disciples our charge is to also go into the world and preach the gospel to all creation and make new disciples for the transformation of the world so that Christ’s church continues into the future.

You are probably wondering, “How do I do this?  I’m only one person.”  Some of us may think, “Well, I’ve worked in the church for 40, 50, 60 years.  I’m tired.  I just want to come in here on Sunday morning, get the Message and go home.  I don’t have time to try and convince someone about Jesus.  That’s the job of a Pastor, a Minister, an Evangelist.”  But God says we are all ministers.  Do we all cite Scripture and exhort?  No.  But we all interact with others.  Jesus said in Matthew 32 “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.”  And in verses 40-42 (NLT) he says, “Anyone who receives you, receives me, and anyone who receives me, receives my father who sent me.  If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet.  And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness you will be given a reward like theirs.  And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.”  So, then, there is the promise that if we are obedient to offer Christ to others, we will also receive a great reward.  Luke 15:7 (NLT) says, “In the same way there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away.

Instead of worshipping and revering human personalities who always seem to eventually disappoint us, worship in spirit and truth the one true God who promised never to leave you nor forsake you.  Instead of being shocked by the greed and arrogance of some who are better positioned than we may be, position yourself to be in closer relationship with Him who sticks closer than a brother.  Rather than sharing the story of someone’s fall from grace, encourage someone who feels that no one cares that salvation is the free gift of grace given to all who would believe.  Because as the Body of Christ, church we are UNSTOPPABLE!

Let me tell you funny story that relates to what I’m saying:  Once there was a man who became shipwrecked on a deserted island.  He was there for many years when one day a boat sailed by and spotted the man.  The captain went to the island to rescue the shipwrecked man.  After some conversation the captain realized the man was the only inhabitant of the island, but there were three structures on the island.  The captain asked the man, “If you are the only inhabitant of the island, why are there three structures?”  The man replied pointing to one of the buildings, “Well, that one over there is my house.”  The captain asked, “Well what about the one next to it?”  The man replied, “Well, that one is my church.”  Still curious the captain asked, “Well, what is the other one?”  The man replied, “Oh, that’s where I used to go to church.”  He did not realize that wherever he moved, he took the church with him.

As the “church”, we are to be the very image of Christ.  If people don’t see the Christ in us, what kind of future will the church have?  We must love as Christ loved.  We must pray as Christ prayed.  We must become the living embodiment of the church that Jesus commissioned over 2,000 years ago.  Our children and grandchildren must see Christ in our walk.  Matthew 5:14-16 (ESV) says “You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your God who is in heaven.”  Then, church, we would be UNSTOPPABLE!

We only have to look to two examples to see and mirror their example of what we need to do to insure the church will survive into the future – the ministry of Jesus and the ministry of John Wesley.

Jesus’ public ministry was a street movement.  Although he preached in the synagogue and tempes, he spent the majority of his time on the move in the streets, seeking the least, the last and the lost; the forgotten of the world; society’s outcasts.  When asked why, Jesus answered in Luke 5:32 (NLT), “I have come to call not these who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”  Christ and his disciples went from town-to-town preaching repentance, healing and performing miracles.  As Christ’s followers, that is also our charge and we can’t do that unless we go out into the world and preach the gospel to those we come in touch with.  Our lives must reflect the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We do that through letting our light shine in our homes, our marriages, our families and friends, in our work place, in our communities and wherever we go.

The other example we can look to is the Father of Methodism, John Wesley.  We know that this denomination first began as a lay movement – an evangelical movement.  A strategic key to the acceptance of Methodism was outdoor services with small groups that developed intensive and personal accountability, discipleship and religious instruction.  John Wesley appointed itinerant, unordained evangelists to travel and preach and to care for these small groups of people.  These evangelists went from town-to-town taking the message of Christian perfection through means of grace.  John Wesley believed if we lived as Jesus did, the world would be transformed.  So, if we (1) do no harm, (2) do good and (3) stay in love with God, one-by-one we would transform this world to a world where God would be central and His purpose would be fulfilled.  And we would be UNSTOPPABLE!

So, in my humble opinion, the future of the church can only be accomplished by following the examples of Jesus and John Wesley.

As to what the church of tomorrow will look like, we do not know.  We cannot guess or see into the future.  But we may be on the threshold of the birth of a new era – a fresh expression - of church renewal and revival.  What we do know for sure is that as followers of Christ, we are responsible for carrying out and preserving Jesus’s legacy.  Psalm 102:12 (ESV) says “But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; you are remembered through all generations.”  David is saying God is UNSTOPPABLE!  As the church of now, the church of today, the church of this moment in time, we have a lot of work today to make sure there is a church of tomorrow.  Because, what if tomorrow starts without us?