Be A Witness: Session 1

St Timothy Presbyterian Church

Sermon Text

Session 1: Power From the Presence of God

Welcome to our fall retreat, my heart is really warm. It's really warm. Maybe it's the presence of God's spirit with us, so I'm looking forward to a really good time together. It's good to have our new members for the first time and familiar faces as well.

We're here to retreat from our everyday life. I think there are two things that are very special about retreats. Number one is nature, we're away from the city and we can enjoy being more connected with nature. Being here in the lush green, it brings out a side of us that are suppressed throughout the year. The second thing is we get to really be here with a community of people and simply enjoy each other's company. So in this beautiful context of nature and community, we have an opportunity as well to reflect on our lives. It's a rare opportunity, so I really encourage all of you to make the most of opportunity out of it. In our sessions, try to listen intently to the content, and hope that there are things that really speak to you. Then in your groups too, let's really engage. That way you'll really get a lot out of it and grow in your own reflection.

The theme of our church for this year has been Be a Witness, and this is the theme verse of the year:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

Tomorrow evening I will focus on what it means to be a witness. Tonight, I want to focus on the first part: the power that we receive. When the Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power. You will live an empowered life. We've been reflecting a bit on this theme the past few weeks because I think it's so important that we live an empowered life.

When I look around, I feel like so many people feel disempowered. I feel like this is what's happening all around us. People feel swallowed up by forces that are too big. They feel no control. They feel kind of powerless, so that makes them feel anxious or afraid, or angry, or it makes people give up and they become apathetic and resigned. Then it makes them self-centred, being like, Ah, who cares! I'll just take care of myself.

I think any of the problems we see is because ultimately they feel disempowered. I feel bad because many young people feel that nowadays. When I'm having conversations, that theme seems to come up. They don't see the point when the world is doomed anyways. Nothing's gonna change. Things like climate change, it's inevitable. Powerful people are just going to gain advantage whenever they can, so I might as well do what I can do. So they vent out in anger, or retreat in apathy and despair.

But I don't believe that despair and apathy is the only conclusion. That is not God's desire and will. I believe that God's Spirit is still moving and present with us, and I believe that God's desire is to empower us. I really want to reflect on that with you.

We need power to live. We need power to live the right way. Power to do the right thing. Power to heal. Power to forgive. We need power to move on from the past. Power to be true to yourself. Power to live the life you're supposed to live, and power to become the person you're supposed to be.

We need empowerment to have motivation to keep going, and we need empowerment to live.

So, the question is: where does this power come from? This is a very important question. Where does, or where will your power come from?

For St. Paul, it was very clear where this power comes from:

But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. (2 Corinthians 4:7)

Do you believe that? I do. Some people might find their power elsewhere. For some people, it might come from their good fortune and circumstances that they've created for themselves. For others, it might come from within – they find that power within themselves. For others, it may come from a good and supportive community that they feel empowered by. Those are all good and great things.

But for me, I stand with Paul in finding my power from God. That power is my treasure. A treasure contained in this clay jar that I am. But it's an extraordinary power that has sustained me, and that still sustains me. That is my testimony, and that's the testimony of many people throughout the ages. That's what we sang, A thousand generations. There have been people where that's their testimony: My power comes from the extraordinary power of God that resides within me. This is why we still read and reflect on these letters and scriptures. All of you are in different places right now. Many of you may believe this, some may not yet, and that's okay. We're here to reflect together.

Tonight and throughout this retreat, I want to reflect on this extraordinary power that comes from God.

In Acts 1, this power comes when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. The Greek word for this is eperchomai. When the Spirit has come upon you. It's like it envelops you, cloaks you. This image came to me, it's like a net that wraps around you, but it's like one of those permeable things that start to absorb into your body. The spirit comes upon you, envelops you, and then goes into you. It's inside of you. You become infused with this divine presence. That divine presence in you is your power. So the power that we receive is deeply connected with the presence of God in us. When this divine presence is in you. So this presence of God in your life is what gives you power. That's what we're talking about here. I want to reflect on this presence of God in your life. It's important for us to reflect on that because according to people like St. Paul and what the writer of Acts is saying, that's where our power comes from. When the presence of God has come upon us. This presence of God in your life is the key thing you need to live your life with power.

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. That is very strong language. When it comes upon you. It says that God has a mind of his own. God coming upon you is not in your control, and it is not a soft, passive thing either. The Holy spirit comes upon you. It's strong language, it's almost forceful.

To me, it's kind of like falling in love for the first time. When love just comes upon you, you don't go out seeking to make it happen. I know for some of our young people, I know sometimes you want to make it happen, but it doesn't work that way. It will come upon you. You could make all these lists of criteria, but it doesn't mean that automatically it's going to happen. You can have the best on paper, but there's no chemistry. Then somehow, this person meets none of the criteria and then, BOOM! That's why when our young couples meet, my favourite question is: what's your origin story? How did you guys meet? What happened, and how did the other person respond? It's so beautiful. It just happens and then it overtakes you. Then it consumes you. For other people, this is what happens, right? When it overtakes you, it can be passionate and fervent. That's what first loves are like.

This was what my first experience with God was like. It happened at my very first Hi-C retreat, when I was in grade 7, and it was right here at MBC! That blew my mind! It was so long ago that I don't really remember what it looked like, but when I looked back, that's right, we were on top of the hill, in the cabin. It's crazy. I was so young. My first hi-c retreat, I only went because my friends were going and I wanted to have fun. It was the March retreat, so they showed us a video. There was tubing at the time and it was cool. During the message time, there was this speaker, he was from New York. I still remember what his name was, and then he spoke. I have no idea what he said, no recollection, but what I do remember is somehow, at the end of the night, it's prayer time, he said a few things and something hit me. What I do remember is him leading us in prayer saying, Jesus, I love you, I praise you, and I thank you. We kept repeating that. Then I just felt this burst of emotion. Something just filling me up. Something I've never experience before. I felt the wonderful presence of God in my life. All these tears came flooding out, and pent up emotions I didn't know I had. It was intense, but it did change me. I grew up in the church, but I wasn't really attending church. I was aware of the weekly Hi-C gatherings, but at the retreat, I didn't know anyone who was going. No one in my grade or class went, but I just went. There were a bunch of older Hi-C kids and it was very intimidating. But I started to go and I joined the choir! The practice were Thursday nights, but I just went because I was so riled up with faith. So, when God comes upon you, it can feel like that. Especially in the Hi-C years when the emotions are intense. That's why I'm such a firm believer in our Hi-C and youth ministry. I love it. That's why I would only call them the yutes, not the Hi-C. They're the yutes, you know! It's a time and space for them to experience God.

For those who've been around for a little bit, like love, it falls, it changes. That passion and fervour, it has to evolve. It doesn't remain like that forever. Just like the presence of God too, it grows and evolves. Your connection with God will reflect the stage of life you're in. For Hi-C years, as you go through adolescence, there are a lot of intense emotions, so experience of God can be very intense.

But as you get older, things change. It's less about the emotional intensity, but more about the mind's uncertainty. As you bump up against all these things, these ideas, and new challenges, it's your mind that starts to get more confused and has to figure things out. So too, the shape of God's presence has to evolve.

That's why for a lot of young adults, it can be a very confusing time because if they've had a very intense experience of God, they kind of wonder why they don't feel the same thing anymore. So they feel confused, but that is totally normal because you're changing. God is not only present through the emotions. God is present in all the other areas of your life as well. Your mind, your thoughts, and what you're experiencing in life.

Just like any relationship, it requires attention. For love to grow and evolve, it needs attending to. Once that initial fire has cooled off, it needs to be fueled through attention and care. I'll try to put this into more practice too. Relationship with God it's the same way, it needs attending to.

The difference is that God is not a flesh and blood human. That's why with human beings, it can a be a little more obvious. You're not attending to them because you're not there. Or you're sitting beside them, but your mind is totally checked out. It's more obvious and apparent. But God is spirit. The presence of God is not physical, it's spiritual. So to be connected with God, you have to be connected to God in a spiritual way.

It's hard to do that in this physical world that we live in. Day to day, we're occupied by things that happen in our physical space. It's very difficult to attend to spiritual things, when our senses are always occupied. It's hard enough to attend to emotions that are inside of us, and what's happening inside. What happens on the outside kind of takes our attention.

As life gets more complicated, life on the outside gets more complicated, unless our spiritual skills grow, it becomes more difficult to be connected with the presence of God. As life on the outside gets more complicated, if you're spiritual skills or abilities don't grow as well, it's hard to remain connected spiritually with God.

St. Paul said this in one of his letters:

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. (1 Corinthians 13:11)

My kids fight all the time about things. That's mine! I was playing with it. Can't you just share it? It drives me and Deb nuts sometimes. Nothing triggers her more than kids bickering and fighting. But for me, it's part of learning what it is to live life harmoniously with other people. They're learning skills of maturity and interaction, so they can learn how to interact with other people; to function in this world. In the same way, as we get older, as life gets more complex, we need to keep growing in our spiritual maturity too to stay connected with God. We can't rely on the same thing that we used to when we were younger. We can't just rely on emotional intensity. It's like muscles. We need to have spiritual muscles, and they need to keep growing. Otherwise they atrophy, and they can't be used. Then it becomes hard to stay connected with God.

It's not God who becomes distant and absent because we believe that God is omnipotent. That means present everywhere. It is us who don't grow our spiritual muscles to notice God as life becomes more complex.

So being connected with God is not merely about doing the right actions we perform. It's not merely about doing activities such as praying or reading the Bible. It's kind of like working out. Simply doing mindless bench presses everyday is not going to get fit. You have to do workouts that are best for your body. In fact, going to the gym is fine, but that's more of an artificial environment for our modern, busy life. The best kind of workouts are those things you do in your everyday life.

There was this story about these college students who got jobs doing junk removal. You go to someone's house, you lift the junk, put it in the crates, take it to a depot, and then empty it out. It's a lot of lifting and bending, a lot of natural motions. These students, they were in the best shape of their lives after that. Their bodies were ripped because naturally they were doing that. So these natural everyday things is what get them in shape. You can supplement it by going to the gym and working on specific areas. So it's the same way in the spiritual life.

The best way to cultivate spiritual muscles is to practice them in natural ways that are a part of your everyday life. Focused activities like prayer and Bible reading are good and they supplement what you do naturally.

So how can we develop our spiritual muscles? Let's look at the story of Moses to reflect a bit on this.

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up. When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here I am. (Exodus 3:1-4)

Moses is a famous figure in the Bible. For Jews, he is THE pivotal figure. He was the one who led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. A weak, divided and victimized people became the people of God under his leadership. He had power that came from the presence of God. If you read Exodus, you see how connected he was with God.

But before all of that happened, he didn't know God. Today's story is how his first encounter happened. It's worth examining the story in detail to really gain some insight.

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. (Exodus 3:1)

I did a little bible study with the interns and they gave me some really good insights. So, I thank them for some of the insights I gained as well. When you look at this, what sort of day was this? Was there anything special happening this day? Not really, right? It was an ordinary day. He was just in the pasture. He had a wife and kids. He was chilling. He was watching sheep. He wasn't thinking beyond that this day. But here's the very interesting thing: without realizing it, he was walking toward the mountain of God. He wasn't conscious or thinking about anything, but he was walking toward the mountain of God.

We live our day to day lives without thinking much about it. We wake up, we eat, go to work, go to school, do what we have to do, go home, play, eat, sleep. That's our life. But without realizing it, we are always walking toward an encounter with God. You don't need to think too much about it. You don't need to worry. Whatever path you're on, you're walking towards God.

Isn't that reassuring? It's not about you and what you do. You are walking toward God. To a place where God wants to meet you.

There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush (Exodus 3:2)

Who initiates this? It's God who initiates. That is the important thing to know. God is trying to get your attention. Maybe it's through something that happened to you. Interaction or conversation that you had. God is an active agent trying to connect with you. God is not just watching out there from a distance.

he looked (Exodus 3:2).

God initiates. But the question is: do we look?

If Moses had tunnel vision, just focused on his job, just leading his flock, not really noticing his surroundings, he wouldn't have seen that burning bush. So many times, in our tunnel vision, we don't even bother to be aware of what's going on. Many things pass by our line of sight, but what do you look at? That's a very important question to ask as well. So I've tried as an exercise. I've been here many times and it feels just like yesterday that we were here. As I look now, even that plaque in that back, I didn't even notice that is said Muskoka Baptist Conference. That's what it was at my first Hi-C retreat. That was the old name of it. I didn't notice that. So many things we just whiz by, we don't notice.

…he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. (Exodus 3:2)

Looking is one thing. What does it mean to look? Is a glance the same thing as look? Moses' looking was not a mere glance. It was not just a quick scroll and then onto the next one. He looked enough to see that the bush was blazing but wasn't being consumed. You have to take a close look, it takes a lingering and observation to see what Moses saw. He stopped long enough to notice, linger and observe. He didn't just stop there.

Then Moses said, I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up. (Exodus 3:3)

I must turn aside, and see why. It's not just a cool, and then move on. No, I must turn aside and see why. There's a curiosity at him. Curiosity is a big part of spiritual life. If you're not curious, then there's no way you can begin to delve into the great mysteries of the spiritual reality that is God. You need to be curious to enter into this whole spiritual world where God is present.

We are flooded by information and consumption. I wonder if that helps kill our curiosity, or numbs our senses, so we can't even wonder in the first place.

In the story of the Good Samaritan, a man was robbed, beaten, and left half dead on the road. A priest and Levite came across him.

Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. (Luke 10:32-33)

We may see, we may look, we may even be intrigued. But do we turn aside, and ask these questions, or do we pass by on the other side?

When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here I am. (Exodus 3:4)

When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, that's when God decided to call out. The spiritual life is about our attention. Spiritual life is about our attention. Not merely in a sensory way: with sight, smell, touch, hearing. It may start with our senses, but from there it goes to our looking, lingering, observing, curiosity, and acting on it. When your heart is looking, lingering, observing, and asking questions. These are the spiritual muscles required. God is always trying to get your attention. We need to notice. You will do so as you build up your spiritual muscles.

How do you build up these spiritual muscles? Using the analogy of the junk removal workers, we do this in our natural everyday life. There's no one way to do this, but I'm going to give you a little bit of a spiritual workout, a routine. I call it the Thanks. Help! Wow! workout.

Thanks:

What are you thankful for? But here's the twist: make it about something not related to you. Not something you have or posses, or the blessings you have, those are the usual things you're grateful for, but this workout, something outside of you.

You can start with something in nature. For example, I didn't realize how beautiful the trees and vegetation are. I'm thankful for this green-ness that makes me feel life. Something like that, notice something outside of you and give thanks for that. Here's the more interesting thanks exercise. Think about people: think about people you encountered that day, and give thanks for that person. Take a little time and stop and observe. Reflect on that person. What am I thankful about this person? Including and especially who annoyed you or got under your skin. It's easy to see the things that irk us about people. But instead of that, stop. What am I thankful about that person for? Do that. It's helped me enormously, and it's brought so much to ministry too. I'm so thankful for all of you.

Thank you for the people around me.. Make that a practice! You'll be happier too, you won't be so annoyed by the people. I think that's what Jesus really meant when he said love your enemies. Do this as a spiritual practice. Thank God for the people that you've met. Focus on what's good about them, that way you'll start noticing things outside of yourself.

Help!

What is beyond your control? What's weighing on you or your heart? What happened that makes your heart heavy? Notice and identify these things. Then present those to God and ask for help. Many of the psalms are cries for help. They recognize their limits. Here's just one from David:

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also. For my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away.

But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, You are my God. My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love. Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord, for I call on you. (Psalm 31:9-17)

Help, that's what he's asking for. We recognize our limits when we cry for help. That's when we know we need a power beyond ourselves to keep us going in life.

Wow!

This is the ability to look at your life and this world and say wow ! How amazing! The other day, Joonie had ball hockey in my old neighborhood. I decided to park and walk through my old neighborhood that I grew up in high school, university, until my first year of law school. I passed by some of my old friends' houses, and there was a park we used to play tennis and football all the time. Up the street, all these memories started flooding back. On the one hand, those were hard years. Teenage angst, my highschool years, eugh. Thinking about who I was, the struggles I faced, and the self esteem issues. Those memories came flooding back, while I was there, another set of memories came flooding back. God was with me during those times. My church, the Hi-C group I was part of, it was such an anchor for me, and without them, I don't know how I would've survived. I experienced so much joy from my church and my faith. Through this, I just sensed the goodness of God's grace. I was filled with wonder. The weather was so beautiful too. It was like heaven. Moments like that. We have to be able to experience the wow of life. Wow that brings a sense of gratitude and a sense of joy. When you can do that, it brings you a little closer to sensing the presence of God in your life. So practice the thanks and the help and those will help you get more and more to the wow. Which I think is the ultimate step to get a taste of God's presence in your life.

There is one final key, THE key, ultimately to the presence of God. Those are good spiritual muscles to build, those will really help you. You'll notice when God is trying to reach you. But that is very hard work. There is one key to the presence of God in your life. This is the ultimate gift that is given to us so we can see God.

This gift is faith. This is how the writer of Hebrews articulates faith:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

The assurance and conviction of things not seen.

Faith is the assurance of God's presence, even when we cannot see God with our physical eyes or feel God. Faith is belief that God is there even when I don't feel God. So faith is the key to God's presence because it's my assurance that God is there even when I'm feeling so distant from God. So when you have faith, you don't have to constantly try to detect God in your life. When you have faith, you just know that God is there. You have the assurance and confidence that God is there, even if I might be feeling so distant from God. Faith is the superpower for an empowered life, but it's like a hidden superpower. You don't even know you have it. It's the mystery of faith. I was addicted to this fantasy book series in high school. It was called the Xanth series. The whole premise is, it's a different realm. The regular earth is called Mundania because it's so mundane. This other realm it's where magic exists. Every person is given a magical talent, but by a certain age, you have to discover this talent. Otherwise, you get banished to Mundania. Some people have very special powerful talents. They're called Magicians. So this one guy, Bink, the main character, he had no talent. He didn't even have the most basic talent. He's on this quest to discover his talent, then he went to this magician who could detect an individual's powers. This magician tells him he has magician level talent. But what do you mean, I don't even know what my talent is?

Interesting things happened as he went on and lived life. Whenever he got into trouble and bad people would use magic on him, he would emerge unfazed. He wouldn't get harmed by other people's magic. His talent was that he could not be harmed by other people's magic. That's the most powerful, he could not be harmed. It was hidden, he never knew! But that's what faith is like. He never knew. Faith is a hidden superpower because it's not something you can consciously acquire for yourself. That's why we call faith a gift. Faith is a gift and a mystery. People didn't realize they had faith, but they had it. It's your superpower to live an empowered life. When you have faith, you know God is with you. So you know that you can get through this with God's presence in your life. Even if I feel empty and dry, I can get through and carry on! With faith, even if I see no way, I trust God will make a way for me. So, more than anything, our prayer, our fervent prayer always should be for this gift of faith. Lord, may you grant me faith to believe and trust in you. If you have that, you have the superpower to live an empowered life.

Cultivate your spiritual abilities and ability to notice God, they are food to nurture our faith. The more you do that, the more your faith will be cultivated. At the end of the day, our main prayer is for that gift of faith.

Reflection Questions:

1. What are some spiritual muscles you need to build? What are some challenges in doing so? What are some ways you can build them?
2. Faith is the assurance of God’s presence, and the key to receiving the power of God. Faith does not depend on whether you see or feel God at that moment. So even if you don’t feel God’s presence, faith gives you the power that comes from God. Do you have this faith? If so, what difference has that faith made in your life? If not, what are some obstacles to having such faith?

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