The Spirit Empowers

Good morning, everyone.

Hope you're well.

And this week has been a season of blessing for you.

! I know one or two of you have been through some hard times.

!

And Lord, it amazes us that what in the minds of the secular powers was complete failure.

Lord, you transformed into the most amazing opportunity for sinful human beings.

Whilst we were still sinners, Paul wrote to the Romans, Christ died for us.

Lord, we're so grateful that you didn't wait till we were perfect.

But Lord, while we were still sinners, you provided us with a cure for the consequences of our sin.

And Lord, we thank you that you've not left us alone to struggle in the Christian life.

But as this series of sermons has reminded us, Lord, you've sent your Spirit upon your church.

Lord, to uphold us and to strengthen us.

And today, Lord, we think about how you empower us.

And we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.

So, I was reading an article in the Harvard Business Review.

And empowerment has become a buzzword of much of kind of business culture in the Western world.

It's a word that's frequently used in management seminars and in leadership seminars.

It's used by identitarian groups, people who primarily identify themselves by their gender or by their sexuality, whatever,

who love to talk about being empowered in this world.

And one of the sentences that really gripped my attention in this was,

the writer of this article wrote,

much of the talk of empowerment today is illusory.

It's promised by people who really cannot empower you,

and yet promise you the earth through empowerment.

I'm minded of Michelle Obama, a wonderful woman in many, many ways,

and some of you will have read her best-selling book, sold 14 million copies, called Becoming.

In that book, beautifully written book, she charts her history from South Chicago.

South Chicago, South Chicago, is the only place on planet Earth where I pass the end of a road.

There's a roadside saying,

if you are not a resident, it would not be wise to enter this street.

It's a rough place.

And she came from there, got herself a place in, I think it was Princeton University,

and then she went on to do postgraduate at Harvard.

I mean, this is the cream of American education that she managed to get herself to from her very humble beginnings.

I mean, as a story of hope, it really is unbeatable.

Then she came to this country, and quite a lot in the States,

and went around giving lectures on empowerment.

This was particularly aimed at young women and girls.

And in those lectures, I mean, this is just my opinion, you don't have to agree with it,

but in those lectures, she rather painted people as victims,

and then encouraged them by saying, you can be what you want to be.

Now, you might say, well, she has some authority for saying that,

given her upbringing and the outcomes in her life.

I mean, she became the first lady of the most powerful nation in the world,

and I think worked very well in that role.

But basically, empowerment is very simple.

It means giving the authority and the power to somebody to do something,

to achieve something.

So I was in the Marriott Hotel in Chicago at one time.

I used to attend a conference there every year.

And I got there, and I sort of, you know, I mean, this is not particularly humble, let me say,

but I kind of saw myself as a regular in this hotel.

So they gave me a room.

I went into my room, just flown halfway across the world, lay on the bed,

and I could hear a noise like Concorde landing.

So I tracked the genesis of this loud noise.

It was the ice machine, which was right outside my door.

So I shot down to the desk, and there's a young woman there.

I said to her, I can't stay in their room.

It's too noisy.

She goes, well, we don't have many rooms left, sir, you know, available at your grade.

I would have put down.

So I said to her, please, can you not help me?

She goes, out comes a key.

I go, and she's given me a suite.

And I thought to myself, this is amazing.

So I went to see the manager that handles group travel in the hotel,

and I told him what she'd done.

He said, yeah, he said, every week we talk to our staff about empowerment.

He said, we give them the authority to make decisions

that will best help our customers have a good experience when they stay here,

and there are no questions asked.

I said, if I'd known that, I would have asked for the presidential suite.

So just by way of introduction, this word empowerment,

and thank God we have the Holy Spirit,

is about being given the authority.

Matthew 28, Jesus said, all authority's been given to me.

And then what he does is he shares some of that authority

by saying, you will continue my work here on the planet.

Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.

Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

God has given us authority.

And God has given us power.

The power of the Holy Spirit.

You think about it.

That early church were locked away, 120 of them,

barely a decent congregation,

locked away in a room somewhere in Jerusalem,

told to wait.

They were fearful.

And then, on that blessed day, the day of Pentecost,

the Holy Spirit fell upon them.

And they went from being frightened disciples

to being fearless disciples,

many of whom were prepared to lose their lives

for the sake of Christ and his church, his congregation.

So my first point is this, you know,

let's understand what empowerment is

and let's understand that the Holy Spirit

has empowered all of us.

The second thing I want to say to you is,

there's a great danger.

I mean, I love reading the Acts of the Apostles.

I love reading that kind of narrative account

of what went on in the early church.

And I think there is a small danger

in the church today

that we kind of glorify the early church

as if it was a problem-free zone

as compared to today

when we seem to have endless problems,

many of them created by ourselves.

And the glorification of the church,

the idea that somehow they had no problem

but we've got plenty,

is not actually backed up by the text, is it?

In Acts chapter 6, very early on,

Acts 6 · chapter mention

very early on,

I mean, maybe within two years

of Jesus ascending into heaven,

what do we read?

We read that there was a horrific danger

of a massive ethnic divide in the church.

The Greek-speaking widows

felt that they were not getting their share

of the daily collection,

which was called the daily distribution.

Interestingly,

the early church was more interested

in collecting money

to share with people

who had very little.

Then many of our churches think today

with their grand buildings

to maintain and all that stuff.

In the early church,

it was a bit different.

But here is a potential ethnic divide

that could have split the church

down the middle

from almost day one.

Could have wrecked it.

So the disciples come up with a plan.

They look,

this is, you know,

this is standard operational duty

that we need to deal with.

So they chose,

that we're told they chose six men.

Here's my text.

They chose Stephen,

a man full of faith

and full of the Holy Spirit.

They didn't send him off

to some selection conference

for two days

to meet with people

they never met in their lives

who would pass an opinion

as to whether he was called

to leadership.

No.

They had one

and one criterion only.

This was a man

full of faith

and full of the Holy Spirit.

And I want you to notice

something really profound.

That this man

had a remarkable life.

A remarkable life.

It says

that he performed

many signs and wonders.

But note this,

the man who started his ministry

full of faith

and full of the Holy Spirit.

at the end of his ministry

when the crowd around him

picked up rocks

to lob at his head

it said Stephen

full of the Spirit

prayed for them.

Anybody in the house

think that

that kind of model

is something

that we should be aiming for

but I don't know about you.

My problem is

God has filled me

with the Holy Spirit

but damn it,

I leak.

I need constant

replenishing.

And I think

I may not be

the only person

in the house

who needs that.

So I want to

talk to you

about Stephen,

this man

who is such a model

of spirit-filled existence.

And I want to say

three things about that.

actually,

these are not things

that kind of fit

into the sexy model

of ministry.

These are what I would call

the hard yards

of fullness

of the Holy Spirit.

You see,

I think if there's a danger

that we glorify

the early church

by pretending

it had no problems,

there is a kind of

added

attraction for us.

fullness.

And that is

we're interested

in the kind of

fullness

of the Spirit

that leads to

what you might call

the more exuberant

gifts of the Spirit.

So,

three things.

The first thing

about Stephen

is this.

He shows us

that fullness

serves.

fullness

serves.

At the beginning

of his ministry,

this man

showed

his willingness

to serve

by giving

the most mundane

job in the church

of counting

the collection

and distributing it.

Apologies

to the treasurer.

Given

the most mundane

job

and showed

a willingness

to serve

before he

showed

a willingness

to undertake

the ministry

that God

had given

him.

And by the way,

if you think

that being

filled with

the Holy Spirit

means that you

will have

a happy ending,

just remember,

Stephen's

unbelievable

ministry

ended in

his death.

Terrible,

violent,

brutal

death.

fullness

serves.

Jesus said

in Mark

Mark 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10

and verse

45,

the Son of

Man came

not to be

served,

but to serve

and to give

his life

as a ransom

for many.

You

are

bought,

if you are

a Christian,

bought by the

blood of Jesus

Christ on the

cross of Calvary.

Nothing you did

saved you,

and everything

that God

did save you.

In

Philippians

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

the great

apostle St.

Paul tells us

that we

should have

the same

attitude of

Christ Jesus,

who never

wanted equality

with God

while he was

on planet

earth,

but became

obedient,

even obedient

unto death.

in chapter

2 of

the Acts

of the

Apostles,

right at

the end

of the

chapter

there,

we read

something of

the life

of the

early church.

This is

what fullness

serving looks

like.

These people,

we're told,

were prepared

to sell

their possessions

and create

money in

order that

they could

give it to

the people

who had

nothing.

You know,

I was

thinking of

preaching this,

thinking,

what could I

sell so I

could just

say,

I do

this.

But

everything I

thought about

selling,

I decided I

didn't want

to.

Fullness

serves.

Stephen got

that.

And friends,

I don't know how

many people there

are in church

this morning,

but this church

can always use

more volunteers.

Always use

people who,

when God

speaks to them,

say yes

and not

yes but.

I mean,

it is a

challenge in

most churches

to get the

kind of

quotient up

of people who

are prepared to

serve in the

church.

Explained this

to you before,

the 80-20 rule.

80% of the

people just

sit back and

treat

Christianity as

a spectator

sport.

20% get

involved.

Incidentally,

apropos Alex and

Neville's message

at the beginning

of the service,

20% of the

giving in most

churches,

sorry,

80% of the

giving is

supplied by

20% of the

people.

I went

around the

diocese I

served telling

people,

if you can

break that

statistic,

you really

start to

make a

difference.

Fullness

serves.

It may not

be sexy to

say that,

but that's a

mark of the

fullness in

the life of

Stephen.

The second

thing is,

fullness

speaks.

you remember

there were

these people

from the

synagogue of

the freed

men.

I mean,

they sound

like they

were deep

in bondage

when you

read about

what they

think.

But these

people started

accusing

Stephen.

But,

the scripture

says they

could not

stand against

the wisdom

with which

he spoke.

I think

every preacher

secretly hopes

that.

but Stephen

had it in

spades.

Fullness

speaks.

You remember

in Acts

Acts 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

that there

was another

terrible crisis

for the church

while we're

on the subject

of the problems

of the early

church.

And the

problem was

the Sanhedrin,

the council

of the top

theologians

in Jerusalem,

sent to

Peter,

you are

not to

speak any

longer in

the name

of Jesus

Christ.

I mean,

imagine

if the

disciples,

the apostles

had taken

any notice

of that.

You imagine

it because

we wouldn't

be sitting

here this

morning.

I reckon

if they

stopped

preaching in

the name

of Jesus

Christ,

then what

would have

happened would

be that

Christianity

would have

died the

death of a

kind of

weird sect

of Judaism

in the

temple courts.

I don't

think,

I don't

think

that we

would have

survived

that.

And what

happens?

Peter goes

back,

Peter and

John go

back,

tell the

disciples,

this is

what we've

been told.

They didn't

pitch themselves

as victims

and go

around,

you know,

miserable.

They said

they prayed

together.

And it

says this,

the Holy

Spirit came

upon them.

And at

the end

of the

prayer

meeting,

the building

shook.

You know,

I know

that architects

get jumpy

about this

and health

and safety

people,

but the

bottom line

is I

long for

the church

to be

shaken

today,

shaken

by the

Holy Spirit.

Am I

on my

own?

Someone

say no.

Oh my

goodness,

hey.

Listen

to me.

What does

it say

then?

All of

them,

not just

the apostles,

all of

them went

out and

spoke the

word of

God boldly.

Let me

ask you

something,

friend.

When was

the last

time you

spoke about

God boldly

when you

weren't in

church?

I mean,

for some

of you,

a Christian

might be,

when did

you speak

of him

boldly

when you

were in

church?

Foolness

speaks.

And

Stephen

shows us

what that

looks like.

You're

saying,

well,

I'd love

to speak

more,

but I'm

scared that

somebody might

ask me a

question that

I couldn't

answer.

You know

what the

Bible says?

In a

situation where

you're under

pressure,

who will

give you the

words to

say?

The Holy

Spirit.

If you

step out,

you'll be

surprised how

God will

use even

you.

I take

the view

that God

used Balaam's

ass, so

there's hope

for all of

us.

Fullness

serves,

fullness

speaks,

and finally,

fullness

shines.

it's

said that

when

Stephen was

defending the

faith to

these people

in the

synagogue of

the freedmen,

his face

shone like

that of

an angel.

You don't

see much of

that in

today's

church,

do you?

I have

seen it.

I was

freshly

converted,

probably only

been converted

about a

month,

when the

man who

was about

to be

my best

man,

took me

to Rome.

It was

his birthday

present,

and he

asked his

mum and

dad,

can Mike

and I

go to

Rome and

go to

the

Focolare

movement

conference?

I had

never heard

of the

Focolare

movement.

I asked

him,

what is

the

Focolare

movement?

He said,

it's a

Roman Catholic

renewal

movement.

I didn't

know what

Roman Catholics

were,

and I didn't

know what

a renewal

movement

was,

but I

liked him,

and so

we went.

It was

amazing,

and the

Focolare

movement

was headed

up by

this amazing

woman called

Chiara

Lubert,

and I

swear,

when she

spoke

to the

attendees

at this

conference,

we had to

listen by

simultaneous

translation,

because I

don't

understand

too much

Italian.

Well,

she spoke.

I swear

her face

shone like

that of

an angel,

and then

I got a

message,

she didn't

ask me

direct,

I got a

message

saying,

would you

mind giving

your testimony

to like

4,000 people?

I mean,

I've been

converted

about a

month,

stood up

there,

my knees

were knocking,

I was frightened

I might vomit

or faint,

and I

told how

God had

broken into

my life

a moron

and saved

me from

the consequences

of my

wrongdoing

and set

me on a

new course

in life.

She then

sent me

a message

saying,

and would

you like

to meet

the Pope?

I didn't

seem

gracious

to say,

well,

I'm not

keen,

you know.

So I

did go

and it

turned out

it was

what they

call

something,

a minor

audience

or something

like that.

So there

were about

a dozen

of us,

young people

from the,

and we

met with

the Holy

Father

and he

blessed us

in Latin

and we

all went

home.

Stephen's

face,

shone

like that

of an

angel.

And the

one thing

that you

see in

that narrative

about Stephen

is there

was something

different about

this guy.

Wasn't

anything special

about him,

I don't think,

but there

was something

amazing about

him.

He lived

in Christ

the most

amazing life.

He did

signs and

he did

wonders.

He defended

the faith

against

hostile

people

from the

synagogue

of the

freedmen.

He gave

it all

he got

and in

the end

he gave

his life.

You know,

your heart

stops when

you think

about that.

He gave

his life.

I remember

during the

Vietnam War

there was

one of those

big demonstrations

at one of the

universities

out there

and

somebody

had a

placard

and the

placard

said

war

isn't

worth

dying

for.

And I

think in

general

many of

us

would agree

with that.

But Charles

Colson saw

that placard.

Charles

Colson who

got put in

prison over

the Watergate

thing and

then became

a Christian

in prison

wrote the

most

marvelous

books

before he

died

obviously.

And Charles

Colson saw

that placard

and he

wrote this

book.

What is

worth dying

for today?

See,

I ask you

that question.

What do

you think

is worth

dying for

today?

I mean

maybe you

have some

cause that

I don't

know about

that you

think,

you know,

I'd be

prepared to

go and

get killed

for this

but Stephen

got killed

for no

other reason

than he

was a

brilliant

disciple

of Jesus

Christ.

And he

didn't just

die.

He wasn't

lying in a

bed with

tubes coming

out of

every orifice

deeply

sedated.

He was

alive.

And they

threw rocks

at him and

they killed

him.

not

knowing

that in

Stephen's

death there

would be

a resurrection

and Stephen

would be

even more

alive than

he was

on earth

in heaven.

I've

talked to

you

about the

hard yards

of the

fullness

of the

Spirit.

See,

I think a

servant

heart

doesn't

just

begin

when you

decide to

volunteer

for a few

things.

I think it

starts in

here.

When you

realize that

the Son of

Man came

not to be

served but

to serve.

When you

realize that

Paul the

Apostle says

your attitude

should be the

same as

Christ Jesus.

Fullness

speaks.

Acts chapter

Acts 1 · chapter mention

1 and verse

8 will tell

you,

you're a

witness.

You might

not be an

evangelist,

you might

not be a

budding

Billy Graham

or Sarah

Graham,

whatever.

But you've

got a

tongue in

your head

and hopefully

a faith in

your heart

and a

spirit

that's

giving you

the opportunity

day by

day to

say

something.

I

hesitate

to say

this but

I think

there are

some of

us who

have had a

kind of

self-awareness

bypass and

when it comes

to witness

it's very

unnatural.

We somehow

try and force

it into a

conversation and

it feels

not quite

right.

I'm not

talking about

that.

I'm not

talking about

Christians who

have Bibles the

size of a

paving slab who

are going to

beat you around

the head with

it until you

submit.

I'm talking

about you.

I'm talking

about you

waking up

every day and

praying to

God, how

can I serve

you today?

I'm talking

about you

waking up and

saying to

God, how

can I speak

for you

today?

And

fullness

shines.

I often

wonder,

myself,

never mind

anybody else,

but what

would happen

if a

Martian

landed on

planet Earth

and looked

at those of

us who

attend church

on a Sunday?

How different

would we look

than the rest

of the world?

How different?

My friend

Graham Tomlin

wrote his

book, The

Provocative

Church, and

one of the

things he was

keen to stress

in that was

that our

very lives

should be

provocative.

They should

leave others

with questions

about why

is Harry

like that?

Why is

Mary like

that?

And that

would give

us the

opportunity

to say

something.

I love

Stephen,

and when

I get

to heaven,

I'm going

to look

up his

postcode,

and I'm

going to

go around

and visit

with him,

and I'm

going to

say,

well done,

because you

taught me

something that

I needed

to learn.

You taught

me something

I wasn't

even desperate

to learn.

but you

taught it

to me,

and I

noticed

that the

life you

had

meant that

you started

your ministry

in the

fullness of

the Spirit,

and you

ended it

full of the

Holy Spirit.

And I want

to be like

that.

And if you

don't want to

be like that,

I suggest you

go and speak

to a Christian

counselor or

something.

But if you

want that,

if you want

that level

of consistency,

if you want

to be a

serving,

speaking,

shining

Christian,

I'm going

to pray

for you

now.

Let's

bow our

heads.

I'm going

to leave a

few minutes

quiet,

and in

that quiet,

I'm praying

that the

Holy Spirit

is going

to whisper

in your

ear,

and if

he needs

to,

he's going

to shout

that you

might decide

in the light

of God's

word,

what next

for me?

God's

gracious

father,

we know

that you

have filled

us with the

spirit that

day we gave

our lives

to you,

but Lord,

we also

know the

truth.

Many of

us have

leaked,

and Lord,

we're aware

that living

on the

spiritual

experience

of

yesteryear

can

sometimes

not be

healthy.

As Isaiah

put it,

our

spiritual

experience

fades like

the leaves

in winter.

Lord,

we don't

want to

be faded

Christians.

We don't

want to

be leaking

Christians,

and we

long to

pray to

you now

that you

would send

your Holy

Spirit upon

your people

gathered.

Lord,

we pray

that you

would shake

this

church,

and Lord,

that we

might become

serving,

speaking,

shining

Christians,

Lord,

whose lives

are earthed

in your

word,

and truly

empowered by

your Holy

Spirit.

and so,

Lord,

we thank

you for

Stephen's

story,

and we

pray,

Lord,

that it

might be a

passion for

us as

we seek

to live

the

spiritual

life that

you have

for us.

Lord,

we pray

this now,

and the

people who

agreed said

together,

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.