Sunday's Message - Claim the Spirit

Although it’s not hard to believe that we’ve been called by Christ, actually living that call may be a whole lot more challenging. And so, during the Sundays between the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of Lent, we’ll consider seven ways we can live as followers of Jesus. The topics are listed below. 

• January 16 – Decide to Follow (Mark 1:14-20)
• January 23 – Grow in the Word (2 Timothy 3:10-17)
• January 30 – Pray in Faith (Matthew 6:5-15)
• February 6 – Claim the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26)
• February 13 – Fellowship with Believers (Colossians 3:12-17)
• February 20 – Witness to the World (Matthew 28:16-20)
• February 27 – Minister to Others (1 John 3:15-24)

During this third message, we used Galatians 5:16-26 to discuss how we might claim the Holy Spirit. 

You can stream all our services live by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube channel. If you miss one of these messages, you can find a copy and podcast on the Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community blog (https://thenettransform.blogspot.com/). 

Galatians 5:16-26 [Contemporary English Version]

If you are guided by the Spirit, you won’t obey your selfish desires. The Spirit and your desires are enemies of each other. They are always fighting each other and keeping you from doing what you feel you should. But if you obey the Spirit, the Law of Moses has no control over you.

People’s desires make them give in to immoral ways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds. They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, and selfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are envious. They get drunk, carry on at wild parties, and do other evil things as well. I told you before, and I am telling you again: No one who does these things will share in the blessings of God’s kingdom.

God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways. And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have killed our selfish feelings and desires. God’s Spirit has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit. But don’t be conceited or make others jealous by claiming to be better than they are.

Claim the Spirit

Well, this morning we’re passing the midway point in this sermon series we started last month entitled, “Living the Call: Seven Ways to Live as Followers of Jesus Christ,” which means we have only three more weeks to go before we wrap this up. And just to put this in perspective, based on what happened on Wednesday, we’ll be done about three weeks before the end of winter. But be-that-as-it-may, this morning we’re on message number four in this series. Now as I hope you recall, we’ve already talked about how we can live the call of Jesus by deciding to following, something we can do by opening our minds and leaving behind some of our past and moving into our future. And we’ve also discussed how we can follow Jesus by growing in the Word, something that happens when we take the Bible and love it and learn it and live it. And then last week, we looked at how we can also follow by praying in faith, in other words we can pray trusting that God has an interest in what we have to say and that he has authority and that he has compassion and that he has expectations. Now, that’s what we’ve looked at to this point.

And this morning we’re going to talk about the fourth thing we might want to do as followers of Jesus Christ, and right now I’m talking about claiming the Holy Spirit, something that I believe is important because the Spirit is able to do some stuff for us that we may not be able to do for ourselves. And I’ll tell you, yesterday, as I was thinking about someone who’s done for me the same kind of thing the Holy Spirit does for us, one name came to mind: Corey Gallagher. Let me explain. When Debbie and I moved into our house right across the street, we brought with us a washer and a drier that needed to be hooked up. Of course, right there we had a choice: either I could muster all my mechanical expertise and do it myself,  or we could get it done right. For Debbie, well, the answer was a no-brainer. And so I asked Corey if he could come by and do the work, which he did. And I’ll tell you, I’m really glad he did, because he discovered that there was some issue with the plug, something I wasn’t going to be able to fix it with a hammer and a screwdriver. In a sense, he really helped us clean up our act. You see, Corey Gallagher did something for me that I wasn’t able to do myself.

And you know, that’s really what the Holy Spirit does for us and I’ll tell you, that’s the reason why, as followers of Jesus Christ, I believe the Spirit is something we really need to claim. And so, with that in mind, we’re going to spend the next ten minutes or so talking about three things the Spirit does for us that we just can’t do for ourselves. Now that’s the plan.

For example, I think it’s really important for us to claim the Holy Spirit because the Spirit informs us. You see, that’s the first thing it does. In other words, it helps us get our heads around a book that was written over about two thousand years by a lot of different writers to a mess of different people. You see, I believe it’s the Spirit that opens our ears so that we can hear and our minds so that we can understand and our hearts so that we can feel the power in these words. But you know, this really shouldn’t be a surprise. I mean, Christ himself said this would happen when...

Jesus said to his disciples:

If you love me, you will do as I command. Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you. The Spirit will show you what is true. The people of this world cannot accept the Spirit, because they don’t see or know him. But you know the Spirit, who is with you and will keep on living in you.

I have told you these things while I am still with you. But the Holy Spirit will come and help you, because the Father will send the Spirit to take my place. The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what I said while I was with you. [John 14:15-17, 25-26, CEV]

Now that’s what Jesus said right before he was arrested and nailed to the cross. You see, the Spirit was going to inform those left behind. 

And trust me, I think that applies to us just like it did to them. You see, it’s through the Spirit that we get the information which we need to follow and to grow and to pray, in other words, to live the Christian life. And I’ll tell you, I think that’s why Paul told Timothy that “all scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” [1 Timothy 3:16, NRSV] Put another way, the Spirit is constantly breathing new life and new meaning into what we call “the old, old story.” And because of that, we can understand how God wants us to respond, and I’m talking about responding in the world we have right now and not the one that we had fifty years ago nor the one that we’ll have when Jesus returns. You see, the Spirit helps us understand how we might love God and neighbor as we live in a world where often it sure seems as thought the bad guys are winning and in a society that becomes more divided, hostile  and confused each and every day and in a community where men and women still struggle with the same kind of stuff folks have always tried to fight through. You see, it’s the Spirit who helps us figure out how we can live, both as individuals and as a body. Why? Because the Spirit informs those who follow. And that’s one reason it should be claimed.

And second, along with informing us, the Holy Spirit also empowers the followers of Jesus Christ. In other words, it equips us to show the kind of love we’ve been called to show. But even more than that, it also gives us the skills and the interest and the opportunities to roll up our sleeves and to do it. You see, the Spirit doesn’t just help us understand, it empowers us to succeed. And my friends, this is exactly what the Apostle Paul said would happen when he wrote this to the Corinthians:

My friends, you asked me about spiritual gifts. I want you to remember that before you became followers of the Lord, you were led in all the wrong ways by idols that cannot even talk. Now I want you to know that if you are led by God’s Spirit, you will say that Jesus is Lord, and you will never curse Jesus.

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve the same Lord, and we can each do different things. Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do. 

The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others. [1 Corinthians 12:1-7, CEV]

Now this is how the Spirit empowers us.

And I’ll tell you, I think, the word “us” is really important. You see, even though each of us has been equipped with certain talents and gifts, we really need one another to get the job done. In other words, preachers are all well and good when you need a sermon, but you’re probably out of luck if you need to file a legal brief or to fill a prescription or to cook a roaster of chicken noodle soup or, my gosh, to hook up a washer and drier. We need one another to do the work. And I’ll tell you something else, we also need one another to identify the different gifts that God has lead together into this community and to find ways to integrate those gifts into a single mission. I mean, I might not be in the best position to determine the skills that I’ve been given nor the ways those talents may be used to show love to God and to one another. But when we come together, we can help folks identify their gifts and find ways they may be put to good and effective use. But doing this is only possible because the Spirit empowers those who follow. And that’s the second reason it should be claimed. 

And third, the Holy Spirit inspires us, filling us with those qualities that are necessary to become the people we were created to be. In other words, the Spirit gives us the kind of character and temperament that will enable us to act on the information which we have and to exercise the power we’ve been given. Simply put, the Spirit cultivates within us those qualities that reflect the fundamental values taught by Jesus. And I’ll tell you, I believe this was exactly what Paul was getting at when he wrote the passage we read just a little while ago. Remember, he said, 

If you are guided by the Spirit, you won’t obey your selfish desires. The Spirit and your desires are enemies of each other. They are always fighting each other and keeping you from doing what you feel you should.

God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways. And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have killed our selfish feelings and desires. God’s Spirit has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit. But don’t be conceited or make others jealous by claiming to be better than they are. [Galatians 5:16-17, 22-26, CEV]

Now, this was what Paul wrote.

And because of this, and I’m talking about the Spirit’s inspiration, these are the people we can become. Now, please don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that we can always be loving and happy, peaceful and patient, kind and good. And let’s get real, absolute faithfulness and constant gentleness and total self-control, these are probably above and beyond our abilities. Still, we can hold these qualities up as examples and, with the Spirit’s help, we can work them into not just our lives but also into our communities, maybe even our nation and world. In other words, we can recognize the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and we can allow it to shape our character and our outlook. You see, whether we want it or not, the Holy Spirit inspires those who follow. And that’s the third reason it should be claimed. 

Now, do you remember what I said at the beginning of this message, you know, about how Corey did something for me that I wasn’t really able to do for myself? Well, like I said, that’s really what the Holy Spirit does for us right here and right now. You see, the Spirit informs us so that we can understand. And it empowers us so that we get to work. And it inspires us so that we can become the men and women God called us to be. And this is why, I believe the followers of Jesus need to claim the Spirit, something that we can do whether our washers and driers are hooked up or not.