{"id":964,"date":"2014-05-25T13:10:17","date_gmt":"2014-05-25T18:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/?p=964"},"modified":"2014-11-25T10:11:06","modified_gmt":"2014-11-25T16:11:06","slug":"the-greatest-resource-often-goes-unused","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2014\/05\/25\/the-greatest-resource-often-goes-unused\/","title":{"rendered":"The Greatest Resource, Often Goes Unused"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/sermons\/?sermon_id=38\" target=\"_blank\">Audio Link<\/a><\/p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uXuQpERVkd0?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<p class=\"p1\">Acts 17:22\u201331<br \/>\n1 Peter 3:13\u201322<br \/>\nJohn 14:15\u201321<\/p>\n<p>These days we often hear about conserving our resources.\u00a0 Stay with renewable resources.\u00a0 Only use what we have the most of and conserve the rest.\u00a0 When God created the heavens and the earth, God gave dominion over the earth to humanity.\u00a0 This was first to Adam and Eve but later to their offspring, and the entirety of humanity.\u00a0 Have we actually used what God gives us for all of earth, for all of humanity that resides here on this world that God created?<\/p>\n<p>This week, like many of our Sunday readings has so much meat to them.\u00a0 I am glad that the pews are so comfortable here; because there is so much that the Spirit is calling me to speak about.\u00a0 Oh, don\u2019t worry, I will not get to everything that I want to, but there are some highlights today that I just need to speak about.<\/p>\n<p>The Holy Spirit is something that often Lutherans but I think you all are an expectation, have some hesitation about speaking about.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit, Wind, Pneuma, Breath are all words to describe the Spirit of God, Christ. If the Spirit is here, present, now. \u00a0Why do we not call upon the Spirit, as Jesus tells us, so that what we ask will be answered?\u00a0 It was in last week\u2019s Gospel reading when tied to this weeks reading that we hear that we need only to ask of the Spirit and it will be granted.\u00a0 From John 14:12-13; <sup>12\u00a0<\/sup>Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. <sup>13\u00a0<\/sup>I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. <sup>14\u00a0<\/sup>If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. <sup><sup>[1]<\/sup><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>This week\u2019s reading, promises us that the Spirit of Christ will be sent to us.\u00a0 Is the Spirit difficult to grasp, because we cannot feel, cannot see, does that causes us to not comprehend it?\u00a0 It is in the groping for the understanding that we become strongest with this resource given to us.\u00a0 This Spirit, we are told abides in us, is in us and in Christ and God the Father.\u00a0 We are one with Jesus the Christ, who is one with God the Father and therefore, we are all in each other.\u00a0 We hear this, we are promised this but what does this mean to us?\u00a0 Just what the heck do we do with this? The Spirit of Christ is is our greatest resource in the world.<\/p>\n<p>It is in our baptisms, that we invite the Spirit to be present.\u00a0 No, as an infant, we cannot do this but that is what the parents and godparents do on our behalf.\u00a0 Some of us actually were baptized as adults so, we did ask for this, myself included.\u00a0 Although we ask this, the Spirit of Christ is already present in each of us, waiting to be seen, waiting to be recognized.\u00a0 It is in John that Jesus tells us that the Spirit is Truth yet some will not recognize this.\u00a0 But those who are open to the truth, see and recognize the Spirit as Truth, The Way and The Life.\u00a0 The greatest resource is the Spirit.<\/p>\n<p>Is the Spirit so close that often we do not see the truth?\u00a0 Maybe that is it, we don\u2019t see the truth in the ignorance of the proximity of the Sprit to us and to God.\u00a0 But we can trust in the promise of Christ when He says that He will send another, which is the Sprit, of Himself. \u00a0\u00a0Some might say as children we are ignorant of what the Sprit is and can do, but are we?\u00a0 Maybe it is in the childlike faith, as adults, we need to call upon the Sprit to give as we have been promised.\u00a0 Children get it, a greater power, that when called upon can and will do for others and us.\u00a0 Call upon the resource that Jesus promised the Father would send and do wondrous things through us in the world.<\/p>\n<p>The childlike faith in baptism, the trust that an infant puts in their parents is also extended to the godparents.\u00a0 What an opportunity to be there for the child being baptized.\u00a0 To be the one that has the responsibility either as parent or godparent to raise a child with the scriptures, with prayer and so much more.\u00a0 The Spirit is close, so close that we cannot see, cannot sometimes even feel the Spirit of Christ, but we can call upon It.<\/p>\n<p>The Spirit is the resource waiting for us to call upon and use for humanity.\u00a0 The Spirit is there for the parents, the godparents and all who call upon the Spirit of Christ.<\/p>\n<p>At confirmation time, the confirmand has the opportunity to now take full responsibility of following the scriptures and every responsibility that the parents and godparents took on for the baptized.\u00a0 This does not mean the responsibility ends for parents and godparents just a change in seasons.\u00a0 Even then and for those of us that have been confirmed for a week, a month, a year or many years, one thing has not changed.\u00a0 The Spirit is so close sometimes we cannot see nor touch.\u00a0 The Spirit is embedded tightly in us, all the way down to the atoms that make us, the atoms of creation that God placed together to bring life.\u00a0 God has put the Spiritual Resource there for us to use in the world, tightly integrated so we cannot run out of the Greatest Resource in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Do we need our eyes to see the Spirit or the Truth of what has been told us by Christ Jesus, in order to see in faith?\u00a0 We have hope, hope in the promise of God in Christ.\u00a0 This hope confounds the non-Christians, hope in something that cannot be seen; hope in the reality of the creator, God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Spirit.\u00a0 The Spirit is powerful, yet unseen and often unused.\u00a0 The people of Athens in our reading were confronted with multiple gods and today, we are to, different religions, different ideas, money, power, friends, all sorts of things that take away our focus upon the life giving Spirit of God.<\/p>\n<p>Often when I do reading and research for my sermons, I play music.\u00a0 This week was no exception.\u00a0 Over this last week, I kept getting hit by the same song over and over.\u00a0 I believe the Spirit was sending me a message about the Greatest Resource ever, the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 The song is by Matthew West and it is called <em>Do Something<\/em>.\u00a0 It goes like this:<\/p>\n<p>I woke up this morning<\/p>\n<p>Saw a world full of trouble now<\/p>\n<p>Thought, how\u2019d we ever get so far down<\/p>\n<p>How\u2019s it ever gonna turn around<\/p>\n<p>So I turned my eyes to Heaven<\/p>\n<p>I thought, \u201cGod, why don\u2019t you do something?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Well, I just couldn\u2019t bare the thought of<\/p>\n<p>People living in poverty<\/p>\n<p>Children sold into slavery<\/p>\n<p>The thought disgusted me<\/p>\n<p>So, I shook my fist at Heaven<\/p>\n<p>Said, \u201cGod, why don\u2019t you do something?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cI did, I created you\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If not us, then who<\/p>\n<p>If not me and you<\/p>\n<p>Right now, it\u2019s time for us to do something.[2]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It is with the Spirit that all things are possible.\u00a0 When Jesus says another will be sent, it is His own Spirit and through this Spirit, greater things can be accomplished then when Jesus walked the earth over 2,000 years ago.\u00a0 The Spirit is the Greatest Resource, given in abundance, to all that call upon the Spirit.\u00a0 It is estimated that there is over 7.2 billion people in the world.\u00a0 Imagine what all these people can do with the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n<p>Let me leave you with this thought today.<\/p>\n<p>An American with an English gentleman was viewing the Niagara \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 whirlpool rapids, when he said to his friend: \u201cCome, and I\u2019ll show you the \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 greatest unused power in the world.\u201d And taking him to the foot of Niagara \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Falls, \u201cthere,\u201d he said, \u201cis the greatest unused power in the world!\u201d \u201cAh, no \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 my brother, not so!\u201d was the reply. \u201cThe greatest unused power in the \u00a0world is the Holy Spirit of the living God.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014A. J. Gordon<sup><sup>[3]<\/sup><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><sup><sup>[1]<\/sup><\/sup> <em>The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version<\/em> (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Jn 14:12\u201314.<\/p>\n<p>[2] \u201cMATTHEW WEST LYRICS &#8211; Do Something,\u201d accessed May 23, 2014, http:\/\/www.azlyrics.com\/lyrics\/matthewwest\/dosomething.html.<\/p>\n<p><sup><sup>[3]<\/sup><\/sup> Paul Lee Tan, <em>Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times<\/em> (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 555.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Audio Link Acts 17:22\u201331 1 Peter 3:13\u201322 John 14:15\u201321 These days we often hear about conserving our resources.\u00a0 Stay with renewable resources.\u00a0 Only use what we have the most of and conserve the rest.\u00a0 When God created the heavens and the earth, God gave dominion over the earth to humanity.\u00a0 This was first to Adam &#8230; <span class=\"more\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2014\/05\/25\/the-greatest-resource-often-goes-unused\/\">[Read more&#8230;]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[73,74,36,60,83,61,4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-admin","4":"post-964","6":"format-standard","7":"category-baptism","8":"category-confirmation","9":"category-promise","10":"category-seeing","11":"category-sermon","12":"category-sight","13":"category-spirit"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2m6h5-fy","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":518,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2013\/06\/30\/love-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":964,"position":0},"title":"Love of God","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"June 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Link to Audio Sermon Galatians 5:1 Galatians 5:13-25 1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.\u00a0 13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christian Love&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Christian Love","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/christian-love\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.santuariopenapolis.com.br\/fotos\/4861383e6fd6ab36e855727602418ab2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2009\/08\/03\/prayer-journey\/","url_meta":{"origin":964,"position":1},"title":"Prayer Journey","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"August 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Below you will find a short sermon I used while with the Boy Scouts in Boundary Waters. I hope you will enjoy.As we gather today at the Boundary Waters, I get an awesome sense of God\u2019s majesty. So much of our days are spent in hustle and bustle. But here,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":636,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2013\/12\/12\/the-purpose-of-christmas-time-for-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":964,"position":2},"title":"The Purpose of Christmas: Time for Salvation","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"December 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Based upon the Book, The Purpose of Christmas, by Rick Warren Video Link Audio Link \u00a01John 1:8-10 Romans 7:14-20 When I say the word salvation, what comes to mind?\u00a0 Some of you might say, going to heaven, NOT going to hell, saved from sins, or a variety of other things\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Eternal Life&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Eternal Life","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/eternal-life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_ISOhLl8_kTk\/STX-9TsR9II\/AAAAAAAAARc\/2ZN91TeiFp4\/s400\/The%2BPurpose%2Bof%2BChristmas%2Bbanner.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":606,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2013\/10\/31\/truth-leads-to-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":964,"position":3},"title":"Truth Leads to Life","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"October 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Reformation Sunday Jeremiah 31:31-34 Psalm 46:1-11 Romans 3:19-28 John 8:31-36 Audio Version Video Version Last week pastor spoke about wrestling with faith.\u00a0 We heard the story of Jacob being renamed after wrestling all night with a man who in the end gives another name to Jacob, which is Israel.\u00a0 As\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Grace&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Grace","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/grace\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":583,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2013\/09\/03\/why-do-we-do-what-we-do-and-how\/","url_meta":{"origin":964,"position":4},"title":"Why do we do what we do and how?","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"September 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Proverbs 25:6-7 Psalm 112:1-10 Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 Luke 14:1, 7-14 Audio Link When I was a police office, I told myself initially, that I wanted to do this job because I wanted to \u201cHelp Others\u201d. On the surface, this was very much true, I liked doing, and there is nothing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Faith&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/faith\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2011\/12\/25\/peaceconcord\/","url_meta":{"origin":964,"position":5},"title":"Peace\/Concord","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"December 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Peace\/Concord on Earth As we wait in anticipation of the Christmas season, we look to what we have been told happened over 2,000 years ago.\u00a0 A reading from Luke 2:13-15 13suddenly\u00a0a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14\u00a0\u201cGloryto God in the highest\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-_gmLV6-jxys\/TvbVqVuW0QI\/AAAAAAAAAhs\/nVgGPR9A2nw\/s320\/Jesus%2BChrist%2Bour%2Bpilot%2Bb.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=964"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":969,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964\/revisions\/969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}