Church on the move

[AI translation] This Word is like a mobilization order. And indeed it is! The commander-in-chief issues the decree, his last earthly command to conquer the world. And what happened at Pentecost is indeed a mobilization: Jesus mobilized his brothers and sisters from heaven by his Holy Spirit. Since then, the Church of Christ has lived in the world as a mobilized army. The Christian Church is at the heart of what the ancients called ecclesia militans - the church militant. And if it is not, it has ceased to be a church. That is why today I would like to speak again of Jesus' eternal Pentecostal command.The first question is: why is there always a need for this mobilisation? It is because the disciples of Jesus were always willing, and are willing today, to be passive, to be idle spectators, to be unproductive pious. Here again they asked Him, "Is not this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6) This is the expression of the spirit that wants to be a beneficiary, not a worker, of the kingdom of God. It is as if the disciples were saying here, "Lord, let us see at last that we have something to gain by believing in you, that we are your disciples! It would be so good if this nation could be great and happy again! We would that Thy glory were acknowledged by all, that all would bow the knee and the head before Thee, that lying and malice should no longer pollute the air, that one people should no longer fear another, that love, goodness, forgiveness should reign in souls everywhere, that all marriages should be pure and happy, that our children might grow in Thy fear! In short, if your kingdom, O Lord, were finally established on earth! This is what we want, this is what we wait for! Would that Thou wouldst make our hopes in Thee come true? Do something to make it better!
Somehow with such dreamy adoration, such expectation of miracles, the disciples turned to Jesus. And Jesus turns the tables and says: yes, that is exactly what I want to do: to pour into this world the powers of salvation, to triumph love over hatred, goodness over all evil. I want to restore the kingdom of God on earth: but through you! That is, not in the way that you would like to be the beneficiaries of what I am doing, but in the way that you become instruments and workers of the kingdom of God! Jesus, crowned with thorns, has risen above the whole world and wants to bring all things into the circle of His restoring grace. But not by supernatural or irrational miracles, but very naturally and realistically, through his disciples. He says to his disciples: 'Be ye converted, when the Holy Ghost shall come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me' (Acts 1,8) Who are these you? Those who stood at the cross, who saw the Easter tomb opened, who, though quietly and modestly, said they loved Jesus and believed in Him.
The essence of Pentecost is that the disciples of Jesus become apostles, collaborators, instruments of the Spirit of God! Most believers only want to be beneficiaries of Jesus' power, their faith is only to ask for and receive help from a heavenly power. All his prayers are like begging: Lord, give me this or that, help me with this or that. Well, Pentecost is the decisive turning point in man's life of faith when he wants not only to receive from the Lord, but to give himself as an instrument to Him. When he wants to receive not only His providential protection, but also the extension of His redemptive rule. When I ask Him not only to help me in my troublesome things, but also to use me, to do His work through me among men in the world. That is why the Pentecostal mobilisation is always needed again, so that the Church of Christ, which is always sinking back into a passive audience, may be moved and awakened to its apostolic, missionary responsibility!
How does this mobilisation take place? As Jesus says: "When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will lose strength and you will be my witnesses" (v.8). The Spirit is Holy. So different from any other spiritual and mental influence or power that exists on this polluted earth! Holy is this Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the mysterious, invisible One in Whom the crucified and risen Jesus is here. This Spirit, the Spirit of Christ came upon them and possessed them. The Holy Spirit came upon them, possessed and empowered them! The coming of the Holy Spirit today means the same thing: Christ is taking hold. So I am not only touched by a religious atmosphere, not only lulled into awe by a few pious words, but Jesus from heaven, but still very close, invisible, yet very real, enters my life and draws it into the spell of his power, his influence. You are a true Christian man when you are possessed. But not obsessed with a cause or an idea, but obsessed with a living, divine person: Jesus Christ! Christian faith does not mean that I have taken hold of God. Certainly not that I have grasped Him intellectually, understood Him. It is the other way round: God has taken hold of me, possessed me, conquered me, and I let myself be, I fall into His mighty hand, I submit to His will to conquer the world. And this conquest, this possession, is not paralysing or oppressive, but liberating and blissful! The Holy Spirit is so mysteriously powerful that when He brings me to my knees before Christ, He lifts me up! When He overcomes me, He makes me strong and victorious! Just as Jesus foretold: "When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be my witnesses".
Well, indeed, they have received power! They have been given unheard of heavenly power! Of course, it was only when the Holy Spirit came upon them, when He became their master, after they had given themselves to Him as instruments. Even today, Jesus gives the power of His Spirit only to those who yield to Him! Even a car can only be given full throttle when it is already set in the right direction and the steering wheel is firmly in hand. Otherwise, disaster will happen! We are accustomed to always complaining about our lack of power, and we make it sound like a pious humility. Well, it is not humility, it is unbelief and arrogance. It is a complete negation of the fact of what happened at Pentecost. If we believe in Christ and yet are powerless, it is because we do not want to become instruments of the Spirit. Because we are reluctant, because we are lazy to place ourselves at His service. Jesus' promise, "You will lose power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you" - is still true today! That is how He mobilizes His inactive church today! Woe to the one who is lost in the mobilization!
Finally, one more question. In fact, to fulfil a very humble but very important ministry. He said: 'You will be my witnesses'. A witness is someone who is needed in a lawsuit. He tells what he has seen or heard, and this testimony has a great part to play in the judgment. In the great trial of the history of the world, in which Jesus stands before the world as an accused, despised and despised person, every Christian is a witness! Jesus is a witness! Not His defender, not His propagandist - for He has no need of that - but His witness.
A witness does not argue, does not agitate, does not defend or attack, does not reason with reason, does not capacitate, but testifies! His testimony has probative value. To testify means: to prove the truth or authenticity of something. I am a witness to it, that is, there is no doubt, what is said is true! A disciple of Jesus, as it is, is the authenticating seal of the gospel of Christ. He must testify with every word and his whole life that Jesus is the Saviour of the world! Beware, for all that you do, as you live and speak, as you turn and work in the world, is a testimony by which men are convinced of the truth or falsehood of the Gospel, and pronounce a favourable or an unfavourable judgment of Jesus!
Do you know what is the most worthy testimony for Christ? Love! In conclusion, let me tell you that I saw an unfinished church with three beautiful, colorful windows on one wall. One was decorated with the symbol of faith, another with the symbol of hope, and the third with the symbol of love. Faith, hope, love: this is the right order. First is faith in Jesus the Saviour. The foundation of our lives can be nothing other than the faith that God has reconciled us in Christ. And it is only by believing in Him with all our hearts that we can look forward with hope in this troubled, fearful world. On what can we base our hope if not on our faith in Christ? And there is no doubt that only a person with a heart full of good hope can truly love. He is no longer afraid of his own fortune, of his own life, he is no longer afraid of anyone or anything, and therefore he is able to love. So this is the order: faith, hope, love - that is the right order.
But then I imagined that if one passes by this illuminated church in the evening and looks up at the coloured windows, one sees these three in reverse order. For him, the first thing he sees is love, and only then hope, and finally faith. At first, an outsider does not see much of your faith, but he notices when he sees that you have love. After all, so many times you have come up against the selfishness and cold indifference of others! Of course he is surprised when he finds himself among people who not only like him, but really love each other and him! Then you will wonder what the secret of this is, why these people are so different from others. He will slowly discover that these people can love because they have a happy hope in their hearts. They are not upset, they can carry their burdens because they are filled with the hope of another, happier, richer world. Then you will understand that this mysterious, happy hope rests on a solid foundation: their faith. And so his eyes will slowly open to the power of Jesus. Never forget, then: from within, this is the order: faith, hope, love. But from the outside, it is the other way round: love, hope, faith! When it comes to the Church's mission in the world, love comes first, Christian love. The words and deeds in which Christian love is expressed, then there can only be talk of our hope in the hereafter and our faith in Christ. As Jesus said, "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. This is what Jesus is mobilising his Church for: the witness of the Christian Church! Be empowered by the Holy Spirit!
If you go away from now on trying to relate to friends and strangers with more love, with the love of Christ, you will have received more from the miracle of Pentecost than the fans who want to see the ecstasy of the fullness of the Spirit and the miracle of speaking in tongues repeated in the Church. So enter daily into the flow of the Spirit from the glorified Christ, and let him use you! Give yourselves completely to the Lord! This is the only secret of Pentecost!
The living Spirit of God, come and bless me,
Let your eternal flame fill my heart and my mouth.
Untie me, send me away, fill me with fire!
Living Spirit of God, come and bless me!
Living Spirit of God, come, be my guide here,
O help me to leave the paths of sin!
Untie me, send me away, fill me with fire!
Living Spirit of God, come, be my guide here!
(Canto 463 verses 1-2)
Amen
Date: 17 May 1959, Pentecost.