Welcome to a blog post for Pentecost Sunday – the “birthday” of the Christian church, and the day in this tradition where we celebrate the outpouring of the Spirit on all believers, recounted in Acts 2.
We sang a song I wrote at our chapel today, which I thought went along with the theme of God’s power at work in us, and I wanted to share it here.
One of the joys and challenges of serving in a military chapel is that every couple years, the lead chaplain for any service is almost guaranteed to change.
Unlike a traditional church where a senior pastor stays around and sets the vision for as long as they choose (or as long as the board will have them), this frequent turnover means that military chapels can sometimes experience big shifts from one chaplain to the next.
It would be like changing CEOs or office leadership every two years, hoping that what was important last week under the old boss is still going to be important next week once the new boss communicates a game plan for the future.
While a lot of aspects of the service and ministry will likely remain the same, each individual is going to have their own areas for greater focus, their own aspects of spirituality which they feel have the most importance for effective ministry.
I’ve been fortunate to be a part of the Kadena Contemporary Worship Service for a few years as a contracted musician and now as the worship director, working under three chaplains so far to fulfill their vision for the praise music during the service.
What energizes or refreshes you?
Our previous chaplain was focused on John 15:5 as a key verse for the congregation. Jesus tells His disciples:
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:5 NASB
Chaplain shared how he hates raisins. When you bite into a juicy grape, there’s a gush of liquid that’s satisfying and refreshing. There’s some flesh to that fruit. It’s energizing and fresh.
But when you get raisins, they’ve been left out to dry; all the life has been sucked out of them. You get this shriveled, nasty thing that makes you more thirsty when you eat it.
He equated that to the Christian life. If Jesus is the vine, we need to stay connected so that we keep receiving that life from Him. We want to be fruitful; we want to offer a love and a grace to the world that quenches spiritual thirst and satisfies hunger for God.
Elsewhere Jesus challenges religious leaders who are so focused on and proud of knowing the scriptures. Christ declares that those verses testify of Him. If they wanted real life based on what they learned from the holy scriptures they cherish, then they would come to Him to find it.
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them, you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. John 5:39-40 NASB
From that chaplain’s perspective, we needed as a church to be focused on God’s Word – on the Bible and understanding it, for sure, but even more importantly on understanding the message that God gave us in sending us His Son, Jesus Christ, the Word become flesh.
It wouldn’t be enough to become “Bible-thumpers” searching the Scriptures for ways to believe we are better than everyone around us, thinking we’ve got the secret or the best treasure and clutching it close to our chests.
We would need to put our beliefs to work, turn our professions of love into expressions of love, with actions and not just words. That’s what we see in Jesus, and if we were really going to abide in Him, that’s what should start happening in us.
Those verses meant a lot to me before he shared them with the church, but under his leadership, they bounced around my head for almost two years as he kept coming back to that vision, that focus:
“Abide in Christ. Let Christ abide in you. Minister to others and bring life. Be fruitful. Don’t be a raisin.”
How many people are really called to ministry?
Our new chaplain arrived almost the same time that our worship director was moving back to the States. I stepped into the worship director role and met with the new chaplain to find out what he wanted.
From the start, he has emphasized a desire to see the Spirit move freely in and through the congregation. Getting more people involved means less of a burdensome workload for each individual, but it also means that it’s not a one-man show up front.
His words and his passion reminded me of a term I learned about years ago in a church with a similar mindset: the priesthood of all believers.
In the Old Testament of the Bible, you’d often see the Spirit fall on one man or woman, who was called during their lifetime to do great and mighty deeds as God’s representative in a way. There was often a small number of prophets, if not one primary prophet for any given time in the life of the nation. Occasionally there were more – there is a school of prophets during the time of Elisha – but this seems like a rarity.
In our modern churches, it can often look the same. There is The Pastor, who everyone looks to for just about everything. If someone has to pray, ask The Pastor. If someone has a question about the Bible or Christian doctrine, ask The Pastor. If someone is struggling with anything, talk to The Pastor. If an elderly member of the congregation needs their lawn mowed, call The Pastor.
Maybe there are some other Special People in the church… like The Worship Leader, or the Elder, or the Senior Deacon, or the Sunday School Superintendent. Hopefully, a lot of the hard work of a large ministry is divided among a number of willing servants so that no one is bearing the load alone.
The downside is that this can lead the members in the congregation to act like spectators, showing up to a performance expecting to be entertained in a strictly one-way communication or ministry (from the people at the front to everyone in the pews).
“The priesthood of all believers” is meant to flip that ratio.
Paul frequently tells all the saints about what has changed since they came to faith in Christ, and one of those significant changes is that God’s Spirit dwells in each of us. To one church, he asks the question pointedly:
Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Cor 3:16 NASB
Every believer has the Spirit of God in them, with gifts and abilities that are meant to be shared in the church for the benefit of all present (see Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12-14, Ephesians 4:11-16). There’s no reason to have a one-man or few-person show up front. There are, or should be, a whole bunch of Spirit-empowered potential ministers of God’s goodness and grace filling the pews.
Have you ever seen a church full of temples?
The church is full of temples of God–you and me.
This is what Paul described as the mystery of the good news he was called to preach to the world. God wasn’t staying far off, some angry judge in the sky hammering a gavel calling us all guilty and pronouncing the sentence of death. Nor was He aloof and disinterested with our struggles and circumstances as if we were a forgotten cosmic ant colony.
Christ is in you, and working through you. God drew near in the person of Jesus, and nearer still in the indwelling presence of the Spirit.
… the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints … which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Col 1:25-27 NASB
When we get our minds and hearts fixed on God… when we remind ourselves of His constant presence… when we consider all that He has called us to and the wonderful power at work in us because of His grace and mercy… when we get into that place–not just physically in a church building but spiritually in our passionate devotion toward Him…
That’s where we find our source of life–true, fruitful life that lasts. Remember: don’t be a raisin!
Here’s a video from our service a few months ago. (Today’s video had technical difficulties.) Jump to 11:45 to hear “This is Where (Source of Life)” played by the Kadena CWS band.
This is Where (Source of Life)
This is where my need meets Your sufficiency
This is where my past gives way to Your mercy
This is where I kneel in humility
You whisper, “Follow Me. Come follow Me.”
This is where my sin, You take and wash me clean
The mess that I’m in, You say You will redeem
I’ve been so blinded, but now I start to see
You come alive in me, the life inside of me
And it’s a mystery and a wonder
It’s my only hope
You’re living in me as I wander
All along life’s winding road
Yeah, You blessed me beyond measure
More than I could try to hold inside
You became my Source of life
This is where we see a little more of You
This is where belief turns into work to do
This is where meaning and purpose start anew
We’re called to follow You, to come and follow You
This is where vision becomes reality
This is where grace flows to the very least
Your Holy Spirit supplies the power we need
We come alive and see Your glory bursting free
And it’s a mystery and a wonder
It’s our only hope
You’re changing history as You sunder
Every chain upon our souls
Yeah You bless us beyond measure
More than we could try to hold inside
Jesus, You’re our Source of life
You are life
You’re the One in Whom I will abide
You’re the One of Whom the Scriptures testify
We will come and find that You satisfy our souls