Mark 1:4-11, Acts 19:1-7
Picture this. You want to make a cake in the microwave oven. You mix the ingredients, fill the baking dish and go to the microwave only to find it full of rubbish! You can’t cook your cake in that so you have to clean the microwave out.
That done you put your baking in the microwave, set the time and press start and nothing happens! You check it out and find that it is not plugged in. You plug it in and this time it goes and your cake is cooked.
What’s this all about? The microwave had to be clean and ready to cook the cake but it couldn’t do anything without the power. No power – no cook, no cake.
In Mark we read how people were made ready by John the Baptist for something big and new and exciting to happen – much more exciting than microwave cake! But those new, exciting and extraordinary things could only happen when the Holy Spirit came.
First the Spirit came on Jesus and gave Jesus the power to do and say wonderful and amazing things as he did God’s work. Reflect on some of the things Jesus said and did. They really were amazing.
Lot’s of people followed Jesus to find out who he really was. He had power and authority like no one else.
After he died on the cross and rose again, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to his followers. He baptised them with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gave Jesus’ followers the power to do wonderful and amazing things for God and to share the good news about Jesus.
The reading from Acts tells about some people the apostle Paul met in the city of Ephesus. They had received John’s baptism, so they were all cleaned up and ready for Jesus, but they didn’t know about the Holy Spirit. When Paul laid his hands on them they received God’s Spirit. They were all powered up and some pretty amazing things happened. They started speaking in tongues and prophesying. Now they too could go out in the Spirit’s power to do God’s work and share the good news of Jesus.
When we get baptised we are cleaned up. It is a sign that our sins are all washed away and we are made ready to do God’s work. But we need more than that. We need the Holy Spirit to give us power and strength. So God gives us his Spirit too and baptism is also a sign of that. Jesus knew he needed the Spirit to do God’s work. We too need God’s empowering Spirit to do his work, and to share the good news about Jesus with others.
Last week I talked about meaning and purpose in life. I mentioned that Viktor Frankl had studied meaning and he said that one of the keys to finding and living a meaningful life is to have a project that uses your unique talents and abilities to help other people. A very important thing the Holy Spirit does is to give us special abilities for helping people. We call them the gifts of the Spirit. I hope you’ve been thinking about what special talents the Spirit has given you and how you can use them and which people he wants you to help.
I leave you with a Blessing by Bernie.
“May 2015 be the year when your heart lights up with an indescribable desire to draw closer to Jesus. To know Him more, experience His love more, be filled to overflowing by His Spirit … more and more. May 2015 be the most extraordinary, blessed year that you have ever lived on this earth – whatever this world may throw at you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”