An article in a recent WORLD Magazine noted that a shutdown of several subway lines in New York City was caused by someone pressing an "Emergency Power Off" switch. The article reports that "The August outage idled more than 80 trains along several of the city's transit lines, leading to stranded passengers and mass confusion."
Last Sunday as I preached my final sermon as Senior Pastor at Life in Christ, I referred to Acts 1:8 - But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
It seems pretty clear - the apostles, left to their own devices, would not be able to carry out the Great Commission given them by the Lord in Matthew 28:18-20. So the Lord gave them a power source, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit's power would enable them to make disciples by baptizing and preaching the good news of the resurrection of the Christ.
That same power came upon us in our baptism. Acts 2:38 - Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Working through Word and sacraments, the Holy Spirit calls us embrace Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. The Spirit calls us out of this unbelieving world to live out our new life in Christ. It's the Spirit who brings us out of the darkness of sin and unbelief and leads us to the light of faith. Then we are able to know and receive the forgiveness of sins, peace of heart, the hope of heaven, and the joy of having a Savior who gave up His life for you.
But imagine with me for a moment that you, too, have an "Emergency Power Off" switch. Kind of silly, you think. But in a way we have that very switch.
Whenever we stay away from worship, we cut ourselves off from the power the Holy Spirit give us to believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Neglecting to hear the Word of God and receive His Holy Supper is the same as turning off the power switch in our lives. And without the power of the Spirit, who enables us to not only believe but to also do good works of faith, like giving witness to what Jesus has done in our lives, we can do nothing.
Left to our own devices, we wouldn't even want the gifts that Jesus gives to those who believe. We need the Spirit's help to know and believe the truth of Jesus as found in the Scriptures. Good readers, worship! Read your Bible at home! Remember your baptism! Do these things and you can rest assured that your power switch will never be shut off!
