Rev. Roland J. Wells, Jr. - Pastor

The tenth Sunday After Pentecost - July 28, 2002

Lessons: Romans 8:26-39; Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

"The Hard-Hat Holy Spirit"

Introduction:

In the construction trades, there are many who work right in the midst of the action. Often, people need to be right in the midst of the construction to get it done. When you look at the big projects being built, like downtown, or the new buildings to be built all around us, you'll often see a sign, 'hard hat area.' This means you're entering an area where construction is going on; cranes are lifting things, people are building stuff all around you, and somebody might accidentally drop something on you. Right in the midst of things, you may be the architect holding the plans, or a foreman directing the operation, but you need to wear a hard hat; you're right in the middle of things.

Today our Romans text is about a hard-hat area in the human life. It's about the Spirit getting right in where the action is happening in the midst of human pain. The text has three parts, the first about the Spirit helping us in weakness, then a section about predestination, and finally a promise of Christ being with us in all things. This is a promise of a hard-working Spirit who gets right into the midst of the project-us- and rolls up his sleeves and goes to work. We could do hours and hours of reflection on each of these sections, so we're just going to look at the first.

I) A Spirit Who Works

Our lesson from Romans today speaks of a God who is not a stranger to being were the action is!

God, the Holy Spirit rolls up his sleeves and works hard when he enters into the deepest part of your life. In fact, he creates quite a commotion:

...The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. [27] And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. 28] And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

OK, let's take this apart-

Sometimes we don't know what to pray. Sometimes a situation is too complex, and we don't know how to pray at that instant. Sometimes we look at the situation, and from our human perspective, it looks like no good options present themselves. We see someone feeble with, say, Alzheimers, and they're in their nineties, they're ill,-and how do we pray? Do we pray for healing? What would healing mean at that point? Could "going home" the best healing at that point? Or for that matter, someone is younger, but desperately ill, and it seems that God does not will to heal them. Do we pray for more suffering? Do we continue to pray for healing? "God, where are you?"

Sometimes we are in a situation where a decision needs to be made; but it may seem to be a question of the lesser of two evils, or, it's a matter of trying to find the best in the midst of several good options. There are times when it's hard to know how to pray into the will of God. These are the kinds of real-life situations Paul is talking about in this text.

Then Paul goes on: but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

This is a hard comment. The commentators are all over the board with their explanation of that line. Let's see if we can read the next line and get some help: And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

II) A Spirit Who Prays

What is the text talking about? When we are having trouble praying, the text says that somehow, God's Spirit himself takes over the praying, through our groans or inarticulate sounds. Because 'he who searches our hearts' (that would be God) knows the mind of the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit is in the business of talking with God on our behalf.

So, when we can't begin to pray, it says that the Spirit gives us the ability to cry out to God in inarticulate speech. What does that mean? It can mean one of two things, or perhaps both:

1) One option is that when we cry out to God, when we don't know how to pray, even though we may not have the right words, he understands better than we do and will answer us right.

2) A second option is that the Spirit crying out through us with inarticulate sounds is actually referring here to the gift of 'tongues'- inarticulate speech, that comes from our Spirit talking directly with God, according to Paul in 1 Cor 14:14- our spirit prays, but our mind remains unfruitful.

God wills to be in the midst of your prayer when you are in the midst of difficulty, even agony. Our understanding of the situation is limited and warped by sin and human limitations. God doesn't suffer from these problems. God sees the end and the beginning. He sees all the options. He has only the best for all in mind.

The Spirit helps us in our weakness. The very Spirit of God meets us in the midst of our pain, and joins us in prayer beyond our ability.

Does that mean we quit praying, because God only knows what we should pray for? Of course not, God reveals his will to us through his Word, and guides our lives- but sometimes we get confused, scared or overwhelmed. This text says that in those times we can cry out to God, and in the midst of our groanings, the Spirit himself prays for us.

III) "Praying in the Spirit"

Beyond this, the New Testament does talk about a different form of prayer. Paul says, in I Cor 14:15: I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also. Two more times the NT talks about 'praying the Spirit':

Ephes. 6:18

Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.

Jude 1:20

But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit;

From its use, it appears the 'praying in the Spirit' is a technical, specific term that means to pray in tongues. This is a gift given by God's Spirit, that gives our human spirit the power to converse with God's Spirit. Going back to Paul in I Corinthians again,(14:14-15) he says,

if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 15 What am I to do? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.

God gives us the ability to converse with God, spirit-to-Spirit by this gift; it's one gift among many, but seems to have been quite common in the NT church. If God gives it, it must be a good gift. All gifts are open to abuse, but it is a handy little gift. This is the kind of place it particularly fits in. Praying in tongues is not the center of our prayer life, but it does open up one more channel of prayer, especially at times when we don't know how to pray.

Is one a better Christian because one has this particular gift, or more spiritual? Which one is the better baseball player, the pitcher or the catcher? What's more important, fielding or hitting? Who's better a right-handed batter or a left-handed batter? Obviously the answer to each question is that both are needed, each in their own place. If I'm up to bat, it's not my job to throw balls at the pitcher. If I'm out in the field, I don't swing a bat at the fly ball coming my way.

And so it is with this silly little gift, it is a valuable gift of a form of prayer. But it doesn't prove the presence of the Spirit, nor is it the center of the Christian life. Balance.

God offers that gift, as well as all of the others by simply asking God to fill us with his Spirit and give us the gifts we need for ministry. As we study his Word and see these gifts, like healing and prophesy and discernment and the rest being used, we learn some of the ways God's Spirit works to open up our eyes to the much larger world of the Spirit. There is much more to life than what we can see and touch and smell.

But the good news is that God wills to walk through all the seasons of life with us. He will not leave us even when we are so hurting, so stuck that we don't even know what to pray. It's interesting that in that context Paul gives us one of the greatest promises in the Bible: [38] For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, [39] neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That's his promise. He will keep you. He will work in your life, even at times we feel far away, even at times we are tired, confused or hopeless. He will meet us there. He's a hard hat, hard-working Holy Spirit. He's right there in God's construction zone. He will hear our prayer.

Invitation, Amen

Pentecost 10 - July 28, 2002

Romans 8:26-39

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. [27] And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

[28] And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. [29] For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. [30] And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

[31] What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32] He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? [33] Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. [34] Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. [35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? [36] As it is written:

"For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

[37] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, [39] neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. [32] Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches."

[33] He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."

[44] "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

[45] "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. [46] When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

[47] "Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. [48] When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. [49] This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous [50] and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

[51] "Have you understood all these things?" Jesus asked.

"Yes," they replied.

[52] He said to them, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old."