You Were Made to Meet your Maker
Caleb Hofheins
“So Jesus said to'the
Jews who had believed
in him, “If you abide in
my word, you are truly
my disciples, and you
will know the truth, and
the truth will set you
free.” They answered
him, “We are offspring
of Abraham and nave
never been enslaved to
anyone. How is it that
you say, ‘You will be-
come tree r
Jesus answered them,
“Truly, truly, I say to
you, everyone who com
mits sin is a slave to sin.”
John 8:30-34
I’ve been listening to
the band Mumfora and
Sons religiously. Origi
nally, I was very turned
off to it because “Mum-
ford and Sons” just
doesn’t rank highly on
my “cool band name”
list. They’re brilliant,
though. Each song is
so lyrically sound and
the music has perfect
transitions and pauses.
The writing in tne songs
withholds nothing, and
the large, egotistical por
tion or my mind leaves
me thinking that these
songs must have been
written especially for
me in this season. The
themes of their album
Sigh No More range
from confessional bal
lads of broken relation
ships in “Little Lion
Man” to choosing to
have freedom amidst
growing fears in “The
Cave.” In their song
“Roll Away Your Stone,”
Pentecost
Marlene Medefind Van Brocklin
Pentecost is coming!
On May 23 the world
wide Cnristian Church
celebrates God the
Father sending his Holy
Spirit in power on the
day of Pentecost (as we
read in Acts 2). This is
not to say that the Holy
Spirit was not active in
the world before this
event, but at Pente
cost believers in Jesus
Christ are promised the
continual, permanent
presence of God’s Holy
Spirit. But what does it
matter that we have this
promise?
The promise of the
Holy opirit implies,
among many other
things, comfort, convic
tion and power. The
apostle John records
Jesus Christ’s words to
his followers: “Very
truly I tell you, all who
have faith in me will do
the works I have been
doing, and they will do
even greater things than
these, because I am go
ing to the Father. And I
will do whatever you ask
in my name, so that the
Father may be glorified
in the Son. You may
ask me for anything in
my name, and I will do
it. If you love me, ke^
my commands. And I
will ask the Father, and
he will give you an
other advocate to help
you and be with you
forever— the Spirit of
truth” (John l4: 12-17
TNIV). and “But when
he, the Spirit of truth,
comes, he will guide
you into all the truth”
(John 16:13 TNIV).
Later John writes, “You,
dear children, are from
God and have overcome
them, because the one
who is in you is greater
than the one who is in
the world” (1 John 4:4
TNIV).
Comfort
Jesus Christ assures
us that he is leaving
the Holy Spirit as the
constant, guiding and
reassuringpresence in
the lives of believers.
None need feel alone
and bereft if the Holy
^irit is in residence.
Tnis week we sent off
our dear daughter, An-
nelies, to be a mission
ary in Guatemala. We
are enormously relieved
an allusion to our lives
being resurrected with
Christ, they end with
the lines:
“Stars hide your fires.
These here are my de
sires
And I won’t give them
up to you this time
around
And so, 111 be found
with my stake stuck in
this ground
Marking the territory of
this newly impassioned
soul
But you, you’ve gone
too far this time
You have neither reason
nor rhyme
With which to take this
soul that is so rightfully
mine.”
There is a response in
their songs which always
that God’s Holy Spirit
will be with her and will
comfort her when we are
unable to be with her.
Conviction
The Holy Spirit will
guide us into all truth so
mat we can make sense
of this world. However,
the Holy Spirit also
sometimes needs to jolt
us when we are mistak
en. In Professor Con
nelly’s church history
class we are reading Dis
ciples of All Nations by
African scholar Lamin
Sanneh. It is excruciat
ing to read of the way
in which some western
missionaries unwittingly
melded their Christian
faith with their cultural
presuppositions and as
sumed that such Mod
ern ideas were Chris
tian ideas. They often
preached an intellectual,
individualistic faith de
void of spiritual power.
Missionaries often failed
to realize that the Afri
cans’ normal acceptance
of the reality of the spiri
tual realm had much to
teach them. “The West
insisted that worship
must be of a God wno
was intellectualizable.
follows the confession. I
think that is something
that we miss a lot. We
often see life’s tr^edies,
forgetting the gift,
forgetting the hope set
before us: Christ Jesus.
It is an easy thing to
do, but it doesn’t ever
make it right. We all
have histories. We all
have things we’re try
ing to work out. We are
messed up people in
need of a Savior. Let us
not forsake our love in
order to continue in lies.
Surround yourself with
people that will stand
up to your sin and your
part in injustice. Do
what is right; be freed
from the chains you’ve
lived with for so long.
The truth is still the
only thing that can set
us free, and that should
always be our response.
There is freedom in our
confessions. There is
also liberty in choosii^
to see the goodness or
God while simultane
ously asking that we
may know His good
ness. He is bigger than
our doubts, fears, and
notions of impossibili
ties. As Mumford and
Sons would say, “You
were made to meet your
Maker.”
“And I am sure of this,
that he who began a
good work in you will
bring it to completion at
the day of Jesus Christ.”
(Philippians 1:6)
because intellectual ve
racity was the safeguard
against mystification
and superstition. Yet for
Africans.. .the religious
experience is about inti
macy, connection, trust,
discovery and an ethical
life in community and
solidarity.” (193) This
sounds closer to the
Gospel we see preached
in the New Testament;
we have much to learn
ftom our African breth
ren. The Holy Spirit can
give us eyes to see be
yond our small cultural
boundaries. The Spirit
can convict us when we
are blinded by our indi
vidual or corporate sin.
Power
In the New Testament
we see Jesus Christ’s
followers courteously
preaching the Gospel,
casting out demons and
healing the sick and
blind in his name. We
read of amazing, super
natural happenings. Pe
ter was changed from a
wimp who couldn’t even
admit to a servant girl
that he was a follower of
Jesus to someone who
“manned up” in front
of crowds of people to
proclaim the amazing
news that Jesus Ghrist
had been resurrected
from the dead and then
publicly healed a lame
man in the name of the
resurrected one. Jesus
promises us that all who
have faith in him will
do even greater things.
We, too, can be changed
by the power of the
Holy Spirit and can dare
to ask tne impossible
of God. No fear, no
phobia, no supernatural
adversary is a match for
the power of the Holy
Spirit who indwells tne
believer.
As we leave Montreat
College, whether for a
summer or forever, we
know we are not alone.
We are not powerless
wimps. We have com
fort, conviction and
power through the Holy
Spirit of God.