If you have ever suddenly and unwillingly joined the ranks of the unemployed, how did that feel? When you got that pink slip, what was that like? Oh, you jumped up and down and shouted, "Oh, goody, I don’t have to get up early tomorrow morning! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord, I’ve always wanted to be a statistic!" Yeah, right.
No, if you’ve been fired from your job, it was not a pleasant moment. It was not something to write home about. There are no more terrifying words in the English language than the words, "You’re fired." Harsh, cruel, and abrupt; forcibly and angrily rejected, tossed out of labor and livelihood, not wanted. A terrible feeling.
But if you’ve ever been fired from a job, can you now look back and see that it was really an opportunity in disguise? Some of us who have been involuntarily separated, as they call it in Washington bureaucratese, some of us can look back after a while and discover that they actually did us a favor to fire us. Because firing us from something we weren’t right for blasted us loose from the same old same old and gave us a new possibility. When we were fired from the old job, we got fired up about something new. It was an opportunity in disguise.
I was plugging along, doing campus ministry in Kentucky, and I thought I was doing just fine. I didn’t even think about doing anything else. I had grown up in Kentucky, I had gone to school in Kentucky; I had gotten married and fathered children in Kentucky. I had done my seminary training in Kentucky and when I got my first full-time ministry position, it was a hundred miles away from home, but it was still in Kentucky. I spent three years in that job, and the boss asked me to move from that small college and to go to the University of where? Right, Kentucky. The scope of my experiences was really quite narrow.
But I didn’t care. I was plugging along, doing my job, and thought I was doing just fine. The students and I made lots of changes in the program. We threw away old activities and we started new ones. We pitched out many an old worn-out tradition and began many a new venture. It was an exciting time, I thought, and I said so, every chance I got. I even told the boss I thought it was exciting. I wrote him a series of letters and described all the changes we were making, all the improvements, as I saw them.
One cold and dreary Monday morning, there was a letter in the mail, from the boss. I shall never forget what it said. First it mentioned that the things we had thrown out were programs he had established years ago. Uh-oh! Then it went on, "Now is the time for you to rethink the geography of your ministry." Huh? What did that mean? "Rethink the geography of your ministry?!" Oh. He meant that I needed to move on. Or else he would move me on. He didn’t exactly say, "You’re fired." But any fool could see what was coming.
Well, that almost, "You’re fired!" had an effect on me. The effect it had was to fire me up, and get me going in a different direction. That almost "you’re fired" got me going, and I ended up six hundred miles away from home, in the strange new world of the nation’s capital, doing a whole new ministry.
When the word is "you’re fired!" it not only means you are dismissed from doing what you were doing. It also means you are fired up to find a whole new direction. Sometimes getting fired is the best thing that can happen to us, because it fires us up for something new and wonderful, an opportunity in disguise.
A little band of believers gathered to celebrate the Pentecost festival. They had experienced a great deal in the last few weeks. Their world had turned upside down. The one whom they had followed had gone through several incredible events. Jesus had been arrested, tried, convicted, and brutally slain. That was certainly emotionally wrenching, to say the least.
But then on the third day He had burst from the grave, He had returned to life, and He had appeared among them, several times. Their minds could scarcely take it in, but there it was: Jesus alive, among them. A lot to take in.
But there was still more. After some forty days, this same Jesus had, before their very eyes, been gathered up into heaven, speaking to them about a Holy Spirit who would come. It was too much, really it was. Too much to take in. They gathered and they waited, praying, hoping, not knowing quite what to expect.
Then came the festival Day of Pentecost. On that day, they were fired. They were forcibly removed from their old ways and were introduced to something new. This Holy Spirit came and blew through them, and things happened. They got fired. They got fired from old patterns of life and they were presented with something far better. And I believe that what the Holy Spirit did with them He will do for us as well. Terrifying as the words are, they bring a new opportunity: "You’re fired!"
I
For example, when the Holy Spirit comes, He comes to fire us, to dismiss us, from the glowing embers of gathering, and He comes to fire us up to get going. When the Holy Spirit comes among us, He fires us, He pulls us out, of merely gathering; and He fires us up about mission. He gets us going.
"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting."
These folks had experienced so much in a short while. They had lots of things to share. No doubt they relished telling each other their stories. No doubt it felt good for Peter to be able to say to James, "Let me tell you what the Lord said to me." No doubt John enjoyed telling Philip about what He saw on Ascension Day. Every one of them had stories to tell, and tell them they did, over and over. The stories were wonderful, and nobody could get enough of them. It was just plain good to be together. It was comfortable to gather and to fan the glowing embers of their memories.
But I want you to notice that when the Holy Spirit comes, He comes like a violent wind and He blows through the mustiness or our memories, stirring things up. I want you to notice that when the Holy Spirit comes, He blows through the house where they were sitting and gets them ready to go. To go, not just to sit. To go, not just to gather.
I enjoy church, don’t you? I really do. I enjoy all the trappings of church: candles, robes, colors, organ music. I like to schmooze about churches and sermons and all the paraphernalia of church. I even like church people. Warts and all, I like church people. It’s comfortable to sit around and talk church. It’s nice to remember when and to rehash old stories and to rekindle old memories. It’s warm and nostalgic.
But brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit will not permit us just to sit and gather and tell stories and let it go at that. The Holy Spirit will not allow us to do nothing more than reminisce and enjoy one another’s company. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit, when He comes, will dismiss us from the glowing embers of gathering, no matter how pleasant, and will fire us up for mission. He will get us going. If you want to know how effective our worship is, if you want to test whether the Holy Spirit is present when we gather, then do not waste time worrying about what the preacher said and whether he said it correctly. Worry about whether his message fired you up to go and do something for somebody. Do not spend your energies on how one choir is too loud and the other too slow, one song too upbeat or the other too classical. The question is whether the music sounds the drumbeat of marching forward into battle. Do not bother so much with the church building, with physical appointments or surroundings. The question is not, how comfortable we are when we gather, but how vigorous we are when we go into the world. When the Holy Spirit comes to the Christians gathering, He comes not to confirm the comfort of coming together, but He comes to fire up our going out.
If, when you worship, all you feel is, "Isn’t it good to be here, let’s just stay and stay and stay right here"; if all you feel is, "Let’s just take care of each other," then, I tell you, you have missed the Holy Spirit, no matter how many cymbals crashed, no matter how fine the organ music, no matter how spirited the singing.
For when the Holy Spirit comes to our gatherings, He will fire us, He will dismiss us, from the glowing embers of gathering, and He will fire us up to go to a lost and dying world.
II
More than that, when the Holy Spirit comes, He will fire us, He will dismiss us, from the cuddling campfire of a closed community, and He will fire us up with the attractive warmth of communication. When the Holy Spirit comes, He may find us comfortable in our little campfire, where everybody has come together to shut out the rest of the world, but He will break up the cuddled campfire of a closed community, and He will fire us up with the capacity to communicate with a whole wide world of others not like us.
Think about that early Christian gathering. They were all about the same. They had all been Jews, they had all lived together and traveled together, they had had the same experiences. It was a gathering of like-minded look-alikes. They spoke the same language and they knew instantly how to communicate with one another.
But this was the festival of Pentecost, and the festival had brought together into Jerusalem people from all over the world, people with different identities and different cultures, people who spoke different languages. People with whom it was difficult to communicate. It would have been very easy for this little band of Christians to have just closed up their circle and to have said, well, we have good news to share, but we can’t, not with these folks. We don’t speak their language. They’re not like us. They are different.
But guess what! When the Holy Spirit came to their little cuddling campfire, He said, "You’re fired!" You’re fired, you are dismissed from staying here within the tight little circle of folks who look like you, sound like you, and smell like you. You’re fired from that. And I will fire you up with the power to communicate across the barriers of culture and language. I will fire you up with the power to be heard and to be understood.
So the Bible says that "all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability." And everybody said, "Isn’t this amazing? These people care enough about me to communicate with me! These Christians folks leap over the boundaries, and they can communicate!" The Holy Spirit fires us, dismisses us, from our closed circles, and teaches us to speak across boundaries.
Now today, you know, it is politically correct to be in favor of being multicultural. Few today would be against people coming together across racial lines. But I am talking about real communication, not just politically correct photo ops. You know what a politically correct photo op is? I saw one in the paper this week. There was a picture of the First Lady with four little girls. One was white, one black, one Hispanic, and one Asian. Charming and sweet! And what was this picture intended to say? I think it was supposed to say that these four little girls were actually all the same under the skins, and our first lady treats them all with love and respect. Well, that’s nice, but that’s just a politically correct photo op. And that’s not the same thing as genuine communication.
Because when you get down to it, it’s hard work to get past cultural and racial barriers. Some are very subtle. In today’s America it is still quite possible for black folks and white folks to think they are speaking the same language, but to miss each other. In truth there are different styles, different nonverbal ways, and if you don’t work at it, you’ll miss it. If you don’t try to hear the other’s heart language, you’ll miss it. You’ll be offensive and not even know it. It won’t feel comfortable and you won’t even know why. And if you are not careful, you’ll go back and cuddle with your own campfire, in your own comfort zone.
But, you know, Jesus did not say to His church, "Go into your own comfort zone and preach the Gospel." He said, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel" So when the Holy Spirit comes, He will say, "You’re fired!" You’re fired and dismissed from the old campfire in which everybody was alike, and He will fire us up, challenge us, empower us to communicate His truth to people who aren’t like we are. If you want to test whether you are filled with the Holy Spirit, just count the number of people not like yourself with whom you have shared a witness, and you’ll have a pretty decent measure.
Are you living only in your campfire comfort zone?! Well, I have news for you: "You’re fired!"
III
But most of all, when the Holy Spirit comes, He comes to fire us, to dismiss us, from the tepid temperatures of our personal past and He comes to fire us up with a burning passion for a faith-filled future. Whoever you are, whatever you have done, whatever you have failed to do, when the Holy Spirit comes, He will take you just as you are, and then He will give you a vision for your future.
When the Holy Spirit comes, He comes to fire us, to dismiss us, from the tepid temperatures of our personal past and to fire us up with a burning passion for a faith-filled future.
Peter interpreted for everybody what this experience of Pentecost was about. As they stood in the public square and murmured about what they were seeing, some even guessing that these Christians were drunkards, Peter put it into context. "God declares that [He] will pour out [His] Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy."
God’s Spirit will come and it will touch all who are available to Him, no matter who they are. Sons and daughters alike. Old and young alike. Slaves and free alike. Everybody will get a vision for the future. Everybody will get fired up about what God is doing, everybody will get a fresh start and a passionate vision, everybody will get a dream for what can happen.
Oh, men and women, how many of us live such lifeless lives! How many of us really think, down deep, that life is just one day after another, plodding endlessly into eternity! How many of us have resigned ourselves to a quiet little sickness that never ventures into new territory, never tries anything new, never gets excited about anything. How many of us spend our days drab, dull, and boring!
But I tell you, and this I believe with all my heart, when the Holy Spirit comes, He will take a quick look at the tepid temperatures of our personal pasts and He will say, "You’re fired!" The usual, the ordinary, the dull, the bland: throw it out! Because I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. Because I will pour out my Spirit and, whoever you are, whatever you have been, you will see visions and dream dreams. And you are going to be so alive, so alert, so full of joy that you can scarcely contain yourselves.
Oh, these folks who were just baptized! How much they have to look forward to! The Holy Spirit has fired them, dismissed them from their old lives, and has said, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away, all things are become new." The Spirit is firing them with a burning passion for a faith-filled future.
Oh, in my own heart I feel this. I really do. I can never settle for the same old same old. I cannot just be satisfied with what I am doing today. I have to keep on creating new things. The Holy Spirit fires me up about new ministries. And it doesn’t matter how much time it takes or what it costs; I have to be on the cutting edge of something all the time.
I know that our church cannot settle down into a routine. I know that this congregation cannot just be happy with the tepid temperatures of the past. There is a whole new growth edge out there. There is a whole new future out there for us. God’s work in this community has only just begun. All around us there are lives to be mended, souls to be saved, relationships to be reconciled, hearts to be healed.
Men and women, young and old, whoever you are, feel the vision, dream the dream, fire up a passion to serve this community. And cry out, "Come, Holy Spirit, fill us with Thy fire. We have heard you say, ’You’re fired, fired up!’"
