Our state is known for unpredictable weather, perhaps because we live so close to the Rocky Mountains. The most recent weather adventure has been high winds, affecting utilities. Our lawn furniture was blown about and some branches fell.
But the biggest surprise this blustery weekend was a church service without electricity. That meant no lights, no heat, no microphones, no powered keyboards, electric guitars, or bass. No cameras captured the service, no words were projected on screens. There was no internet and, therefore, no livestream of the service. With outside temperatures in the low 40s, the arriving faithful kept their coats on against the chill of the room. For the first time ever we saw the window coverings lifted to expose the only available light source. The worship team had to improvise with acoustic-only instruments, switching to songs everyone would likely know. The pastor said it was a good thing he’d charged his iPad, or there’d have been no sermon!
The scene before me brought so many things to mind! I recalled interpreting from French to English in the Cote D’Ivoire, in a crowded concrete church with open, glassless windows. I remembered a church gathering in a remote village in Haiti, in a handwoven wood and straw shelter…no fancy band or light show there! And several years ago riding in South Africa on a Sunday morning, I saw a simple church service in progress–the congregation circled in the middle of a field!
Although we adapted to having church without electricity Sunday morning, people have done so for centuries all over the world. But the biggest realization that came to me in this scenario was how many churches today may have electricity but are without power!
Jesus knew spreading the gospel of the kingdom required more than microphones, sound boards, and speakers; more than carefully-crafted lessons with three alliterative points. He told His disciples, “Behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). The results? Once filled with the Holy Spirit, an uneducated, formerly flaky fisherman (how’s that for alliteration?) preached an impromptu message and 3,000 were saved! (Acts 2)
That fisherman, Peter, and the other disciples weren’t all talk — signs and wonders accompanied and confirmed their good news. As the apostle Paul later wrote, The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power (I Corinthians 4:20). As Paul described it, fully preaching the gospel includes mighty signs and wonders in the power of the Spirit (Romans 15:19). He insisted, My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). This promise of the Holy Spirit and His power was not just for the early disciples, but for all who would ever join God’s family (Acts 2:39). Let’s not be content to live powerless lives or build powerless churches. Instead, let’s be baptized in and filled with the Holy Spirit, walking in the Spirit and being led by the Spirit!
