BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD
2 Timothy 1: 4-7
Zechariah 4: 1-6

           Plagiarism—the stealing of or taking credit for another person’s work, whether intentional or otherwise. Students from high school through college and beyond are warned against it. It is warned against in the workplace. It is dishonest and unethical. I remember a class project in high school where we were assigned to work with one other person. The person with whom I was assigned to work was a notorious “slacker”. Suffice it to say that I did all the research, all the work on the presentation, and this person was quite willing to put their name on my work and accept the grade I had earned for the both of us. Perhaps some of us have been in similar circumstances—we do the work, but someone else gets the credit, the praise, the promotion, etc. It can be a maddening experience. I wonder, though, if God ever feels that God’s work gets plagiarized by we humans—God does all the work, but we quickly take the credit.

           In Zechariah, we read of an encounter between Zerubbabel, the governor of Jerusalem and an angel from God. The angel brings to Zerubbabel a commission from God. Zerubbabel is commissioned to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, after it has been destroyed by the invading Babylonians. This was a tough assignment for Z to accept. It would take years to rebuild this Temple. We read in 2 Samuel and in Kings of Solomon’s efforts to build the Temple in the first place. This rebuild would take even longer as now there is rubble that needs to be cleared. Z wasn’t quite sure how it would get done. The obstacles he faced in this endeavor were too numerous to count—similar to the obstacles the Cantrall congregation faced in rebuilding their building after it was destroyed by a tornado. But we read in Zechariah 4:6 a wonderful verse that puts things into perspective; God declares that the Temple will be rebuilt “not by might or by power, but by the Spirit of God”. God essentially tells Z that it doesn’t matter how good his engineers were, how good his materials were, or how skilled his workers were! Human might couldn’t get the job done, but the Spirit of God would enable it to be accomplished! The Spirit of God would bring God’s will and plan to fruition!

           As we bring that into a place of relevance for each of us…we face all sorts of obstacles in this life that threaten to get in the way of us being and doing what God desires. Some of us face physical obstacles where our bodies are attacked by all sorts of ailments, either biological or the result of an accident. Some of us may face emotional obstacles, perhaps as a result of an abusive relationship or other experiences that have damaged our self-worth or self-image. We face spiritual obstacles where we question what we believe and why. We might struggle with certain aspects of spirituality such as love or forgiveness. The list could go and on of all the various obstacles we face in living into God’s plan of us as individuals and as a church. At the same time, we could spend just as long tell stories of those who overcame those obstacles and fulfilled God’s purpose and plan for them.

           I guess the key question then becomes, “how do we overcome these obstacles we face”? Look back at the passage from 2 Timothy. In it, we read that the spirit God has put in each of us is not one of cowardice. So often, we try to run away from obstacles and conflict, especially in response to God. We want to get as far away from that conflict as we can. Remember Jonah? God’s call to preach to Nineveh was an obstacle for him, so he wanted to get as far away as possible. A few weeks ago, we talked about weathering the storms of life; the obstacles we face may in fact be a storm we weather. As we read on in that passage from 2 Timothy, we are reminded that we have been given a spirit of power. God has given us the power to face our obstacles and blow right past them! God has given us the power to look our obstacles in the eye and declare, “my God is bigger than you”! The Spirit of God is all the strength we need to overcome these obstacles that get in the way of our being and doing what God has in mind! All we need to do is be available for God’s Spirit to work in us and strengthen us.

           What happens, though, after we have overcome our obstacles and weathered the storms we face? How do we react or respond? The natural human reaction is to pat ourselves on the back and congratulate ourselves for making it through. Scripture reminds us, though, that anything we do, any obstacle we overcome, is done so only by and in the Spirit of God. Without that Spirit, we would be powerless! I will confess that I like to think I occasionally preach a “good” sermon. IT’S NOT ME THOUGH! The words may be coming out of my mouth, but I am powerless to say these words without the Spirit of God! Without the Spirit, I am a bumbling idiot! The same is true for anyone who would dare to speak in God’s name! The same is true for anyone who would support the ministry of the church—God knows we could find something else on which to use our money, our time, or our energies. Yet the Spirit of God allows us to do great things for God’s kingdom!

           In the spring of 1999, I was with about a dozen other students from Eastern Illinois University spending Spring Break at Red Bird Mission in southeastern Kentucky. Our project for the week was doing repairs on a home whose better days were prior to my birth. One of the pressing issues for this home was that it was situated near a cliff and its rotting foundation was causing it slide closer to the cliff and falling into the holler below (a holler is just a Southern term for a valley). The mission had several engineers look at the home and all had concluded that there was little that could be done. Its occupants, though, insisted they would not leave. Our goal was to provide a little more stability to the home. Want to guess what happened? When we left on Friday, that home was half an inch from being completely level! College students having fun with power tools had just done what engineers said couldn’t be done! Think we could have done that by ourselves? That was the Spirit of God at work! There are times when God is at work and we don’t even realize it. We thought we were just having some fun with circular saws and cordless drills; God was using us to minister to others. The same is true for each of us. God will often use us, by God’s Spirit, without us even knowing about it.

           I told you a few weeks ago that I wished I could guarantee no of us would face any more storms in life. I couldn’t do that. I wish today I could tell you that none of us would face any more obstacles in life. I can’t do that. What I can tell you, in faith and in confidence, is that God has put in each one of us a spirit of power to overcome those obstacles we face and live into what God has in store for us. All we do, whether it is rebuilding the Temple or simply finding it in our heart to forgive someone who has wronged us, whether we are growing the church or growing ourselves more and more into the image of Christ, is done by and through the spirit of God. All credit, and all glory be to God! AMEN.

           || Home || Welcome || Pictures || Sermons || Maps || Special Sprouts || Opportunity || Missions || Newsletter in pdf || VBS || Women of Promise || Easter || Links ||