BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT Ephesians 5:15-21 Would it be safe to say that most of us prefer full to empty? Take a gas tank for example. It can get a little hairy when you’re running on fumes in the middle of nowhere, praying for an open gas station. Just ask a friend of mine who was following the hearse in a funeral procession when the hearse ran out of gas. It feels a lot better when the tank is full. Or how about your stomach? While most of us know little of true hunger pangs, we all know what an empty stomach feels like—how it gurgles and grumbles and growls—especially during the quiet times of prayer and worship. A full—not stuffed, but full—stomach feels a lot better. And how about a house? After 20 years of having children in the house, an empty house doesn’t feel as warm and cheery as a full house does. You remember the hit television series called Full House? No one ever made a television series called Empty House. Full is better. Emptiness tends to lead to sadness … like Mother Hubbard who cried when her cupboards were bare. Full is almost always better. Why then do so many Christians live an empty Christian life? We don't have to. As we continue our series, Earth, Wind, and Fire—The Elements of Revival, I invite you to open your Bible to Ephesians 5:15-21. In this passage the Apostle Paul writes about a certain filling of our lives that can make all the difference in the world. When the wind and fire of the Holy Spirit fills these earthen vessels of ours, renewal ignites. Hear the word of the Lord … (read the text). To say that one is Spirit-filled conjures up different ideas in people’s minds. Some think it means speaking in unknown tongues. Others think it involves the kind of ecstatic experiences common to Great Awakenings in the early part of American history. During some of those services certain people were struck by any number of “spiritual exercises.”1 1Hugh Wamble, Through Trial to Triumph (Nashville: Convention Press, 1958), 42-43. • When one had the “falls” he let out a piercing scream of repentance, fell suddenly to the floor where he lay mute and motionless for some length of time, only to arise with returned consciousness and a “heavenly smile.” • When one had the “jerks,” his head was snapped side to side, front to back by a spasm. • The “rolling” exercise was a variant of the jerks: when seized, a person rolled over every obstacle (pews, stumps, or logs) until her spirit was calmed—thus the term “holy roller.” • Then there was the “running” exercise when, filled with the Spirit, one would run from the meeting place at breakneck speed until he was completely exhausted. Later he would return to the meeting with spiritual tranquility. • There was also the “holy dance” and the “holy laugh.” • My favorite is the “holy bark,” generally regarded as God’s punishment for the neglect of religious duty, and it usually affected religious leaders. The affected person moved on all fours like a dog, snapping the teeth and growling angrily. In some instances the barker leaned against a tree, an act interpreted to mean that the devil was finally treed. Variations of some of these “spiritual exercises” still happen in some churches these days. And such exercises are interpreted as the Spirit’s work. But is this what it means to be filled with the Spirit? No. Nowhere in the Scripture are those filled with Spirit required to perform “spiritual exercises” like these. But we are commanded to “be filled with the Spirit,” so it’s not a luxury for the believer either. It’s not an add-on option to the basic model of the Christian life. The filling of the Spirit is at the very core of what it means to live a full and vital Christian life. So as we seek spiritual renewal in this season, let’s think together about the filling of the Spirit. I So what does it mean? Is it salvation? Is it speaking in unknown tongues? Is it supposed to create in us what spinach creates in Popeye—a kind of temporary strength beyond ourselves? In the book of Acts we see repeated occasions when people like Peter and Paul and Barnabas and others were filled with the Holy Spirit. But what does it mean? Well, there is a lot of meaning crammed into the one little Greek verb (πληροΰσθε) that we translate "be filled." “Be filled” is imperative in mood which means that it’s a command. You remember your English classes and what an imperative is: Open the book. Shut the door. Take your medicine. Give your tithe. Stay awake during the sermon. An imperative is a verb form that commands action on the part of the listener. It is a command. So being filled with the Spirit becomes for the believer not a luxury or an option, but an act of obedience. It’s imperative in mood. “Be filled” is plural in number, which means that the filling of the Spirit is for all Christians. The pronoun you that’s understood in the verb is second- person plural. In New Jersey it means “yous guys.” In the Ozarks it means “you’uns.” In Arkansas it means “y’all.” Nobody is left out here. This command is not for "special" believers or preachers or Sunday School teachers or missionaries or Christians who are in places of leadership. The filling of the Spirit is for all believers. The filling of the Spirit is for you. It’s plural in number. And “be filled” is present in tense which means continual action. The filling of the Spirit is not a one-time event and that's that. Now the baptism of the Spirit—that point in our lives where we ask Christ to save us and the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our lives and joins us to the Body of Christ, that's a one-time event. The Spirit enters our lives at the point of salvation and never leaves us. But being filled with the Spirit is different from that. It's a renewing of spiritual energy and strength. It's not like you get one shot of God's Spirit and then must work off of that power on a diminishing basis. Sort of like filling your canteen before you go on a hike, knowing that when you drink it dry that's all the water you'll get. No. The filling of the Spirit is a continual thing. God is willing to fill us often, and we need it often, because just as Jesus knew when His power went out of Him, we who serve Christ and live the Christian life get weary and feel power going out of us. My guess is that tonight, you’ll recharge your cell phone so you won’t worry about running out of juice when you need to use it tomorrow. You don’t charge it when you buy it and never charge it again. It takes many charges. We take many fillings of the Holy Spirit as we follow Jesus in this world. You might wonder how a person who is full of the Holy Spirit can become more full. It’s called Christian growth. God is able to cause us to grow and to be able to contain more and more of the Holy Spirit’s fullness and power as we grow. According to Wayne Grudem, a good analogy might be a balloon, which can be “full” of air even though it has very little air in it. When more air is blown in, the balloon expands and in a sense is “more full.” So it is with us: we can be filled with the Holy Spirit and at the same time be able to receive much more of the Holy Spirit as well.2 This must be the way God makes this happen because the command is in present in tense: “Be continually filled with the Spirit.” Then, “be filled” is passive in voice which means that the filling of the Spirit is God's action in us rather than an action we manufacture on our own. We can't create the filling of the Spirit. We can't make it happen by being extra good or praying on our knees instead of in a chair. We can't make it happen in others by laying hands on them or pouring sacred oil on them. All we can do is be a willing vessel, ready and open to receive the filling of the Spirit when God does this in us. We can ask for it. We should ask for it. You probably haven’t, but in case you ever wonder what I’m thinking about as I walk to the pulpit, it’s not the first line of the sermon. It’s this: “God, please fill me with your Spirit.” There's not a sermon I preach or a difficult task I do in ministry where I don't ask the Lord to fill me with His Spirit. I need Spirit-wisdom. I need Spirit- power. I need more of God and less of me. So don’t be shy to ask for Spirit- filling. But even our asking doesn't make it happen—as if with the right words or magic formula we can conjure up a filling of the Spirit, like a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat.