Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
The crowds are gone. All the hard work is behind. Next weekend is just a "regular" service. You walk the stage and you notice that one light is kind of half-dimmed. It's kind of warm and orange and you can relate. You're kind of feeling half-dimmed and a little bit warm from a job well done. It is certainly a time to recharge batteries both literally and figuratively but, one of the lessons we get from the resurrection, we must have the connection to the power supply. And, oh, what a power supply!
Have you had a "power supply moment?" They happen all of the time. You know, the moment when you realize that you forgot to plug something in or something becomes unplugged without notice. Invariably in that moment, someone will ask, "Is it plugged in?" You get annoyed but you go check it anyway.
I had a power supply moment that really left a mark on me: Church was moments away from starting and the camera wasn't showing up on the control room monitor. I called to the operator and asked if he could power up. He told me the camera was on. I then noticed that the monitor was not powered on and neither were a few other things. The day before we had moved around some equipment but I didn't think we had unplugged anything. Then came the question (see above) and I went around the back of the rack to check. I was fairly certain but then I saw that dangling cord. I tried to connect it but I found that the cord wouldn't reach because it had been neatly secured back with a zip tie. Looking at our music minister walking to the stage, I whipped out my trusty pocket knife and broke the seal. Unfortunately, as I sliced the zip tie, the tie sliced my skin. I jammed the plug into the closest power strip and got everything running, just as the music started.
I still have a scar from that day but I've learned from this, and my other power supply moments, a valuable lesson. A lesson that is connected to what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:9-11:
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (ESV)
Wow! That phrase just jumps out, "the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you". That sounds really powerful and really appropriate for the day after Resurrection Sunday. We catch visions of the stone being rolled away and the earthquake. We think angels and light.
But Paul begins that phrase that contains three "ifs". He points out that great challenge, "If Christ is in you..." Of course we want to check. For most of us, though, we are certain. We know that we are connected and we know because His Spirit is at work in us. Others might still have some questions. Perhaps we are thinking that if we were connected why do we seem to keep struggling. Where is that life Paul is talking about? Jesus said He gives us life that is full (Joh 10:10)
I might suggest that we have an enemy who is called the "accuser" (Rev 12:10) and the "liar and the father of lies" (Joh 8:44). I believe that one of his greatest tactics is to make us doubt that we are really connected to the power source. He's like that annoying person who keeps asking, "Is it plugged in?" When we are certain that it is. Maybe this doubt is keeping us from the life that Jesus is talking about.
Let me challenge you today. Are you connected? If not, you only need to ask God to get you plugged in. If you are connected, do you keep struggling with doubts about it? Remind yourself that the power that caused Jesus to rise from the dead lives in us. Resist that nagging voice of the accuser and really begin to live.
