Ever heard of a wind farm?

It's a group of large wind turbines installed on farmland where there is a strong and steady breeze. The rotor blades of these turbines spin in the wind and generate electricity for homes, businesses, and utilities, and they do so in an incredibly clean and efficient manner, without disturbing the agricultural use of the land around them.

The potential of these turbines is staggering. Wind energy is thought to be able to supply about 20 percent of the nation's electricity, and this energy is everywhere -- wind resources useful for generating electricity can be found in nearly every state. North Dakota alone is capable of producing enough wind-generated power to meet more than one-third of U.S. electricity demand. ("The Most Frequently Asked Questions About Wind Energy," American Wind Energy Association, www.awea.org, November 15, 2001)

That's a lot of cold air.

Of course, there are still a few bugs to work out. Quite literally. Workers at wind farms have long noticed that electricity-generating wind turbines are plagued by strange and unexpected fluctuations in their power output. The reason was unknown, until scientists at last identified the mystery substance: Smooshed bugs. Insects accumulate on the turbines' propellers, adding aerodynamic drag and siphoning off up to a quarter of the windmills' energy production each year. Scientists thank that switching to more steeply curved blades might help eliminate this bug buildup. (Maia Weinstock, "Splatting in the Wind," Discover Magazine, November 2001, www.discover.com)

The church of Christ is also a wind farm, powered by the Spirit which blew in on that first Pentecost "like the rush of a violent wind" (Acts 2:2). The Holy Spirit filled the gathered apostles and gave them the ability to speak in other languages, which they used to proclaim God's deeds of power to all the people of the world.

What's more, the Spirit inspired Peter to stand before a hostile crowd and preach the gospel with newfound courage and conviction. He proclaimed that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (v. 21), and within minutes this promise spread like electricity through the mob. Jolted by this news, three thousand people quickly repented and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Talk about shocking church growth.

The wind of God is a powerful thing -- it's a Spirit that can fill and teach and inspire and convert people in any age and in any nation. But like the large turbines on wind farms today, we American Christians of the 21st century don't always make good and efficient use of this holy power. We don't move smoothly and swiftly when we feel the breath of God. We don't allow the Holy Spirit to flow at full power into our community of faith.

Bottom line: We're suffering from bug buildup.

So, what are these infernal insects? Just what are the nasty little swarmers that are clogging up our turbines, and preventing us from making full use of the wind power of the Holy Spirit? Let's spot 'em and swat 'em before they get us too gummed up at Fairfax Presbyterian Church. [Visual aid: Smack a fly swatter on the pulpit as each of these bugs is identified]

First, there's comfortablus Christianus -- the bug of comfortable Christianity [swat!]. This bug doesn't want to put time and energy into learning the languages of the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and the residents of Mesopotamia. Creatures like this aren't comfortable with the cultures of the Eastern Europeans, the Middle Easterners, the Asians, or the South Americans. These insects don't even want to venture outside their narrow comfort zones and speak to Americans of other races, age groups, or political orientations -- they want only to deal with people who look and act and think like themselves.

As a result, the gospel goes nowhere, fast.

Then there's biblicus ignoramus -- the bug of biblical ignorance [swat!]. This insect has no interest in digging into the Word of God, and listening for what the Lord is saying to us today through his ancient texts. This bug doesn't know Abraham from Andrew, Daniel from Dorcus, Matthew from Mark, and because of this would never realize -- as Peter did -- that the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was nothing less than a fulfillment of the prediction of the Old Testament prophet Joel: "In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh" (v. 17).

Without a decent knowledge of the Bible, we cannot fully grasp the consistency and the completeness of the mighty acts of God. You may consider this a personal invitation to the Basic Bible Class, to be held in the parlor this Friday at 11:00 a.m.

Of course, there's also personalis beliefis -- the bug of isolated personal faith [swat!]. A genetic mutation of our rugged American individualism, this creature believes that a personal belief in God is all that matters in the spiritual life. But such a bug flies right over the fact that the early Christians "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. ... Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple" (vv. 42, 46).

Fellowship, the breaking of bread, much time together in the temple -- without these aspects of community life, Christian faith just isn't complete.

You also run into prayit forgetit -- the bug which neglects to lift joys and concerns and requests to God in prayer [swat!]. The early church was a praying church (v. 42), lifting up pleas for healing, as well as prayers for boldness. Just imagine praying today as the first apostles did, saying to God, "grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus" (4:29-30).

We just might find the walls of this Sanctuary beginning to shake, as they did around the first believers (4:31).

Finally, there's selfus centeritus -- the bug of selfishness [swat!]. In the church of the apostles, "All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need" (2:44-45). Nothing was more important to these Christians than the well-being of the community, nothing was more critical than meeting the needs of their brothers and sisters in the faith, and so church members who owned lands or houses sold them and donated the proceeds to the church. As a result, "there was not a needy person among them" (4:34).

Suddenly, making your morning offering doesn't seem like such a sacrifice, does it?

Fortunately, the Spirit's power is mightier than any human resistance, and with God's help all these bugs can be cleaned up and cleared out. We de-bug our turbines by expanding our cultural horizons and deepening our biblical understanding; we clean our caked blades by spending more time in community life and prayer; we get ourselves spinning again by caring for others and letting go of our craving for control. When we do all this, we discover that the Holy Spirit is trustworthy, and is always working for good in our lives. Life turns out to be much more surprising and satisfying and fulfilling and fun than we ever dreamed possible, and before long we're talking with excitement and enthusiasm about the presence and power of God.

With bug buildup removed, we can move like the wind. And when we're spinning with the Spirit, we're an electrifying church. Amen.