Contemplating worship today and the sacred responsibility of the pastor to “break the bread of life” sharing a good word from God, my mind drifts to Acts 4:31. In The Message it reads: “While they were praying, the place where they were meeting trembled and shook. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak God's Word with fearless confidence.” From the New International Version it reads: “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. They were bold when they spoke God's word.”
I really like those words – “fearless confidence” and “bold” or “holy boldness” as in empowered by God’s Spirit they spoke without reservation and with abandonment not looking at their own well-being or safety nor at how they would be perceived by others.
There are many individuals who come to mind, but two in particular standout. The Reverends Newt Wise and Smokey Stover. Both of them were/are some of the most unique individuals I have ever encountered in the Kingdom of God.
Newt, rest his soul, came across as a country bumpkin – accent and all. It was a perception that served him well as the regional representative for the American Bible Society or in serving many churches throughout the state of Florida. He would wear some of the most outlandish clothes and blame it on “Miss Fannie” who just happened to be his wife. What most of his fellow clergy didn’t know about him was his massive intellect. He actually wore out several sets of The Interpreters Bible – a 12-volume commentary on the Bible.
Newt was very bold about his faith and he went out of his way to include everyone in his declaration. There were about eight clergy who had gathered at a South Miami restaurant for lunch one day. When the food arrived Newt stood up and announced to everyone in the crowded dinning room that he was going to say grace over what he was about to receive and spoke of the assurance that they would like their meals blessed as well … and then he began to offer a powerful prayer. Newt had a “fearless confidence” which resulted in a Holy Boldness unlike anything that I had ever witnessed to that point in my spiritual journey.
The other individual was Smokey Stover. He needs our prayers as you read this blog because his health is failing. Smokey felt his faith as deeply as Newt. Unfortunately, I didn’t know Smokey as well as I knew Newt, but “Smokey stories” were well known throughout Florida. His favorite line was … “Glory” … not a quite, timid, softly spoken glory, but shake the rafters, rattle the windows, fearless, bold GLORY! It didn’t matter if it was at a Denny’s or Wal-Mart or CVS … whenever the spirit came over him or he witnessed a spirit-filled event the GLORY would break forth from him and heads would turn. As I heard him say on several occasions, “My heart was just filled to over flowing and it had to just come out.”
Is either one of these particular “style” of fearless boldness right for any of us? Probably not, but it did fit their personalities. This one thing is clear though – we didn’t receive the Spirit of God simply to continue to live with timidity. 2 Timothy 1:7 expresses it this way, “God doesn't want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.” (The Message) The only conclusion that I can arrive at is that each of us must look within to discover the uniqueness of our own relationship with God and the distinctive style of fearless boldness. Failing to do just that means that the world wins as it stifles our witness and silences our spirit.
“Fearless confidence” … “Holy boldness” … may it happen throughout the pulpits and pews in American and beyond … may it break forth wherever men and women stand to proclaim a good word from God … may it be heard whenever scripture is read and stories told … may it happen in your church and in mine … may it happen today and every day wherever two or three are gathered in his name … may it happen not because of us, but in spite of us … may it happen because we anticipate it happening … May the Glory of God breakout wherever the Spirit of God determines that it would be a good and holy thing to have happen.
Quote for today: Prayer in private results in boldness in public. Edwin Louis Cole
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