that pesky God

That pesky God! This is my current metaphor for God. The word “pesky” was first used in the NE USA in 1775. My research shows that it is based on the word “pest” to which was added a “y”, and then the “t” became a “k”. Pesky means to irritating, bothersome, frustrating. This is my impression of God: always getting in my way, because God has a better way for me.

That pesky God showed up at Vacation Bible School. All week long the kids have been in the Bethlehem Marketplace celebrating the birth of Jesus, and today is Pentecost! How am I supposed to go from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, from the manger to the upper room , from Christmas to Pentecost, from the birth of Jesus to the birth of the Church in a few minutes. The only way is through that pesky God in the form of the Holy Spirit. I looked at the birth story of Jesus and his early ministry in Luke and found the Holy Spirit to be heavily involved. In Luke’s second volume on the life of the Church, called Acts, that same Holy Spirit is involved.

Hear the first scripture:


Luke Chapter 1:15for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Zechariah was just going to work, pulling his shift at the Temple, when that pesky God, showed up, and told him that he would have a son who would be the forerunner to the Messiah. Imagine that! God showing up in worship! Sometimes we go to worship just to check off the box. This past week we had annual conference in Corpus Christi, where we 1300 delegates had many business sessions, but also lots of worship services. One of our delegates brought her teen age son, Jake, with her. One worship service lasted 2 hours! Jake asked if that could count for 2 worship services back home!

That pesky God sometimes shows up in worship….maybe even today…for you.

Luke 1:35The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.

That pesky God comes to a girl, an unmarried teenager, and says, “Tag, you’re it. You are going to give birth to the Messiah.” Wow, what a surprise! God works God’s salvation through a youth.

This past week Audrey led our singing. On Wednesday, she had her appendix out. As she was going into surgery, she asked, “Will I be able to go back to VBS and lead singing?” She was back on Friday! You have heard her today, and she has done great.

Luke 1:41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit

Elizabeth was an old woman, past the child bearing years. I know many of you women of a certain age would just love for that pesky God to come to you and say, “You are going to have a child!” The point is that God uses people of all ages. You may retire from your career, but you never retire from your calling.


Luke 1:67Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:

So Zechariah and Elizabeth have a son, John the Baptist. Zechariah is able to speak after being mute. He prophesies. Prophecy is not simply telling the future; it is telling the truth. I need to tell you the truth. This past week a young boy got his let stuck between 2 logs in the casita in the playground. Probably some of you parents will never let your child come to VBS ever again! What to do? The let is wedged in there tightly. One of the 7th grade girl helpers takes 2 sheets of card stock and slips them between the let and the logs. Out the leg comes easily. That pesky God showed up again.

chapter 2:25Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. 26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law,

Simeon had spent his whole life waiting on the coming of the Messiah. I know that we live in an age of instant messaging, streaming video, texting. We want it and we want it now! Sometimes that pesky God says, “Wait.” We operate on God’s timing, kairos time. That pesky God builds in a holy pause.

Chapter 3:16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John the Baptist baptizes with water. The Messiah will baptize with water and fire. We sometimes make baptism a sweet, sentimental act. But there’s fire with the pesky God who wants to burn away all that is not of God.

Luke 3:22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Jesus is baptized, and the Holy Spirit comes upon him. He hears God say, You are my child, I love you, I am pleased. We can’t hear this too much. I can get to feeling old and cynical, but when I heard the children sing, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, I could hear God calling me to be His child again too. That pesky God wants us to claim our true identity as beloved children.

Chapter 4:1,Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,

Jesus at the start of his ministry is driven out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, where he will fast and be tempted. That pesky God takes us to places of ministry that are not always pleasant or easy. We are sending out 2 mission teams today: one to Uganda and one to North Carolina. You may encounter hardship, bugs in your bed, bugs in your water, as you go with this pesky God.

Luke 4:14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.

That pesky God has us do ministry where and how and when God chooses. Jay Dolfuss has had several business careers. He was in transition when he came to visit me in my office. He said, “I have had lots of experiences, and I still have energy. I want to make the rest of my life count.” We talked about getting involved with Mobile Loaves and Fishes. Jay came up with a list of businesses that would offer huge discounts on products and services that would be advertised on a website. If you take advantage of that business’s deal on that day, the business would donate a portion of their profit to Mobile Loaves and Fishes. You can get on their list too.

Acts 2When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

We have experienced tornadoes lately. We are afraid of the rush of violent winds. We know about wildfires, like the massive one in Arizona right now. We are scared of fire. This past week at Annual Conference, at the opening service, the candles were lighted on the table in front of the Bishop. The he said, “The fire marshal has said we must extinguish the candles.” Don’t you find that a bit odd? I was trying to redeem this image when that pesky God came to me and said, “You believers must carry the flame out into the world.”

May that pesky God enflame you.