LA, SF and Jerusalem

This week sees the intersection of three major historical events. Each of them on their own should speak to us and remind us of the fragility of life and of the real uncertainty that we have over life (despite what modernity would have us think).

A. Easter
The first one is obvious. We have just celebrated and reflected upon the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth which occurred over the celebration of the Jewish Passover, on the outsides of the city of Jerusalem, on the town rubbish dump and execution site known as Golgotha.

B. 1906 Earthquake in San Francisco
The second one will be no surprise for those of you who subscribe to Time Magazine. The 7.8 earthquake that leveled the city of San Francisco on 18th April 1906 was an event that completely leveled a whole modern city. A city that was not dissimilar to where you live (if you live in the West). And it could happen again, anytime.

C. Azusa Street RevivalThe third event started on exactly the same day, also 100 years ago. And is still going today! It was a revival like no other that started a little further south of San Francisco on the 18th of April but really went for the rest of April, and May and as I said is still going today. It occurred in the poorest area of a small frontier town (I couldn’t give it the title yet of city) called Los Angeles (population of about 10,000). It was started by a group of 300-350 poor and predominantly black Christians gathered under the ministry of a meek black man, known simply for being a man of prayer…Pastor William Joseph Seymour, of Louisiana, the son of former slaves.

Observers noted that the crowd was predominantly made up of sons of slaves, immigrants, prostitutes and the poor. Worshippers met daily in a 40 x 60 foot wood frame structure called a ‘tumble-down-shack’ on a simple street called, Azusa Street. And what occurred there this week 100 years ago resulted in the most influential movement on Christianity in the 20th century. And grew from these 300-350 souls to now numbering about 580 million souls, representing 9,000 different ethno-linguistic cultures and 8,000 languages predominantly in the third world.

I speak of the new wave of the Holy Spirit on the Lord’s mission, now known as Pentecostalism. And despite some famous excesses this is a movement that we should not and can not ignore if we are concerned with the expansion of Christian Missions.

So you could this week observe of Jerusalem, San Francisco and Los Angeles, that all three cities shook. In one there was an earthquake, the sky turned black and the Son of God was crucified. Another burned to the ground after being shook with all of planet earth’s power. And another burned with flames of the Holy Spirit that descended on poor, uneducated, humble, predominantly former slaves and prostitutes and started a movement of freedom, joy and praise that has positively changed the lives of countless millions of people. And helped them rise up from their plight of poverty and has taught them, (so the saying goes) not to be given a fish but how to fish.

I want to offer three prayers this week that come out of these three events for the church as it cafes a Post-Christian West and seeks to faithfully proclaim the Gospel therein. With these three cities mind that remind us of the possibility of corruption and evil that can come with power and prestige; the thin hold that we have on life (when so often we think that we are here for ever; and the goodness and hope of the message of the gospel that is for all people and not just for the church to govern… but for everyone no matter what we have done, no matter who we are… Stay tuned for the next three days…