Motor Honey Theology

01.25.12

Acts 1.7-8 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” NASB

Years ago, when I was much younger, weighed less, and had less of a receding hairline, there was an automotive product called motor honey. It was this thick, gooey, amber-colored viscous substance that one poured into the oil of an older motor. I think it was designed to glue older motors together to make them last a few more miles before they leaked all of their oil out and seized up in the old age of too many miles on them. I’m not sure it worked all that well but the gas stations where I worked sure sold a ton of it… I actually used some myself.

The thing I remember about motor honey was how it stuck to your hands and how nearly impossible it was to remove. It was not only thick and gooey, but also really sticky. It is surprising that it didn’t seize up the motor! So cleaning it off usually meant using some kind of solvent to cut it and leaving the remainder wear off. Sticky stuff.

It seems in Acts 1, the issue of God restoring the kingdom of Israel was still on the minds of the disciples who’d seen the Lord crucified, killed, buried, and now standing before them resurrected. They still expected Jesus to pull some last minute coup out of a hat and bring back the grandeur of a kingdom long, long ago. The disciples were caught up in the amber threads of motor honey theology. What they believed and had been taught since they were very young had stuck with them and it was going to take something greater than the resurrection (if that wasn’t enough) to get them to get free of their thinking and expectations. Enter: the Holy Spirit.

One of the things we wrestle with is our incessant wishful thinking that God is somehow going to direct our ship to come in and we will live out the remainder of our days healthy, wealthy, and free from the drag of this world on our lives. I don’t know too many people (if any at all) who would refuse to win the MegaBux Lottery. Most everybody I know is looking for, either inwardly or outwardly, a ship to come in… I think the disciples of old were too.

And Jesus said, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” In other words, “Boys, the kingdom you are looking for doesn’t compare with the One I am ushering in! What you really want to see is what I am bringing, not for your non-existent ship to come in!”

What they needed was the Holy Spirit to free them from their motor honey theology. And when that happened on Pentecost, their lives changed forever. What do you need to free you from wishful thinking and sticky, gooey old untruths in your mind that just won’t go away? The men of Galilee waited for the Holy Spirit – for us, I’d say that’s a great place to start… The presence of God will do for us infinitely beyond what our wishful fantasies can never do: His power and presence will bring out of us the things He’s put in us to change the world around us. We just need to focus on that and wait patiently for it – He’ll come through every time!