Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Brian McLaren reflects on the Holy Spirit’s work in the early church and today:
Following Jesus today has much in common with the original disciples’ experience…. But there is an obvious and major difference between our experience and theirs: they could see Jesus and we can’t. Surprisingly, according to John’s Gospel, that gives us an advantage. “It’s better that I go away so the Spirit can come,” Jesus said [John 16:7]. If he were physically present and visible, our focus would be on Christ over there, right there, out there … but because of his absence, we discover the Spirit of Christ right here, in here, within….
At the core of Jesus’ life and message, then, was this good news: the Spirit of God, the Spirit of aliveness, the Wind-breath-fire-cloud-water-wine-dove Spirit who filled Jesus is on the move in our world. And that gives us a choice: do we dig in our heels, clench our fists, and live for our own agenda, or do we let go, let be, and let come … and so be taken up into the Spirit’s movement? [1]
Theologian Grace Ji-Sun Kim urges Christians to be open to the Spirit’s life-giving movement:
The Holy Spirit makes us “spiritually” alive. It inspires and strengthens us and gives us aspirations, inspirations, and intuitions. It opens us to new truths and enables us to integrate these truths into our minds and lives…. We want the Spirit to open us to its presence so we may be transformed. We believe that this openness to God’s transforming presence will make us truly alive. [2]
We must be guided by the Spirit in all that we do. We work with the movement of the Spirit as wind, light, and breath to change us and empower us to be agents of change.
When the Spirit fills our lives, we follow the rhythm of the Spirit. We are guided by the Spirit to become new creatures and become agents of change. We become workers in the Spirit and for the Spirit….
The love of the Spirit will empower us to work for God: to generate justice, be merciful, and fill the world with God’s love…. As we experience God’s presence, we each contribute to the building of the reign of God here on Earth. It is a task that calls all of us.
We recognize that this Spirit transforms us to become the best that we can be by our love. Love is the force that challenges us to move towards justice and wholeness. [3]
Brian concludes:
In a world full of big challenges, in a time like ours, we can’t settle for a heavy and fixed religion. We can’t try to contain the Spirit in a box. We need to experience the mighty rushing wind of Pentecost. We need our hearts to be made incandescent by the Spirit’s fire. We need the living water and new wine Jesus promised, so our hearts can become the home of dovelike peace. [4]
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| Spinning Our Vices into Virtues |
| When a man asked Jesus to side with him in a family dispute over inheritance, he flatly refused. Instead, he told the man and the crowd a parable about a rich landowner with an abundant harvest. “What shall I do?” the rich man thought to himself. “ I have no place to store my crops.” In the story, the man decided to build larger barns to keep his great harvest. Satisfied with his plan the man thought to himself, “I have plenty of grain for many years. I will relax; eat, drink, and be merry.” Why did Jesus choose to tell this story to the man wanting his brother to share the inheritance? After all, the man had come to Jesus with a request for justice. He wanted Jesus to settle a family dispute. Beneath the surface, however, Jesus saw something else at work. He recognized the dangerous sins of greed and covetousness in the man’s heart. The man was merely using a desire for justice as a cover for his desire for wealth.In this, he is not alone. Many of us mask our sinful intent with a veil of righteousness and even religiosity. Knowing our true intentions are less than noble, we dress them up in a disguise that makes us more acceptable to others and to ourselves. Eugene Peterson said it this way, “There is nothing more common among those of us who hang out in the company of men and women who follow Jesus than using what everyone agrees is a good thing and essential to the kingdom of God to disguise our sin.”What does this look like? Well, it can take many forms. Arrogance and pride are vices most Christians would frown upon, but these can be easily rebranded as “effective leadership” or “theological conviction” and applauded by Christians. Doing this flips a sinful vice into a spiritual virtue. Likewise, we can spin gluttony as “self-care,” we can justify abusive leaders as just “passionate for the mission,” and reframe gossip as a commitment to “expose the truth.” The examples are endless, but they all show how we will go to extraordinary lengths to hide our sin—especially from ourselves. This was Jesus’ issue with the man asking him to intervene in a family dispute. On the surface, he appeared to be concerned with justice and family fairness, but Jesus was able to discern his heart. There he saw greed that even the man himself may not have recognized. Like him, we should present to Jesus our requests. In fact, Jesus commands us to, but we shouldn’t be surprised when he then exposes layers of motivations, desires, and even sins that we had no idea were within us. Our capacity for self-deception is limitless. Thankfully, so is Jesus’ capacity for grace. DAILY SCRIPTURE LUKE 12:13-21 1 TIMOTHY 6:6-11 HEBREWS 4:12-13WEEKLY PRAYERFrom John Baillie (1886 – 1960) God, let me put right before interest, Let me put others before self, Let me put the things of the spirit before the things of the body. Let me put the attainment of noble ends above the enjoyment of present pleasures. Let me put principle above reputation. Let me put you before all else. Amen. |
