This blog comes to you the day before Pentecost, the birthday of the church, the time when the Holy Spirit, the very presence of God came into the church and gave it new and surprising life.
In much the same way the Holy Spirit comes to people—something surprising, unexpected, pulling on new parts of ourselves, asking us to trust it even if it manifests in strange ways.
Martin Smith, a former monk in the Episcopal church, in his classic book "Season for the Spirit" has written:
Many people brought up as Christians relegate the mystery of the indwelling Spirit to an attic where they store teachings which common sense dictates to be implausible, 'mystical,' remote from reality. As soon as we allow ourselves to be grasped by the truth of it, the indifference we used to show is unmasked as actual resistance which tries to keep the Spirit at arm's length.
He knows the Holy Spirit can be seen as "an undesired lodger who has moved in, one who does not hesitate to rearrange the chairs according to his taste, to drive nails into the walls and, if necessary, even to saw up the furniture when he is cold and needs a fire."
I love the way he acknowledges our humanity… the way we instinctively resist that which is new and strange. Looking at your own life, and thinking of the Spirit as the new things that can blow into your life, expected or not:
- Can you name some ways you keep the Spirit at arm's length? Why? What is the cost and promise of doing so?
- Can you name some ways you welcome the Spirit? Again, what is the cost and promise of doing so?
- Can you think of an experience of the Spirit as "undesired lodger?" How did that show up for you, and what happened?
The power of the Holy Spirit calls us into places where we are disturbed, awakened, enlivened and surprised. There was nothing wrong with Peter's life as a fisherman before Jesus called him to follow; there is often nothing wrong with our lives when a startling call comes, something new is offered, and we are asked to leave old nets behind.
Stepping toward that new call, however large or small, stepping out in faith, can mean realizing that "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." (2 Cor. 3:17).