A Church Moved by the Spirit

The keystone story of the Christian pathway to spiritual transformation is found in the Pentecost story. Having been told by Jesus to wait upon the Spirit before taking up their calling to carry his good news to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), a small band of Jesus’ followers wait patiently until the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit falls upon them like “a mighty wind.” At that moment, as the Spirit of God falls upon this gathering of God’s people, it is quickly apparent that this room cannot contain the presence of the Spirit. Soon, the whole city --a city that’s full of pilgrims -- begins to hear the message that the Spirit has come to give witness to the risen Lord, Jesus the Christ (Acts 2). In the moment that the Spirit blows through this community of disheartened and fearful disciples, they find new resolve and purpose, giving birth to a new movement of God in the world. It is through them, and all who follow in their footsteps that Jesus Christ is present to the world.

If one takes a journey through the Book of Acts, one will watch as the Spirit empowers and guides this new movement of ordinary people who took up extraordinary callings. The result of this movement of the Spirit is that the people who would come to be called Christians would leave an indelible mark on the world. The Spirit drew these first disciples together, empowering and gifting them, so that they could go to their community with a word of healing. As Peter said to the man sitting in the city gate: “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk” (Acts 3:6). This has been the message of the church, when the church has truly understood its calling: God will not leave your life unchanged.

When that earliest community of faith gathered for worship and prayer, they comforted each other and gave generously to those in need. At our best, we continue this tradition. We serve meals to the hungry and provide homes for the homeless. We lift up the downcast and bring healing to the hurting. Such a church, to quote Fred Craddock, is “going out and serving other people who are not even grateful, hurting when anybody else hurts, emptying their pockets for other people’s children, building a Habitat house when their own house is in bad need of repair and the paint is peeling, going to the woman’s house and mowing her lawn when their own grass is twelve inches high.”  [Fred B. Craddock, The Cherry Log Sermons, (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2001), 69.]

The message of Pentecost is simple: when the Spirit begins to move in our midst, expect things to change. When the Spirit is moving our hearts begin to focus on the needs and concerns of our neighbor. We begin to practice the ancient art of hospitality. We advocate for justice and for peace. With the coming of the Spirit, the call to change the world begins to resound. It’s important that we understand that the point of Pentecost is not the spectacle of tongues of fire, but is instead the transformation that occurs when the Spirit moves in the midst of the church. As the church opens its doors to this refreshing wind of the Spirit one should expect to find a community that is learning to live out the two great commandments: love God and love neighbor.

An excerpt from Gifts of Love (unpublished manuscript)

THE CHURCH ALIVE IN THE SPIRIT

Prefatory Note:  For many years I've been writing and rewriting a book on spiritual gifts.  The book itself is part of my journey, and it has been revised as my own thinking and experiences have developed.  So, from time to time I'll be sharing bits and pieces of the manuscript as a way of encouraging a conversation and also to help me refine and develop an idea that drives my own thinking about church and ministry.

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Love of God and love of neighbor are the foundational principles of the Christian faith - even when we fail to abide by them. It is the love of God, which Jesus embodied, that defines the church that is made alive in the Spirit. Without love, all that is done in the name of Christ is for naught (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Thus, the mark of a church that is moving in the power of the Spirit is that it exhibits the kind of love that Jesus lived and taught.

A living and vibrant church is one that is marked by love and is committed to justice and mercy for all. It is one that is hospitable, gracious, compassionate, and committed to serving others. It is also marked by vibrant worship. Indeed, it is a community that looks beyond its own walls and sees fields ripe for harvest, fields in which the Spirit is already present and at work. We hear the question, "where can I go, that the Spirit is not already there?" In the words of the Psalmist, we pray:

Where can I go from your spirit?

Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there;

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there (Ps. 139:7-8).

Knowing that the Spirit is present, the church's vision is not limited to "religious work." Our work as the Spirit endowed community encompasses all of life's experience, from politics to family life to popular culture. It is, admittedly, the goal and not the reality. But guided by the Spirit we can envision a time when the church, empowered by the Spirit, will not be cliquish, inward looking, protective of turf, or suspicious of new people and new ideas.

We start from the premise that the Spirit of God is already present in the church and in the world. That is the message of Pentecost. Although some might take from Pentecost the idea that when the Spirit moves it is with loudness and spectacle, such an interpretation would miss the point. We do not experience the presence of the Spirit as either loudness or coerciveness. The Spirit may come as a mighty wind, but the Spirit also comes as a gentle breeze inviting us to share in the Spirit's gifts of service to the world. Discovery of spiritual gifts leads to the realization that every person in this world has God-given purpose. With the Spirit present, all things become knew, including our relationships with our God and with our neighbor. No longer will we look at life from a human point of view (2 Cor. 5:16).

What then is the nature of this Spirit that animates and empowers the church and enables both vertical (divine-human) and horizontal (human-human) relationships? What is this life giving force that is present in our churches and in our lives? God is, we confess, spirit. God is without material form, and yet God is something more than an ephemeral wisp of smoke - as if to say, God is there and yet not there. Mindful of the limits of human images and metaphors, we confess that God is more than an impersonal force that can be manipulated for human benefit. That is, God is something more than the "Force" of the popular Star Wars sagas. However we understand personhood, the biblical portrayal of the Holy Spirit is that of an intimate presence of God in human life. This Spirit is a divine presence that is both personal and free from human manipulation; as the immanent presence of God, the Spirit remains a transcendent "determining subject" who is free to act. With regard to the Spirit, we cannot merely say the right words or perform the proper rituals and expect the Spirit to act. When we experience the Spirit's presence and activity, we do so with openness to the unexpected. But, when the Holy Spirit acts in our lives, we are awakened to new possibilities for life and we are energized to carry them out.