SETTING THE CONTEXT

The community who first heard our gospel writer’s witness was a community in terrible conflict. This is evidenced by Jesus talking about “if the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you” and statements like that. The first disciples and this next generation of disciples are facing an incredible crisis. Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus is the “word made flesh.” What is going to happen when he is killed?  Will this decisive revelation of God be over, is this moment in history gone? What will become of the followers without Jesus, will they be left alone to face the persecutions and trials awaiting them? Jesus reassures them in our reading.

Read John 16:12-15

Paul tells the church in Galatia, that through Christ they are freed. They are freed from the long list of religious rules and requirements their former religion demanded of them. This freedom though is not license; it does not mean “anything goes.” It is a freedom that is to be guided by the Spirit of God. One can look at a person’s life and see if they are living guided by this Holy Spirit or by that which is opposed to God’s Spirit.

Read Galatians 5:22-25

THE SERMON

Today we begin a new sermon series based upon your requests and questions. We have entitled this series “You Asked For It,” but after seeing some of the questions we wondered if it would be more accurate to call it “We asked for it!” Today I want to address some requests for a sermon about living daily with the Holy Spirit. There are almost 150 references to the Spirit of God and Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments. Sometimes as is the case in the Gospel of John, God and Jesus send the Spirit to the faith community, not to individuals. In the other gospels, Acts, and Paul’s letters the Spirit is sent to and acts through the individual as well as through the community.

In today’s reading, Jesus assures his disciples that the Spirit of Truth will carry his teachings into the future proclaiming them in new and changing circumstances. As scholar Gail O’Day says, for John, the Holy Spirit is the link between the historical ministry of Jesus and the future life of the church after Jesus’ death.^[i] Many of the issues raised by our technological changes did not exist in Jesus’ time, but God has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us into God’s truth even on these and other issues. We, the church, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit are still called to bring the Gospel alongside the issues and challenges of our day.  As one person said, we have the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other this means that we all need to pray sincerely to be guided by the Holy Spirit. I ask you to pray for our leadership specifically as we continue our visioning process. At the second planning retreat on September 15^th, we’ll be looking at specific strategies to implement that vision and we’ll need the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Someone asked United Methodist pastor, James Harnish what is meant to be “filled with the Holy Spirit.” His response was, “it means that every inch of my personality, every fiber of my being, is soaked, saturated, drenched, and permeated with the love of God that we see in Jesus Christ.”^[ii] This is true of a Spirit-filled congregation too, every fiber is soaked, saturated, drenched, and permeated with the love of God that is seen in Christ Jesus as they live out Christ’s continuing mission.

Paul focuses more on the individual receiving the Spirit of God also called the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. Paul sees two opposing spirits pulling at us. It reminds me of the cartoons where an angel would pop on one shoulder and a devil would pop on the other each trying to get the person to make a good or bad decision. Now when we look at the examples Paul uses for that which opposes the Spirit of God or selfish desires, I think many of us tend to focus on the ones that don’t relate to us. I want to highlight some of them that we may tend to skim over:

• mental and emotional garbage that we accumulate,
• self-indulgent decadence,
• hating others,
• being hard to get along with- causing strife,
• being jealous,
• having a brutal temper,
• being selfish and quarrelsome,
• being argumentative and causing divisiveness,
• planting seeds here and there to create friction and cause factions,
• being envious.^[iii]

We may not have done all of these but I dare say that there is not one of us who haven’t had some of these selfish desires. Do all of us need help living by God’s Spirit? Do all of us need God’s help through the Spirit to direct our freedom in life-affirming ways? Yes. YES! Now let’s review the what the Holy Spirit brings into our lives and if you line them up you will see that these characteristics counteract the selfish desires. Let’s look at the fruits of the Spirit:

• love,
• joy,
• peace,
• patience,
• kindness,
• generosity,
• faithfulness,
• gentleness, and
• self-control.

I like the way the Message Bible paraphrases the last verse of our passage, “Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.”^[iv]

So an important question becomes, how do we open our lives to the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit? I think the first step is an act of surrender. It is to ask God for the Spirit and to decide to follow the leading of the Spirit. Richard Foster in his book, Celebration of Discipline shares a number of practical steps to nurture life in the Spirit. He talks about Inward Disciplines such a meditation, prayer, fasting (abstaining from food for a period of time) and study. Prayer is vital. We can not hear the Holy Spirit unless we’re listening and I know I can’t listen when I’m distracted by all the normal “noise” in my life. As I’ve mentioned before swimming is both a physical and spiritual exercise for me because it is my time of meditation and prayer as well as physical exercise. Studying and reflecting upon the Scripture is another essential practice. The Spirit speaks to me as I dig and wrestle with the meaning of the Scripture. For me reading through is not enough, I have to research and grapple with the context and its meaning for me and us today. Preparing to preach is a way I open myself to the Spirit. Before I started preaching, I did this through Bible studies similar to the Disciple Bible Study. Another set of practical steps Foster talks about are Outward Disciplines such as simplicity, solitude, submission, service. I have already talked about submission to God’s Spirit and God’s will. Service is another place I regularly find the Spirit speaking and moving in and through me. Not only in the mission trips that we love to do because we do experience the Spirit so powerfully in them, but also in more ordinary opportunities for service. It amazes me how the Spirit sets up opportunities for me to witness and serve Christ. I recognize those times because I know that there is no way I could have planned them. Finally Foster talks about Corporate Disciplines; these are confession, worship, guidance and celebration. I would add sharing our two sacraments (Holy Communion and baptism) and having intimate Christian friends who help me stay accountable. All of these regular activities help us remember whose we are and to open ourselves to the One who “made us, seeks us and loves us still.”  These are just some of the practical steps to nurture life in the Spirit, but we have to remember that God’s Spirit is unbounded, wild, free, and sovereign.  We can’t put God in a box for if we truly want to walk with the Holy Spirit daily we have to be open to not only its power but its surprises.  Let us pray.

Gracious God, please send your Holy Spirit upon our church and upon me so that every inch of my personality, every fiber of my being, is soaked, saturated, drenched, and permeated with the love of God that we see in Christ Jesus. Help all of us to bear the fruits of your Spirit so that everyone may taste and see the wonders of your love and be drawn to you. Amen.

Sermon delived by Rev. Nancy Cushman on September 2, 2007.