ahora

So yesterday was Pentecost - a day when Christians celebrate the promise and coming of the Holy Spirit. Yesterday was also a big day for Kent who preached his first sermon at his home church in Washington. Due to my need to take summer courses so I can graduate next May, I sadly could not be in Washington with him to witness this momentous occasion...SO I listened to it over the phone instead (can't say I've ever done that before). :)

Kent preached on John 15:26-16:16 - a passage in the middle of the Farewell Discourse - where Jesus is promising his confused disciples that he is not going to be with them forever, but that another Counselor will come after Jesus leaves...why would Jesus leave?? What replacement could be better than the real thing??? What the disciples later find out (and what we already know) is that Jesus died, was buried, was raised, and then ascended into heaven - he was no longer present in his bodily form...but it was then that person of the Holy Spirit could come to continually make the Gospel alive in our lives and continually point us to the person of Jesus Christ (who came to earth to show us the right way to live) who is seated at the right hand of God the Father interceding for us until his parousia - his second coming. It is in the meantime, however, that the Holy Spirit is guiding us - counseling us - in our daily lives and is present in the most mundane things to the most profound.

The Holy Spirit is present…in my life…right now. It is the Holy Spirit that helps me pray, helps me gain insight into Bible passages, and gives me peace in the middle of a situation that has nothing peaceful about it …and it is also the work of the Holy Spirit through people that gives me a hug when I need it the most, a kind word to lift me up for the day, a shoulder to cry on, and that speaks just the right words to me to give me a little clarity amidst doubt, confusion, and uncertainty…it is the Holy Spirit that lives, moves, and works through worship, allowing us to give of ourselves in complete surrender to the One who gave everything for us…it is the Holy Spirit that gives us that little urge to talk to somebody who is standing by themselves in the midst of a bustling room filled with people, and it is the power of the Holy Spirit that equips us to do the work that only God can do, like sharing the Gospel with those who don’t know Jesus and the immeasurable love he has for them…

There are so many big and little ways in which the Spirit works that we can’t even begin to grasp. I think (and Kent also mentioned this in his sermon) that we often limit the Spirit’s work to transcendent moments when we “feel its presence” in worship services, for example. While I do not doubt (and do believe) that the Spirit can and does move in this way, it is also important to recognize the Spirit’s presence in all moments and in all areas of life, guiding us, protecting us, equipping us, and comforting us. It is when we understand this that we can truly comprehend Jesus’ parting words in Matthew 28: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

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