Breath of God
John 15:26-27[1]
I think that fear may be one
of the greatest obstacles many of us face in life. I’ve mentioned fear a couple
of times in recent sermons. The reason for that is I’ve dealt with fear many
times in my life. I’m talking about the kind of fear that wakes you up in the
middle of the night. I think fear can also be one of the greatest spiritual obstacles
we may face. I know that when I’ve been captive to fear, I’ve had great
difficulty being able to simply believe in God’s love, let alone experience it.
Fear seems to cut us off from the life-giving presence of God’s Spirit in our
lives just as surely as if we were branches lopped from a vine.
I mention this today because
it is the day when we commemorate the first Pentecost. That was when the Spirit
of God breathed life into the infant church, enabling them to bear witness to
all that Jesus had meant to them. And throughout the New Testament, the
Apostles affirm that the only way they were able to do the amazing things they
did was because the Spirit of God had empowered them to do so. Ironically,
before that first Pentecost, the first Christians typically gathered behind
locked doors out of fear of being caught and arrested. I don’t think it’s a
coincidence that they weren’t able to live out their faith when they were
captive to fear.
In contrast to that, when the
Spirit came upon them, they seemed to lose their fear and became bold witnesses
to Jesus Christ. This is precisely what Jesus says the Spirit would do for the
disciples according to John’s Gospel. In our lesson for today, Jesus promises
that the Spirit would testify to him, and that would enable them to testify as
well (Jn. 15:26-27). That follows a pattern in John’s Gospel. Just as Jesus did
the work God sent him to do, so they would also do the work Jesus sent them to
do (Jn. 14:12). Just as Jesus taught what God had given him to teach, so the
Spirit would continue to teach them, and in turn they would teach others (Jn. 16:13).
I’ve always believed that
churches thrive to the extent that they become living demonstrations of the
love of God, the presence of Jesus, and the new life of the Spirit. That might
not sound like a very practical approach to revitalizing a church. Nevertheless
it is my firm conviction that while we may generate short-term results through
our own creativity and talent, anything lasting that we may do for the sake of
the kingdom of God can only be done by the power of the Spirit working through
us. Or perhaps I should say, it can only be done as the Spirit breathes the
life of God in and through us.
One question I’ve always
struggled with is what specifically we are supposed to do about this. Some
would answer that we must simply become “filled with the Spirit.” But I’m not
sure that really helps most of us. How can average, normal, day in and day out
human beings like us become the kind of people who display the love of Christ
and the new life of the Spirit? The usual answer is that it’s a matter of
practicing the disciplines of the faith: prayer, scripture reading, service,
and worship. These practices have sustained the life of the church for
centuries, and for some of us, they continue to sustain our life. But the fact
of the matter is that they simply leave some of us unmoved.
That’s why another way to
become more “Spirit-filled” is to find the presence of God through the everyday
routines of life: from washing dishes to working in the yard to simply taking
the time to look people in the eye and acknowledge them as human beings. I
personally find exercising to be particularly effective for me —whether
practicing yoga or going on a rigorous bike ride, or even walking. The key is
to turn off the constant “noise” in our minds that keeps us from being aware of
God’s life-giving presence. When we can silence all that mental chatter and
simply be in the presence of God’s Spirit, we discover a whole new Pentecost
every day—we discover that are constantly living in God’s presence.
I don’t think there’s only
one method for achieving this. And I also don’t think there’s a quick path to
getting “spiritual.” In fact, it’s something we really can’t do at all! All we
can do is try to “show up.” All we can do is open ourselves to the presence of
the life-giving Spirit, praying for the breath of God to breathe new life in
and through us. There are a number of ways of doing this, from meditative
prayer to simply enjoying the beauty of the world around us. However we may
find a way to become more aware of God’s presence, it makes all the difference
in the way we live. And it makes all the difference in how we live out our
faith.
I would say that most of us
have had some kind of experience with the voice of fear. We know how powerfully
it can affect us. But the voice that God’s Spirit breathes into our lives is
not the voice of fear, but the voice of love. It is the voice that says “I am
with you.” It is the voice that says “I will never abandon you.” It is the
voice that says, “I have loved you with a love that never ends.” When we can
recognize that the voice of fear is not the voice of truth, it can set us free
from our fears. When we can listen to the voice of love, we can become more
aware of God’s constant presence. Then we can begin to know the new life that
God’s Spirit breathes in us and through us.
[1] ©
2018 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 5/20/2018 at
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
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