Magyar Egyház, 2004 (83. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2004-04-01 / 2. szám
4. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ ANOTHER Advocate John 14:15-21. “He will give you another advocate to be with you forever. ” John 14:16. In John’s Gospel, Jesus prepares His disciples for the time when He will be gone. No single English word can fully capture the richness and depth of the Greek word, “Advocate”. But, the fullness of this word suggests at least three ways in which the Advocate (Holy Spirit) is with us, now and forever. The Holy Spirit comforts us; the Holy Spirit strengthens us; the Holy Spirit equips us for our Christian Ministry of Service. The Holy Spirit is our comforter. Through the Holy Spirit, God gives us comfort by setting beside us in our sorrows. We have all had the experience of waiting to comfort someone in a time of pain and discovering that we can’t think of the right words to say. So we end up holding hands, or hugging, or just sitting quietly beside the person and sharing his or her pain. In life’s darkest valleys what we need most is to have someone beside us. Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, God sits beside us in even the bitterest grief. There is a story told of Albert Schweitzer when his medical missionary work already was underway in Africa during World War II. One day he saw an African woman sitting on the bank of the Lambarene River weeping openly as she started downstream. The authorities had taken her son away on a boat to fight in the war, and she knew she might never see him again. Schweitzer couldn’t find words to blunt her sorrow, so he just sat dawn beside her and together they stared after the departing boat. Together they watched the sun set, and together they cried. When we weep, the Spirit weeps with us. In Christ, God has gone to the heart of human suffering. Christ knows what it is to face the second mile so used up in body and soul that you can’t put one foot in front of the other. Christ knows how lonely it is when your closest friends misunderstand you, and those you trust turn against you. Christ knows what it is to face your own approaching death. Christ knows how it feels to surrender to the grave someone you love with all your soul. The Holy Spirit of God charted the very depths of your soul. The Spirit also strengthens us in times of trial and temptation. Temptations and trials in life come in all shapes and sizes. Some are easily dealt with, and some seem overwhelming. But in every trial we have the promise of Christ that the Spirit will see us faithfully through. Our lives are never free from enticements to sin, and it is often a mighty struggle to be our best selves. But we are not alone in that struggle. No matter what temptation seizes us, the Spirit will give us the courage to resist anything which would lure us from the way of Christ. Ironically, our struggles with temptation and weakness may be the means by which the Spirit shapes us into more effective disciples. Jesus once said that it is necessary for temptations to come. Perhaps our Lord meant that we grow in faithfulness through being tested. Each time the Spirit helps us to overcome some temptation or pass through some trial, we grow a little, we become better servants of Christ, we become more sensitive to the struggles of those around us. The Holy Spirit of God is with you now. He wants to hold your hand ! S.S. TÜZES NYELV Pünkösdkor, a várakozás szemlélődésében, váratlanul, ’’nagy hirtelenséggel, az égből” (ApCsel 2,2) kettős tüzes nyelvek jelentek meg, ”és kezdének szólni más nyelveken” (4.v.). Ami addig szétválasztottság, kirekesztettség legtragikusabb ismérve volt, a nyelv ekkor összekötő elemmé vált. Amikor lélek találkozik lélekkel, felismerszik a Lélek, magától értetődővé lesz az együvé tartozás, miként kezdetben: természetes és önkéntelen. A nyelv az, amit nem használhatsz egyedül. A tüzes nyelv az örök emberi közösségre utal. Ajándékmem kirekesztő tehát, kissé agrammatikusan szólva: neked adja, a másiknak. Az ajándékot csak a ’’sokaság” közepette élheted meg: annyiban a tied, amennyiben a másé; s épp olyan mértékben. Visky András: Reggeli csendesség PÜNKÖSD Szívem, te szegény, bús madár! Ne kérdezd, hogy hol késnek A kettős tüzes nyelvek. Hiába zokogsz, Poshadt lelkeddel csudák nem történnek ! Azért én mégis kiengedle. Repülj szívem ! Nem baj, ha bukdácsolsz S kegyetlenül véresre tépnek. Vergődésed a biztos üzenet, Hogy indul már sebes szél zúgása, Isten markából felröppen S felénk szárnyal a megváltás fehér galambja ! Sípos Domokos
