Calvin Synod Herald, 2014 (115. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

2014-05-01 / 5-6. szám

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD

5

The Struggle and Triumph of the Spirit

Text: Romans 8:14-23, especially v. 22

On the holy Island of Iona, off the west coast of Scotland, stands the Iona Abbey. In the midst of the Abbey cloister stands a bronze sculpture, depicting chaotic matter rising up to beautiful form. Over the sculpture hovers a bronze dove. The artist has made visible the struggle and triumph of the Spirit of God.

The Hebrews had a name: Ruach. The Greeks had a name: Pneuma. In English: Spirit.

The Holy Scriptures exude the presence of the divine

Spirit.

In the first creation story we hear, “The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind [ruach] from God swept over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2)

In the second creation story we read, “And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7-8)

Much later we read of the prophet Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones. The Lord God speaks, “Come from the four winds, O breath [Spirit] and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” (Ezekiel 37:9)

Then the evangelist, Luke, at a moment of destiny, writes about a Hebrew maid named Mary. She hears, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you . . . therefore the child to be bom with be holy.” (Luke 1:35)

And we come then to the day of harvest called Pentecost. The text says, again Luke speaking, “And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind .... All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, [the pneuma of God]. (Acts 2:2, 4) Later Peter interprets this striking event, from the prophet, Joel, “In the last days, God declares, I will pour out my Spirit [rauch, pneuma] on all flesh.” (Acts 2:17) This has been called “the democratization of the Spirit.” The Church is bom.

In a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, St. John quotes Jesus, saying, “The wind [Spirit] of God blows where it will.” (John 3:7a)

But... but... but in this world the Spirit of God faces profound resistance. Why? Because there are other spirits abroad antagonistic to God’s Spirit.

St. Paul puts is graphically:

“Up to the present, we know the whole created universe groans in all its parts as if in the pangs of childbirth.” (Romans 8:22a)

The Spirit of God, always seeking to create order out of chaos, groaned under the power of restless nature when on May 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helens blew its stack causing 50 deaths and massive destruction.

The Spirit of God groans under the pollution human beings distribute to air, earth and water causing crises in the planet’s function. Example: Glacial ice, reports the journal Science, that took at least 1,600 years to form in the Peruvian Andes, has melted in the last 25 years.

The Spirit of God groans under our inhuman behavior. Recently three sixteen year old young men were arrested for the alleged assault of an underage woman. Images of the atrocity are said to have appeared on social media. Eight days later she took her own life.

Against such spirits the Spirit of God strives. St. Paul says “ . . . the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now and not only the creation but we ourselves .. . but the Spirit prays for us with signs too deep for words.” (Romans 8:22-23c, 26b)

In Pentecost we celebrate not some namby-pamby, will-ofthe-wisp spirit but rather the mighty Spirit of God abroad in the world.

The good news of Pentecost arrives when in prayer and smuggle the Spirit helps us triumph - when faith dispels doubt, when devotion ousts temptation, when faithfulness pushes out negligence, when unity replaces discord, when apathy gives way to enthusiasm.

In this the groan becomes a shout of joy. The travail of childbirth becomes the glee of new life. The gibberish joy: “It’s a girl! It’s a boy! It’s a church!”

St. Paul speaks of this triumph:

“For all who are led by the Spirit are sons and daughters of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into bondage, but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby you cry, ‘Abba, Father!”’ (Romans 8:14-15)

See this picture:

• See Christ holding on to a rope in his nail pierced hands.

• See ourselves coming forward, along with many others, to grab hold of that rope in order to pull with all our might and mane. Hear the groans of those pulling toward God and the right.

• Now see ourselves as part of a long line stretching back over centuries, pulling against evil, against violence, against all that is mean and ugly in the world, aligning ourselves, in spite of frailty and imperfection, with the forces of faith, hope and love.

• And as we pull we sense the Spirit of God brooding over us and the wind of God blowing from our backs on behalf of those who seek mercy, justice and peace. We feel ourselves pulled forward toward the reign of God.

• And in our spirits we shout, “Hallelujah!”

• And in our hearts we say a hearty, “Amen! Amen! Amen!”

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, world to its end.

Amen.

(Rev.) David B. Bowman