Of the Trinity’s three persons, I sometimes feel most sorry for the Holy Spirit.
Because, no thanks to human curiosity and thick-headedness, the Spirit always seems to be suffering from an identity crisis. It’s as if humanity harbors an insatiable desire to identify and personify the Spirit, yet none of those cravings ever seems to satisfy fully in suitably naming the Spirit.
For me the Holy Spirit is a “she” – guiding and nurturing. With equally good reason, others experience the Holy Spirit as a “he” – powerful and forceful. Beyond gender, as our recent Scripture lessons have suggested, the Spirit likewise is as a tongue of fire. And as a dove. And as water. And now this morning, as wind.
Who’s to say?
Frankly it all sounds so absurd that you just want to give up and go on your merry way! Maybe these many identifies of the Holy Spirit are all too much of a good thing and are best avoided in the interest of spiritual peace!
Think about it! These images of the Holy Spirit cut both ways: Fire both warms and destroys. Water both quenches and drenches. Yes, doves coo sweetly, but Hitchcock’s movie about birds scares completely. Tropical winds blow gently; tornadic winds whip furiously.
So, is it possible, then, to have too much of the Holy Spirit?
A long-winded, late-night conversation between Jesus and a religious leader named Nicodemus speaks to that honest question. I’m reading to you from chapter 3 of John’s Gospel. Listen for the Word of the Lord.
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”
Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
“Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:1-8 NRSV)
Being “born again” is a slogan and rallying cry for an entire segment of modern Christianity.
In those circles, being “born again” is the yardstick that measures the validity of one’s faith.
It’s often a very flat measure that refers to the moment when a person “comes” to Jesus or “accepts” Christ. But if that’s all the farther you want to take it, then we’re missing what being “born again” is really all about.
In his use of the verb “born,” Jesus is speaking in the past tense about something that’s already taken place. That spiritual something continues to play out, and it continues to make a difference in your life long after the Spirit’s initial arrival. Thus, when you’re born of the Spirit, that birth has lasting consequences. But those impacts are oftentimes difficult to see and even harder to understand. You see signs and suggestions of such spiritual birth, as you hear wind rustling the leaves of a tree. Yet the Spirit moves and works as she chooses, like a feather on the wind, and no one ever will be fully able to comprehend the Spirit’s travels and activities.
Jesus says that not knowing about the Spirit’s movements also is as “it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Beyond simply declaring that no one knows who’s truly been born from above and who hasn’t, Jesus more importantly is saying that none of us who has experienced a Spirit birth knows how it works. That precisely Nicodemus’s question: How does this rebirth happen, Jesus? And the Lord’s answer is a noun without a verb: the Spirit. Period.
No, you cannot fully comprehend the how, but yes, you can completely understand the why. The Holy Spirit is the why.
As you consider all that God has done for you, and as you ponder Jesus’s invitation to take up your cross and follow him on his ascending way to the presence of God, and as you reflect on the constantly life-altering, forever game-changing work of the Holy Spirit, you are facing head-on the purposes of God and the intentions of God’s love.
Enabled by the Spirit, you respond to such great love in the obedience of faith and belief.
You lean into the wind of the Spirit as the Spirit blows, even if we do not understand it, cannot explain or justify it, or are hesitant to accept it for yourselves or others.
You are responding to God’s love – leaning into the wind of the Spirit – when you acknowledge the unique gifts fueled by the Holy Spirit to bring joy into your life, goodness into the glory, and glory to our God on high.
You are responding to God’s love – allowing the wind of the Spirit to fill your sails – when you rely on the strength and courage of the Spirit to let go of your hurts and resentments, when you put others needs ahead of your own, when you exercise self-control in conversations. Left to your own devices, such daily challenges come with less-favorable outcomes. But on the winds of the Holy Spirit, you leave nothing but goodness in your wake.
You are responding to God’s love – letting the wind of the Spirit unfurl your rebirthing – when you allow the Spirit to overcome your fears and anxieties, to heal your losses and injuries, to muster calm, sanity, comfort, and hope when you most need it – like when life is ripping apart at the seams and the winds of war and dis-ease are blowing with fierce intent.
Is the Spirit like the wind? Like a dove? Like fire or water?
Like Superman and Wonder Woman all rolled into One?
Who cares! They’re all helpful distinctions without a difference: The Spirit is all we need, and the Spirit is ours for the asking.
A glass cannot be full of water if there is space for more water or something else. So our lives cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit in the strictest sense until the Spirit fills every part of our daily walk. Other things must be removed so that the Spirit can occupy us completely. A self-centered existence is replaced with an other-centered spirit that will lead us to greater responses to God’s love, deeper communion with Jesus, a sharper awareness of those around us, and a fresh engagement with those who suffer. Thus writes the apostle Paul:
Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.
See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people. Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil.
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for the One who calls you is faithful. (1 Thessalonians 5:14-24 NLT)
The Holy Spirit. The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!
Pastor Grant M. VanderVelden shared this message during worship on Sunday, June 30, 2024. It is the final installment in sermon series on the biblical imagery of the Holy Spirit as fire, water, a dove or a bird, and the wind. Scholarship, commentary, and reflection by Joan Carey, Chelsey Harmon, Scott Hoezee, Trevor Hudson, and Tim McConnell inform the message.