Holy Spirit

Dr. Richard J. Henderson June 15, 2003

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Isaiah 6:1-8
John 3: 1-17

Introduction

A young man comes up to his pastor and asks, "What is the Holy Spirit like? I find this really difficult to understand." The pastor agrees. It's hard to define what the Holy Spirit is; it's easier to tell those moments when you've felt the Spirit in your life.

I

At the high school assembly - last thing on Friday afternoon - the whole school gathers in the auditorium. The football team is introduced. As they walk out onto the stage, the auditorium erupts with cheering and screaming. Everyone is on their feet encouraging them. Tonight is a critically important game because if they win this game they will go to the state finals. The school wants to build "team spirit," to get the students excited about the game so they will support their team. The rally builds as it raises the emotional level higher and higher. The team knows that if they have the spirit of their school behind them - if people turn out to cheer them on - they have a much better chance of winning. Having team spirit can make the difference between winning and losing.

II

A young foal prances around the corral. He runs, kicking his heels into the air, full of energy and spirit. He was just born a couple of months ago, and he is full of himself. It is as if he has too much energy and he doesn't know what to do with it all. He runs and jumps, circling his mother who stands in place, watching him. This young colt is the essence of a "spirited horse."

III

A national tragedy strikes and we become a nation with a single heart. Together we watch television as two great towers first burst into flames, and then crumble to the ground in an enormous cloud of horrid smoke. Our hearts go out to families who have lost relatives in this awful tragedy - to the workers, the firemen, and the police. We become one people. We are a nation in mourning.

The spirit of America can be seen in this moment more than in any other time in our recent history. Our people are one. This tragedy has molded us into a united people. Regardless of what other differences we have had we all anguish for the loss we have experienced. This tragedy in American life brings us together as one people. The spirit of our nation is in mourning.

IV

A group of people went away for the weekend on a religious retreat. Several inspiring speakers talked to them, they had all their meals together, they stayed up late talking honestly with each other, they held hands and sang wonderful songs, they played hard at team sports, they laughed together. When they got home some described this weekend as a "mountaintop experience." They talked about how moved they were, how helpful this time was for their spiritual life, how much they had grown.

One participant said, "This was the most uplifting, spiritual experience I have ever been to."

V

A young woman keeps coming back to the question of whether she is being called into full-time ministry. She is interested in other subjects but somehow always seems to have signed up for a Biblical Studies course, or one in counseling, or theology. As much as she resists the idea of studying at seminary, the question keeps coming back into her head. It is a nearly palpable tugging that she feels. "What is this that keeps bringing the question back to me?" she asks. "Why won't it leave me alone?"

Finally she calls her pastor and schedules an appointment to talk with him about the whole question.

VI

A woman sits in church, praying about the move they are about to make. In her prayers she asks that she be led to a Christian real estate agent who can help her family find a new home. After church she gathers her children and they go for lunch. She doesn't know any babysitters so she has to take the children with her to visit open houses after lunch. At the first one she meets a very pleasant woman who enjoys talking with her children. One of her little girls begins singing a song she learned last year at Vacation Bible School. The realtor knows the song and sings along with her. Then the realtor teaches the children a song she learned at VBS at her church. They sing the song several times. This opens a conversation between the mother and the realtor. The woman is just amazed that right after praying for help she received it so quickly! "How could that happen", she asks herself?

VII

A group of people gathers in a small church. They are farmers and professors, mechanics and homemakers, bankers and students. Toward the end of the worship service the pastor moves behind the communion table. He lifts up a loaf of bread and says, "Our Lord said, 'Take eat, this is my body, given for you.'" Then he lifts high a chalice and says, "This is the cup of the new covenant, sealed in my blood. Drink this in remembrance of me." As the communion service began the pastor had called the congregation to prayer, and then prayed for an unusual request: he asked for God's Spirit to come to them in the elements they were about to receive. Is God's Spirit in a chunk of bread and a sip of juice? Could that be possible?

VIII

A middle-aged pastor goes to visit a man in his sixties just days before his death. They have been friends for several years, though not always agreeing with each other. The dying man has a wonderfully devoted wife and four children. He is an automotive engineer and has been very successful in his career.

Since he was diagnosed with cancer he received all the treatments he could. When his local hospital couldn't do any more, he went to some of the most famous treatment centers in the world. Eventually they couldn't do anything else for him. He is now in the final days of his life, and he knows it. He and the pastor talk about his life, his family, and his career. He comments that actually his death will be harder for his family than it will be for him.

As he looks back at his life he has few regrets. "I have been very fortunate, I have been able to do some much, to see so many of the world's wonders; I have been so loved by my family. Who could ask for anything more?"

"I'm not afraid to die," he says. "I have always had a strong faith and it is probably stronger now than it has ever been. I know the end is near, and, truly, I am not afraid." The two talk together for a long time after that and then hug and say their last good-bye.

When the pastor got in his car he knew beyond doubt that there had not been two of them in that room, but three. The power of that feeling was so strong that he sat in the car for a few moments before he was able to start the car and drive away.

Conclusion

What's the Holy Spirit like? It's not so easy to define, sometimes the best you can do is describe the moments when you've felt it.

Amen.

©Richard J. Henderson 2003