Meditation for September 27

From Peter Munson

Acts 19:1-10

 

The Holy Spirit

 

"While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples.  He said to them, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?' They replied, 'No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.'  Then he said, 'Into what then were you baptized?' They answered, 'Into John's baptism.' Paul said, 'John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.' On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts 19:1-5)

 

The book "The Acts of the Apostles" in the Bible, or Acts, could very easily be subtitled, "Stories of the Power of the Holy Spirit."  The book, written by Luke, begins with the resurrected Jesus promising the disiciples that they were about to "receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you..." (Acts 1:8).  Jesus ascends into heaven, the day of Pentecost arrives, and as you know (Acts 2), the Holy Spirit did arrive!  From that moment on, the disciples go forth - in the power of the Spirit - and the world was dramatically changed.

 

In Acts 19, during one of Paul's missionary journeys, a group of new disciples is following Christ, but they had evidently not heard the entire Gospel, for they had not even heard of the Holy Spirit.  When we were baptized as followers of Jesus, we were given the Holy Spirit.  One of my favorite prayers in the Prayer Book is the one we say over the newly baptized.  It goes like this:  "Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit you have bestowed on this your servant the forgiveness of sin, and have raised her/him to the new life of grace.  Sustain her, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit.  Give her an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works." (BCP, p. 308)  That last sentence, in particular, is a prayer about what the Spirit, working in us, allows us to do.

 

When I think of the Holy Spirit, I think of many of the things that the Spirit of God enables us to do.

 

* The Spirit gives us power and strength (Acts 1:8; cf. Luke 24:49)

* The Spirit gives us boldness, and the power to proclaim our faith with boldness, and without fear (Act 4:13, 29-31)

* The Spirit gives us protection (John 17: 11,15 - implied)

* The Spirit is our teacher and guide, and reminds us what we know through Jesus' teachings (John 14:26)

* The Spirit gives us peace that the world cannot give us (John 14:27)

* The Spirit leads us into acts of love and generosity (Acts 2:44-47)

* The Spirit leads us into all the truth (John 14:17; 16:13)

* The Spirit leads us to pray, even to pray fervently (Acts 4:31), and "helps us in our weakness", when we don't know how to pray as we ought to, and intercedes for us "with sighs too deep for words" (Romans 8:26) - Don't you love this verse?

* The Spirit, being the Spirit of God, has the power to heal (Acts 4:30 and many other places in Acts)

 

This is not an exhaustive list of what the Spirit enables us to do, but it's a pretty good start, don't you think?  And this Spirit - the very Spirit of God - lives in you!

 

So the next time you are feeling fearful... the next time you are confused... the next time you are feeling like you don't know how to pray... the next time you wonder if you can share something about your faith in a genuine and loving way... the next time you don't feel like you have any peace... the next time you want to gain deeper insight into something... the next time you wonder if you can be loving, or be generous... the next time you wonder if God can work through you to bring healing to another person...

 

...Remind yourself that you have been given the Holy Spirit, and pause, and say, either out loud, or in the quiet of your heart, "Holy Spirit, I know you are with me.  Help me to come into your presence, and to trust in you.  I am open to your guidance, and to your power." 

 

You might also want to commit to memory these words of Paul, written to a young Timothy:  "... for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7)

 

Peace - the peace of the Holy Spirit - be with you.  And may the Holy Spirit do wonderful things through you!