Tongues of Fire

 Yesterday was Pentecost Sunday in our church year.  This is the event when a great sound and light show came upon the early followers of Jesus Christ who had gathered from the known corners of the world.  The Holy Spirit invaded the gathering of those people in Jerusalem and there was a great wind, tongues of fire over their heads, and the local people were speaking in the languages of everyone who had gathered there

When I was trying to discern my call to be ordained, I was in some ways hoping for something as distinct from the Holy Spirit as all the action on the Day of Pentecost.  I was hoping to get a Road to Damascus experience – like the original one in which Paul was knocked off his horse when he received a voice from Jesus asking him why he was persecuting Jesus?  A voice that would have given me a clear message that the road to ordination I was embarking on was the correct one.  Well on reflection, and considering what happened to Paul, I decided that I would prefer a more subtle message after all. 

I received that some time later.  I was in the process of deciding to begin the path to ordination with the diocese and went for an interview with the Dean of Theology, at Huron College, John Chapman as part of that process. 

Well, I had a very positive interview with the Dean, and the indication seemed to be that I was beginning the journey that God intended for me. 

After the interview, I got in my car to drive home and turned on the radio.  A CBC program was on air in which three people were being interviewed about their becoming clergy later in life – second or third careers like me.  I took that as the work of the Holy Spirit - my road to Damascus or road to ordination experience.  Now this could be dismissed as a mere coincidence.  However, Carl Jung has called these experiences of meaningful coincidences, synchronicity.  It certainly was a meaningful coincidence for me I was certain that this was a sign for me as the work of the Holy Spirit and one that has helped sustain on my road to ordination and as a priest since.

So, can we conclude that the Holy Spirit does not always work in such dramatic ways as it did on the Day of Pentecost which we celebrate today?  Let’s look at some other accounts of the Holy Spirit in the bible.  Jesus promises his disciples in John 16:13 that the Spirit will be a guide and “the Spirit would guide them into all the truth.”  In Acts 8: 29, the Holy Spirit instructed Philip to go to the chariot of the Ethiopian eunuch, leading to the eunuch's conversion. The Holy Spirit is a teacher - Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the Advocate who will teach His followers all things and bring to their remembrance all that He had said to them.  The Holy Spirit also has the role of sanctifier.  Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians that God chose the believers to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 

The Holy Spirit was there in the beginning when God created the world – a wind from God – the Holy Spirit swept over the face of the water before God said, “Let there be light.”   The Holy Spirit the creative power of God – the empowerer, guide, teacher, and sanctifier. 

As I discovered in my road to ordination experience, the Holy Spirit is not always as easy to discern as on that Day of Pentecost.  However, be assured that it is still at work in us and in the world.  We must play our part in working with God by identifying how the Holy Spirit is at work and responding to that knowledge.  It can be in the still small voice we hear; it can be in our dreams if we pay attention to them; it can be in meaningful coincidences; it can be in the inspiration that gives you the answer that you have been struggling to find for a long time.  It can be in the inspiration we receive from an unexpected encounter in reading the bible as you come to gather in bible study or on our own.  It can be when we come together in the name of Jesus Christ to worship and partake in the body and blood of our Saviour.  Be assured that it is there at work in and for each of us. 

May we be blessed to recognize the Holy Spirit guiding us on our journeys. 

Of the Queen and the Spirit

 There is a double occasion for celebration this holiday weekend.  It is a holiday weekend because we are celebrating Victoria Day today.  For those who are not Canadian, and perhaps some who are, the Victoria Day holiday weekend celebrated the birthday of Queen Victoria whose birthday is May 24^th.  The holiday Monday was designated as Victoria Day even though it doesn’t necessarily fall on that date.  The 2-4 weekend - as it is called colloquially – is the opening of summer in much of Canada and many a case of 24 beers are purchased and consumed on the weekend.  The weekend is celebrated on the Monday before May 25th and was declared a holiday after Queen Victoria’s death in 1901 to honour the “Queen of Confederation.”

The other occasion is about a different kind of spirit than the spirit in the case of 24 beers – yesterday we celebrated the Day of Pentecost in which the Holy spirit alighted on the Christians gathered in Jerusalem and a fire descended on them and was lit under them and gave birth to the Christian church.  Pentecost is the day in which the church celebrates the third Person in the Holy Trinity and gives it its due.  Unfortunately, from my perspective, the organized church – or the part I am experienced with - does not actually give the Holy Spirit the due it deserves.  My little joke about this is that the Holy Spirit is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Holy Trinity – it doesn’t get any respect - or more accurately, it “don’t get no respect.”  I hope most of you are old enough to get the reference. 

I believe hat the problem with the Holy Spirit – from the perspective of the organized church – is that it has a mind of its own that the power of the Holy Spirit cannot be control.  As it says in the Gospel of John, “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.”  If people have direct access to the Holy Spirit – or more accurately, the Holy Spirit has access to them, who knows what the Spirit might encourage them to do and be.  

One area where I know the spirit is at work in people today is through their dreams.  I know that God does speak to us in and through our dreams and can give us guidance about how we can live our lives more fully as God intends us to live.  However, to give the church leaders some credit, there can be a problem if people misunderstand what the Spirit is telling them.  There may also be other spirit that try and influence people and lead them astray.  In another forum I have been reviewing some rules that can help us understand if what we are being told is actually from God.  There are nine questions which can help us in discerning if it is God’s will or another source.

When a course of action seems to present itself through dreams, prayer, or synchronicity, how do we know if it is indeed Divine Will? The following questions applied separately may not give us a definitive answer, but applied collectively they can help determine who or what is truly calling us to action. They may help us discern God’s will:

1.       Is it harmful? God’s will is man and woman’s well-being. Do I feel free or compelled? The Spirit is not compulsive; we have a choice. A sense of urgency may signal neurotic compulsion, rather than freedom of choice in God.

2.       Does the course of action take into account the obvious facts of my situation? Does it acknowledge my other responsibilities? Do circumstances seem to be shifting of their own accord to accommodate this course of action?

3.       Does the course of action feel natural − do I feel “at home” with it? Can I look back at my life to date and see this new development as a positive, natural extension of my life’s journey? Does it seem to “fit?”

4.       In retrospect, what have been the fruits of my choice? If we experience consistent failure or disappointment in a course of action, perhaps our true gifts lie elsewhere.

5.       Even though individuation sometimes means going against mainstream culture, is this a decision I can put before the broader community, at least for discussion? If no one in my Christian community can support my course of action, I may need to re-think it.

6.       Is the message persistent? Am I hearing it from a number of sources?

7.       Is the action required of me, or of other persons? God’s will for our lives usually requires us to do our own footwork.

8.       Do I seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time and thought “building a case” for this course of action? Could I be rationalizing some compulsive behavior?

9.       Am I willing to take “no” for an answer? Do I feel like everything depends on this particular course of action being carried out? Or that this is the only “right” way?

I hope that you are blessed to be able to listen to the Holy Spirit and discern God’s truth on your journey.