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What's in the Bible About the Holy Spirit?
What's in the Bible and Why Should I Care?
By Alex Joyner Abingdon Press
Copyright © 2008 Abingdon Press
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4267-1452-8
CHAPTER 1
The Holy Spirit Creates and Renews
Bible Readings
Genesis 1:1-2; 2:4b-7; Ezekiel 11:19-20; 36:22-26; Joel 2:28-32; Luke 1:26-38; 2:25-38; Acts 2
The Questions
The Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit as One who creates and renews. How can creation and renewal help us understand how God relates to creation and to human beings? What difference can creation and renewal make in our lives? _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________
A Psalm
O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures....
When you send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the ground.
Psalm 104:24, 30
A Prayer
Creating and renewing Spirit sent forth from the heart of God, we trust that you know the places in our lives that need to be renewed. You know the ways the world is wounded and how much it cries out for new life. Come, Spirit. Come into this day, into this heart. Amen.
The Power of the Wind
In the coastal region where I live, time is marked as much by the great storms as it is by the passing of seasons and new years. Near my house at a small wharf on a branch of the Chesapeake Bay is a waterman's shed with markings on the blank exterior noting the height of floods since the building was built. The names tell as much about the significant dates in local history as any marker could. Hurricanes such as Donna and Floyd share space with nor'easters such as the infamous 1964 Ash Wednesday storm; and, of course, everyone here knows about the 1933 storm that changed the area forever. It pushed residents off the now-deserted barrier islands and destroyed eel grass in the bays behind them. It altered the fragile ecosystem that provides habitat for scallops, crab, and other staples of the Virginia fishing industry. The winds and the waters of the storms also have a renewing effect here. In the wake of the storms is loss, but there is also rebuilding. New towns emerge, and older communities change. Life begins again. It is no wonder that humans have always felt a mixture of apprehension and awe in the face of wind.
In the Bible the wind is often depicted as a powerful, destructive force. In one story, Elijah, the greatest of Israel's prophets, was called out to a desert mountain where he listened for God in the midst of a violent wind that split the mountain and broke rocks. Along with an accompanying earthquake and fire, the wind was a prelude to God's coming (1 Kings 19:11-13). Even then, when the power of the wind was most obvious, it was a sign of a new day and a new movement of God among the people. The Holy Spirit, the most elusive of the ways God is known in the Bible, is associated with this wind.
Creation and Life
Genesis 1:1-2; 2:4b-7
Like wind, the Spirit resists being pinned down, even in pronouns. Is the Spirit a she, a he, an it? All three have been used to refer to the Holy Spirit. Christians consider the Holy Spirit one of the personal names of God but have usually talked in terms of activity rather than gender in describing who the Spirit is. The Spirit blows, moves, breathes, flows, and creates life.
According to the Bible, the Holy Spirit was present at the beginning. When the story of who God is gets underway in the opening verses of Genesis, the first description of the cosmos tells us that the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Genesis 1:2). The same word that indicates "spirit" can also be translated as "the wind or breath of God. " However we imagine it, it is important to note that this is a restless Spirit. There is energy and expectancy in this hovering that soon would be unleashed with creative force. Within a few verses there would be light, stars, planets, and space. The Spirit works across a broad canvas and cannot be contained.
At the end of that first week, however, the focus turned to a more humble creature. Genesis 2 tells a much more intimate story of the creation of a human being from the mud of the earth. To give this new creature life, there was breath once more. God breathed into Adams nostrils the breath of life. Here again, Christians see the Holy Spirit at work.
When I walk through the house at night, I often stop at the doorways of my children's bedrooms. I find great comfort in just hearing them breathe. It is something I have been doing their whole lives. I was fortunate enough to have been there when they both drew their first breath. That was a time of drama because the breath was followed by the great wail of the newborn, but I never took such joy in a crying baby as I did then because I knew it meant this child was drawing in life. Now their nighttime breathing is a gentle affirmation of God's sustaining presence.
In my pastoral ministry, I have also been with persons as they drew their final breath after long lives and long struggles. There is often silence in those rooms, too, as those waiting sit and hold hands and watch each rise and fall of their loved one's chest. The rhythm of those breaths permeates the prayers offered and reminds us of the holiness of the moment. As long as there is breath, there is life.
A New Spirit
Ezekiel 11:19-20; 36:22-26
When the Creator God rested from labor after six days, it did not mean that the work of creation was over. Genesis gives us the opening scenes of a story that will reveal many acts of creation and renewal. In Ezekiel, we discover that the creating and renewing power of God's Holy Spirit continues.
When the prophet Ezekiel spoke to the people of God, they were in a situation of conflict and crisis. The nation of Israel had been overrun by great powers, and many people had been carried into exile in a distant land. As the people assessed their situation, they began to wonder if their history with God and with the land was finished. Were they being punished for their unfaithfulness? Would others take over Jerusalem? Would God abandon them in their failures?
As Ezekiel listened for God's word in those dark times, he heard clearly that God was going to do a new thing in the people. Even though they had turned away from God and turned toward false gods, God was going to reclaim them. Once again they would be known among the nations as God's own people. More than that, however, God was going to work a change within them. Their hearts, which had turned to stone, were going to be removed in favor of a heart of flesh; and God would put a new spirit within them. Once again we find God intimately connected with these human creatures, breathing in new life. The restless Spirit was on the move again, bringing about renewal.
Life Is Messy
In the 1989 comedy Parenthood, Steve Martin plays Gil Buckman, a harried man who is struggling to look the part of the successful middle-class father while his career and his children are going through crisis. He is not able to experience joy because he worries about so many things, including whether his nine-year-old son will be able to catch a fly ball in a Little League game. His character's moment of grace comes as he is sharing his latest concerns with his patient wife, Karen. "[Our kids are] gonna do a lot of things. Baseball's the least of it. And in all those things, sometimes they're gonna miss." His wife responds by saying, "What do you want? Guarantees? These are kids, not appliances. Life is messy." The way in which his wife responds indicates that there is no messiness in their lives that could overcome a greater love in which all those things take place. There would be problems; but there would always be an adventure, too.
The stories of the Bible testify to the messiness of living in the world and to the disorder in our lives. Time and again God goes back to the people who have fallen and failed and brings about renewal. God seems to know that sometimes we are "gonna miss" and disappoint God and ourselves, but the Holy Spirit works in us to reclaim the original intent for our lives.
A New Day Coming
Joel 2:28-32
You want an image for messiness? Try a locust invasion. Joel 2 begins by using the images of conquering armies and devouring locusts to talk about the coming day of the Lord (Joel 2:1-11). In the midst of these dark images, we find a word of hope.
A locust swarm was one of the most devastating things that could happen to agricultural communities living on marginal lands. The prophet Joel spoke to a people who knew what locusts could do. Their crops had been devoured by swarms that took away more than the food they needed; they also took away hope. Joel used the darkness of such times to describe a new day when God would come. Joel's vision is cinematic in scope. The sun goes dark, and the moon turns to blood. There is fire and smoke. However, at the heart of the new day is that same renewing spirit that God sends to the people. A day is coming when visions and prophecies of what God wants for creation won't be voiced by a few select people but by everyone. Young and old, slave and free, men and women—all will share in a new community formed by this outpouring of God's Spirit, and any barrier that denied access to God will be torn down.
Overshadowed by the Spirit
Luke 1:26-38; 2:25-38
When Christians refer to the latter books of the Bible as the New Testament, they are not denying the continuing relevance of the Hebrew Scriptures; but they do see God doing something radically new in Jesus. We have seen that it is in the nature of God's Spirit to keep creating and renewing. Now in Luke the same Spirit that hovered in expectancy over the waters comes to overshadow a young woman with the result that she will be expecting a child of promise.
The angel told Mary that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her and bring about an unusual pregnancy. It is hard to overstate the strangeness of this story and how unexpected it was. The ruler that God's people had been hoping for was entering the world in the form of a baby. The reign of God was being established through a child born to a woman with no credentials except a willingness to make space within herself for God. It took witnesses to explain what God was up to in this strange arrangement. As the infant Jesus was presented at the Temple, the Spirit guided an old man named Simeon to announce what was afoot in the world. God had not abandoned the world to its own devices. There would be strife surrounding this Child; but he was the salvation the people had been waiting for, not only for his own people but also for the Gentiles and the nations.
One of the wonders of the place where I live is the network of large, shallow bays that lie behind the barrier islands. On the Virginia shoreline, the islands arc out from the land, extending out as much as eight miles from the mainland. These bays are fertile waters that provide a nursery for many sea creatures, including fish and sharks. Kayaking here, I often think about what a unique habitat this is. It is almost as if the land opens up to provide space within itself for the flourishing of new life. This is creative space.
Wasn't Mary creating such a space within herself by assenting to the Spirit's movement? Wasn't she offering her very self for the renewal of the world and the advent of a new day? With all of the distractions and busy-ness with which we fill our lives, there is the real danger that we will not have the space for receiving what God has to give. We may also not be open to the new activity of the Holy Spirit that wants to remind us of our purpose and promise.
A People Remade
Acts 2
Those who had followed Jesus and had watched the awful and awesome events in Jerusalem as Jesus went from celebrated teacher to crucified criminal to resurrected Savior huddled together in one place at the feast of Pentecost. Jesus had told them all that would happen, but they had trouble understanding what he had meant. More was about to happen.
Jesus had promised that when he left them he would send the Holy Spirit upon them. The Spirit would be their companion, their instructor, the one who would help them remember who Jesus was and who they were, and the one who would make Jesus always present with them in a new and vital way. Again they had a hard time accepting what he was saying. So after his departure, they sat together in one place as Jerusalem filled with Jewish pilgrims from around the known world to observe the feast of Pentecost.
Suddenly everything changed. The sound of a violent wind blew through the house. Flames danced above their heads. Just as in the garden of Genesis, the Spirit was breathed into the life of humanity once more and brought about a new day. The Spirit animated this group of expectant disciples and launched them on a journey that would remake the world. At the movement of the Holy Spirit they began to speak in languages that all those foreign visitors could understand, and they told what God could do.
The outburst caused mass confusion, so Peter, a leader of the disciples, stood up to explain. When he did, he recalled the words of the prophet Joel. Hadn't the promise always been that when God came in power the Spirit would be poured out on all people, not just the few and the privileged? Looking around at that ragtag collection of fishermen, tax collectors, and women who lived on the margins, it was clear that this was the promise coming to life in a new community. That day about 3,000 more joined; and the Spirit moved them to a way of living together that emphasized mutual support, shared possessions, and constant attention to God. What would become the church was born.
The Church and the Holy Spirit
The new community that was born in the chaos of that Pentecost outburst was known as the ecclesia, a Greek word that simply means "an assembly of people." In English it came to be known as the church. Like any assembly of people, it had its wonders and its flaws. The early ideal of communal living and shared property soon faltered, and the disciples had to grapple with internal divisions and members who struggled to be the holy people they were called to be. In the centuries that have followed, the Christian church has sometimes been at the forefront of great movements, such as the civil rights movement; and it has sometimes supported things that can only be described as evil, such as slavery. The multiplicity of Christian denominations speaks to great diversity among those who follow Jesus, but it also reflects a history of Christian strife.
As often as it has failed, however, the church has been reclaimed and renewed by the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells a story of how God continues to come into places where it looks like all energy and life has died and the Holy Spirit blows once more. One of the reasons the church keeps going back to the Bible is to remind itself of how the Holy Spirit has moved through the people of God in the past and of how people just like us kept discovering anew that their lives were part of a bigger story that was going somewhere. The church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, is God's gift to people who need to be renewed and who need the companionship of fellow travelers willing to share their lives with Jesus and with one another.
A Prayer
Holy Spirit, we trust that you are hovering just above our heads in expectation of doing a new thing. We trust that you are waiting to fill us with life as you have done with all creation. We trust that you will renew and empower us; in Christ we pray. Amen.
CHAPTER 2
The Holy Spirit Inspires
Bible Readings
Genesis 41; 2 Kings 2:1-15; Isaiah 48:12-19; Zechariah 7:8-14; Luke 1:39-45, 57-80; 4:16-21
The Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit as One who inspires people with the knowledge of God's will and ways. How can the inspiration of the Holy Spirit help us understand how God wants us to live as God's people? What difference can the inspiration of the Holy Spirit make in our lives? _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________
A Psalm
Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.
Psalm 143:10
A Prayer
God, sometimes the deepest jungle is in my very soul. I wander in search of the way that will lead me to you and to my truest self. Inspire me with the wisdom of your Spirit so that I can walk in confidence with you. Amen.
Terrain of Uncertainty
I could see it in their eyes. When I was a campus minister, I began to notice it in the students I worked with as they entered their final year of school. The world was about to change for them. They were gifted students who had received a great education. At graduation exercises they would be told that they could now do anything they wanted; but in their eyes I often saw the question-What is it that I want to do? I recognize the look because I had been there. My college years were a time of great discovery for me when I learned that I could do things I didn't know that I could do. I enjoyed exploring different classes, from Chinese history to folklore studies. I helped run the student radio station. Then graduation loomed, and I had to face a new question. With all the things that I could do, what should I do? The practical question was, "Where am I going to get a job?" but the bigger question was, "What is God calling me to do with my life?"
(Continues...)
Excerpted from What's in the Bible About the Holy Spirit? by Alex Joyner. Copyright © 2008 Abingdon Press. Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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