An elder in our congregation took the words right out of my mouth when he said, “I want to experience the power and Presence of the Spirit of God!” We were talking about the relative impotence of the church, about the gatherings in which we too often went through the motions of worship but failed to engage with the life of God’s Spirit. We wondered how it is that people can be active ‘church-ians’ and fail completely to love, to forgive, to serve? Apparently this condition has existed since the first generation of Christians appeared. In the last letter he wrote, Paul warned Timothy about those who had "a form of godliness but deny its power." (2 Timothy 3:5, NIV)
A robust and living Christian experience is quite similar to marriage. It has moments when excitement and passion are primary, alongside of moments when love is expressed with quiet patience and perseverance. Who wouldn’t want to live each day of marriage with the same kind of emotional engagement that comes in the first months of the relationship? But, we recognize that is not possible. (Well, some of us do. Others have affairs!) Our marital vows include “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.” Our intimacy goes far beyond sentimentality. Learning to love the Spirit includes a covenant that is not self-centered, but God-focused. Honestly, we will sometimes find Him enthralling and sometimes wonder where He’s gone. He is a Person, not a program; a living Being, not a machine whose levers we control. And, we must not confuse a genuine Spirit-filled life with ‘feeling good.’
Yet, we must hunger for Him, pursue Him, and wait on Him. When Garry made the statement that I quoted in the opening lines today, I added that I too am desperate for the Spirit’s move. But, am I really? Or I am so full of religion, that I have no real appetite for loving God? “When we are at our wits’ end for an answer, then the Holy Spirit can give us an answer. But how can He give us an answer when we are still well supplied with all sorts of answers of our own?” – Karl Barth (as quoted by Francis Chan in Forgotten God)
I thought I could never love Bev more than I did when I was an infatuated 19 year old kid. 37 years later, it is apparent that I knew next to nothing of love then. Our ties now include parenting four kids into adulthood, surviving major surgery, holding on to each other when death visited our family, and leading two congregations as a team. We have learned the language of love that allows us to send support across a crowded room when our eyes meet. We share our tears and our laughter. Our dreams are merged. In the best sense of the Genesis ideal, we complete each other: she is me, I am her!
If we would love the Spirit, He will lead us through experiences that rip away our pretensions, reveal our weaknesses, and hurt deeply. He is no Sadist. He just wants us to look past health, wealth, and comfort. He wants to become one with us. Jesus promised that he would “ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." (John 14:16-17, NIV) It takes courage and faith to abandon what we know to become the Spirit’s friend. I want to know Him. So, help me God!
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Jerry D. Scott, Pastor
Faith Discovery Church
Washington, NJ 07882
http://www.FaithDiscovery.com
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