The Elusive Spirit

The Elusive Spirit

A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Randy K. Hammer – June 9, 2019 

(Pentecost Sunday)

John 3:1-8 GNT; Reading from Barbara Brown Taylor’s, Holy Envy

Many years ago, when I had commenced the journey to ordained ministry, in fact, I was in a class or meeting with a group of area ministers and other church leaders when the subject of the Holy Spirit came up.  And one of the senior ministers of the group, someone who was known, respected, and loved by everyone who knew him, as well as one of the members of the Committee on the Ministry that had oversight of candidates for the ministry like myself, said, “Everybody keeps talking about the Holy Spirit.  I wish somebody could explain the Holy Spirit to me!” 

Here was a religious leader – a seasoned leader of other would-be leaders – and at the age of 70 (I am guessing) this religious teacher confessed that he needed someone to explain to him the workings of the Holy Spirit.  Well, that struck me as being sort of odd; the thought that this well-educated, well-respected religious leader, who would be one of the three or four of the presbytery who would be holding the fate of my ministerial candidacy in his hands, was asking for someone else to explain the Holy Spirit to him.

Well, the parallel between my true story and John’s story involving Jesus and another religious leader of men, Nicodemus, should be obvious.  Nicodemus went to Jesus at night, under the cover of darkness as the story goes, because he felt that as a man in his position it would not be prudent for him to be seen conversing with Jesus in public in the light of day.  Curiously, the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus shifts gears right off the bat.  And we are left wondering what Nicodemus really had in mind in seeking Jesus out in the first place.  It seems that Nicodemus wanted to talk to Jesus about his (Jesus’) relationship to God.  But Jesus took the conversation in a completely different direction.  In all fairness to Nicodemus, he didn’t raise a question about the Spirit.  But Jesus commenced to enlighten him anyway.  And as Jesus talked with Nicodemus regarding the nature of the Spirit in the world and individual lives, Nicodemus’s response was, “I don’t understand.  How can this be?  Surely you’re kidding, Jesus!”  (I’ve paraphrased there a bit J.)

But the bottom line of Jesus’ teachings about the Spirit was, “No, you can’t understand it.  The Spirit, like the wind, blows when and where it chooses.  Just as you cannot see the wind (which is invisible), but you can see its effects, where the wind has been, so it is with the Spirit – you can’t see the Spirit, and you can’t control it, and you can’t predict where it will blow next.  But you can be certain of its existence, and you can see the effects of it.  In short, the Spirit is elusive.

And in some way that really can’t be described either, Jesus said, the Spirit works upon the human heart to bring about inner change.  One must be born again, born of the Spirit, Jesus says.  Now, the phrase “born again” has been so overused and misused and abused that many people start squirming in their seat when they hear it.  Mainline or progressive Christians may be uncomfortable embracing it. 

But there are other comparable terms used by other religions that may be more palatable, such as spiritual awakening or spiritual enlightenment.  I believe they basically mean the same thing.  But basically, the human heart and mind can be awakened to spirituality and the things of God, and people so awakened choose to live their lives with a new focus.  Again, you can’t describe it; you can only see the effects of it in the personality changes and actions of someone who undergoes such an inner, spiritual change.

As noted in my sermon a couple of weeks ago, I felt sure there would be another topic inspired by Barbara Brown Taylor’s latest book, Holy Envy, which is my latest reading endeavor.  And if you haven’t already figured it out, this is it.

In the chapter titled “Born Again,” from which I read earlier, Barbara goes to great lengths – several pages, in fact – to discuss John’s story about Jesus and Nicodemus, as well as the nature of the Spirit.  Picking up some of Barbara’s thoughts where I left off in today’s reading, Barbara says, “ . . . the Spirit does not hand out maps showing where the wind came from, where it is going, how you are supposed to handle it, and how everything will turn out in the end.”

Barbara confesses that of the three Persons of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit had been the hardest for her to visualize.  “How do you picture the wind? . . . .  The Spirit is the least predictable Person of the Trinity. . . .  No one knows when she [yes, Barbara prefers to think of the Holy Spirit as “she”] may come blowing through the trees, the windows, the open doors, pitching all the papers off the desk and making the houseplants shiver in their pots. . . When she flings me into other people, she is trying to tell me something.  When she drops me off in unfamiliar places, I need to pay attention.  She is completely trustworthy, even when I cannot explain a single thing she is up to.  She comes.  She goes.  She gives life to all creation.”

Barbara explains that in her later years, she has gained a whole new appreciation for the Spirit.  And she observes, “To walk the way of the sacred unknowing is to remember that our best ways of thinking and speaking about God are provisional.  They are always in process – reflecting our limited perspectives, responding to our particular lives and times.”  And finally, Barbara confesses, “there is a place where human knowing runs out.  Strong winds really do blow through people’s lives.”  That last sentence – “Strong winds really do blow through people’s lives” – is most important, I think, and most pertinent for the subject at hand.

As a follow-up to Barbara’s thoughts, over the course of my ministry, I have known people who, by the drastic change in their lives, habits and actions, would appear to have had the Spirit blow through their lives.  And I have had a lot of experiences that many people might label coincidences; and maybe some of them were coincidences; or maybe not.  Experiences when I found myself to be moved to be at the right place at precisely the right time, such as showing up unbidded at a hospital room just minutes before someone passed away, affording me the opportunity to offer a parting prayer and/or support the family.  Or having the right newspaper or magazine articles, or story or quotation come my way on the exact theme of the sermon I happened to be working on that week.  Or having the words of the closing worship service hymn sum up or affirm the thrust of the sermon, when I had not consciously planned it that way previously.  Or being inspired with the right words at the right time for a conversation, hospital visit or counseling session. 

Though I have never had any “earth-shattering” experiences such as the followers of Jesus were said to have experienced on that first Christian Pentecost, I have had many small experiences, and I have heard of experiences others have had, that would lead you to believe that there is, indeed, a Spirit that sometimes shows up bestowing guidance, grace, enlightenment, and blessing. 

So I personally - like Barbara Brown Taylor – try to be open to that Great Spirit of Mystery that defies our understanding, but imparts life, energizes the universe around us, motivates people to greater service, inspires people with greater creativity, and emboldens people to take a stand for social justice. 

And now that I am older, more seasoned, and a bit wiser than I was 40 years ago, I can better appreciate and not be as judgmental about the comment of the minister I spoke of in the beginning who said, “I wish somebody could explain the Holy Spirit to me!”  Because in the end, we can’t define or explain the Spirit; we can’t anticipate or control It.  We can only choose to try to be open to that great, mysterious Spirit of Life, letting It blow where it will.  As Barbara Brown Taylor testifies, “Strong winds really do blow through people’s lives.”  I have seen lives drastically changed that would lead you to believe the Spirit really did blow through their lives.  And when the elusive Spirit chooses to blow, it is always a good thing.  Amen.

Cited: Barbara Brown Taylor, Holy Envy.  New York: HarperOne, 2019.  Quotations variously drawn from Chapter 9, “Born Again.”