I Feel The Spirit All Over Me

[Note: I was out of town for a few days, and scheduled this post to go out Monday morning per ususal. For some reason, it did not, so I am sending it now. Sorry for the delay.]

Generally I try the generic brands of products to see how they measure up to the name brand. Often, they’re pretty similar, but, sometimes, there’s just something about that name brand product that can’t seem to be copied.

There might be something similar happening in today’s first reading.

Paul meets a group of people and asks them if they received the Holy Spirit when they became believers. They had never heard of the Holy Spirit. Paul is like, “Wait? What? You were baptized and there was no Spirit?” Paul digs a little deeper and finds out that they were baptized in the tradition of John and then explains to them that a baptism into the tradition of Jesus would bring more than just repentance. It would bring the Spirit. So they get baptized by Paul and FEEL the Spirit!

Some have used this reading throughout history to claim Christian exclusivity and superiority – that Jesus is the only way. That’s just not what this reading is about. Nor is it about putting down the “baptism” of the followers of John as somehow not being a legitimate and good baptism.

What Paul is saying is that an authentic “baptism” ushers you into a power that you can feel. A power that helps us do what we did not think we could do. A power to hope. A power to speak. A power to be generous. A power to endure. A power to reconcile.

I think of Savonne from our gospel choir singing the Hezekiah Walker song, “I Feel Your Spirit.” The song says, “I feel the Spirit all over me. I feel the Spirit all over me. It’s in my hands, in my soul, down in my feet…” The song goes on to speak of feeling the presence and power of the Spirit as well.

Any authentic spiritual experience ushers us into a new reality. It changes how we think, how we feel, what we notice and how we prioritize our lives. And it’s not just about “belief,” it’s about behavior.

Individually and collectively it brings forth something new. And while that “something new” is quite amazing and life-changing, it can often be opposed by the world and the powers that be. Our families may not welcome it. The world may not understand or recognize it. And, quite frankly, the world may not even want it! Especially those that benefit from the current arrangements may not be very interested in ushering in a new paradigm that prioritizes the poor, raises the lowly, sets prisoners free, cancels debts and announces a year of jubilee.

Knowing this, we find Jesus talking soberly to his followers in John 16. He says straight out, “you will be scattered” and “in the world, you will have trouble.” 

I especially appreciate that last line and think we can read it in 2 ways.

First, Jesus is assuring his followers that if they take up this new path (which is actually the old path introduced in Exodus that the people have strayed from!), the powers of this world will persecute them and give them trouble. 

But in saying “you will have trouble,” I also think that Jesus is saying that you will (and should) be “troubled” as you live in this world as it currently is. Back then and now, we know that God did not intend for us to live with such great disparities of wealth and power that have led to the polycrisis that we’re in. And so we should not look away from the situations around us and numb out or conclude that we can’t do anything about it. We should be troubled by these situations. As has been the refrain lately, “Don’t normalize this!”

Of course, Jesus, who knew this path so well, did not leave his followers there. He says, “Take courage, I have conquered the world.”

Take courage. Jesus has already conquered the world. He does not mean this in a domination sense. He means that there’s nothing we really need to fear because even death won’t be able to stop us. Our wild, feral God is in charge – even if we can’t see or understand what is happening. Our job is to do our part.

Some days knowing what is my part to do is clearer than others. Maybe that’s true for you as well. Yet every day we keep looking for the grace to do what is in front of us.

I often read and take comfort in the words written by Bishop Ken Untener on the anniversary of Archbishop Oscar Romero’s martyrdom. It was a reflection called, “The mystery of the Romero prayer” (although not written by Romero). They remind me of what Jesus says today and let me just take up my place in the grand scheme of things.

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us. No statement says all that could be said.  No prayer fully expresses our faith.  No confession brings perfection.  No pastoral visit brings wholeness.  No program accomplishes the church’s mission.  No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.  We water the seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.  We lay foundations that will need further development.  We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.  This enables us to do something and to do it well.  It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.  We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.