Spirit led understanding…

August 25, 2024

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18, John 6:56-69

It had to be close to thirty five years ago…just a few years after I moved back to Patterson to accept the caretaker’s position at Cascade Farm when my former employer and close friend Pete Roberts called and asked if I would like to go out to breakfast with him and the new Baptist minister who had just moved to Patterson. This was a young man, also named David, and also with a young family, and Pete thought it would be good for the two of us to meet. I agreed and we set a date for breakfast at a local diner the next day.

When I got there Pete and David were already there and after brief introductions I sat down at the table with them.  Without further discussion the young Baptist minister immediately cut to the quick…I guess trying to gauge where I stood in relation to his theology and his understanding of God. He looked straight at me and asked, ‘What is your authority?’

I looked at him, and then at Pete, somewhat confused and unsure of what he was actually asking.  Pete, knowing me well, and noting my lack of understanding chimed in saying, ‘He is asking what you think is the ultimate source of truth for you…what is it that you hold to be the bottom line in your faith practice and in allowing you to make faith decisions?’

I realized that this was not only a deep question requiring some careful thought, but also potentially a tricky question which I might not answer the way the young pastor was hoping. So, after a few short moments of consideration, going quickly through possible responses in my head I said, ‘I would have to say that my authority is the truth that is revealed to me by the Holy Spirit as it leads me through life and interprets God’s word for me’.

Well…I don’t have to tell you that I failed that first test quite spectacularly. I knew it from the moment I said it, as the young Baptist pastor just slowly shook his head from side to side. I don’t really remember what I actually thought, but it went something like, ‘Oh well. I am not going to make it onto his list of people who know what they are talking about!’  But I did not back down from my own stance for it truly was my lived experience of the Spirit. And as for David…who actually became a very close friend…he stood firm in his belief that the only proper and acceptable source of ‘authority’ for any Christian was the written word of the Bible…literal and inerrant. He was sure that any possible seeming contradictions between the written word and the whole notion of a God of unconditional love and endless mercy, could somehow be explained away as so much human weakness.

For my part however, I had long struggled with some of those same inconsistencies and difficult passages within the text of the bible, and had become quite accustomed to leaning on the Holy Spirit to help me work through difficult times. I was, and I remain convinced, that a living relationship with a living God who was intimately interested in me was the only course I could trust in, and frankly, the only God I was interested in trusting and giving my life to.

And I tell you all this, because in some ways our passages today are all about this same concept of ‘authority’…a critical understanding that still serves to cause great divides in opinion throughout Christendom. We still find deep differences of opinion between those who insist on interpreting the Bible solely as the spoken, recorded, and therefore perfect word of God, and others who insist on reading it as it was written down…believing that it is the word of God, but holding that it was written down through the lens of ordinary fellow humans…seekers who were desperately trying to understand God’s attempts to reveal the divine nature of love to us…sometimes with measured success, but not always.

So I believe that it is critical as well to understand the source of our own authority, because it deeply affects how we view and understand the notion of ‘power’ and its source. For if in fact our ‘authority’ is a set of particular texts that have been massaged and ‘sterilized’ within their often unfortunate partnership with worldly powers, so as not to offend or threaten those same powers…then that ‘authority’ holds no real power whatsoever, other than what those who are ultimately in control want it to. In other words, if the Bible has been translated in such a fashion so as to support and uphold the systems of the world…which in some ways it surely has been ever since King James the 1st of England first ordered a new translation which he then ‘Authorized’ in 1610. As such, this non-offensive new translation, meant to settle disagreements between the Church of England and the Puritans became in some ways a creation and tool of the powerful, rather than a source of truth or the impetus for change and holy revolution which was its original intent.

Conversely, if the biblical texts are received as a gift from God, and understood through the inflowing grace of the Holy Spirit…and if they are loving held in their proper perspective as a record of humanity’s best attempts to understand the ongoing revelation of God’s love…and are therefore brought to life for the hearer within the context of holy relationship, then they are once again set free to bring new life and salvation to those who hear them. In this way, instead of being used to support positions or ideas contrary to the nature of our Lord and Savior, they are allowed to enable the power of God’s love to flow into and through the hearts and minds of all humanity…calling for change that endures and truly sets us free. Should not this be the preferred source of our ‘authority’, rather than one that may only serve to make us captives of those who are in control of the world’s systems? How we approach and understand the scriptures is truly critical and central to the way in which we practice our faith, either as those with a limited understanding of the love of our God, or, as those enabled through the grace of the Spirit to set forth on a daily adventure of learning how these precious and timeless truths intersect with and guide our own lives.

However such an understanding may come with a deeper measure of responsibility. If our faith understanding and the authority upon which we base our lives comes from the God who has always sought to reveal divine love to us, the God who resides within our hearts as the Holy Spirit which seeks to guide us in ways often contrary to worldly power and authority…then there may be many demands upon our faith walk indeed…loving requests which we will have a difficult time ignoring. For honestly, who could say ‘no’ to the Spirit of love once a trusting relationship is in place? And even if there was a certain hesitancy to follow a particular path, don’t you think the Spirit would also be capable of providing the required resources in order to accomplish the will of our God?

I think it would be pretty much impossible to ignore the call of the Lord, for anyone who truly believes that the first and final ‘authority’ in their faith life is the Holy Spirit. If your authority is a living God who loves you, and is in relationship with you, then when the Spirit asks you to move…you will find a way to move!

In our passage today from John’s gospel we find Jesus getting down to the root of what it means to follow him fully and completely…what it means to give one’s life to him and to commit to walk in ways of holiness and service to others. Jesus speaks clearly, but his call is not one many are able to hear, or willing to take up. And then, in Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus we hear more about how difficult walking alongside of Jesus may actually be. Paul cautions would-be followers of Jesus to be fully prepared to engage the response of the world, which often is so deeply against the ways of love and self-sacrifice. However, that is a call far easier said than done…and it is the same call Jesus issued in our reading from John which caused so many to turn away and to follow him no longer.        

However, if we do choose to follow we will need to look more closely at our reading from Paul, in order to adequately prepare ourselves for the resistance which is sure to come. Paul says that we will need to put on the ‘whole armor of God’ in order to walk uprightly in the ways of our Lord.  Paul tells us we will need to put on…

• The belt of truth around our waist… a belt that holds it all together for us…a belt of truth which finds its identity in integrity, and makes us ‘known as those who stand for the truth of the Lord, and as those whose word is as good as gold’.
• Paul tells us we will need to put on…the breastplate of righteousness…for it protects the passion of a heart committed to justice, it protects one’s inner core of conviction…the place where we are most vulnerable and most easily injured or distracted from the pursuit of justice through grace.
• He tells us we will need to put on…shoes in order to proclaim a ‘gospel of peace’…that we might be prepared to go wherever, whenever, and at whatever pace is needed to fulfill our calling to work at revealing the kingdom of our Lord in our very midst…
• Paul then counsels us to put on… the shield of faith…giving us the ability to deflect doubt and fear, as well as any interference which is intended to distract us from the purposes to which we are called…distractions that may be subtle and seemingly harmless…or full on frontal assaults…for great is the world’s opposition to the word and ways of God.
• We are told to put on… the helmet of salvation…a helmet that will enable us to keep our minds fixed on the ultimate purpose to which we are called…to share the good news clearly and thoughtfully, without being confused as to all that God is calling us to.
• And lastly, Paul tells us we will need to put on… the sword of the Spirit…which is this same the ongoing conversation and instruction received from the Holy Spirit as it seeks to guide us on the path of holiness.

        If, and when we are able and willing to consider the depth of the call which comes in the very center of our heart in  moments of quiet reflection on all that is truly important…then we need only to listen to the soft whisper within…the voice of God’s most precious and loving Spirit as it leads us into ways of love and justice…

        …and though it is a whisper…make no mistake as to its urgency…for the day is running late and the light is waning as the powers of this world’s darkness seek to increase their hold over the human soul. Though the voice of the Spirit may be but a whisper, it carries with it the full force and intention of God’s love…a whisper that still and always seeks to reveal the depth of divine love toward us…

       And finally, do not be afraid to walk boldly into the darkening night, for the light of our Lord and Christ is brighter than any darkness or shadow, and far more loving than the deepest of hatred or evil intent…

…for in the end, our Lord shall most surely prevail…

…ours is only to say ‘yes my Lord…I shall follow’

…amen