The Message, July 24, 2022, "Spirit Stories"
Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
July 26, 2022
“Spirit
Stories”
A
Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Genesis
1:1-2; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Children’s
Message:
Glass cylinder
God Box
Easter Egg
“What is in the cylinder? Can you
see it? Can you tell what it is?”
“What if I told you that it was the
Holy Spirit? Would you believe me?”
“You cannot see the Holy Spirit. You
cannot taste the Holy Spirit. Or can you?”
“But you can SEE how it works. You
can FEEL it.”
“What if I told you that the Holy
Spirit was in YOU?! Would you believe that?!”
“That is what we
just heard in our scripture reading. The Holy Spirit dwells in US. We are God’s
holy Temple, and the Spirit is in us!”
Prayer: “Come Holy
Spirit, come. Come as the wind and blow. Come as the fire and burn. Convict,
convert, consecrate. Make us wholly thine. Amen.”
When it comes to the three persons
of the Trinity, it can be a challenge to wrap our heads around their nature. As
we talked about two weeks ago, their magnificence is far beyond our
comprehension and our ability to describe them.
We are surrounded by the images or
expressions of God that you created two Sundays ago. If you have not had a
chance to walk around and look at them, I encourage you to do so. What is
striking is the diversity of the expressions of God that you captured in those
images. There are some similarities, some common themes, but no two are alike.
And you may also notice that there is not a single image that looks like a
white-haired old man sitting on a golden throne.
We have a similar challenge when it comes
to the Holy Spirit, perhaps a greater challenge! Just as it was the case with
God, there are numerous words or images that are used in scripture to capture
or communicate the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
Wind Refiner Comforter Giver
of Gifts
Fire Inspiration Guide Breath
of God
Dove Advocate Creator Presence
of God
And so on. And each expression, each
manifestation can be and will be experienced differently by each individual.
When we are heartbroken … we need a Comforter.
When we are lost … we need a Guide.
When we are feeling empty … we need
to be filled.
In my previous church, we used a
particular curriculum for our Confirmation Class. The curriculum guide dedicated
one whole lesson to the Holy Spirit. The youth and their mentors worked through
lessons about God and Jesus Christ, Scripture and the church, but when they got
to that lesson about the Holy Spirit … the wheels ground to a halt.
“Pastor Scott … could you meet with
us and help us with this session?!”
And I always told them that it is
tricky. Teachers and preachers, interpreters and commentators, rabbis and
scholars have written volumes about the Holy Spirit. There is no one monolithic
school of thought when it comes to the Holy Spirit. It is very hard to get a
grasp of. We preach about the power of the Spirit on Pentecost and about the
gifts of the Spirit. Just this morning we have heard words of scripture and
prayer that have expressed several of the most familiar and common
manifestations of the Holy Spirit. But as with our discussion about the nature
of God, the intimacy of the Spirit allows us to experience the Spirit in a
variety of ways.
More often than not, the youth
struggle trying to grasp the concept of the Holy Spirit. I tell them that that
is perfectly okay. Most ADULTS struggle with the concept as well.
More often than not, the youth have
not yet had an experience in which they felt the Presence of the Spirit. I tell
them that that is okay too. Many, if not most, adults have not had the experience
either.
To be honest, I THINK that I have
had experiences of the Holy Spirit. I know that I have had some very powerful
moments in my life and ministry that I attribute to the Holy Spirit, because I
have no other way to describe them.
One Sunday morning when I was
serving the church in New London, New Hampshire, I stood at the pulpit during
our Sunday morning worship service, and I had an experience of the Holy Spirit.
Let me say that I do not consider myself a visionary, or a mystic of any sort, but
as I stood in the pulpit, I had a vision. I wrote about this in my Weekly
Update on Friday.
The vision only lasted for a few
moments, but I remember it vividly. I saw, or I felt, the power of the Holy
Spirit flowing forth like a river. The “river” enveloped the congregation in a
powerful way, but not in a destructive fashion. I saw that river of the Holy
Spirit moving through us and among us. And then it was gone. But that image has
helped shape my ministry through the years. The Spirit of God is fluid, alive,
powerful. It lifts us, carries us, nurtures us, nourishes us, heals us. It
baptizes us into the life and faith of the church. It IS life.
In my Weekly Greeting, I invited you
to consider sharing your experiences of the Holy Spirit.
Is there anyone that would feel
comfortable coming forward and sharing a “Spirit Story”?
Throughout Scripture, we read about
the work and the power of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps in our own lives we have
experienced the power, or the gentleness, or the care, or the comfort of the
Spirit.
Our faith assures us that God is
with us, no matter where we are or where we go. Even in the depths of Sheol,
the Spirit and the Presence of God is with us.
Even when we try
to run from God, God pursues us.
Even when we do
not recognize the Presence, God is there.
Our faith tells us that the Holy
Spirit is IN us, that we are God’s holy Temple. We received that assurance just
this morning. Those words from the Apostle Paul were taken from a passage in
which he was describing the building, the construction, of the Temple. And in
that passage, he tells us that there are responsibilities associated with being
God’s Temple.
The passage is addressed to a
community of people. He tells us that the community is the “building” that we
are called to construct. And just as one uses certain building materials to
construct a physical structure, we too must use specific materials to build
this Temple … this community. If we build our homes, or our church structures
with inferior materials, the building will fail, it will rot, crumble and fall.
It is the same with this “structure” … this “building.” If we do not build this
community properly, it too will crumble and fail.
The point that Paul is making is
that we must take care to build a community that will hold up, that will last.
The primary building material, the foundation upon which everything is built is
love. Because where there is love, God is.
It is love that keeps us humble. Love
allows us to be humble enough to be open to learning and growing. Love allows
us to see that we do not know everything, that we have much to learn from one
another.
The opposite of humility is
arrogance. Arrogance allows us to believe that we cannot possibly be wrong. Arrogance
allows us to belittle or dismiss those who do not agree with us. Arrogance
allows us to become critical of the “other” and legalistic in our behavior. Arrogance
allows us to become exclusive. We look down upon others rather than being
willing to sit down beside them.
The community, the Temple, that
fails to practice love, welcome and humility bars the door to God. Dissention
and bitterness destroy the Temple of God. Division makes it impossible for the
Holy Spirit to operate. The Truth cannot be spoken or heard in that atmosphere
because of the corrosive lack of trust.
We are the most open … we are
closest to being the Temple of God … when we prepare ourselves to receive the
Holy Spirit. We prepare ourselves by building a community based upon the
foundation of love.
Can we begin to imagine that we are
the dwelling place of God?
We talk about being created in image
of God,
We talk about having the Divine
spark within us … in our hearts and in our souls.
We talk about God’s Breath being our
animating force.
But what does it mean for us to
consider being the dwelling place of God? To be the dwelling place of God’s
Holy Spirit, God’s Presence?
Does it change our perspective? Does
it impact how we move through the world?
“Do you not know that you are God’s
temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? … For God’s temple is holy, and
you are that temple.”
Amen.
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