Jesus seems absolutely convinced that life will be better for his disciples after he leaves. What was he thinking? Does life feel better to you yet? I suspect almost all of us have envied the experience of the original twelve disciples, the opportunity to be directly with Jesus. What could be better than to meet his gaze eye-to-eye? To hear his voice? To feel his very touch? Have you longed to see what it was in those eyes that led Peter, and Andrew, and the sons of Zebedee to drop everything and follow him? Yet Jesus seems convinced there is something better than experiencing God through the sight of his eyes, the sound of his voice, and the touch of his hand. Jesus seems itching to return to full unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit, so that in their dynamism they can busily be about their invisible work, unconstrained by the limits of any body, busy throughout every bit of creation and within each of us. We are promised that encountering the invisible God from within will be much more p owerful than seeing, hearing, or even touching a visible God on the outside of our being.
Ever since the Enlightenment, our society has struggled to accept the reality of the invisible, of that which cannot be seen, heard, or felt. But I have come across something that exposes us as less scientific than we claim to be. Has anyone here been following the NBA Playoffs? If not, hopefully you have been a sports fan of some kind during your life, even if only rooting for your school alma mater. And if you have been a sports fan, you know of an invisible reality acknowledged by the commentators, the players, and everyone in the stands-MOMENTUM. Everyone speaks of it as very, very real: "The Dallas Mavericks have got the momentum now!" What is it? It's an invisible, you might say spiritual, force that propels each team. Those with it, the guys who have just done three things right, are confident they can do a fourth thing right. So are their fans. Those without it, the guys who have just suffered three bad breaks, are sluggish in fear of a fourth bad break; and so are their fans.
This might give us a way of talking about the work of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps the Holy Spirit could be thought of as Godly momentum at work throughout all of us, striving to propel us toward God's vision for us. We have a new name for the Holy Spirit: The Divine Mo!!
I had a very recent, personal experience of this. It concerned our shared lives, and I don't believe it would have happened to me if I were not meant to share it, so I will. Most of you know that the Vestry is considering varied ways of responding to a budget shortfall, including eliminating one clergy position. Now I don't have to tell you that this prospect can be a bit anxiety producing, especially for those of us who are not fully sanctified. About ten nights ago, I went to sleep in quite a fit of anxiety about this. It was about more than who might be directly affected. We love and respect each other, so the prospect is unsettling no matter who is most directly affected. I have only one way to explain the dramatically different set of feelings that filled me when I awoke seven hours later. The Spirit must have interceded for me with sighs too deep for words. Nothing else could explain the sensation that filled every inch of my being. I awoke more excited than I have been since I was a youg child sneaking into the living room before dawn on Christmas morning to see what was under the tree.
And here is what excited me to the point of goose bumps: We are going to have a chance to experience together the truth of what Jesus has told us. We will see that Jesus knew what he was talking about when he said that a seed must fall to the ground, and something that looks very much like death to us must occur, before God can bring about new life. This will unfold for us, and we will newly know that God is trustworthy.
Now mind you, none of us is volunteering to be the seed. But a "deathlike" (and I won't mince words) experience will not be limited to one person. Whatever decisions the Vestry makes, the probability is that familiar things will change, and the same people won't be doing exactly what we expect them to be doing. It will be unsettling. But Jesus has said this is the only path to life beyond anything we know to desire or pray for; some dying is the only path to new life. We will have the chance to experience this truth together.
But here is the really exciting part. If we have a shared experience that God will carry us through dying into living, then we will all be better able to rely on God's trustworthiness in our personal lives. Most of us carry some seed, some form of constrained life. It might be a bad habit. We know it is harmful, but it is hard to let go of the familiar and risk change. It might be an out-dated self-image, producing constant disappointment, because we have not taken in our age, or our limitations. Whatever we cling to, we will all be better able to let it fall to the ground and count on God to bring forth new life. And if our shared experience overflows into our personal lives, then our personal transformations will overflow to the benefit of all those around us. Do you see why this is so exciting?
So how do we make this happen? We don't. God is already making it happen. All we need to do is notice. The poetic song-writer said, "If you believe, and I believe, and we together pray, the Holy Spirit must come down, and set God's people free." But we don't have to invite the Holy Spirit "down." The Holy Spirit is here! And so I will say it this way:
If you believe, and I believe
And we together pray
We will breathe in the Spirit's breath
And we will be free!