And Spirit
Sunday, May 28, 2023
Without God’s Spirit
We Are Lost
All Children
and Fire Surrounds Us.
Zechariah 2:4b-5, 9
‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited like villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and animals in it. For I will be a wall of fire all round it’, says the Lord, ‘and I will be the glory within it.’ … ‘See now, I am going to raise my hand against them, and they shall become plunder for their own slaves. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me.’
Acts of the Apostles 2:1-4
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Words of Grace For Today
So often God is seen as the Powerful One who works destruction against those who sin, which is all of us.
When God becomes a ring of fire around us and gives us over to those we have oppressed that in revenge they can oppress us are we to call on God to save us? Can we call on God to save us from God’s work against us in response to our own sins?
This way of looking at God does not work out very well, not for anyone, for we all sin and deserve God’s ring of fire around us moving in on us to consume us and end our sins.
God knew this when God created the universe and called it (and us in it) good.
Rather than being a God of revenge and punishment for our sins, terrible as they are, God has other ways of working for us when we sin. God forgives us and gracefully gives us new life, the Spirit working in us to bring new life to us and all those around us.
While we may have lost the words of thanks, praise, and hope itself,
by the Holy Spirit in us we become able to speak all languages, especially the language of forgiveness and hope for all lost sinners.