Romans
8:14-17
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are
children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back
into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba!
Father!" 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we
are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be
glorified with him.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
§ Today is the festival
of Pentecost. Whatever else it might be for the various parts of the Christian
Church, it is the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples
who made up the earliest congregation of the Church. With that, a group of
inward-looking and frightened people became a dynamic force that carried the
Good News of Jesus Christ to all that was known of the world at the time.
§ The speaking of
languages previously unknown to the disciples is a way of saying that people of
every race, nationality, and language were not only acceptable to God, but were
invited into God’s kingdom by the preaching and out-reach of the Church.
§ Pentecost tells us of
the power of the Holy Spirit that can inspire and empower such great things.
Evangelization, formation, and reformation when it becomes necessary all come
from the Spirit and the Spirit’s work within the Church.
§ We also hear of works
of power in our own time. Great preachers, inspiring teachers, people
passionate about causes and issues of our time. People working for peace, people
working for equality, people working for freedom from slavery… all through the
power of the Spirit. If that last point – slavery – sounds strange and out of
plalce in our time, I have to sadly say that on this day, there are as many
people in slavery world-wide as there ever have been and very possibly more. Slavery
– called “human trafficking” - is here in our area of this free country and
often those enslaved are blamed for their own predicament. Those who work for
the freedom of these people - many of whom are teenagers or younger - are led by
the Spirit.
§ What about the rest
of us? The more ordinary and average Christians who work hard and go about the
business of being faithful to the Gospel? Is the Spirit with us if we don’t
have the gifts that are so often tied to the presence of the Holy Spirit? If we
don’t speak in tongues, heal with a touch, or show special knowledge?
§ The answer is “Yes!”
As Paul wrote to the church in Rome For all who are led by the Spirit of God
are children of God. Paul goes on: When we cry, "Abba!
Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we
are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ…
§ In our Baptism, we
received the gift of the Holy Spirit. That presence is renewed and restated in
Confirmation. Every day of our lives, we pray in the Spirit. We have received
the Spirit’s gifts and in the right light, they are far from ordinary and
average. The gift of a simple faith is a manifestation of the Spirit in the
lives of the people we might meet every day. The freedom we know in Christ, and
even in the suffering we might share with him, is a gift of the Spirit. By the
gift of the Spirit, we are children of God and heirs with Christ.
§ In this understanding
of the gifts of the Spirit, I’d like to tell a little story. It’s an old French
story called “Our Lady’s Juggler.” It's rather "Catholic" so maybe we'll call it "Mary's Juggler."
Barnaby
was a travelling juggler, going from town to town, practicing his act in all
sorts of weather. One day he met a monk, who told him of his community
dedicated to the praise of God. Barnaby, a simple and devout man, gave up his
juggling and joined the monastery.
§ There he found other
devout men, and compared to them, he felt he had little to offer. The monks
were sculptors, poets, artists, musicians, and theologians and were especially
dedicated to the mother of Jesus while he was a simple juggler. They saw
Barnaby become more and more depressed, until one day, he changed totally. He
was happy and peaceful.
§ One day, the abbot
quietly followed Barnaby and peeked into the chapel to see the man juggling madly
and skillfully before Mary’s statue there. The abbot - a man of faith and compassion - decided Barnaby had gone
crazy and he slipped in to quietly take the man to his cell. But as he did so,
he stopped, shocked to see the statue of the Mother of Jesus step down to wipe
the perspiration from Barnaby’s face. The abbot knew… we all have our gifts.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
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