All persons and religions of the Spirit exhibit a sense of enhanced life. Jesus said, "I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly." In Greek, the word He used was "zoe," (energy) rather than "bios," (physical life), although of course enhanced zoe would directly impact bios.
When Pentecost arrived in Jerusalem on the Great Feast, it was no "committee of twelve" who determined to put on their "big boy pants" and go out to face the crowds arriving in the city for the Feast. Rather, there was a "mighty wind" and "tongues of fire" that came to rest upon all of them. Suddenly, those who gathered behind locked doors for fear of the Jews flung open those doors and began to proclaim all that they had seen and heard of Jesus of Nazareth, "the man anointed by God to perform mighty miracles among you."
The Holy Spirit is felt as an inflowing power, a new vitality, a recession of fear of human respect, energizing the individual and the group, impelling it to the full and most zealous life, giving it fresh joy and vigor, lifting it to fresh levels of life (Underhill, The Life of the Spirit and the Life of Today, p. 6).
The Book of Isaiah puts it this way:
"He gives power to the faint, and to them that hath no might, he increases strength....they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not be faint."
Paul said, "I can do all things in Christ Jesus, who gives me strength." All men and women of the Spirit speak of the same energy as they try to describe the source of their activity and endurance. It would be a worthwhile study to go through both the Old and the New Testaments looking for evidence of renewed vigor, energy, and strength in all who unite themselves to God. One of the things that has most encouraged me as I grow older and my own strength grows weaker is Psalm I:
Blessed is the man (woman)....whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law meditates day and night.
He (she) is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
A couple of days ago, I met two of my dearest friends from the time we were together in the prayer group -- in the late 70's and early 80's. I had not seen either one of them in all these years, so our reunion was too short, but very joyful. One of the two has suffered health problems almost beyond endurance: she now uses a walker, without which she cannot even stand up; her hands are curled up to the point of her not being able to open packages or cut her food; she is on oxygen 24-7 -- and the list goes on and on.
Still, Fe praises and thanks God for all His providence toward her, and for the ways He continues to work in her life. She is still as funny as she ever was and can bring you to tears of laughter with the stories of her experiences. She loves her neighbors and is concerned about their problems, forgetting her own in the process. One of her neighbors whose husband died 3 years ago recently told Fe that she finally began to leave her house and go out just because she watched out of her window as Fe struggled to pack her walker and oxygen tank into the car so she could still go out and do things. Fe is the first one to tell you that her strength and joy come from God, that she is in His hands, and she is content with His will for her life.
This is someone who truly knows "how to be content in riches and in abasement," who knows the Source of her strength and her joy. When Jesus said, "Not as the world gives do I give you...." this is what He meant. Our "abundant life" does not depend upon circumstances but on the unfailing fountain of energy and new life poured out on us from on High. Jesus promised the woman at the well, "a fountain springing up to eternal life." He did not say the water would dry up because of desert conditions, but that "streams of water" would flow from the "belly" of all who came to Him.
Jesus told the apostles to return to Jerusalem and await "the Gift of the Father" that would be poured out on them: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you," He told them. The word He used for "power" is dunamis; our English word "dynamite" comes from this root. The reason I experienced the power of the Holy Spirit while in the hospital on June 15, 1977, was the love, joy, energy, of my roommate, a 22-year old girl who was hemorrhaging after childbirth and who was telling me about the power of God in her life. Whatever she had, I wanted it, asked for it, and immediately experienced it. I was afraid of losing it afterwards, through my own negligence, but my doctor, himself born-again, assured me, "You don't have the Holy Spirit; He has you, and He's not letting go!" Now, almost 40 years later, I can testify that it is His energy that keeps me, and certainly not my own!
Power, energy, new life, living water, born again----Who among us does not want eternal, renewed and renewing "Life"? The third universal characteristic of those who have encountered the Living God, despite creed or culture, is a new kind of outflowing energy which impels them to go beyond the confines of their narrow boundaries. David danced before the Ark of the Covenant; the prophets prophesied; some teach; some become missionaries; some administer the church --- God's Life must flow out to the world that He loves, or it is not His life. Jesus continues His earthly mission through His members today by pouring out in them His own Spirit of Life.
No comments:
Post a Comment