When the Son of God become human, Jesus was not partially, but fully, imbued with the Holy Spirit. And in Christ, we, too, have been given the Spirit without reserve.
In wartime, when soldiers have a scarce amount of food, they have to ration it. They only eat small measured portions each day so that the food will last as long as possible. If they don’t, they may run out and starve.
What if this were the case with God and His grace? What if the Holy Spirit were to say to us, “Now I’m only going to help you to a limited degree. Once you use up the grace that I’m offering you, you’re on your own.” We can all agree that would be problematic.
Of course the good news is that God acts in the completely opposite way with us. He commits to a full outpouring of the Holy Spirit and offers all the grace we could ever need or want. The problem is that we often “ration” His grace anyway. We don’t do this because we believe God is limited. Rather, we often do it because we’re afraid to let God unleash His almighty power in our lives.
We see this in the Acts of the Apostles. Peter and the others are no longer afraid, locking themselves in the upper room. Instead, they proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Brought before the Sanhedrin, Peter no longer denies that he knew Jesus, but willingly gives testimony about Him: “God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy Spirit that God has given to those who obey him.” (Acts 5:27-33)
Even though social distancing and shelter-in-place have become a way of life with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Holy Spirit finds ways for us to still proclaim the Good News in all the ways we can communicate with each other. By the things we do (shop for our parents, care for the sick, wear masks to prevent contagion), and even by the things we don’t do (gather in numbers, shake hands), we somehow share God’s love in Jesus Christ.
God doesn’t “ration” His gift of the Spirit on us, but perhaps we might. These times are marked with much grief and pain and unease. In our hurt, we might not feel able to reach out to others. But in the hope that we have in the Resurrection, and by the power of the Spirit, we can be healed, and share with others what God has given to us. We have seen the Spirit at work. We’ve seen much compassion and generosity. Such is the power of the Spirit!
So, don’t hold back the gift of the Spirit given to us. Instead, may we let Jesus into our hearts and be healed. May we follow where the Spirit leads us, and may the Good News, even in times like this, be proclaimed!
No comments:
Post a Comment