Tell Out My Soul

Luke 11:9-13

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for a fish, would give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asked for an egg, would give a scorpion? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Message

We tend to overlook the Holy Spirit sometimes. Let’s look at the Holy Spirit…  our comforter…  our guide…  and our best friend. On the surface, the Holy Spirit seems mysterious, and this could be because the spirit is often talked about indirectly… sometimes the Spirit is described as being “like a dove” or as “tongues of fire” or a “mighty wind.” Like something else. So for some people the Spirit remains unknowable and difficult to connect with. But this is a real pity because if we look more closely the Bible tells us quite plainly who the Spirit is.

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity… a person, just like Jesus is a person. He is not a personification of something, or simply some kind of supernatural energy associated with the divine will, but an intelligent agent, having self-consciousness and freedom. The scriptures ascribe distinct personality to the Father and the Son, and they also ascribe a distinct personality to the Holy Spirit. The pronouns used to describe the spirit are personal pronouns. In John chapter 16 Jesus says of the Holy Spirit, “When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” 

And later in Acts, the Holy Spirit is said to have spoken to the teachers saying, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” The Holy Spirit speaks to people and he calls upon them.

So we see that the Holy Spirit is someone we can actually personally connect with and whose job it is to be there for us.

Jesus lived among us for a while and then he left this physical realm to sit at the right hand of God the Father, but he wasn’t going to leave us alone here. God sent the Holy Spirit to us in Jesus’ name, to be with us, to be our friend, healer and teacher, just as Jesus was all these things during his time on earth. 

The third person of the Trinity is equal to the Father and the Son. And this is really emphasised by an amazing fact. The Holy Spirit is so sacred, so pure and so good, that Jesus said that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an “unforgivable sin.”  Jesus said that people who blasphemed against him could be forgiven but not those people who sinned against the Holy Spirit. 

So how blest are we? The Holy Spirit is available to us and all we have to do is ask. Jesus said, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, then how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. For everyone who asks, receives.” The Holy Spirit will not be denied to anyone, he’s totally accessible to us, day or night. He shares in our joy, and comforts us in our sadness.

The Desiderata is a beautiful prose poem written in 1920 and contains advice for living and deep wisdom on how to manage our journey on earth, and part of it says,  do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Loneliness is the important word here. Loneliness can generate fear, worry and anxiety, and often it can be the other way around too. Grief, sorrow and pain can make us feel lonely. A lot of times, other people cannot truly understand what we are going through and we feel alone in our pain. But Jesus promised us that he would not leave us orphans and that we don’t have to feel lonely.

While we await his return we have the person of the Holy Spirit to help and comfort us so that we can rest in the Spirit’s arms and feel safe and cared for. The Spirit is there to calm us and give us peace, even in the middle of the worst turmoil. In our darkest moments, we can call upon the Holy Spirit and the Spirit will flood our hearts with love.

Having the Holy Spirit in our lives means we’re not alone anymore, and he is there to protect us from all anxiety while we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.        Amen.