The Role of God as Spirit

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a sentimental person. For me, you can see this clearly when I encounter what I consider to be items of historical significance. In fact, when I answered the call here at Deerfield and started to move things into my office one of the first tasks I asked for help with was to move an antique bookshelf back into the Vicar’s Office. While it may not go precisely with the rest of the decor in the office I saw and experienced it as a precious piece of this congregations history, to be cherished. Yes, you heard my correctly, I did say that I experienced it. Another thing that I did was to look through some of the historic records in the office and historic books in the fireside room. You see, when I can see, touch, and smell historic items of a place, community, or people I feel more connected that place, community, or people.

This is probably why I’m the keeper of my families keepsakes, including bibles and photos dating back to the very late 1800’s. And it’s probably also why my home is filled with items from my grandparents home, where I spent so much time growing up. Each time I use my grandpa’s stapler or tape measure I feel like a little piece of him is with me. When I glance over at my grandma’s mirrored jewelry tray on my dresser with the miniature kissing Santa and Mrs. Claus figures on it I can smell the lemon pledge and windex we would use to dust her bedroom when I was a child.

You see these items from my grandparents home not only remind me of them, they also remind me of the confidence that they in me and the love that they always showed me. These items remind me of the comfort and security I always felt when I was with them. And they remind me to treat those I encounter with the same kindness and respect that my grandparents modeled for me as I grew up.

Now, I know that not everyone gets as sentimentally attached to physical items as I do, or even at all. But I would venture to guess that most people have some sort of reminders of significant experiences in their lives or the lives of their families; ties that connect them to something important now gone. These ties give meaning to our lives, which is something that all people need.

But what these ties are is just as important as what they tie us to. A different light brown stapler or set of miniature kissing Santa and Mrs. Claus figures would not tie me to my grandparents as the originals do.

So what ties us to God? What can we grasp onto in order to come into relationship with God?

During the time that the writers of the Old Testament lived myth was used as an important way to explain events that had happened in the past, universal foundational stories, and especially sacred stories, or traditional stories deemed to have religious importance. Myth, which is a language of story, was a way to help people understand the human experience, particularly in reference to God, in ways that we could otherwise not understand.

During the time of the New Testament people in the Mediterranean world had Jesus as a living tie to God. And even after his ascension, people had first hand accounts from Jesus’ disciples.

There are roughly 2 billion Christians on our planet today. What do you think ties all of these people, including us, to the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ over 2000 years ago?

I suppose it could be argued that the Bible is what ties us to our faith in Jesus Christ. But while the Bible is the word of God, the Bible is NOT God. And if the Bible were the tie that binds us to our Christian faith it would mean that the people who wrote the Bible and the people who read the Bible are the ones responsible for our faith in Jesus Christ. And that simply isn’t possible. It is only through God that we have faith to trust in Jesus Christ.

So how is it that we have faith? Because God who made us and knows us also knew that we need ties, connections to the person of Jesus Christ and thus to the Triune God. Knowing this God gave us God’s self in the person of the Holy Spirit who is also called the Advocate or the Helper. It is in the Holy Spirit that we are connected in relationship to the Triune God. It is through the Holy Spirit that we are given faith at our baptisms. The Holy Spirit is our guide and comforter. If this were not so I have no doubt that Christianity would not look as it does today.

For me this is a HUGE relief. You see, I remember when my children were younger I would worry about them breaking one of my grandmothers baking dishes or measuring cups…okay, I still worry about that sometimes. I worry because those are things that help me stay connected to my grandma. But we don’t have to worry about that with God.

In God’s wisdom God gave God’s self to the world through the prophets of the Old Testament. In God’s wisdom God gave God’s self to the world by becoming incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ. And in God’s wisdom God gave God’s self to the world in the person of the Holy Spirit, so that God would be present with each of us in every moment of our lives.

AMEN.