Sucker for the Spirit

Hearing the Holy Spirit teaching us about the human spirit

01/10/2019

Luke 4:14-22 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.

One thing I learned at the University of Dallas was to become a sucker for classic literature. My “happy place” would be a recliner with a dusty old copy of Dostoyevsky and a dusty old bottle of cabernet sauvignon. But it took me a long time and a lot of hard work to learn to love the poetry of Robert Frost, the comedy of Shakespeare, and the epic of Homer. The reason classics are hard to appreciate is their language is different (even though they are translated into English) and the way the authors present human tragedy and triumph is completely different than I would have. That difference was daunting at first, but then it became a delight. It slowly dawned on me that what I really loved about classical literature is that the Holy Spirit was inspiring these geniuses of humanity. It was the eternal Holy Spirit that helped these authors express something about the essential human spirit.

In the gospel today, we see how sensitive Jesus is to the grace and guidance of the Holy Spirit. At the beginning of his public ministry in Galilee, he adopts the language of the prophet Isaiah saying: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.” The Jewish people would have loved and revered the writings of Isaiah far more than I love Dante, and Jesus is saying, “You haven’t seen anything yet.” That is, if you think the Spirit of God was working through the ancient prophet, you will see the Spirit do far greater things through me.

But if we keep reading in Luke 4, past where the reading ends this morning, we see the Spirit inspiring Jesus to do things very differently than the people expected. Indeed, so differently, that they want to kill him by the end of the chapter. That’s always the difficulty in learning to love the Holy Spirit, whether he’s inspiring Milton or St. Matthew. He says things differently from us and behaves in ways we would not expect. But only if we become a sucker for the Spirit – and love what he loves – can the eternal Holy Spirit teach us something about the essential human spirit.

This insight about the Spirit can help us in our daily lives and our Christian journey. I have learned to be a better pastor when I try to see how the Holy Spirit works through other people. I may think differently from Fr. Stephen and Dc. Greg, but that does not mean the Holy Spirit is not working through them also, and not just me. At first the difference is daunting but later it becomes a delight. Wouldn’t it be helpful if married couples kept this in mind? The Holy Spirit could be speaking through my wife like he spoke through Wordsworth! The difference is daunting at first but then later it becomes a delight. Perhaps our politicians would be able to overcome personal and partisan divides by seeing how the same Spirit inspires those on the other side of the aisle and pass sensible policies for the common good. And I would be cautious about casting blame on our politicians because they only represent the deep divides in the people, in us. They are only symbols of our own lack of sanity and civility. Politicians as well as people need to see the Spirit working in liberals as well as conservatives, as we see the Spirit inspire Aristotle as well as Aquinas, pagans as well as prelates. The difference is daunting at first, but then later it becomes a delight.

This evening I cannot wait to kick back in my recliner and crack open a classic and uncork a red wine. But more than that, I cannot wait to learn what the eternal Holy Spirit may teach me about the essential human spirit. I know one thing for sure: it will be much different than what I would have said or thought or done. And to me that difference is a delight.

Praised be Jesus Christ!