What Only the Spirit Can Do

Hello, I'm Wynn Collyer, and today I'll be reading a piece I wrote for Our Daily Bread called What Only the Spirit Can Do. During the discussion of a book on the Holy Spirit, written by a 94-year-old German theologian named Jurgen Moltmann, an interviewer asked him sarcastically, How do you activate the Holy Spirit? Can you take a pill?

Do the pharmaceutical companies deliver the Spirit? Moltmann's bushy eyebrows shot up. Shaking his head, he grinned, answering in accented English, What can I do?

Don't do anything. Wait on the Spirit, and the Spirit will come. Moltmann highlighted our mistaken belief that our energy and expertise make things happen. Acts reveals that God makes things happen. At the start of the Church, it had nothing to do with human strategy or impressive leadership. Rather, the Spirit arrived like the blowing of a violent wind into a room of frightened, helpless and bewildered disciples. Next, the Spirit shattered all ethnic superiorities by gathering people who were at odds into one new community. The disciples were as shocked as anyone to see what God was doing within them.

They didn't make anything happen. The Spirit enabled them. The Church, and our shared work in the world, isn't defined by what we can do. We're entirely dependent on what only the Spirit can do.

This allows us to be both bold and restful. On this day, the day we celebrate Pentecost, may we wait for the Spirit and respond. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Acts chapter 2 verses 1-13. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now they were staying in Jerusalem, God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked, aren't all of these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, visitors from Rome both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues. Exhausted and perplexed, they asked one another, what does this mean?

Some however made fun of them and said, they have had too much wine. Let's pray. God, we've exhausted ourselves by believing that we are the ones who make things happen. Holy Spirit, come, help us. Thank you Lord. It's in Jesus' name that we pray, Amen. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.