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The Holy Spirit
God’s promise in our baptism By Lois Malcolm
W
e oſten wring our hands about our shrinking congregations. We follow demographic trends and think becoming trendier will make our
churches more attractive to those who aren’t there. Not that these things are bad, but they don’t get at the real source of the church’s creative energy and power: the Holy Spirit. Yet Lutherans are oſten tongue-tied when asked
about their experience of the Spirit. If we do talk about the Spirit, it’s oſten in hushed tones or in private con- versations. We tend to leave Spirit-talk to charismatics, mystics or others who have had unusual experiences. Who wants to sound like a religious nut? Of course, talk about the Spirit can be misused—and
oſten in dangerous ways. Yet our hesitance oſten masks our ignorance about the Spirit. If God the Father comes to us in the giſts of creation, and God the Son in our redemption and reconciliation with God, how does God the Spirit come to us?
Start with baptism A good place to start is with Jesus’ baptism, when a voice from heaven says, “You are my Son, with whom I am well pleased,” and the Spirit comes upon Jesus like a dove. Te Spirit then drives Jesus into the desert to be tested. We learn that the Spirit can’t be manipulated to make one wealthy, powerful or even capable of special powers. Yet the Spirit does give Jesus power to embody God’s
reign: the poor hear the good news, the blind see, the lame walk, demons are exorcised and sins are forgiven. Wherever Jesus goes people experience God’s justice and mercy within and around them—regardless of whether they are good or bad, rich or poor. Inevitably, religious and political leaders are threatened by this and they crucify Jesus. Soon aſter his death on the cross, Jesus’ followers
testify that he has been raised from the dead and has sent the Spirit to them to be his witnesses. At Pentecost the Spirit comes upon them in fire and multiple lan- guages. Devoted to Jesus’ teaching and fellowship and to breaking bread and prayers in his name, they perform wonders and signs. Tey share all things in common,
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distributing what they have to anyone in need, and wel- coming new people to their number. Empowered by the Spirit
Through the
Spirit we are freed from
being hooked by
this new community spreads throughout the world, pro- claiming the forgiveness of sins and baptizing people in Jesus’ name in a multiplicity of languages and cultures. Young and old, enslaved and free people, men and women receive the Spirit in Jesus’ name (Acts 1-2). What Jesus’ followers announce to the world is that
sinful, unjust and dysfunctional
patterns within and around us.
in his life, death and resurrection God overcame the power of sin and death, freeing us to live into what God has created us to be. Trough baptism all people— regardless of ethnicity, class or gender—are adopted as God’s children, receiving the same Spirit in whom Jesus cried, “Abba, Father.” Dead to all other impulses, categories and expecta-
tions, we now can live in Christ. Nothing else counts now but faith active in love (Galatians 5:6).
We have that power Martin Luther wrote that the Spirit gives us the power to “receive and preserve” what Christ has done for us, to “use it to our advantage and impart it to others, increase and extend it” (“Great Confession” of 1528). Trough the Spirit we are freed from being hooked by sinful, unjust and dysfunctional patterns within and around us. As the Spirit transforms us into Christ’s image, we no longer are beholden to any other interests but God’s purposes for us and for the world. Baptized into Christ’s body, we’ve each been given
giſts of the Spirit. Among us are apostles, prophets, teachers, healers, givers, leaders and so on. All of our individual capacities are released to serve not our own—or anyone else’s—special interests but the welfare of all. Because the Spirit is infinitely creative, we each
become more fully ourselves even as we enter more fully into relationship with one another. Tus we need not compete or be envious. Trough the Spirit’s inexhaust-
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