I have assumed my clear commitment to a Trinitarian orthodoxy was sufficient evidence that I have not intentionally ignored the role of the Holy Spirit. It may be true, however, that my work has been so Christ-centred, I may have given the impression that the Holy Spirit is an afterthought.
—Stanley Hauerwas
I admit to laughing with rueful recognition when I ran across this quote by Dr. Hauerwas, and am guessing I’m not alone!
Those of us who serve mainline Protestant congregations don’t tend to talk about the Holy Spirit a lot.
We don’t seem to know what to do with her.
It’s not all our fault, however: the Spirit is the least discussed in the bible among her Trinitarian counterparts. We just don’t have as much to work with!
We often know of her by the consequences of her efforts, and often after the fact.
It’s not unlike seeing what gifts high tide deposited on the beach for us to discover after the water has receded.
Water must have present for the flotsam and jetsam to have been placed at our feet even though the water no longer laps at our ankles.
We identify the Spirit’s presence by her goodness.
She makes her mark through “fruits” and “gifts” we do not manufacture or offer by our own efforts—joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5.22)—and the utterance of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, working of miracles, prophecy, the discernment of spirits, various kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues (I Corinthians 12.8-10).
When we feel or witness these gifts brought to us from the holy waters of life, we can point and say, “The Spirit was here.”
There is no day we could not fill by pointing to those gifts because there is no day that is not filled to overflowing by them.
And yet, many of us do not focus our attention there.
We tune our awareness to God our Creator. We speak often about Jesus our Redeemer. But we give short shrift to the Spirit our Sanctifier, even though she offers what we most long for on a given day.
Because we give her short shrift, perhaps most of us could be accused, like Hauerwas, of “Spirit-ual neglect!”
Maybe this season of Pentecost is the time to change that.
Maybe we change it in our preaching by speaking more words about the Spirit.
Maybe we change it in our prayer life by praying more with her.
Maybe we change it in our daily life by looking for the evidence that she was there.
Perhaps these quotations will help ensure the Spirit won’t be an afterthought, but receive time with the other two members of the Trinity.
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