Enter in the New Creation

Most seem to think that the Day the Spirit came was about a moment of personal spiritual moxie. In fact it is much more than that. The disciples huddled in fear in the upper room suddenly find Jesus with them even though the doors are locked and the windows are barred. Jesus offers them peace. Twice. The first time he offers them peace so that they might know that they know it is really him. And Jesus is not just the Master now, he is the risen Lord. And the disciples know that too. It is the first moments of the new creation that God has begun. And the disciples are going to be called to be the first drops of a great Niagara of transformation that is going to be ring the world back to relationship with God – bringing us back to be the community we were meant to be.

This day of Spirit giving is meant to help us see that that God is not limited to one person (i.e. Moses) or to a moment like with the seventy elders at the tent of meeting or even the one nation of Israel who are called to be the priestly presence among the nations of the earth. For the first time, people from all over the earth get to hear what God has done in Christ for them in their own home language. God over comes barriers to make the ministry of the Church possible and effective so that in turn the Church might declare Christ and draw others to him. Thus the task of the Church is to seek “at-one-ment” for God and his creation.

In sending us to our task, Jesus breathed on those first disciples just has God has breathed into us to give life and the Spirit. And we need to recognize that this is not just a onetime event. It goes on constantly throughout Scriptures. The giving of the Spirit went on then and it is still available for us today. We are part of this great story and this grand venture. We are called to participate in the drawing in of the new creation. And if we are tempted to think that this is a simple matter, it is not. The Spirit does not make things better or easier. The Spirit enables us to face what needs to be faced and to deal with things head on. We are challenged to become better disciples and better leaders – not just to sit and soak in the tub of redemption waiting for the moment when everything will be made all right again. The Spirit does not solve our problems and make us all spiritual. The Spirit confronts us and causes us to move into those places and spaces where we are needed by God, to be who we are.

Moreover, now that the Spirit is the reality of the life of the Church, there is no more “normal” in the lives of the members of the Church. There is a new reality. The old life and its old ways of doing things are not an option. It is not possible because the old life with its old ways has been nailed to the cross and died with Christ and went to the grave. And those old ways stayed there when he was raised from death. Therefore in this moment, we are called into new life and new creation. We are drawn into the new life by the Spirit and we are to proclaim this new life by what we say and do. We are to make known to this world that this crucified God is God of all the nations not just some. And in the going, we are not called to be popular or successful. We are calling to be faithful and to proclaim what God is doing.

Let’s take the opportunity to make Christ and his risen life known and to offer his peace that others will be draw to him and thus into life in his name.