We live in spiritual times.
People feel spiritual or long for something spiritual. People complain about atheism and secularism and materialism, but the fact is that we live in one of those times of deep spiritual curiosity and craving.
Granted it is rarely a spiritual longing that results in much, in such things as commitment, generosity, servanthood, community and changed lives. More than anything it is a spirituality of convenience, but the attention to things spiritual is there none the less.
I think most of the time when folks say they are spiritual but not religious what they are really is afraid of commitment and cost and change, and perhaps more than anything of being burdened by others.
There is a rich imagery associated with things spiritual whether it is the Holy Spirit or spiritual people or just things of the Spirit in general.
Often times we think of it as something ethereal, ghostly, ephemeral, out of body experiences, angels, especially in popular culture and media.
But let’s look at something more enduring than fickle contemporary imagery. Lets look at scripture, lets get back to the Bible, not all of it, just a few bits.
Like the Spirit of God brooding over the waters before Creation in Genesis at the moment when Light was spoken into being, “Let there be…”
We see the Spirit at a moment of commitment and material action, the beginning of what will be the heavens and the earth. A major commitment to say the least, a very material action.
Then how about when Samuel anoints David with oil as the one chosen by God to be the King of Israel? Anointing oil, a sign of the Spirit anointing. We see the Spirit at a moment of commitment and material action, the King of God’s chosen people. A major commitment to say the least, a very material action.
For the sake of brevity let’s skip ahead to the Baptism of Jesus.
Think about the rich imagery of the Spirit that we hear of in this gospel lesson: water, fire, wind and winnowing, the dove, the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form, the anointing imagery of water and spirit, the voice from above, my son, the beloved, well pleased.
This is the anointing of the Messiah, the choosing of the Chosen.
We see the Spirit at a moment of commitment and material action, the beginning of Jesus ministry as he works his way to Jerusalem to be crucified. He goes from his baptism to be tempted in the wilderness by Satan, tempted with hunger, and power and invulnerability.
A major commitment to say the least, a very material action.
Life in the Spirit, being in the Spirit, is not about spiritual feelings or sugary consolation. It is always about commitment and material action.
This is what the Holy Spirit leads to, commitment and action, it results in community, in being burdened by others, compassion, challenge, facing temptation, healing, celebration, fasting. All these things and more bear witness to the presence of the Spirit.
There are two other things about the Spirit that need to be mentioned. The Spirit is often described as driving and compelling, not merely leading, but driving and compelling.
And the other thing, the Spirit leads us to Jesus, the Spirit gives witness to Jesus, descending upon Jesus, and Jesus leads us to the Spirit, bears witness to the Spirit. Where ever we find one we find the other and they both bring us into communion with the Father, the One who speaks of the Beloved.
Today is a Baptismal feast day where we pay special attention to life in the Spirit, a day of commitment and material action and consequence. At the end of the bulletin you will see a statement: “Having been fed the body and blood of Christ we are compelled to go out into the world to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ, to seek and serve Christ in all persons, to strive for justice and peace among all people, and to respect the dignity of every human being.”
It is the baptismal covenant; Baptism, the Eucharist and life in the Spirit are all bound up together. It is what being spiritual means to a Christian, it is what the Spirit looks like in bodily form.
(8:00 So today we renew our covenant with God and one another, a major commitment to say the least.)
(10:30 So today we renew our covenant with God and one another and in joyful obedience to Jesus we bring into his fellowship those who come to him in faith, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, a major commitment to say the least.)