Dear Church,
I really like the lectures of a Bible professor named N.T. Wright. He ends many of them with the same challenge to his students: inhabit what you’ve heard. In other words, don’t just think about this, don’t just know it or agree with it–live it. Ultimately, what we believe only matters if it leads us into a relationship with Jesus that leads us to a life shaped by the cross.
Inhabit what you’ve heard. But what does that mean when we gather around a passage like the one we’re looking at this Sunday? We are filled with the same Holy Spirit that filled John and Peter; but (and forgive me for assuming here) we’ve never reached out our hands and instantly supernaturally healed a random stranger. So, how do we inhabit that?
I think Professor Wright’s invitation is a good one–especially on a Sunday like this one. We can’t be tricked into thinking these are pretty stories or ‘only’ metaphors. We need to seek God in this, we need to spend time wondering where the kind of healing power the Holy Spirit manifested in Acts is in our own lives. One thing I know for sure. The Spirit’s power in our lives may not look the same as it did in the lives of Jesus’ first disciples, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t available to us. And we aren’t absolved of our responsibility to wonder in every encounter, as Peter surely did, how can I share what I have in Christ here and now?
We’re in Spirit School this summer because we want to grow in our understanding of a Spirit filled life. We don’t just want to believe in the Holy Spirit. We want to inhabit that belief–we want to live it out. We were made to do this together–with God and one another.
Peace,
Pastor Kate
P.S. If you haven’t had a chance to hear Nicole’s sermon last week on the Holy Spirit, Justice and Juneteenth, we really should. It was a powerful gift to us all. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9vPvO_b4yY
Want to chat about what you have heard? Click here: https://www.thegrovecharlotte.org/connect-with-us
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