It's been a long time since my last post - evidence that I have not yet found the secret to simplicity that I am looking for - but alas, I'm still searching.
The last post focused on simplicity and the church - and ended with an acronym: S-I-M-P-L-I-F-I-E-D. Each letter in that acronym represents a principle that lies at the heart of what I believe Jesus had in mind when he started the church.
The "S" in SIMPLIFIED stands for Spirit-Led. First and foremost, Jesus' church is Spirit-Led. This term takes on different meanings - and feelings - based on what faith tradition within Christendom has had the greatest influence on you. For some, this means that since the Spirit inspired the word of God (2 Tim 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20), we simply have to read and obey the bible to be Spirit-led. For others it means the miraculous manifestations of the Spirit, as recorded in various scriptures (most notably 1 Corinthians 12-14), must be present. For many others the concept is just too hard to grasp, so while intellectually assenting to the notion of being Spirit-led, they have no real personal experience with it. I myself have been taught to trust the Spirit's leading through the inspired scriptures, but beyond that, one needs to exercise great caution in attributing things to the Spirit.
While this is a "safe" position, I don't believe it is consistent with the record that the scriptures themselves bear. Consider the book of Acts. Commonly referred to as the "Acts of the Apostles", there are nearly 40 occasions where the Spirit interacts directly with individuals, speaking to them as one person might speak to another. Jesus didn't leave a cut and dried blueprint for church. In fact, his succession speech was fairly short and to the point, "He said to them: 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'"(Acts 1:7-8)
Prior to his crucifixion he had a similar conversation as he prepared the Apostles to carry on His Father's work. “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you." (Jn 16:12-15) Jesus here makes it clear that the disciples would be relying on the Spirit himself to guide them into truth. He didn't write it in a manual, or create a new law. He said their discovery and understanding of truth would come directly from interacting with the Spirit.
Back to Acts 1, the only command that we see Jesus include in this critical moment of transition was, "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait..." Isn't waiting one of the most difficult things God calls us to do? Consider how many years Abram waited from the time of the promise to the birth of his son, Isaac. Consider how long God's people had to wait to be released from their oppression in Egypt. Consider how long Moses had to wait just to see the promised land. Clearly God works on a different timetable than we do. Our tendency is to rush ahead. Take control. Devise a plan. But that's not how Jesus set the church in motion. He said do not go anywhere, just wait - "wait for the gift my Father promised, which you heard me speak about..." Right from the beginning Jesus was making it clear that the Spirit is going to lead this thing - not you guys! Isn't it ironic that we humans have attached the name "Acts of the Apostles", as if humans were leading the church, when it should more rightly be called "Acts of the Holy Spirit". Think about that for a minute.
Did you happen to notice the next question the apostles ask after getting the command to wait? "Lord are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" In other words, "Is it time yet?" No sooner do they hear the words, "wait", and they want to know if it's time yet. Reminds me of children on a long trip, "Are we there yet?" No, not yet. Five minutes later, "are we there yet?" No, not yet. "Are we there yet?". How often to do we miss the present, because we focus so much on what's supposed to happen next. Jesus said wait for the Spirit. He will "make it known to you." Lord, help us to learn what it means to wait on the Spirit!
When the Apostles returned to Jerusalem to wait, we see an interesting situation that helps us understand the ways in which the Spirit leads God's people. While they wait on the Spirit to be poured out, they decide to use the time wisely and find a replacement for Judas. "Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about 120) and said 'Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas..." As I mentioned early on, the Spirit is the author of scripture, so when we follow the scriptures we are submitting to the Spirit's leading. But notice that in this case the scriptures only gave the broad principle "May another take his place of leadership" (Acts 1:20, Psalm 109:8). It didn't tell them who to choose, or even how to choose them. (This is true of most scripture, by the way - they provide principles and guidelines - though our tendency is to make those into rules and regulations). To narrow it down, they rely on the words of Jesus (another way to be led by the Spirit), who said that the role of the apostles was to be witnesses of his resurrection. So the only parameter they use to narrow the field is that it must be a person who has been among them from the time of John's baptism until the present time. Now that they've narrowed the field to two men, notice their highly logical and strategic approach to making the final selection. "Then they cast lots and the lot fell to Matthias, so he was added to the eleven apostles." What would you have done in the same situation? Had a debate about the pros and cons of each candidate? Had a vote, with 2/3rds majority winning? Given each candidate a month to campaign, and then vote? Asked Peter to choose? These are all tested and tried approaches, but each of them relies more on human wisdom and intellect. But the apostles were in essence leaving the choice to God. They trusted that wherever the lot fell, that was the Spirit's choice in the matter. How many choices in the church are made using human intellect, versus trusting in the Spirit's leading?
The day of Pentecost comes and the waiting is over. The Spirit comes upon the believers and they begin to miraculously speak in the languages of all those gathered at this Jewish harvest festival. Then Peter addresses the crowd and starts his sermon by explaining the strange phenomenon that they all just shared. While some heckled and others sat bewildered, everyone present that day shared in one of the most significant events in the interaction between heaven and earth (others being the incarnation of Jesus, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead). At this moment in history, God opened the door for every single person on earth and throughout the rest of history, to have a personal, intimate relationship with Him through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. It was no longer the case that only select leaders in God's movement - people like King Saul and Sampson - would receive the Spirit (only to have Him withdraw later on) - but that anyone, large or small, near or far, royal or common, Jew or Gentile could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to dwell IN them. God and man connected not by law, regulation or through a mediator like Moses, but the immortal taking up residence IN the mortal. The creator living IN the creature. The king dwelling with and IN his subjects. It doesn't get any more intimate than that. As the prophet Joel foretold, and as they experienced that day, "I will pour out my Spirit on ALL people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy...And EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." God living in us! And working through us! All of us!
The Spirit living in us. The significance of this shift cannot be overstated. This is the NEW wine (Mk 2:22), the NEW ministry (2 Cor 3:8), the NEW covenant (Heb 8:8). And "By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete..."(Heb 8:13). In the next post we will look at some of the ways the Spirit led the early church in hopes that we can learn what it means to be Spirit-led today. I'm sure for many this will be review of truths already discovered. But hopefully for some, there will be something new!
