“Utterly Dependent on the Spirit”

MEDITATION FOR MAY 27, 2012     

Day of Pentecost

Acts 2:1-21; Romans 8:22-27

 

       “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

     “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:22-27)

     My friend, Lacey Aalderks, is teaching me about raising pheasants.

     Lacey, a child of this church who now sells real estate in Willmar, has never taken care of pheasants before. But her father, Leon, thinks it is time for her to learn, now that she is getting ready to marry Dave, the son of a dairy farmer, and live in the country.

     So on Thursday night, the baby pheasants arrived. Twenty-two of them, to be exact. Their picture popped up in my email inbox Friday morning.  Little brown furry balls with feet and beaks.

    I had all sorts of questions, as I have no idea how you care for pheasants.

    “What do you feed them?  Are they like chickens?  Do they eat corn?” I asked.

    They are giving them some kind of baby animal feed, she said. Not corn, yet.

    One thing she has learned so far is that the temperature of their environment is important.

    “We are still working on moving the heat lamp up and down,” she said, “to get them to be comfortable. We don’t want to overheat them. And we don’t want them to freeze.”

    Another worry is finding the right size waterer.  “If it’s too large,” she said, “they will put their heads in to get a drink, and they won’t be able to get back out.  They will drown!”

     A helpful gentleman at Runnings where Lacey bought her supplies told her that there was one more thing to watch out for.  In about a week, he said, the pheasants will be able to fly right of the pen they are in.  

    So Dave is bringing some taller cardboard to keep any rogue pheasants from going astray.

    Lacey still worries she will come home one night after work and find the pheasants flying all over the garage!

    After talking with them, I am impressed with how helpless and fragile pheasant babies are and how utterly dependent they are on Lacey and Dave for survival.

    Hearing about the baby pheasants made me think about us Christians and our relationship with our heavenly caregiver.

     Though we may not realize it, we are as helpless, needy, and fragile as those pheasants. We are totally reliant on the Spirit that claims us and comes to dwell in our innermost parts at our baptism. The Spirit is what nourishes, protects, and comforts us. The Spirit teaches us and guides us in God’s will.  The Spirit is what transforms us, changing our hearts and renewing our minds, making us into the people God has planned for us to be.

     Paul, in our Romans reading today, paints a picture of struggle for those who are trying to follow Christ. Remember, this is the Roman Empire, the world that rejected and crucified Jesus. We groan inwardly, Paul says, along with creation, like a woman giving birth. Paul is among those who have the “first fruits of the Spirit”—those who were Christians following the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, about 50 days after the Resurrection. Paul, with his talk of “first fruits,” is not referring to people who have certain spiritual gifts.  No, this is the all-inclusive Spirit that has come to dwell in every believer.  Every man, woman, and child. This IS God with us, the Advocate, the Helper, the one Christ promised the Father would send in His name.

      Paul speaks of waiting for “adoption”—a word that conjures images of orphans, children without someone to love and care for them—and the “redemption of our bodies.” He is, of course, talking about waiting for the Second Coming, when Christ reigns as king, bringing freedom and justice to a renewed earth.  Paul and the other believers of his generation expected Christ to return during their lifetimes.   With every day that they were still waiting, the anticipation of His imminent arrival, liberating them from their oppressive situation, made the waiting all the more painful.  Roman believers were harassed and subject to deportation.  They were unemployable, powerless, social outcasts, unwanted even as slaves.

    Paul urges the Roman church to be patient. He connects hope to faith, saying, “Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes in what is seen?” And then He talks about the Spirit and what the Spirit does for us.  Right now. No waiting! The Spirit knows our weaknesses, whereas we don’t know our own needs or what to pray for. God and the Spirit work together for us. God searches our hearts and the Spirit communicates our needs. The Spirit within us intercedes for us with God “with sighs too deep for words.”

    There doesn’t have to be any fear associated with our utter dependency on the Spirit. The Holy Presence that comes to dwell within at our baptism will stay with us and care for us for the rest of our lives—until we see Christ face to face.

     Today, we will baptize Samuel Carter McEachern, who was born March 20 to Debra Bruns McEachern and Thomas McEachern.

     In the baptism of infants in the Presbyterian tradition, the parents profess their faith in Jesus Christ and vow to bring their child up in the Lord, which includes bringing them to church with them. The church promises to nurture the child and the family in the faith. The church’s commitment to the child’s spiritual care doesn’t end when they grow up or move away from the community.  The commitment doesn’t end if the family chooses to be members of a different church. Baptism is a sacred covenant between God and not only this particular church, but the Christian church universal—around the world, in every time and place.

    It is our prayer that after being nurtured in the faith and raised in church, Samuel, when he is old enough to decide for himself, will confirm the vows his parents make for him today.  May he choose Jesus Christ as his Lord.

   And when Samuel is an adult and seeks his place in the world, we pray the Lord will draw him to a place that will be his worship home, where he will continue to be nurtured in the faith and renewed in the Spirit.

   We pray that he will realize his utter dependency on the Spirit, the heavenly caregiver that came to dwell within at his baptism. And that he has nothing to fear in this world, because this Spirit will reside with him and care for him all the days of his life—until he sees his Savior face to face.  

Let us pray.   Loving, heavenly Father, we praise and glorify your name! Thank you for your Word today, and thank you for Your Son, Jesus Christ, who died so we could be reconciled with you. Thank you for your lavish grace, for forgiving us of all our sins, those committed yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  Thank you for your Spirit that stays with us, caring for us, guiding us in Your Will and giving us courage to obey.  May Your Spirit mold us into the people of faith you want us to be—people who love and forgive one another, and share Christ with a broken and hurting world.  In Christ’s name we pray.  Amen.