The Ambiguous Teachings of the Holy Spirit
Sixth Sunday of Easter
The lectionary readings this week concerning the Holy Spirit are both unsettling and refreshing. They are unsettling because we often want more clarity with regards to who the Holy Spirit is and how the Holy Spirit works. When I listen to people talk about God, I get the impression that most people are fairly comfortable with talking about the Father and the Son, but that they don’t really know what to do with the Holy Spirit. It’s almost as if the Holy Spirit is a kind of third-wheel to an otherwise adequate relationship between two parties.
What I find refreshing in these texts is the reality that the Holy Spirit has always been hard to figure out. Consider Jesus’s words in the Gospel of John, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything…” This sounds pretty straight forward — don’t worry because “the Holy Spirit…will teach you everything.” But based on how things are playing out in the book of Acts, the words “teach you everything” does not mean that these teachings will be clear on the front end.
The nature of the Holy Spirit’s teachings has always been difficult to discern. Take for instance one of the first issues that could have divided the church. In Acts 15, the church calls an official council to make a decision on some pretty significant matters — do we circumcise Gentile converts? To modern readers, this may seem like an easy question to address. But at the time, this was a big deal. So, with what level of certainty was this verdict reached? The church council writes a letter to the Gentile churches saying, “it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials…” It seemed good to the Holy Spirit? If the Holy Spirit is going to “teach you everything,” then it seems like this issue would be one of those things. But, the Holy Spirit has always been hard to figure out.
Then, one chapter later, we have our lectionary reading in Acts. In this text we see how the Holy Spirit teaching us “everything” does NOT include clear details as to where to go or what to do. In verses 6-7 we see the Spirit preventing Paul and Luke from going to certain places. If the Spirit did not want them to go to those places, it seems like the Spirit could have been more efficient by letting them know that beforehand. Then Paul receive a rather ambiguous vision of a Macedonian man saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” What does that mean? Where in Macedonia should they go? What are they supposed to help you with? But Luke says that they were, “convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.” So why didn’t the vision say that?
So they go to Philippi, “which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.” The text says that they remained in this city for some days. If this was me, I would be waiting for the Holy Spirit to tell me what to do next. Yet again, as with the Jerusalem council, the Spirit seems to be leading, but the Spirit is not clear, nor are these missionaries certain as to what the Spirit is up to. Nothing worthy of note happened for a few days. Then the Sabbath rolls around, so they “went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer.” Again, notice the ambiguous language. They were not certain that there was a place of prayer, nor were they certain that they would meet anyone. But some woman had gathered there, so they sat down and spoke them.
I find all this ambiguity quite refreshing because it is easy to assume that the early church, along with the apostles, had a clearer handle on the content of what the Spirit wanted to teach. But these texts do not portray the Spirit teaching content. It seems that the Spirit is teaching the church to be responsive and open. I think it is safe to assume that if the Spirit is interacting with the disciples this way, then the Spirit is probably also interacting with Lydia and her friends this way. In other words, God is leading people who are responsive to the Spirit to an encounter. Lydia, as we see, is a Gentile who is going to a place of prayer on the Sabbath. This is a sign that she has a longing for God. And her longing for God is gratified in the encounter with these missionaries. Likewise, the disciple’s longing for God is gratified in their encounter with theses women — they are united with the ones God loves.
Cyril of Alexandria said, “By receiving the Holy Spirit, who is the bond of union between us and Christ our Savior, those who are joined to him, as branches are to a vine, share in his own nature.” If we share in the nature of Christ, then we also share in his longing to be one — not only with the Father, but also with humanity. This longing is expressed in our openness and attentiveness to God. And this longing is realized in the ways in which we journey “outside the gate” to find those who desire God.