(1) All four gospels make it clear: John baptized with water, but Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit (Mt. 3:11-12, Mk. 1:8, Lk. 3:16, Jn. 2:26-7, 33). What does this mean? How important is this? What happens when one is baptized with the Holy Spirit? Let me begin with what happens as the Spirit is received.
First, the Spirit witnesses to Jesus Christ and his Kingdom, making Christ utterly real. This happens as the Spirit illumines Scripture so that it conveys the reality of the risen Christ, his Kingdom, a new relationship to the Father, and all the blessings and responsibilities that occur in Christ. Secondly, the Spirit empowers corporate worship to reveal the risen Jesus so that worship is caught up in joy, holiness and love. As that happens, the Eucharist becomes the messianic banquet, the marriage feast of the Lamb, bringing the worshipper before the very throne of God with Jesus, the martyrs, the saints, the four and twenty elders, and the whole company of the redeemed in a glorious paean of praise to the everlasting God. Thirdly, the Spirit gives gifts and fruits, the power to pray for healing and deliverance, gifts such as discernment and speaking in tongues, fruits such as joy, love, and peace. By means of these gifts and fruits the body of Christ is edified, strengthened, illumined, empowered, sent into the world to witness to Christ and do the deeds of Jesus in his Name. Fourth, the Spirit reveals deep sins, behavioral patterns and attitudes, that lie hidden in the heart. By confession, repentance, forgiving and being forgiven, the soul is cleansed and enabled to see and hear God, to minister with power in the Name of Christ, and to love others. Fifth, the Spirit reveals a way of life in Christ that contradicts the greed, vanity, pride, and power of the church and world. This is a life of service, of scaled-down living, of daily study and prayer, of prophetic stands against the injustices that characterize our daily life. These are some of the great things that happen when Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
Are these things happening in the church? If not, why not? In my view they happen in the church, but only weakly. The reason for the weakness is that the leadership of the church, along with everyone else, is often afraid of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is the living power of God, and once the Spirit is set free in people's lives, they are called, driven, or required to do things they don't want to do, to confront deep sins they would rather avoid, and to break free of the social norms that govern their circle of friends. Losing control of one's life, falling into the hands of a living God, can be frightening, but only frightening to a self caught in sin. God is love, his ways are better than our ways, his commands better than our desires, his Kingdom better than any known society, and suffering for his justice better than any success. None of us really believes that, at least not a first, and so we develop forms of Christianity that keep God at bay. One way to do this is to domesticate Jesus by creating a Jesus apart from the Spirit. We can read the Bible, fellowship, worship, do all sorts of pious things, but they one thing we will not do is receive the living Spirit who reveals a Lord who has absolute authority over our lives. If, however, we are willing to receive Jesus as revealed by his miraculous Spirit, then it will become clear that God is love and that life in the Spirit is a great blessing.
How do we receive the Spirit? Some say the Spirit is received in baptism and that is the end of the matter. I believe the Spirit is received in baptism as a covenant promise, but being baptized with the Spirit requires a continuing act of surrender, a surrender of the will to the power of God. The church needs to present clear teaching on the Spirit and give opportunities for the Spirit to be received. In that regard, I like the Alpha program. The Alpha program includes a weekend retreat on the Holy Spirit. On the weekend the Alpha videos present a biblical perspective on the Spirit. We then have times of meditative prayer and background praise music in which people are encouraged to pray to receive the Spirit more profoundly. We go from person to person, laying hands on them and quietly praying that the Spirit be strengthened in this lives. It is very peaceful and powerful. Jesus baptizes in the Spirit, lives are changed, the Kingdom dawns.
I would like the reader to reread the second paragraph of this essay. Is the Spirit operative in your life and church in a powerful and living fashion? If you are blessed to realize that you and your church lack the full power of the Spirit, then these words are surely relevant:
So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:9-13)
What does it mean to ask, to seek, to knock? Among other things, it means to pray to receive the Holy Spirit, to repent of all obstacles blocking the fullness of the Spirit, to study Scripture and other books on the Holy Spirit, and to seek out persons who can help you receive the Holy Spirit.
Let this be a real Pentecost.
Endnote
1. A fuller treatment of his theme can be found in the essay entitled "Baptism and the Holy Spirit."
The Rev. Robert J. Sanders, Ph.D.
