28 April 2014 - the spirit and the bride say come

28 April 2014 - the spirit and the bride say come

“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God,
for no one can do these signs that you are doing
unless God is with him.”

Nicodemus is prompting Jesus to explain his connection to God.  Nicodemus perceives that it is supernatural, enabling Jesus to do signs no one else can do, but doesn't quite get it.  But Jesus doesn't directly enter this question.  He tells us Nicodemus and ourselves that we must be born again to see God's kingdom.  Why does he apparently change the subject to baptism?  It is because rather than just explaining his own relationship to the Father he would rather that we experience that relationship ourselves.  It is the only way to truly understand the relationship, because "What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit."

The apostles in Acts walk by this Spirit.  They are closely united in the family bond it creates which is why they raise "their voices to God with one accord".  Is this action charismatic?  Is it liturgical?  Perhaps it is both.  The communal recitation of Scripture definitely sounds like it has the potential to be liturgical.

“Sovereign Lord, maker of heaven and earth
and the sea and all that is in them,
you said by the Holy Spirit
through the mouth of our father David, your servant:

Why did the Gentiles rage
and the peoples entertain folly?
The kings of the earth took their stand
and the princes gathered together
against the Lord and against his anointed.

But the way that this action is a response to the life experience of the community hints that it is also charismatic.  The fact that Scripture directly speaks to that life experience hints that it is charismatic.  And it feeds back in to their own lives and plans in a way that is definitely charismatic.

And now, Lord, take note of their threats,
and enable your servants to speak your word
with all boldness, as you stretch forth your hand to heal,
and signs and wonders are done
through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

But these dimensions aren't meant to be separate.  In the early Church they are not. The apostles go forth to spread the kingdom and proclaim the good news.  They bring their prayer intentions and thanksgiving back to the communal life of the Spirit.  It feeds, we speculate, into the early liturgy.  In this liturgy they are filled with the Spirit and enabled to venture out again.  We don't often imagine the liturgy even having an effect.  It is something we just check off of our list of chores.  At best, it is a beautiful meditation into which we enter but from which we make a too definitive break when we leave.  Not so for the apostles:

As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook,
and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

So the nations may rage and the peoples may utter folly.  The kings of the earth may rise up and the princes may conspire.  Where do we find solace in the midst of the darkness of the world?  When we enter into the liturgy in the power of the Holy Spirit we can hear the one throned in heaven laugh.  We can feel the earth quake with the power that also renews our confidence.

Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord.