O Lord, who hast mercy upon all,
take away from me my sins,
and mercifully kindle in me the fire of thy Holy Spirit.
Take away from me the heart of stone,
and give me a heart of flesh,
a heart to love and adore thee,
a heart to delight in thee,
to follow and to enjoy thee,
for Christ's sake.
- Ambrose of Milan, c 339-97
Old Testament readings:
Isaiah 63:7-10
Psalm 51:10-12
Gospel Reading:
John 14:15-21
Epistle Reading:
Romans 8:26
Reflection:
Of all the gifts given to mankind the most wonderful and mysterious has to be that He himself desires to dwell within. Often referred to as the ‘breath’ of God it seems that the Holy Spirit played a significant role in the ‘quickening’ of humanity.
Humanity is unique from all creation in this one respect, only into us did he ‘breath’. That breath did not only rest on Adam and Eve – but that breath sustains and quickens all persons. There is a 'God-quality' embedded into all people. But, there appears to be a difference between the Spirit of God’s quickening breath of humanity and the indwelling of Holy Spirit. I have wondered if this is partly implied in the verse in John where it says “and he came to his own, but they knew him not” – this passage is often only related to the Jewish nation – which it certainly does apply, but perhaps not exclusively.
If we accept the creation story of God breathing ‘life’ into Adam, by virtue of Adam and Eve being the earthly father and mother to all human life – all are ‘his own’. He desires to come to ‘his own’. Another verse causes me to think about more broadly about his ‘coming to his own’ – it is in the revelation that it is the deepest desire of God who ‘wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth’ (1 Timothy 2:4). The great grief of God is that in coming to his own, they did not receive him (John 1:11).
One of the main roles of the Holy Spirit with in our lives is his constant reminding and assuring us that we belong to God – he comforts us – he speaks to us, urges, calls, points to the truth of God.
"You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." (Rom 8:9)
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." (1 Cor 6:19-20)
One of the questions I would frequently get asked related to this is “how do I know that the Holy Spirit dwells with in me?" I can understand why this is such a pressing question – so pressing that at times I still ask the question of myself. How do I know that the Holy Spirit dwells within me?
Jesus tells us clearly “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). John tells us again in his letter 1 Jn 3:19-24:
This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
And if this is too complicated it boils down to this:
- Do you love the Father?
- Do you love the Son?
- Do you love the one whom he set to live within us?
- Do you love one another?
If your heart confirms and you feel that deep longing yes, yes yes, yes, yes – even though you know that ‘your heart condemns you’ because you could do it better and more completely – those answers and that feeling only can come from one source – the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He has come to his own – you – and you have received him.
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. (1 John 5:1-5)
"And his commands are not burdensome…" that a tough one. But here is my interpretation – I believe it is not saying that we will find it easy to keep all his commandments – that we never stumble or fall. I think it is referring back to his commands in this sense: "They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb." (Psalm 19:10)
We don’t fight and reject his commandments – we don’t despise them and ridicule them – we long for them and want them to have their way within us, to make us more like Him. His commandments are our life – and only the Holy Spirit voice and presence within us creates this unquenchable want.
Closing Prayer:
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
fill me with life anew,
that I may love what thou dost love,
and do what thou wouldst do.
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
until my heart is pure,
until with thee I will one will,
to do and to endure.
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
till I am wholly thine,
till all this earthly part of me
glows with thy fire divine.
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
so shall I never die,
but live with thee the perfect life
of thine eternity.
A-men.
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