Gifts of the Holy Spirit

At a recent Tuesday 4:45 service, I was given a beautiful new cross made of silver, and created by artist Jody Foshee. She is a member of the Creek Nation, which is where we get the Creek Nation Alleluia chant we just sang, and use often in our service. The cross is based on our altar cross, which has me thinking about Roy Fridge, the artist who made that beautiful cross out of found pieces of driftwood. 

If you aren’t familiar with our crosses and candle sticks, I encourage you to stop by and take a look at them sometime; meditate with them. They are beautiful and uniquely Port Aransan, not another set in the world. Roy fridge, the artist who made them, was living in a hermitage he built on property owned by the Sharp family in the 60’s. He paid $1 a year for rent. When we built the church in 1964, Milly Sharp approached Roy about making the crosses and candle sticks.

His other works of art that I’ve seen are captivating--he was interested in boats and shamanistic ritual. After looking at some of his other works of art featured in art museums around Texas, I’ve found elements of both in our cross, or perhaps creating the cross shaped the way he understood his other art... something was at work through him. He used found objects to create his art, driftwood for ours, but other things that he assembled into beautiful sculptures. I wish I could ask him more about them. He died in 2007.


As we begin to close the season of Easter, this is week 7, we turn our attention to the Holy Spirit and what it means for us and for the church. Our readings today focus on the anticipation of the Holy Spirit, waiting to receive it after Jesus has ascended into heaven…we celebrated Ascension day Thursday, the 40th day of easter…Between ascension and Pentecost we wait with an Advent-like hope of the arrival of the Holy Spirit and what it brings to us. We along with the disciples have moved from the despair of death, to the amazement of Christ’s resurrection! He did not leave us, he came back: the Good Shepherd is not leaving the sheep abandoned, he returns to break bread, and promises us the Holy Spirit to be out guide, our Advocate so we will never be alone. 


The Holy Spirit doesn’t bring us a cartoon-like fluffy, shallow, forever-happiness. It does not satisfy our every desire and give to us whatever we want. The Holy Spirit doesn’t wave a magic wand and make everything fixed as we think things should be fixed. Ask and ye shall receive refers to the request for the Kingdom of heaven. Ask for the Holy Spirit, and you will receive it, but careful what you ask for…


Rather than fluffy unicorns, the Holy Spirit may bring us anxiety because the thing the Holy Spirit gives us is the authority to live and act like Chrsitians. It may move us into the unknown territory of our calling in life. It gives us the gift of spiritual maturity and a ministry of reconciliation which requires awareness, compassion, a sense of justice, and of forgiveness and mercy. The Holy Spirit certainly brings joy, freedom, and creativity but that is different from magic and happiness.


In life’s journey, our formative years are spent learning the ways of whatever world we happen to be born into. Somewhat different on every continent and generation, we learn the customs of our family, our religion, our community, and nation. We learn what it means to be considered successful, and are tested, and may find approval from the world. All that is about the outside world, the collective, the spirit of the times. In that part of life we seek to live into a script as best we understand it has been written for us.


The word authority contains the word author; the world writes the script of Act I of our life. When we truly receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the pen is placed in our own hand, and we begin to live out a script as we are empowered to write it, following the deeper guidance of the Holy Spirit. To the outside world, we may look the same, and in the outside world, we would do well to comply to the norms of the superficial world.


When we pick up the pen offered by the Holy Spirit, though, we are freed and empowered to this higher calling; When we live guided by the Holy Spirit, we live as God directs us to live. We seek to answer the deeper call of becoming who God has created us to be. It is a narrow path because it is for you alone to walk. This is the anxiety given by the Holy Spirit, and we are empowered with courage, the lifting up of our hearts, knowing we walk alone, and we never walk alone. We have the Holy Spirit, and we follow the example set by Jesus Christ.


To act like a Christian means to be able to stand against the spirit of the times when it is contrary to who we are called to become. It means not falling into the world-created bifurcation of who’s right and who’s wrong, but instead to see opportunity to reconcile, to find a third pathway, the via media that brings together enemies. The call of the empowered, or sanctified church is to reconcile the world to one another and to God. It takes spiritual maturity which includes a great deal of patience with those who are stuck in worldly ruts. It takes compassion to see the image of God in the people who repulse us most. It takes an awareness of complex agendas often driven by fear of the unknown. And it takes a desire for justice, and mercy and forgiveness to offenders of justice. The ministry of reconciliation the church is called to is all but impossible; except that nothing is impossible for God.


Rather than great preachers or heroes, we would do well to study the artists to learn what it means to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Those who open their lives to let art flow through. Those brave souls who are willing to try the new idea that doesn’t conform to what is expected. The artist reveals truth to the world even if the world isn’t willing to see the truth before their eyes.

Our altar cross tells a truth of Jesus. That he went through the depths of death and hell, and rose again with holes in his body as evidence. Our cross reveals Jesus wearing a crown of all authority, for his arms are outstretched not because he is held by nails, but because he wants to welcome all God’s creation into his loving embrace. Those found pieces of driftwood assembled carefully by Roy Fridge remind us that no power or principality, not worldly power or enemy can keep us from living the mission of the church right now, once we pick up the pen of Holy Spirit given authority and start to write our own story. It is a narrow path and takes courage to navigate alone, but we never walk alone. We will receive the Holy Spirit who gives us power to do all things we are called to do by our savior, our nail-scarred God who has gone before us to show us the Way: Jesus Christ.