From the Daily Lectionary for Friday in the Second Week of Easter
John 16: 1-15
‘I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.
‘I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, “Where are you going?” But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgement, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.
‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.’
In his Defense against the Puritans the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge argued against the rigid fundamentalism of his day. The Puritans defended the Bible as the inerrant word of God, ancient words etched in stone. Coleridge countered with the argument that scripture has no life on its own; but that it must be animated, inspired by the human imagination. That premise, of course, implies that the meaning of scripture is contextual, speculative, and evolving; that the interpretation of scripture must account for new knowledge, lived experience, and the cultural bias within which it was written. Coleridge was in effect applying the principles of literary criticism to the exegesis of scripture. His antagonists argued that his method undermined the absolute authority of the Bible. Coleridge held to the belief that the imagination is what grants authority to scripture, and not just scripture, but regarding all matters of human life. Crucial to his argument is Coleridge’s premise that the imagination and the Holy Spirit are one and the same. It is the imagination, the Spirit, that is able to apprehend the truth. It is the imagination, the Spirit, that makes meaning of all objective reality: literature, art, nature, the myriad and random iterations of human existence.
In his so-called ‘farewell discourse’ from which we are reading, Jesus is preparing his disciples for his death, resurrection, and departure. He warns them about the coming hostility of the Synagogues, and of the oppression of the empire, the “ruler.” He’s reminding them that to serve the truth will be an ordeal. This Gospel was written some seventy plus years after the life and ministry of Jesus, so the writer of this Gospel has the advantage of hindsight. He tells them that the Holy Spirit will enable them to continue his legacy, that it will guide them, and keep them in the Way. You will remember that on the day of resurrection Jesus appears to the disciples in the locked room and bequeaths to them the Holy Spirit. They are then on their own… but not alone. The Spirit is with them in passionate advocacy for their cause.
The point I want to make is that the Spirit is not something ‘other.’ In Hebrew Scripture the word for Spirit and the word for breath are the same. The Spirit to us is as natural as breath. I would argue that it is the human imagination, the Spirit, that enables us, dare I say, to see reality with the eyes of God. If you have listened carefully to John’s narrative, you will remember that the disciples are sent into the rigors of the world just as Jesus was sent… and with the same authority. It is the Spirit that makes this so; and because we are people of the Spirit, we have a formidable responsibility to our world.
Christianity over the centuries has abdicated such authority in deference to the doctrine of Original Sin; that we humans are unworthy of such a call; that our depravity holds us hostage in a state of dire need. We have been given the Spirit, the legacy of the Christ. Our collective imagination, the power of the Spirit, will lead us to move mountains; to raise up the brokenhearted; to welcome home the lost; to empower the powerless; to heal the sick. In our heart of hearts we are made for the truth… and the truth will set the world free… so says the Spirit… Ours is to act as if it were true. Just imagine.
Collect Of the Holy Spirit (BCP p.251)
Almighty and most merciful God, grant by the indwelling of your Holy Spirit we may be enlightened and strengthened for your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
