“The Holy Spirit is my best friend,” says my friend who is now in his 90’s. Having known him for the past several years, I believe him. “Show me someone who hates me and give me enough time with them and they will love me. I will love them with kindness until they do.” So when a neighbor cursed him, he loved her and took her to the hospital for her chemo treatments. When a man shot his granddaughter through a door, God told him to forgive and he did. You see why I believe him.
Father, Son and Spirit lived in perfect community for eternity past. When Jesus became a man, how did he relate to the Holy Spirit? Luke uniquely shows us Jesus’ relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit came upon him at his baptism, descending like a dove. Then the Spirit filled him and led him out into the wilderness to be tempted. After Jesus defeated the devil in the desert, he returned to his home area of Galilee in the power of the Spirit. In his first sermon he read Isaiah’s words about the Spirit anointing him and said, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
How did Jesus fulfill the promise of the Spirit’s anointing? He preached good news to the poor, proclaimed freedom for captives, gave sight to the blind, released the oppressed, and proclaimed the Lord’s favor. As he touched the sick, spent time with sinners, called apostles, and taught the truth, Jesus embodied the power of the Holy Spirit. So may we, if we will.
The Holy Spirit is not a body of truths that we can master through effort. Walking in the Spirit is not so much about the acquisition of information. Some of the people who talk most about the Holy Spirit don’t actually know him very well. How do I know? By the way they live. Luke’s second volume, the Acts of the Apostles, could be titled the Acts of the Holy Spirit. There we read about a lay leader named Stephen who, like Jesus, was full. He was full of the Holy Spirit, full of wisdom, full of grace, and full of power. When he was stoned to death by religious people, he forgave them and asked the Father to forgive them as well.
When the Holy Spirit fills us, we will do what Jesus did. Although we will never have control of the Holy Spirit, he may have control of us. When he does, everyone who knows us will know. I pray the Holy Spirit will be my best friend and yours today. How will we know? People who know us will know.
