Holy Ghost Stories (1): A Pouring Out of Love -- September 27, 2009

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." (Romans 5:1-5)

Well, over the next few weeks we're going to tell some Holy Ghost Stories. Don't worry, that doesn't mean we're going to build a fire in the middle of the sanctuary roast marshmallows and sing "Kum-bi-ya" (although that could be fun), it means we're going to explore together that Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. And right off, I need to confess two things as we introduce this series. The first is that in no way do I see myself as any kind of expert on the Holy Spirit -- had some wonderful experiences, we're about to explore some great Bible passages about the Holy Spirit -- but in no way imaginable do I see myself as an expert!

The second thing is that the Spirit of God is wonderful, so unimaginable, so great in so many ways that it is truly, truly a scary and daunting thing for me to preach on the Holy Spirit. Reminds me of a friend of mine who when asked about what he'd spoke on that Sunday, he'd reply, "Oh, I spoke on God for about twenty minutes." How can you treat a subject as vast as God in twenty minutes!?! And that's really the humor behind his statement. You can't. It's impossible. The same could be said for the Holy Spirit.

Yet despite such misgivings, I think we could all use a series of talks like this. Author Philip Yancey tells the story of his pastor Bill Leslie. Bill Leslie pastored an inner-city church in Chicago, and he used to give the illustration of an old hand-operated pump. He said that there were times in his life when he felt like that pump. Everyone would come along, reach up and pump vigorously a few times, and each time, he felt something drain out of him.

Ever felt like that? You're kid's just tracking in a direction that's not good (pump, pump, pump). There are too many commitments: family, job, church -- everybody just wants a piece (pump, pump, pump). Don't see any real progress in your life, with work, relationships or even ministry (pump, pump, pump). And you just get sucked dry -- just nothing more to give.

That's the way Bill Leslie felt. So he went on a week-long retreat and expressed those thoughts to his designated spiritual director -- a very wise nun. He expected her to offer soothing words about what a wonderful, sacrificial person he was. ("Bill, you're working so hard, you're doing so much -- way to go!") Instead, she said to him, "Bill, there's only one thing to do if your reservoir is dry. You've got to go deeper." He realized for his outer journey to continue, he needed to give higher priority with his inner journey. (P. Yancey, Church, Why Bother? Pg.96, 97)

The Holy Spirit can help, and even fuel that inner journey. The Holy Spirit can fill us and prevent us from becoming sucked dry.

So, Who is the Holy Spirit? Well, from my somewhat limited understanding of Scripture and doctrine, try this on for size: The Holy Spirit is God. He is the Third Person of the Trinity, One God, in Three Persons. The Holy Spirit is the breath or Ruah of God, seen hovering over the cosmos at the very beginning of creation, calling all things into being. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, connects us to God, can give us unspeakable joy, yet can Himself be grieved; the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, making us holy, and yet is almost completely unpredictable. He instructs, inspires both God's Word and the hearts of men, women and children -- and most of all, He is a Person like you and I are persons. He can act of his own volition and will, and yet does nothing out of sync with God the Father and God the Son and His Word. But one of the key works of the Holy Spirit is to instill within us God's hope and God's love.

That's where our passage here in Romans 5 comes in: For now, forget about any of the controversies or confusions around the work of the Holy Spirit, and for now, just drink in this truth: From this passage of Scripture we learn that the Holy Spirit, His Person, His reality and His work are certainly about two things: The Spirit is about instilling us with hope, and pouring out into our hearts the love of God. For this morning at least, the Holy Spirit is all about love and hope.

First of all, the Holy Spirit is about giving us Hope. The first part of vs.5 says, "And hope does not disappoint us..." One of the things the Holy Spirit "dispenses" into our lives is hope. Not just the spectacular or the unexpected, but hope. And our passage this morning teaches us that real hope is borne of two things:

#1 Real hope comes from a believing justifying faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Vs.1 says, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ..." There's an old saying that says whenever you are reading your Bible, and you see the word "therefore", you should ask yourself the question what is it there for. So what does the "therefore" refer to in vs.1? Well, it's right there in black and white: It's all about being justified by faith, and not just any kind of faith, but a faith, a trust, a hope that comes from believing in God through Jesus Christ.

In fact, this theme of being justified through faith in Jesus shows up before and after our passage. And what it's all about is simply this: When you and I come to faith in Jesus Christ -- believing that our sins are paid for on the Cross and through the empty tomb -- then, to put it in street language, then you're good with God. Fact is, God's got a huge, huge problem with sin, with my wrongdoing, your wrongdoing, huge problem with it. So much so that He sees us as sinners in rebellion against Him. But if we come to faith in Jesus, then it's all good with Him; we're good with Him. Trust in Jesus, and all that rebellion stuff gets thrown out the window and into the deepest sea.

See, contrary to a certain guest columnist in one of our local papers who pastors a church not too far away from here, the Holy Spirit does not live in all people and all things. The Holy Spirit lives only in those who have been justified by faith in Jesus Christ. So hope springs from the Holy Spirit who is given to believers, who have faith in Jesus, and therefore have peace, have no more problems with God.

And then secondly, this Hope is actually borne through the believer's experience of suffering. I used to think when I was pressured, when things weren't going my way, I used to think, "Oh, well, I guess I'm just not going with God. I guess the Spirit's not working in my life." I still think that way from time to time when things are rough, but I'm trying to change that thinking, because vs.3 and 4 says, "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that sufferings (the word used here is like "pressures", the pressures of life), produces perserverance (or patience or fortitude), perserverance (produces) character (one translation renders "character" the "tempered steal of virtue" -- I like that, don't you, the tempered steal of virtue), and character (produces) hope. And hope does not disappoint us, ... ." Isn't that cool? When the pressures of life come -- and they will come -- it may not be that God has stopped working in your life. It may well be quite the opposite, that God is working in your life, even by the power of the Spirit, when pressures come. In The Brothers Karamosov, Dostoevsky wrote, "Only by suffering can we learn to love life. Do not be afraid of life." (quoted in R. Perry's, Thundering Silence... , pg.113)

So the Holy Spirit brings us hope -- and that hope comes from two, perhaps unexpected sources: It comes from our justification in Jesus Christ, and it can even come through the trials and sufferings of life.

But we also learn that the Holy Spirit is there as a sort of conduit, a sort of channel of God's love. Vs.5 says, "And hope does not disappoint us, (why? Why doesn't hope borne of our faith in Jesus and our sufferings disappoint us?) because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Come to trust in Jesus, and not only does hope come, but God pours out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. I'm not sure how many of us would immediately think of the Holy Spirit in terms of a pouring out of God's love -- but that's exactly His role here in Romans 5.

By the way, it's a pouring out of God's love. We're not talking about a trickle here. We're talking about a pouring out of God's love. We're not talking about trying to squirt a bit of grape juice into a little dainty glass. We're talking about trying to contain the flow of a fire hydrant with a thimble. We're talking about tryin' to fill a beer keg with water at the bottom of Niagara Falls. The language here in this verse is actually of an unlimited supply. We're talkin' about a pouring out of God's love. We're talking about an inexhaustible supply. God's love for us in Jesus Christ is just that uncontainable, just that untamable, just that unimaginable, just that awesome.

An old, beloved hymn puts it this way:

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

Refrain:
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints' and angels' song ... Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

And this love, God's Word says, is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. That just seems it's the way to go with the Holy Spirit -- He is constantly being poured out for love on God's people. Joel 2:23 says, "Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you a teacher for righteousness. He sends you abundant showers... ." That's just the Spirit's way, to be poured out in love. In the gospels, at the baptism of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is being poured out on our Lord in love. Matthew 3:16 says, "At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove... . And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (emphasis mine) Isn't it great to be part of a winning team? Wasn't it wonderful when you got picked first for a team in gym class or at recess? Wasn't it aweful if you got picked last? That happened to me a lot. But not with God's team of the Trinity. With the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we get invited to the party, we get on the team, we get a seat at the table -- and the love that gets poured out on the Son through the Spirit from the Father's heart gets poured out into our hearts as well by the same Holy Spirit.

Do you feel it? Do you feel the love today? Even if it's just a little tinge of a little somethun-somethun, that may well be the Spirit whispering to your heart of the limitless love of God in Jesus.

I love that last line in vs. 5 "whom he has given us". Don't you just love that? It's not an accomplishment. It's not an achievement. It's not a degree. It's a freely given gift. The Holy Spirit is a freely given gift to all who simply place their trust in Jesus Christ. "... (B)ecause God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." (emphasis mine) Commentator E.F. Harrison says, "Grace gives a foothold in the door that one day will swing wide to permit the enjoyment of the glorious presence of the Almighty, a privilege to be enjoyed forevermore. Grace is the only sure basis for the expectation of sharing eternity with God." And in the meantime, God pours out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us.

Hope and love. It all starts there. And the Holy Spirit is a specialist in dispensing each into our hearts and into our lives. But to access that truth -- you and I have to go a little deeper.

A legend is told of this weary traveler lost in this desert -- just dying for a drink of water. He stumbles across this old shack. Then he noticed this old, rickety water pump. He tried the handle, (pump, pump, pump), but got nothing. Then he noticed this old jug -- with this old, crumpled up message that said, "You have to prime the pump with all of the water in this jug, my friend. P.S., Be sure to fill the jug again before you leave." He pops the cork of the jug, and sure enough, it's full of water! But now he has a choice to make -- either he could drink the old water in the jug, or he could do what the instructions said and use it to prime the pump. But what if it didn't work? He paused for a long time. But then, he reluctantly poured all the water into the pump. Then he grabbed the handle and began to pump, pump, pump. Still nothing came out! Pump, pump, pump. Then, a little bit dribbled out. Then a small stream. Finally, it gushed fresh, cool water from deep down in the well -- he filled that jug and gulped the whole thing, he filled it again and drank that down -- he had as much as wanted to drink! Then, he filled it up again, popped the cork back on, and added this little note: "Believe me, it really works. You have to give it all away before you get anything back."

And so it is with the Spirit. But what do we have to give away? May I encourage us all: We have to give Him our trust. The Holy Spirit is God. He is the Third Person of the Trinity... The Holy Spirit is the breath or Ruah of God, ... . And most of all, He is a Person like you and I are persons. He can act of his own volition and will, and yet does nothing out of sync with God the Father and God the Son and His Word. But one of the key works of the Holy Spirit is to instill within us God's hope and God's love. But to get in the flow, you gotta go deeper.