Dancing with the Spirit

by: Lou Lotz

The disciples were chomping at the bit, eager to run out into the world and proclaim the news of God’s forgiveness and love. They wanted to go. But Jesus told them to stay: “Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

God’s work in the world is accomplished through a collaboration between human initiative and the Spirit’s power. But we have a tendency to inflate our role in that partnership. A farmer and his friend were leaning on a fence, looking out over a field thick with golden wheat. “It’s wonderful what you and the Lord have been able to do with this land,” says the friend. To which the farmer replies, “You should have seen it when the Lord had it all to himself.” The farmer had a point, but shouldn’t the Lord get a little credit? Our role in God’s mission can get inflated to the point where God no longer seems necessary.

Stay, says Jesus. Wait for the Spirit’s power. The Lord is reminding his disciples that they are not in charge. We dance with the Spirit as partners, but the Spirit leads. I remember a time when the leadership of our congregation wanted to move forward on a big project. But the people weren’t ready. The timing was wrong. In hindsight, we were trying to force the issue when we should have been waiting, prayerfully, for the Spirit. A year later we proposed the same project, and the vote was near unanimous.

Stay, said Jesus. Wait for the Spirit.