God's Reckless Giving

God's Reckless Giving--May 7, 2018

"While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, 'Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?' So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days." [Acts 10:44-48]
This is one of those moments in the book of Acts when I wonder if Luke was secretly a Lutheran ahead of his time. I read these words and I can't help but remember what Luther says about the Third Article of the Creed: "I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth..." In other words, even our ability to believe, our capacity to trust in God, is a gift of God given by the Holy Spirit. You can't help but see that here at the end of Acts 10, because the very last thing to happen before today's passage had been Peter's speech. There is no altar call to see who wants to invite Jesus into their hearts first, and in fact, there is no point where Peter asks the group, "Now that you've heard my sales pitch, who wants to join the church?" Nor is there any point where Peter says that the Holy Spirit is waiting to enter into the lives of some of them if they are only willing to choose God first. There is only an announcement of the Good News, and the indiscriminate pouring out of the Spirit on "all who heard the word." And it sure sounds like all those on whom the Spirit comes in this story are brought to faith in Christ Jesus and are baptized.

All of this is to say that once again God takes the action when all the humans in the story are waiting around and sitting on their hands. And it also helps us to put the horse and the cart in the right order--it is always God's Spirit who first acts in us, kindling faith in us, calling to us, drawing us into the life of God, rather than waiting on us to invite God in. That means there is never a point at which we can climb our way up to God and hold our faith up to the angels as proof of something we have done to earn our way into heaven. If we really mean it that we are made right with God by grace and not by works of the law, as good old St. Paul said, then we have to be honest that those "works" that don't save us include both things like religious rituals and following moral rules and even believing the right religious facts about God. If we're saved by grace through faith, as the Scriptures put it, then we have to be honest that even faith—even our believing—is a gift from God that has come unearned. I can't even turn to God and say, "But at least I had the good sense to take you up on your offer of eternal life when you presented it to me," since even that "YES" said back to God is made possible by the Spirit who enfolds us. Everything is gift—even my capacity to receive God's gifts.

Now, part of what that means in this particular story is that God reserves the right to give freely to whomever God chooses. And here God freely chooses to send the Spirit to kindle faith among these Gentiles, apart from the fact that the Jewish Christians in the room are having a hard time understanding how this can be. God freely chooses to send the Spirit today among people that we in the Respectable Religious Crowd are convinced are not eligible candidates for mercy, and it surely seems that there's nothing we can do about it--except to let God go to work among us. "Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing..." Peter asks, and presumably the answer is no—at least, not if we are intent on being drawn into the motion of the Spirit ourselves. If even faith is a gift—and God's gift at that—then we don't have much say in being gatekeepers of who is eligible or ineligible, acceptable or unacceptable, worthy or unworthy,  to receive God's gifts. Only God gets to make those calls, and God has this way of pouring out the Spirit on everyone in the room, it seems, even if it seems too reckless, too indiscriminate, to us.

Today, maybe we can be looking for signs of the Spirit at work around us today—where do you see the Spirit opening doors for you to speak the story of Jesus? Where is the Spirit opening up closed hearts? Where is the Spirit opening up previously deaf ears? And how can we let go of control and let the Spirit go to work where he pleases?

O Spirit of Life, give us today the humility to let you stir us up and to enfold all whom you will. Let us delight in your action, and let us be truthful enough to see you moving first to draw us, rather than waiting for us to figure things out on our own.