We have arrived in the season of Pentecost. What began as a record in the Acts of the Apostles continues still as the acts of the People of God, empowered by his Spirit. Sometimes, I think, we forget that faith itself is ours because of the Holy Spirit’s work; it cannot be forced by an act of will of any other mechanism.
All of us can struggle with our faith. We may feel as though it comes and goes; people say they have lost their faith and many more witness to having found faith. Faith is like buried treasure; it is found but that does not preclude loss.
The second stanza of the United Reformed Church Statement of Faith states: The life of faith to which we are called is the Spirit’s gift continually received through the Word, the Sacraments, and our Christian life together. We acknowledge the gift and answer the call, giving thanks for the means of grace.
Those who crafted the words were careful to point out that there are different roads leading to the gift and having found it, we must acknowledge it for the gift, not the right or skill that it is. This is grace which, however it comes, is beyond human expression.
A Prayer
God who came in wind and fire at Pentecost, thank you that you burn and blow in many ways and places. Praise is yours for this grace beyond words; help me follow the path and hear the call in my life and if, sometimes, the way ahead is obscured by fog, please reach out to guide me. Amen.