The Mystery of the Modest Spirit

Our congregation has begun a year long emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit.

Many Christians confess to being perplexed by the work of the Holy Spirit.  They say they understand the idea of God the Father and God the Son, but the idea of God the Holy Spirit mystifies.

That problem may be more about modesty than mystery.

Jesus was quite clear about the work of the Holy Spirit.  He said, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me… When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”  John 15:26; 16:13-14

The Spirit works to guide us to see Jesus, not the Spirit himself.  The Spirit serves like the stage crew supporting the drama that unfolds on the stage.

Earlier this week I had occasion to talk with Dr. Leo Sanchez, Professor of Systematic Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.  He is the author of “Sculptor Spirit:  Models of Sanctification from Spirit Christology.”  (That’s a mouthful—and a good book.)

He said, “The Holy Spirit is a modest spirit, a humble spirit.”  The Spirit works to draw attention to Jesus, not himself.

Perhaps the difficulty we American Christians have understanding the Holy Spirit grows out of our (sinful) nature, not his.  We worship and celebrate celebrities.  We focus attention on the successful, the ones with big names and personalities and positions and houses and cars and money.  We have turned ourselves into mini-celebrities seeking to be celebrated for sharing posts (like this one?) and pictures and poignant thoughts on Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In Snapchat and wherever. 

We are a loud and proud people. Modesty?  Humility?  Those are alien thoughts in American culture.

It seems to me that our problem with understanding the Holy Spirit of God may have to do with our own celebrity driven mind-set rather than that the Spirit has an inscrutable nature.  It is not so much that the Spirit is mysterious, but that he is modest.  And the mystery is in the modesty.

To better understand the work of the Spirit we must better understand and value modesty and humility.

That seems significant to me this week.  

What has seemed so to you?