How many of you still wear a watch that has to be wound every day? Not many of us still do, right? Unless there is something really special about it, it’s an heirloom or an antique or something like that, most of us have switched to the battery-powered ones. It’s so much easier, isn’t it? One less thing you have to remember.
But batteries run down, too. It just takes a little longer. And when they do, you have to go to the store and have someone else replace it. At least that’s what I do, although I expect I could probably do it myself. But it is more complicated than just winding it up, like the old watches. Not even progress can actually reverse the laws of nature....
And one of the most fundamental rule of all is the law of entropy. That’s one you all have right on the tip of your tongues, right? Go to bed thinking about it, get up in the morning staring it in the face... You may be surprised to find that you really do! The dictionary definition - at least the one I’m talking about here - is
“a measure of the degree of disorder in a substance or a system: entropy always increases and available energy diminishes in a closed system [such] as the universe.”
What that means is, everything runs down. Everything wears out. Even the Energizer Bunny.
Another implication of entropy is that as things run out and wear down, they get simpler... The universe is not naturally designed to evolve into more and more complex systems, it’s naturally designed to disintegrate into simpler and simpler ones.
I once asked my sister the science teacher to explain to me how - under those circumstances - evolution, that is the whole idea that more and more complex forms just naturally come into being as the universe does it’s impersonal thing, could work and she said, “Why, energy, of course.”
And that’s true, as far as it goes, but it leaves the question “Where does energy come from?” completely unanswered. I asked her to think about the possibility that energy - in all its forms - is simply a way scientists have to describe the breath of God... She didn’t want to touch that one.
But that’s what the Psalmist implies.
"[You] are ... wrapped in light as with a garment...." [v, 2] Light is one form of energy. Have you ever thought of the very existence of light as evidence of the presence of God?
'You stretch out the heavens like a tent ...You set the earth on its foundations." [v. 2,5] The force of gravity that holds all the stars and planets in relationship with each other, that keeps them spinning and circling in predictable, measurable patterns is another kind of energy. Did you ever think of gravity as being one way God holds onto us, keeps us safe? Think of God holding you tight in his arms on this mad, roller-coaster ride through the universe.
"You set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind, you make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your servants." [v,3-4]
The winds obey rules that we barely understand and still can’t control - yet wind was one of the first kinds of energy human beings learned to work with... And, of course, you know that the most frequent symbols of the Holy Spirit is the wind....
The only source of energy that’s been in use longer than wind is fire, which is the other most common metaphor for the Spirit....
The process that turns seas and lakes and rivers into clouds and back again takes energy ... and yet it also generates so much additional energy that we harness it to run our industries and heat our houses…. Isn’t that just like God? Even his leftovers are lavish. And all the other forms of energy - electric, magnetic, atomic, solar... those are all just built into the very fabric of the universe - filled to overflowing with the power of God.
The Psalmist goes on to celebrate all the living things that God has made, from the grass to the cattle that feed on it:
"You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart." [v. 14-15]
Did you know that almost every other form of energy we know about comes from living things? We get our own, bodily energy from eating plants, or animals that have in turn fed on plants. Coal and oil and gas were all plants, once.... And where do the plants get their energy from? Light. The process is called “photosynthesis.”
Maybe we should just acknowledge that wherever God is, there is life. What God touches, lives. What God touches, grows.
"When you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground." [v. 28-30]
In some ways, what I’ve been describing sounds a bit like The Force in Star Wars. But there are three significant differences:
First, The Force can be used - sometimes for good, sometimes for evil. But it can be USED. God cannot be used; the Holy Spirit cannot be used. "The wind blows where it chooses," [Jn 3:8] not where we choose.
And the reason the Holy Spirit cannot be used is - difference number two - that the Holy Spirit is a person, just as God is a person.... The Force is impersonal, it doesn’t care what use is made of it, it has no purpose for creation. It’s an IT, and it’s just THERE. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is always working out God’s purpose in creation, and knows every blade of grass just as he knows your name and mine. Or maybe she. Pneuma, in Greek, is a “he”, but ruah, in Hebrew, is a “she.” However you think of the Spirit, she is alive, he is aware, she powers the universe with the very love of God.
And difference number three - the Holy Spirit is a gift given to those who believe in Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit was there, working around and in and through people as God chose, but didn't permanently indwell God's people. Think battery pack. The Holy Spirit came only upon certain individuals, one at a time, for a specific purpose. The Holy Spirit gave Joseph and Daniel the ability to interpret dreams. The Spirit was also given to God’s anointed kings, Solomon and David and Saul. But it was more a “resting upon” than a “dwelling in”, and the Spirit departed if they disobeyed.
"Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed [David] in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of YHWH came mightily upon David from that day forward... Now the spirit of YHWH departed from Saul." [1 Sam 16:13-14a] But from Pentecost onward - the day we celebrate today - the Holy Spirit has been present among the followers of Jesus in a way that no Old Testament hero could claim. We know that this is true not only because the working of the Holy Spirit is described differently in the New Testament than in the Old, but the Apostle John himself tells us so, in his gospel.
"[Jesus] said [‘Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water’] about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified." [Jn 7:38-39]
And yet what the Old Testament has to say about the Holy Spirit is very relevant indeed to the working of the Holy Spirit in us today. The Holy Spirit is the light by which we see the truth. The Holy Spirit pulls us back to Jesus Christ when we wander. The Holy Spirit is the wind that presses us on towards the goals God has set for us. The Holy Spirit is the water that refreshes and the fire that cleanses. The Holy Spirit is the power that rescues us, over and over, from the things that lead to destruction and death. The Holy Spirit is to sin what energy is to entropy - and without it, we too would wear out and run down, would decay and die.
Of course I’m talking about the spirit, not the flesh. As Paul said in his 2nd letter to Corinth, “Though the outer nature is wasting away, the inner nature is being renewed day by day.” And, too, we have a role to play. We don’t just sit there and wait. To see truth, we have to open our eyes. To be moved toward God’s goals, we have to set our sails and use the rudder. To be filled with water, we must empty and open our hearts and hands. To partake of the Spirit, we must connect to the Source through Jesus Christ.
"Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit." [Gal 5:16-25]
Paul prayed in his letter to the Ephesians that “the Father of glory may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation ... so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe... God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead.” [Eph 1:17-20] The Holy Spirit who lives in us is the same power that made the world.
Wherever God is, there is life. What God touches, lives. What God touches, grows. That is our gift from God. As the Holy Spirit creates and sustains life around us, the Holy Spirit also creates and sustains life within us. And his power will never run down, and it will never wear out.
