Rev Gav

How do I know if I’m filled with the Holy Spirit?

John 14.8–27

John’s gospel provides a beautifully written bridge between the Spirit-filled Jesus, and the Spirit being poured out to all believers.

In John’s gospel, when Jesus breathed on his disciples to ‘receive the Spirit’ there were no fanfares and no tongues of fire to announce the Spirit’s indwelling — that more ‘showy’ occasion — both symbolic and practical — was not for the disciples but as a public demonstration of the arrival of the Spirit. No, in John’s gospel, the Spirit, being gentle, humble, loving, and somewhat unassuming, simply fills the disciples.

Jesus, in today’s Bible reading, expresses the motherly nature of the Spirit through not leaving the disciples as orphans, an advocate and comforter, a teacher, truthful and peaceful, and as ‘one who makes home’.

When the Holy Spirit fills us for the first time, it is more like receiving a warm hug than with a loud, ostentatious, salutation. And what happens when we receive a long, warm, hug and are simply held? We relax, our shoulders drop, we sigh, and we feel loved, often finding ourselves welling up and wondering why we feel so emotional. It is no wonder that those who find Christianity in later life describe it as ‘coming home’.

We are reminded in John’s gospel that you cannot declare your love and trust for Jesus Christ without the Spirit. So, if there is any doubt as to whether you are filled with the Spirit or not, if you can make that claim then, yes, you are filled with God’s Holy Spirit.

So what does it mean then, that the Spirit lives in me and the Spirit lives in you?

I’m a science-fiction film fan, so please excuse me while I draw on metaphors and examples from the sci-fi genre!

It is not that the Holy Spirit is like a distinct, parasitic, alien species — akin to the Souls from the film The Host — that inhabits our human bodies seeking to control our bodies and memories. Nor is the Holy Spirit like the Pod People in the film The Bodysnatchers that take us over so were no longer present in any form other than our physical appearance. And nor is the Holy Spirit like the Borg from Star Trek who assimilate us to become ‘one’ connected consciousness. No, the Holy Spirit is very different.

The Holy Spirit in us, becomes not unlike the Holy Spirit in the Holy Trinity, where we are many and one at the same time — something many consider a paradox. When we are filled with the Spirit we remain very much ourselves but we are also one with the Spirit (and therefore also one with God and with Christ). There is no physical analogy for this where it is equally true to say we are both simultaneously distinct and one. It’s more akin to being plugged in or connected such that we and God work and live and have our being together. For those that are techies, perhaps a close but not perfect analogy would be a CPU and GPU — one computer, two processing units!

We are distinct, created human beings, but one in Christ and one through the Spirit. Now, this still doesn’t answer the question, “How do I know if I’m filled with the Holy Spirit?”

Now, before I answer that question, there is another important point to make. The Holy Spirit is by nature outward-looking and looking to the interests of others, and as God is love, the Spirit is not bossy, self-seeking, domineering, aggressive, or obtrusive. The Holy Spirit therefore never overrides our own wills, choices, or decisions, and this includes our choice not to be open to the Spirit.

According to Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I doubt this is an exhaustive list but you get the idea. If the Spirit is living in us, and we allow the Spirit to work in us, then we become transformed, or as Paul puts it, changed from glory-to-glory or more ‘Christlike’. We become more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. No, it doesn’t happen overnight (goodness I wish it did), and it doesn’t mean we are all becoming the same (god-forbid). But, as the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, and by looking back on our lives, we should be able to discern a trajectory towards becoming more Christlike. As the transformation is continuous and slow, as God chips away at our hard edges, balms our hurts and traumas, and our minds become renewed, it is often it is others who discern this change in us.

But what about those spiritual gifts — tongues, words, prophesy, healing, and so forth. Well, yes, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are often given spiritual gifts, not for our own benefit but for the benefit of others — remember, the Spirit living in us is always outward-looking and looking to the interests of others. Therefore, the exercising of spiritual gifts will nearly always be for the blessing and benefit of others, and the gifts themselves, as we are one with the Spirit, will be through our thoughts and imaginations, and expressed through our words and actions.

When you discern that someone needs help, or you reach out to them because they have popped into your mind, or you have a sense that there is an injustice or pain that needs healing, yes, it is you and yes, it is the Spirit. Again, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting. So, if you have a picture in your mind’s eye for someone, or a word comes to you for someone, and it seemingly comes out of nowhere, and quite possibly makes no sense to you, speak it out in faith and trust. To someone else, one word from God is worth a thousand of our own words.

Today, as we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit — the peaceful, gentle, mothering, comforter, and teacher of truth — may we be open to allowing the Spirit who lives in us to transform us from the inside out, and also to allow the Spirit who lives in us to reach out to others with God’s love.

Now and forever.

Amen.