Living His StorySample

Passing On the Story of Jesus

 The dramatic way in which we are introduced to the Holy Spirit at the beginning of Acts demonstrates clearly the significance of the Spirit to the story that Luke is going to tell about these early years of the Church’s life. The presence of the Holy Spirit bookends this fast-paced narrative, suggesting that he is its chief protagonist. Luke begins with Jesus’ promise of the coming Spirit, swiftly followed up by the events of Pentecost itself. Through beginning and ending with the Spirit in this way, Luke is making clear that the primary witness to the events he is recording here is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit himself is the chief witness and agent in the mission of the Church. As we try to understand what beautiful and intelligent evangelism might look like in the twenty-first century, there is much we can learn from the first disciples in Acts. The work and witness of the Spirit is integral to the book of Acts because the work and witness of the Spirit is integral to Christian mission and evangelism, and indeed the Church. Evangelism is impossible without the Holy Spirit.

It appears that it is the Spirit who is influential in every key encounter or moment in the unfolding story of the Church in Acts, starting of course with Pentecost and the multiplication of the gospel into a myriad of languages and idioms. The disciples learned quickly that they were not in charge of God’s mission, but instead, they were being drawn by the God of mission himself. Their role was to follow where the Spirit was leading and to allow him to speak through them as they grew in boldness and courage.

The Holy Spirit is behind every significant and strategic moment in the mission and expansion of the Church in the book of Acts, constantly drawing the church into the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that they would be his witnesses in Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1.8). While we often think of Pentecost as a power encounter, it was also fundamentally a movement in accessibility: the barrier of language was removed as people were able to hear the good news of the risen Jesus in a way they could understand. This work of enabling people to encounter Jesus in a way they can understand seems to be indicative of the way the Spirit continues to throughout the book of Acts, constantly propelling the first disciples out of their comfort zones to encounter people and communities, some of whom they suspected might be beyond the scope of the Spirit’s work. We need this similar movement of the Spirit now to enable us to speak the good news of Jesus in a way people can understand and receive. It is the role of the Spirit in evangelism to keep us constantly looking for new places and people where the gospel needs to go.

The Holy Spirit enables us to be who we are called to be as witnesses to the risen Jesus. The Spirit of Jesus is the Spirit of witness who is constantly at work in and through the disciples. Luke ends the book of Acts in an open-ended way. It is not the dramatic finale you might expect from a book that is so jam-packed with drama and adventure. I have a feeling that was entirely deliberate on Luke’s behalf, making clear that the work of the Spirit is not yet done.

Questions for Reflection

1. The Holy Spirit often ‘propels us out of our comfort zones’. Have you ever surprised yourself by speaking boldly, or can you think of someone else doing this with remarkable results?

2. The work of the Holy Spirit is mysterious. Can you think of a situation that has been transformed beyond imagining by the work of the Holy Spirit?

3. How can you perceive the Holy Spirit at work during your day-to-day life?