The Celts had a wonderful name for the Holy Spirit. They
called Holy Spirit ‘The Wild Goose’.
The Celts looked at
nature and saw God revealed in all His glory and they understood God best when
they took symbols from what they experienced. The Holy Spirit was
symbolized by the wild goose. Doves were docile and delicate, but the wild
goose was untameable, free, and unpredictable. Instead of a soft coo, the
wild goose was noisy and raucous. And it seemed always to be on the
move—on a pilgrimage ordained by the Lord Himself. [i]
Holy Spirit calls us to a new flight path. We must follow
the tail feathers.
There is a moment of truth for all of us, where we choose to
trust God and set a course to the future. We will have this moment many times.
Unfortunately, some prefer to focus their thoughts and prayers on worrying.
They never commit to any significant change or action because they’re worried
about making the wrong decision.
James 1:
5-8 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray
to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended
to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought.
People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think
you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping
all your options open.
If you don’t know what you’re doing in God’s Kingdom, please
ask the Father. Whose church is it anyway? Who loves this church more than you
do? God has much more invested in this flock than you ever will. So, ask God
what you should do.
Some might immediately think we need to be cautious and very
careful, since Paul did say to do everything decently and in order. He has a
point, but gave those words to a wild frontier church filled with sinners and
self-righteous people who needed some guidance.
He probably doesn’t need to tell us about doing things
decently and in order. We have predictable patterns and containments for most
of what we do in His Name. We sometimes worship order and safety, more than we
do the Trinity. Think about Nicodemus whose security rested in religion.
John 3:
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell
you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the
Spirit. 6 Flesh
gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be
surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever
it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or
where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
I am not a spiritual anarchist, but there is something
unpredictable about the wind. Jesus is saying that if you are born again, the
wild goose will lead the flock where it will. The whispering wind of God’s
Spirit will blow at unexpected times, maybe even the wrong times in your
schedule.
Christ’s Kingdom is the dreaming counter-culture restoring
clear hope in uncertain times. We follow the wild goose, but at least we fly in
formation, decently and in order.
Apparently God likes to hover around the chaos. That should
be comforting for some of your lives. Holy Spirit wants to lead you to hover
over some chaos, too. That is where God does His best work of creating and
defining.
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