Come Holy Ghost WB
Charles Wesley’s hymn, ‘Come Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire’ is one I’d never heard before, but it is beautiful! I’d encourage you to take a minute to listen to this beautiful version sung by the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul over on youtube. In his paper titled Charles Wesley’s Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, professor Jason Vickers argues that where modern Wesleyans often invoke grace, Charles Wesley would have as easily invoked the Holy Spirit.
Charles invokes the Holy Spirit as the divine personal agent who brings persons to faith initially, who empowers persons to love God and neighbor, and who indwells persons, enabling them to become “partakers of the divine nature.” -Jason Vickers
Baber ident 300
I find this a fascinating focus because I am very familiar with Wesleyan scholarship and vocabulary around grace, but much less familiar with Wesleyan emphases on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings about true faith, takes away our sin, and then indwells in us such that we become “partakers in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). With the Holy Spirit alive in believers, we thus become caught up in the Trinitarian life of God, the relationship between Father, Son and Spirit; Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. The Spirit inspires our hearts to love God and love neighbor, thus placing the Law of God on our very souls.
I wanted to capture some of the poetic imagery of the Holy Spirit unlocking the truth of Scripture. When we approach the Holy Word of God, we ask the Holy Spirit to speak to us through the ancient text. The same Spirit that inspired what was written also inspires what we read, making the text living and active for us today. It’s true, the scripture doesn’t always “blow me away” with new revelations, and I can often come up dry when reading the same scripture for the thousandth time. But the text always has the possibility of meeting you and me in the here and now and awakening us to the depths of God’s love for creation. We must quiet our souls to rest in the power of the Holy Spirit alive and at work in the reading of the Holy Scriptures.
I often find myself inspired listening to other people read and reflect on the scripture. My favorite podcasts for this are The Bible Project and the Queer Theology Podcast. I think this is why preaching and small group bible studies can be so effective for spiritual growth, because we are participating in the work of listening to the Holy Spirit together with other believers. Where my own reading of scripture can become dry and stale, when I participate in the scriptures with other believers, the Holy Spirit broadens my understanding and invites me to participate in the living word of God.
The third verse of Charles’ hymn invokes the imagery of the Holy Spirit hovering over the waters of creation. This reminds us that God is up to a new creation in us here and now, and that we are being renewed by the presence of this creative Spirit. The Spirit imparts grace upon grace to grow ever more deeply in holiness in this life. We are constantly a new creation as we rest our souls under the wings of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals to us increasing depths of God’s love for all, the richness of the work on the cross forever renewed in our hearts.
I have a little background with the Assemblies of God tradition as I spent several years attending an AoG youth group in the '90’s. While I left because of some deep theological differences, I have always appreciated their robust theology around the ongoing movement of the Holy Spirit in the church today. It’s a little chaotic to believe the Holy Spirit is at work in every believer! And it’s a little humbling too, especially when believers acting in the power of the Holy Spirit do not always agree.
As a gay Christian, I have been very burned by the vast majority of unaffirming Holy Spirit inspired Christians. But I do not write them off. I seek to understand where the Holy Spirit is at work among people of vastly different beliefs. I hold on loosely because I have been harmed by the church and I do not wish to see the church perpetuate harm to others.
And yet I cannot honestly say that those people who have harmed me do not know Christ, or do not have the Holy Spirit. I think the Holy Spirit, like grace, like water, takes a long time to smooth the stones of our hearts. For now, I have to protect my own heart and hide myself within completely affirming spaces in order to see the Holy Spirit flourish within my own soul. I hope someday I’ll be strong enough again to commune with people who do not accept me for who I am. I hope that someday the Holy Spirit will hover over the chaos of the church as it is right now and still the waters long enough for all of our healing, that we may truly be one.