Making Room

It’s that time of year again and despite my best efforts it always takes me by surprise. I can’t believe it is already December and I still feel ill-prepared for Christmas. My diary is crammed full of events to attend at school, work, and church.

We are so familiar with the cycle of school nativity plays, advent services, the work Christmas party, carols, familiar bible texts. Christmas is firmly baked into our culture and is a key part of our church calendar.

But sometimes our familiarity with the Christmas story can make us numb to the wonder of it. I definitely note a difference between the excitement and wonder I see in my children compared to me. Maybe it’s because they are contemplating presents and play, while I contemplate the hard work and busyness ahead of me!

But tonight, on the first day of Advent, let’s try to put away our mental shopping lists and go back to that childlike wonder. Let’s look again at the Christmas story with fresh eyes.

In our text tonight we meet Mary as a teenager, engaged to be married to Joseph, on the night when the supernatural entered her ordinary life in a way that would transform her, and the world, forever.

An angel appears to her, tells her that God has favoured her, that He wants to use her body to incubate, carry and give birth to a deity, God the Son, Jesus Christ.

Mary’s response to her encounter with the angel changes the whole trajectory of her life.

When she says ‘yes’, she enters into God's story, into the promise he made in Genesis that He would crush Satan and bring Salvation to sinful humanity through the seed of a woman.

It is a life changing offer. And Mary says yes to it.

This isn’t a decision she would have taken lightly. Mary would have been familiar with the reality of pregnancy and childbirth. She would have seen the women around her going through the process. She may likely have witnessed or helped at childbirths for the women in her family. She would have a clear picture of what she was agreeing to.

But even with this knowledge, she could still not know fully what she was saying yes to until she experienced it.

Any mum will tell you that no antenatal class, text book or anecdote can prepare you for the changes your body will experience when carrying a baby. You don't truly know until you experience it on the inside.

The organ displacement, the pressure on your bladder, the tightness of breath as your lungs make way and yield for the growing baby. The heartburn as your intestines and stomach move higher and higher in your body to accommodate the infant.

Mary couldn't know what carrying the God man, Jesus Christ, inside her body would be like, until she experienced it. But she agreed anyway. She agreed because she knew God. She knew enough about God to know that His plans for her would be good, that His favour on her was a big deal.

We know this from the song of praise she sang afterwards:

‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

Mary agreed to carry the living Word of God inside her body because, even though she couldn’t fully grasp what she would experience, she trusted the God she knew as being full of mercy, compassionate to the hungry and lowly, and a helper of people who fear Him.

And, if you think about it, this is very similar to what happens when we encounter God and come to faith. Maybe it wasn’t a visit by an angel for us but at some point in our lives, we heard the gospel, we believed that God loves us so much that He sent His son to die in our place.

In that moment, we knew that this God is good and loving and we agree with His Word. And the bible says that in that moment we come to faith, repentance and baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit as a gift.

The Holy Spirit is given to us at the point of salvation.

• Have we made room for Him to fill us?

• How much space are we allowing Him to expand into?

• What things might be a barrier to us yielding to Him?

• What are our reasons for holding back?

Maybe it’s what we are consuming (social media, media) too much of, maybe it’s our resistance to consuming more of the things that will draw us closer to God and away from some of our bad habits, maybe we don’t want to give the Holy Spirit permission to move into sensitive areas, like how we spend our money.

For me, one of my reasons for not yielding to the Holy Spirit was my understanding of what it would mean. I grew up in a very lively and exuberant Pentecostal church. Growing up, I got the impression of the Holy Spirit as being a powerful force that took control of your body, overpowering your will, causing a usually quiet person to suddenly start shouting, dancing, jumping, screaming, speaking in a new language.

For me, someone who has a naturally introverted personality, the thought of the Holy Spirit overshadowing me was terrifying! I saw the Holy Spirit as a force that – if I surrendered to it – would forcefully take control of me and cause me to do things I didn’t want to do.

But, was my understanding of the Holy Spirit right?

If we turn to the Bible we can see what it tells us about the Holy Spirit and His role in our lives.

Who is the Holy Spirit?

We know the Holy Spirit initially because he lives in us from the moment we came to faith. The Bible says that it is the Holy Spirit that makes us know that we belong to God and enables us to call Him ‘Abba, Father’.

1)   The Holy Spirit is one of the persons of the Godhead. In the Creed we state that “we believe in the Holy Spirit, the lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the father and the son, who with the father and the son is worshipped and glorified…”

2)   The Holy Spirit was present at and involved in creation (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 33:6)

3)   The Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets with the words of God (2 Peter 1:21)

4)   The Holy Spirit is a gift given to us when we receive the Gospel (Acts 2:38)

5)   The bodies of those who are in Christ are described as temples of God because the Holy Spirit is in us (1 Corinthians 3:16; and 6:19)

6)   The Holy Spirit is a person, not a mere force. He can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). He has a will (1 Corinthians 12:4-7), He has fellowship with believers (2 Corinthians 13:14)

7)   The Holy Spirit seals us, marks us as belonging to God for eternity: Ephesians 1:14 ‘When you believed you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession…’

A sticker placed on a picture bought at an art gallery indicates that it has been purchased and is owned by someone who will collect it at a later date. The Holy Spirit in us is evidence and confirmation that we belong to God.

What do we know about His role in the life of a believer?

The Holy Spirit:

• Convicts

• Fills

• Empowers

• Seals

• Sanctifies

• Reveals God’s thoughts (1 Corinthians 2:10-11)

• Teaches

• Guides believers into all truth

• Comforts

• Helps us in our weakness

• Intercedes for us.

What are His fruits?

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22)

What gifts does He give us?

Both natural and supernatural gifts: healing, wisdom, knowledge, faith, working of powerful deeds, prophecy, discernment of spirits, various kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues.

∞

Experiencing the Holy Spirit

Knowing all of this information is great. But it can be very difficult to grasp. I’ve sat in lectures and listened to sermons about the Trinity and the dynamics of it and I admit that I don’t understand it. My brain doesn’t have the capacity to grasp it fully.

So when I was asked to preach on this topic I had a lot of apprehension. I’m hardly an academic or renowned theologian. How can I explain the Holy Spirit?

But, then I think, just as Mary could only know so much about what it would be like to carry, give birth to, raise and then lose Jesus without experiencing it for herself; It is the same for us as Christians. Like pregnancy and childbirth, God the Holy Spirit is known experientially.

We receive the Holy Spirit and then we begin to know more about Him experientially from the inside out. As He grows in us, as He lives in us, we learn more about Him as we yield and make room for Him to fill more and more of us.

Christians are temples of the Holy Spirit. Like Mary, we are highly favoured, given the gift of being portable dwelling places for God.

And I guess the challenge today for us on the first day of Advent, is to examine ourselves and ask ourselves the questions: Am I making room for the Holy Spirit? What do I need to yield?

Maybe thinking about how Mary made room can help us as we consider this question.

There were so many factors that would make any reasonable person say no:

·      The reality of offering her womb, her body, to host a living being, who would make changes to her physically, displace her organs, cause sickness… not to mention the pain of childbirth.

·      Saying yes would mean potentially saying goodbye to her future plans – there was the potential of losing her fiancé when it was discovered that she was pregnant.

·      The impact on her standing and status in the community. In her traditional religious culture, being pregnant before marriage – even if the baby was Joseph’s – would have brought embarrassment to Mary and her family. It would have diminished their reputation within the community.

But despite all these potential barriers to making room to carry the God child, Mary said yes:

Her fear turned to faith as she remembered who God is. Because she remembered God’s mercy, His goodness, His faithfulness, His heart of love for those who are in need and broken, Mary could say yes despite not knowing the full picture of what the future would look like.

She knew God was good and so was willing to surrender her will to His. She was willing to allow God to grow inside her.

So, what about us? How much space are we willing to yield to the Holy Spirit?

What do we have in our temple that we don’t want to give up?

Perhaps it’s a career decision, an attitude problem, the resentments and unforgiveness you’ve gotten used to hanging on to against someone who has wronged you in some way.

Do we not want to give over our control of how we choose to spend our time and money, or of some of the things we consume on social media?

The Holy Spirit is powerful but He doesn’t force Himself into areas of our lives that we don’t yield. He is God, a person of the Trinity, not just a dynamic force. That’s why we can grieve him when we persist on going down paths that lead away from God. God wants His glory to fill us.

Yet he doesn‘t force us. He convicts, he intercedes, he advocates for us. He teaches us, He comforts us, He loves us, and as we experience His love we see that the things we are holding on to are of far less value than having God fill that area of our life.

Yielding is always our decision.

So many times in my own life, since the Holy Spirit came to live inside me, I have wrestled with letting go of the things jostling for position on the throne of my life.

And every time I reach the point of surrender it is because God reveals Himself to me and I am shown that He is worth so much more than the bad habit, relationship, attitude or dream that I was holding on to. God’s Holy Spirit reveals that He is more loving and faithful than any relationship or friendship I didn’t want to yield. He revealed that He is more fulfilling than any dream or desire I was holding on to.

The more room we give to the Holy Spirit, the more we yield and allow Him to take up space and grow in us, the easier it is to make that decision willingly. The more He lives with us, the more we realise how much He loves us. As we walk with Him over the years, as we stumble and fall at times, we begin to understand that He is merciful. He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve.

We are sealed with Him for all eternity and He won’t give up on us. He promises to present us spotless before the throne of God at the end of lives here. He is faithful to that promise.

When we, as Mary did, remember who God is, the idea of yielding to His Holy Spirit isn’t so frightening.

Just as Mary found while carrying Jesus, having God resident in you is not always pain-free. As the Holy Spirit grows in you He will ask you to remove the things in your life that need to be displaced.

It can be painful as new habits form and old habits die. Making room for the Holy Spirit means displacing the flesh. It means moving yourself from the throne of your life and allowing God to move in.

I have learned as I have lived with the Holy Spirit, that I actually prefer the second option. When I fill the temple, I mess up my life EVERY SINGLE TIME! When I lead, I go off into tangents, stumble and fall, and place unnecessary obstacles in my way, ending up in a place of despair.

When I yield the space, when I make room, God takes control.

So this advent, let’s prepare Him room.

As we sing the familiar carols, let’s refamiliarise ourselves with the childlike wonder of it all.

This Christmas season, as we celebrate the birth of Immanuel, God with Us, let us also yield and give the Holy Spirit more room to birth God’s purposes in every area of our lives.