Every time we roll into town after nearly 40 hours in the car, I exhale in relief. It means we have survived another road trip from California to Michigan so that we can spend the summer months on the family farm, surrounded by grandparents, cousins, barn cats, pond frogs, fields, and woods.
When we drive down the main part of town toward the house, I’m always on the lookout for what has changed since the last summer. Has that Jersey Mike’s always been there? (It has.) Wait, is that a new Mexican place? (It is.) The front yard is missing a pine tree this year, and there are at least two new half-feral cats wandering about the place.
The grandparents, my wonderful in-laws, are always quick to point out how much we’ve changed, especially our boys. My almost-teenager is now taller than me, and my youngest son is starting to sound more like a man than a child. My husband mentioned that he and I are nearly at the age his parents were when I first met them, and this simply does not compute.
The changes seem drastic and obvious when we’ve been away for a year. Growth is like that. Up close, the process is so slow and incremental that we may not even be aware that it’s happening. It’s only when we look back, or when we compare with some prior point in time that we can take stock of any differences.
I think of Peter in the Bible, how the Peter who physically followed Jesus in the gospels is so very different from the Peter we read about in the book of Acts.
The Peter from the gospels is impulsive and overconfident, believing he too could walk on water and insisting he would never deny Jesus, only later to sink and deny Jesus out of fear. He struggles to understand God’s greater plan, rebuking Jesus for predicting his death and resisting Jesus’ attempts to wash his feet.
The Peter we read about in Acts is bold, not fearful, preaching in front of large crowds and speaking up even after authorities warned him to stay quiet, continuing to spread the Good News despite flogging and imprisonment. He is a full participant in God’s greater plan, even obeying a vision to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.
What changed?
Simply put, it was the arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. God’s Holy Spirit equipped and emboldened Peter to be a witness for Christ, replacing his fear and failures with courage and clarity.
We are called to join God’s kingdom-building work, just as Peter was. As part of this collective calling, the task of every Christian is sanctification: growing more and more Christlike. We are powerless, however, to bring about these changes on our own. We need the Holy Spirit as a teacher, guide, intercessor, advocate, and transformer if we are to have any hope of becoming more and more like Jesus.
Without the Holy Spirit, we are just striving on an endless hamster wheel of self-help and self-improvement. James Bryan Smith puts it this way:
“We cannot grit our teeth and become patient. We cannot muster our willpower and become kind. We cannot stress and strain our way to generosity. This ‘fruit’ is the work of the Holy Spirit. Like the fruit on a tree, it is developed naturally from the inside to the outside.”
From “The Good and Beautiful God,” by James Bryan Smith
All of our efforts—the spiritual practices we try, the habits of faith we attempt, even our church attendance—it all falls flat when we do it in our own strength. Our love of control and penchant for self-sufficiency stunts our spiritual growth. Any attempt to grow more Christlike without the help of the Holy Spirit will fall flat, leaving us disappointed and burned out.
When Jesus talked about the Holy Spirit, he said:
“The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
Unpredictable, uncontrollable, eminently mysterious: The same Holy Spirit that empowered Peter is within us today. And it is thanks to that Spirit that we can make incremental steps forward in becoming more and more like Jesus.
Our growth and change might not be as obvious as taller children or grayer hair, but may it be evident to everyone we encounter, offering each person a glimpse of Jesus.
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**Feature Photo from Pixistock
Sarah K. Butterfield 