The Nudge of the Holy Spirit - August 6

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 119:97-120; PM Psalm 81, 82; 2 Samuel 9:1-13; Acts 19:1-10; Mark 8:34-9:1

Two Sundays ago, I was chatting with a family out on the patio after worship. We were talking about how boisterous the summer services have been—combined services, more kids in the pews—and they asked, half-joking, if I’d heard their four-year-old son “speaking in tongues” during the Eucharist. It was a playful comment, tongue-in-cheek—pun absolutely intended—but it made me hear today’s reading from Acts a little differently.

In Acts 19, Paul encounters a group of believers in Ephesus who’ve received John’s baptism, but haven’t heard of the Holy Spirit. He lays hands on them, and something stirs.  Some end up speaking in tongues like our four-year-old that Sunday morning.  Well not exactly.  Others prophesy. People receive spiritual gifts, each different, but all are changed from who they were before.

We don’t often speak in tongues in our tradition—but we do recognize that the Holy Spirit is a part of our life.  We say when someone is baptized that they are “sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.”  That is a promise made to each of us.   What strikes me is how the Holy Spirit meets us differently, but always personally. Some of us are moved by a sense of calling that comes quietly and over time. Others feel a jolt—a sudden insight, a sharp turn in the road. Some recognize the Spirit through service, or music, or prayer, or even a conversation on a patio. There’s no singular path or pattern, but there is a consistent promise: the Spirit is given. And it is a source of strength, wisdom, and even healing in our lives. 

That little boy, joyfully babbling in the middle of worship, may not have known he was echoing a deep truth—but he reminded me that the Spirit sometimes just shows up and sometimes in surprising ways.

John

Questions for Self-Reflection:   How is the Holy Spirit moving in you right now? What nudges, what stirrings, what whispers have you noticed?