I HEAR HIS WINGS, I FEEL THE WIND

By Ian Johnson

St Columba wrote “Love does not concern itself with Order” and Acts 2 suggests that when love came to town in Jerusalem in 33AD it came with what seemed like anything but order.

120 souls in an up stairs room all waiting for the promise that Jesus gave, “The Spirit of God will come if I go away” Suddenly there is the most amazing sound, like the roar of a mighty rushing wind, yet it was coming it seems from heaven. Then just as suddenly flames of fire, bodies stretched to the limit by the power of God racing through them, strange language begins to flow from their lips; some began to fall over as if drunk. By now they had begun to spill out into the street, many had come running to see what the noise was, only to see drunken people at nine in the morning. Peter one of the twelve stood up best he could and decided he needed to address the situation, new power surged through his body, his mind was so alert as he opened his mouth, everything he had learned at the Torah school and on his mothers knee came flooding back to mind. He was on fire and full of the Spirit of Glory, so powerful was his message, that 3000 Jewish men & woman surrendered their life to the messiah.

Divine chaos is often a better way to measure the visitation of God, than a quick glance at the order of service sheet.

When the Holy Spirit comes to manifest the glory of God, he comes with power and with passion. The symbols we use for him are of a dove, but also of fire and of wind.
He breaks through into our normality and creates meaning and vitality.

He comes as a dove, but His wings create wind which fans the flames of passion. There is nothing that can ignite a passion for God like, wonderful Holy Spirit.

When we least expect him, He swoops into our dull, earth bound lives, and creates a wind driven fire, that flashes our faith back to life, and turns our confessions back to him.

Elizabeth of Hungry was born in 1207, and she was given in marriage to Louis 1V of Thuringia, whom she loved with a passion. She begged Louis not to go away on the crusades, but to no avail and he went any way, and he was killed. Following his death she would not be consoled and ran through the palace crying out in grief. One day she had an encounter with Jesus, the wind of the Holy Spirit was blowing upon her life afresh. Soon her human passion subsided and a spiritual passion for Jesus began to burn in her, the Spirit was fanning the flames. The Glory of God settled on her life, and she began to give herself and all her wealth to the poor. Her passion for the Lord and her addiction for his glory brought the love and the mercy of God into an explosive unity. When these things unite, Jesus is seen walking on the Earth again, and his glory is known and seen in a tangible way.

Divine discontent is the door to the longing and hunger that attracts the Holy Spirit, to the place that Paul said brings us to conformity to the image of Christ.

I am walking in a season of divine discontent, I’m no longer happy to be doing the same old same old, I can hear the wings of an approaching dove and I can hear the roar of a wind from heaven. In my humanness I could feel a little discouraged. But I hear the sound of His wings and I know he is strangely drawn to my discontentment. I can feel the suddenly of God approaching and I know he is about to bring a new season into my life.

T. S. Eliot wrote:

The dove descending breaks the air
With flame of incandescent terror
Of which the tongues declare
The one discharged of sin and error.
The only hope or else despair
Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre
To be redeemed from fire by fire.

Who then devised the torment? Love.
Love is the unfamiliar mane
Behind the hands that wove
The intolerable shirt of flame.
Which human power cannot remove?
We only live, only suspire
Consumed by either fire or fire.

Which fire will consume us? the fire of His glory or the fire of a discouraged life. I have seen too many people over a 30 year period walk away when the discouragement comes. They run from pulpit to pulpit to hear a word of encouragement, only to hear about a hard hitting and harsh God who wants then to clean up their act! Un-consoled they hide away in caves and in the darkness and pretend never to have caught a glimpse of Him.

We need the transforming power of the Holy Spirit; His glory transforms the meanest, the hardest, the most unlovely souls into firebrands of glory. Not because they have seen how bad they are, but because they have seen how Holy he is, and have felt the power of his love, they have heard his forgiveness echoed in the wind. And from a grateful heart they run headlong into this glory.

Annie Dillard wrote:
On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. They do not have the foggiest idea of the power they invoke, It is madness to wear straw hats to Church, instead we should be wearing crash helmets, Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares, they should lash us to our seats, For the God we invoke may just one day turn up and lead us to where we can never return from.
I hear the wings of a dove, I feel the wind of His Glory, I don’t know about you but I know there is a season Glory being released in the Ends of the Earth.

Amor non Tenet ordinam “Love does not concern itself with order”
St Columba

Ian Johnson ianjohn@xtra.co.nz www.papelim.org.nz