ARE YOU SPIRIT-FILLED, OR “RUNNING ON EMPTY”?
Rev. John H. Hampsch, C.M.F.
A rather flamboyant minister arranged for a lad to hide in the above-stage rafters of his barn-like church, and release a pigeon, as a Holy Spirit dove symbol, at the climactic moment of a Pentecost service. The dove’s flight over the congregation was designed to appear miraculous—at the moment when the minister would shout, “Come, Holy Ghost!” But during the service, at the critical moment no dove appeared, so the panicky minister tried the signal again, with still no “miraculous dove” appearance. After the minister’s third shouted invocation failed to launch the pigeon, the boy in the rafters explained, in a grandiose stage whisper, “The cat done ate the Holy Ghost!”
That rib-tickler is reminiscent of the unspoken question of many people months or years after receiving the baptism in the Spirit: “Whatever happened to the Holy Spirit?” Many charismatics who were filled initially with what Pope Paul VI called “holy enthusiasm” find that their Pentecostal fervor has almost evaporated; their interest in prayer groups and the exercise of charismatic gifts have become diluted over time. With their spiritual life almost “running on empty,” they might facetiously wonder if “the cat done ate the Holy Ghost.”
The dying embers of their spiritual life need to be re-ignited; they need to recall Paul’s monition: “Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you” (2 Tim. 1:6). God’s reprimand echoes in their soul: “You have forsaken your first love” (Rev. 2:4). So again they must learn to “seek earnestly all the gifts” (1 Cor14:1).
How can one explain the common yet mysterious evanescence of this delightful and fulfilling “holy enthusiasm”? To answer this question adequately, we must first explain the two dimensions of the Holy Spirit’s involvement in our spiritual life, and see how each can suffer the risk of diminution. The dynamic of their interaction is such that the evaporating of one can lead to the drainage of the other, just as a river can run dry when the lake upstream dries up.
Two Levels of the Holy Spirit’s Presence
Jesus told his apostles, before Pentecost, that they already had the Holy Spirit “with” them, but that later the Spirit would be “in” them (John 14:17). The “with” kind of presence is known theologically as the “indwelling” (inhabitatio). The other type of presence—the “in” type of presence—is the more operational “infilling” (infusio) form that begins with the individual’s Pentecost experience: “Ask the Father and he will send you the Spirit” (Luke 11:13). This is the baptism in the Spirit experience, mentioned 10 times in the New Testament. Its primary characteristic is the operational presence of the Holy Spirit’s supernatural “power,” articulated by the person by means of supernatural gifts called charisms (hence the term charismatic). This Spirit-spawned power is to be used by Christians to evangelize others, as Jesus explained in Acts 1:8: “You will receive power…and you will be my witnesses…”
Spiritual Meltdown—the Why and Wherefore
But precisely how does each of these forms of Spirit presence become diminished or lost, leaving one spiritually anemic? We must start with a negative “thou-shalt-not” precept: “Live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature” (Gal. 5:16). The first kind of presence, the indwelling presence, is maintained essentially intact in the baptized Christian as long as that person remains in the state of grace by avoiding serious sin. Peter explains this: “Divine power has given us everything we need for (spiritual) life and godliness…so that we may participate in the divine nature [grace] and escape the corruption of the world [mortal sin]” (2 Pet. 1:4). Unrepented mortal sin will thus cut off that sanctifying presence totally, leaving the person spiritually dead, (1 John 5:16), while venial sin will substantially diminish its effectiveness (v.17).
When sin either demolishes or diminishes the power of that indwelling presence, there is an inevitable negative repercussion on the other form of the Sanctifier’s presence, namely, the “infilling” or charismatic presence. When we sin, we “grieve the Spirit” (Eph.4:30), affecting the indwelling presence; this in turn affects the infilling presence, where we “quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19)
We see a clear example of this weakness in King Saul. He was Spirit-filled (I Sam. 10:10), but because of his disobedience to God’s will (15:19), “the Spirit departed from Him” (16:14). Having witnessed this tragedy, David sought to protect himself from such a loss, and sang in his psalm, “Teach me to do your will; may your good Spirit lead me” (Ps. 143:10). Thus, the state of being baptized in the Spirit—the “charismatic connection”—can be lost, if not maintained by fidelity to God’s will: “Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is…(and) keep on being filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5: 17-18).
Keep Your Motor Running
In that same passage Paul counterpoints the experience (if you’ll excuse the pun) of DUI—“dwelling under the influence” of wine, which is a temporary state, and “dwelling under the influence” of the Holy Spirit, an ongoing state. Likewise, Peter in Acts 2:15-17, first defended the Spirit-filled disciples from accusations of the former influence: “These men are not drunk, as you suppose”; in counterpoint, he attested to the Spirit’s ongoing, sustained influence. Furthermore, this continuity, Peter explained, is intended to function not just personally, but even generationally: “The promise is for you and your children…for all whom the Lord…will call [in the future].” Its ongoing dynamism is reflected even by its geographical spreading to “all who are far off” (v.39).
A common biblical phrase is “walk in the Spirit” (Rom.8:48); walking is not standing still. The exercise each of the various segments of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) involves ongoing behavioral patterns, not just momentary acts or feelings. Consider, for instance, love: “keep on loving” (Heb.13:1); joy: “a river whose streams make glad” (Ps. 46:4); peace: “flowing like a river” (Is. 66:12), etc. These behavioral states are not mere flashes of emotion, but perduring states of spiritual vitality in our relationship with God and our fellow humans. The spiritual life of its nature is meant to be dynamic and progressive: “If we live by the Spirit, let us walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25).
The special empowering “charismatic” presence of the Spirit (Acts 1:8) is meant to be not only attained but also maintained. That’s why Jesus referred to it, not as a pond, but as a “stream of living water flowing from within” (John 7:38). The Holy Spirit in his munificence, not only proffers his gifts and fruits, but also seeks to replenish them. However, without our cooperation, they will shrivel. If we shrink back, God is not pleased with us (see Heb.10:38). When we “quench the Spirit” we start “running on empty”; that’s the Holy Spirit telling us to stop and refuel. In doing so, we shouldn’t be afraid to “top off” our tank.
The Care and Feeding of Charismatics
The Catholic Catechism (#688) shows several of the many ways that the Spirit seeks to keep us filled with both his sanctifying presence and his charismatic presence. From that treatise, I’ve chosen the following brief listing of scriptural citations, to which I have appended a few nuggets of meditative insight on cultivating the life in the Spirit.
“Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” (Rom.8:5). For we have been “chosen…through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:2).
Cultivate the fruit of the Spirit, which is love (Gal. 5:22), for “God has poured his love into our hearts by the Spirit” (Rom.5:5). By the Spirit’s presence the very love the Father has for Jesus is in us when we love (see John 17:26).
So, when Jesus’ Spirit is thriving in you, every moment you are loving someone you are a privileged channel of God’s love to that person.
The Spirit’s gift of understanding, often conjoined with wisdom and knowledge (Col. 1:9), enables us to see and appreciate the depth of meaning in the word of God. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful” (2 Tim. 3:16). Being Spirit-inspired and Spirit-inspiring, it engrafts the Holy Spirit in our soul.
“The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom.8:6). “Keep unity of Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph.4:3). Where there is disharmony—in the home, in the parish, in the workplace—the Spirit refuses to be present, for the biblical command is violated: “Live in peace with each other” (1 Thess.5:13).
The “entrée gift” of the Spirit is the gift of praying in tongues, designed for our spiritual growth, since “he who prays in tongues edifies (builds up) himself” (1 Cor.14:1). “Build yourselves up…(by) praying in the Holy Spirit” (Jude, 20). Therefore “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests (Eph.6:18).
We are urged to “rejoice in sufferings” (Rom.5:3), “Consider it pure joy…when you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2). This requires more than a merely happy disposition; to rejoice in every suffering, not merely being able to tolerate it, requires an infused supernatural joy—the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). That is why Paul and Barnabas, expelled and persecuted, were “filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52).
Be open to the Spirit as “living water flowing from within“ (John 7:38); he thus creates an “outflow” of zeal for evangelizing others (Acts 1:8).
The bottom line: The Spirit can’t be an outflowing river if he isn’t allowed to be an inflowing river. Just as we need re-nourishment with our daily bread, we need to be refueled constantly in our spiritual life. Let’s frequently ask ourselves, Is our tank Spirit-filled, or are we “running on empty”?
