BLATANT BLASPHEMY

The greatest blasphemy of all, according to Jesus, is to assert that God, in and through the work of the Holy Spirit, has no place in our life. For to deny the necessity of the Holy Spirit to be part of our lives is to assert that we can live a life without God. Even more, it is to deny God’s existence and, in effect, make ourselves to be God. It is to say that we need no one and nothing. We are self-sufficient. To believe that and live like that is surely blasphemous.

It is blasphemy because it is so wrong. Perhaps there are times in our lives when we, for whatever foolish reasons we may have at the moment, try to live such a life. We go it alone and never ask God’s help nor ask anyone else for help. We are self-sufficient, we say or want to believe and certainly act that way. Foolishness, to be sure; but sometimes we do play the fool, don’t we?

It is only when we are overwhelmed by the mess we have made or find ourselves in that we come to our senses and realize that we cannot live this life alone, that we need not only the love and support of others, but also and more importantly the grace and strength of our God that comes through the Holy Spirit,. So often it is only then that we begin to repent of our foolishness, our stubbornness and blasphemous ways and thoughts, and return to the Lord.

To believe in God for us who call ourselves Christians means to rely on the grace and strength of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is manifested in our lives, is made alive in our lives. How is that done? For the most part most of the time is done and manifested in and through the love and support of the Christian community, our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, that’s how.

Those who believe in Jesus and try to live the life he has taught us to live, who gather as the Christian family, the church, the fellowship of believers, they are those who make the Holy Spirit alive in the world. Moreover, our being part of this community is what helps and enables us to live our lives as we know we should live them and as we would want to live them. Without the support of our faith family, without the grace of the Spirit living in and working through each one of us, we would not be able to make it in this life in this world. And, again, to insist that we could would be blasphemous.

It is easy, at times, to forget the importance of the faith community in our lives, even to assert that we do not need that community to live out our life of faith, especially when we seem to have life by the tail. But, again, to think or act that way is truly blaspheming the Holy Spirit. If we say that we do not need others, we are also saying we do not need the Holy Spirit – and that is blasphemy!

We need to put away blasphemous thoughts and actions and be thankful for being a part of the Christian community that surrounds us. We need to be mindful of and thankful for their love and care and support in helping us live out our life of faith. We also need to be as loving and caring and supportive to them as they are for us.