The other day I was with my medical doctor. With his stethoscope in hand he listened to my heart and lungs. “And now, a deep breath in – and out. And again…” That’s one in a few times, if at all, on an average day – that we’re conscious of our breathing.
This is our autonomic nervous system at work. This is a network of nerves throughout our body which controls everything from the dilation of our pupils, the digestion of our food, the beating of our hearts, AND the breathing of our lungs. It is only when our bodies are labored that we notice our breathing.
We, and everything around us, is directed and affected by an autonomic “spiritual” system at work. If it were not for this spiritual system at work, this world would not have been created. We would not have a life and a soul. We would not have saving faith in Jesus. This is all the work of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity.
The Holy Spirit is the personal presence (and breath) of God. The breath of God is powerful. It hovered over the chaos of what was – to create the world as is. This breath created life, order, and beauty. This breath created man and woman as the crown of creation. The breath of God articulated the details of what was made. God speaks by the Holy Spirit, and so it happens. The psalmist proclaimed: “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth. (Psalm 33:6)”
The Holy Spirit is breathing around you and into you: to prompt you, to lead you, to guide you, and to enrich you – all the while sanctifying you as a child of God. Unfortunately, where God’s presence by His breath created a good world, humans rebelled against their Creator, giving in to and unleashing evil, bringing chaos back to what was made good and holy with all of our bad breath.
We can brush our teeth, rinse with mouthwash, toss back a Tic Tac or chew gum, but to no avail – each of us at one time or another have had bad breath. And, we know how we can test our breath. We can breathe into the cupped palm of our hand, and smell our breath. Might work out fine, just as long as we still have our sense of smell. Smelling our own foulness could have ruined all that, and we don’t realize you’re breathing bad.
We’re desensitized to ourselves breathing out foul words. We praise halfheartedly. We thank sparingly. We speak profanity. We voice gossip. We convey deceit. We suggest innuendo. We assault with accusation. We utter slander. We enunciate put downs. As Jesus said: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. (Matthew 15:8)”
As God breathed life into dust in creation, God breathes life back into us. Jesus said: “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. (John 6:63)” Christ Jesus is the Word. He is the articulated presence of God that brings life to where sin showed itself in our bad breath. All because Jesus gave up His breath on the cross. The breath of Christ Jesus brings fresh life to what is foul inside.
St. Paul wrote: “And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you. (Romans 8:11) The breath of God is powerful to speak His invisible presence within you, to revive what is dead and decaying.
You’re breathing on your own by the very breath of God. You breathe and articulate words of life by the very breath of God. Resurrection life breathes in you. You inhale God’s personal presence to bear fruit of the Spirit, to show forth gifting of the Spirit. You then speak hope to the battered, peace to the frantic, forgiveness to the guilty, love to the shamed, and care to the lonely. And more importantly, we join with a psalmist in saying: “My mouth is filled with Your praise, declaring Your splendor all day long. (Ps 71:8)” Thanks be to you, breath of God. •
— By Pastor Neil Stern
Grace Lutheran, Edmonton