The Embrace of the Holy Spirit
Acts 20:1-12
It is said that giving hugs is healthy because it reduces cortisol, stress hormones. It would feel much greater if God had given us the hugs. Let us think of the embrace of the Holy Spirit as He embraced Eutychus.
First, God comforts with the Word of encouragement. After the uproar, Paul could have taken a break, but he rather called his disciples and encouraged them. In the original text, it is called 'parakaleo' 'para' means 'by', and 'kaleo' means 'to call'. In other words, it means to call others by ones side to comfort and encourage continuously with the heart of a parent. Just staying by ones side, calling ones name, listening to ones troubles, and holding ones hand become the comfort and the encouragement and in the end, Gods embrace. Unlike us, Paul had stayed among the turmoil, and when it was over, he left. His only interest was in his disciples. A disciple lives for the one who has called him and voluntarily stays in the place where the summoner called him to. To the believers who had nothing to depend on in the world, the Word of the Lord must have been the only refugee. Since the life of the believers is a life that cannot be lived without the Word, the Lord does not abandon them like orphans. Hes next to us and encouraging us with the Word of 'parakaleo'. When we live by obeying the Word today, we can get the help of the Holy Spirit who helps us, and this is the embrace of the Holy Spirit. Rather than through humanistic ways, the Holy Spirit lets us understand the Word.
Second, it is our community itself that goes together. Paul, who went to Greece, or Achaia, after finishing his atrium in Macedonia, stayed there for three months. The Corinthians doubted Pauls apostleship and betrayed Paul, but he took care of them with love and interest. He stayed there for three months and wrote a book of Romans. In the wake of a major famine in Jerusalem, Paul tried to go to Antioch to deliver donations collected from various churches for the church in Jerusalem, but there was a conspiracy by Jews to kill Paul on a boat. He had to avoid them and went a long way by land. However, there were those who journeyed with Paul. The Holy Spirit gave Paul the members and embraced thus. They were representatives of Macedonia and Achaia, where Paul served, and churches in Galatia and Asia. It was dangerous for many people to take such a long journey over land at the risk of robbery. So Paul sent them to Troas first. We can see that Paul trusted them enough to entrust a large amount of money. Like this, only those who know what their mission is and understand the weight of the mission can handle the money. The embrace of the Holy Spirit allows us to have a community through the Word. Paul took a small number of fellow workers and turned over land to Troas. No matter what the commotion is, we can calm down if we have a community that has become one. There we can speak what we ought to speak and listen to what others have to say.
Third, this embrace even covers the weakness of falling.
Pauls sermon lasted till late at night and then a big accident came up. Eutychus was sitting in a window, and as the night deepened, he dozed off. And then he fell to the ground from a three-story building.It is said that Paul went down to the place of weakness where Eutychus fell. He went down to level with Eutychus. It was the empathy of redemption history. Paul threw himself on the young man and told the rest of the congregation, 'Dont be alarmed. Hes alive!' God saved the life through Paul. Just as holy Jesus carried the dirtiest cross that the world never could do, we must embrace our weak family and community for the sake of salvation. We should embrace their weakness, pain, and sin with our own weakness, pain, and sin. This is the embrace of the Holy Spirit. Eutychus life now became a medicine and a comfort for others though he had not done anything. He just came to the place of worship with his tired body even if that meant he had to die before the power of the world. And there is a recovery of life. It is a Satans illusion that we think that we just give up on our life when it is all broken. The Holy Spirit makes us think that we still have to live on even though we are covered in blood. The embrace of the Holy Spirit will restore the life in us.
This is a sharing of a small group leader. His daughter tried to cut her wrist after hearing that she is below average from her teacher. She just let go of her hope to live on. And the father realized that he had been just passing all her pains as nothing. But the Lord showed him the regulations of the temple on how to read and ponder upon her heart.
As we build the temple, we have to apply the Word fiercely and interpret it to pass the sufferings. The Holy Spirit, who is holding you, is stronger than all the hardships and events we are facing, so he will save us and restore us.
