May 27 Tuesday
of the 6th week of Easter:
A
thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.
Acts 16:22-34;
Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 7-8; John 16:5-11
“I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I
go.” John
16:7
Jesus had to die so he could rise in us—multiplied and visible
by the witness of the Spirit.
Who would see “sin” in not believing in a man who lived two
thousand years ago, known only by scriptures written to present a mystery—the
whole truth of his sojourn on earth—instead of just historical details? But if
that mystery is made flesh in living people today it “convicts the world of
sin, because they do not believe.”
If only Jesus was super-humanly good, that challenges no one.
But if, after Jesus has “returned to the Father,” we see others living on his
level of love, we have no excuse not to embrace his New Law.
Had Jesus not been defeated by evil as visibly as anyone, and
just as visibly triumphed, a sense of hopelessness about human life might be
justified. But all around us we see people enlightened by faith to accept him
as the Truth, empowered by hope to follow him as the Way, enthused by love
(from the Greek en, “in,” and theos, “god”—caught up in God) to
experience him as the Life.
The Holy Spirit, visibly enlightening, empowering and
enthusing us, convicts unbelief by our faith, merely human morality by our
hope, and negativity toward the world by our love.
PRAY: “Lord, let
your Spirit act in me.”
PRACTICE: Be conscious of
the Spirit in you.
