“We hear them telling
in our own tongues the mighty works of God." Acts 2:11
“A little bird told
me”—that was one of my grandmother’s favorite phrases. My grandparents lived a mile down the road
from us, and many an evening she and Pap would come over after supper. She usually brought “guess packages”—paper
bags with some crackers or cookies, maybe even a bottle of pop—things my mother
rarely bought. Before we could put in
our guesses and win the prize, she wanted a little chat. Small boys, especially when distracted by the
prospect of a cookie, are not very conversational, and she would prompt us a
bit: “a little bird told me that someone had two base hits last night.” “A
little bird told me that someone threw a fit about taking out the garbage.”
Of course, we all knew
well that my mother was the “little bird,” and I probably thought that “little
bird” was a special nickname for my mother at first. But it’s an old saying, though I don’t hear
it much anymore. I have a source of
secret knowledge, it means. You don’t
need to know how I learned it, but I know something important about you.
It’s quite a strange
phrase, really—talking birds revealing hidden messages. Some folklorists attribute it to an ancient
tale about King Solomon, and there’s also an obscure Norse legend about a hero
who tastes dragon’s blood and can immediately comprehend the speech of the
birds—it turns up in the second act of one of Wagner’s operas. The phrase definitely predates Twitter,
though. Most scholars attribute it to an
offhand remark in the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes, which warns against
cursing the king in your bedchamber, lest “a bird on the wing report what you
say.[1]”
I had hoped the phrase
was related to the feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down like a
dove to bring power to the apostles’ words.
I had hoped it pointed to the dramatic moment recounted in our Epistle,
when the message was delivered directly to the speakers of many different
languages. Alas, it doesn’t seem to be
the case. And the Holy Spirit is
emphatically not, it must be said, “a little bird,” for He bears on His wings the
life-power of our Lord’s resurrection.
Through His work sins are forgiven, souls are reborn, we are united with
God and raised from the dead to eternal life.
No, not “a little bird” at all.
But the Holy Spirit does
tell us things, and in a direct and personal way. The Holy Spirit speaks to us from the inside,
granting us a kind of inner confidence, an ability to lay hold on God’s truth without
wavering. The Prayer Book’s collect for
this day points directly to this task, which is presented in Scripture as the
first task of the Holy Spirit: O God,” it begins, “who on this day didst teach
the hearts of thy faithful people by sending to them the light of thy Holy
Spirit.”[2]
The Holy Spirit certainly
gave St. Peter a deep assurance of Christ’s resurrection and the boldness to
call the assembled crowds to repentance and faith. But even more importantly, He gave those who
heard Peter the ability to understand that message and believe it. The Pentecost miracle is primarily a miracle
of reception. Saint Peter speaks, but
the Holy Spirit teaches and then grants the ability to believe, so that three
thousand in the crowd turned to Christ in faith and were baptized that day.
Through the Holy Spirit’s
work, God speaks directly to us. As
light fills a room, the Holy Spirit helps us to distinguish truth from
falsehood and to know clearly who God is and what He intends for us. This truth about the Holy Spirit’s work has
caused more than a bit of trouble in the church down the ages. It doesn’t mean that the Holy Spirit is behind
every religious idea that may come into our heads. It’s also a mistake to associate the Holy
Spirit’s work with the preponderance of public opinion, what is often called
“the spirit of the age.” Some of the
religious ideas and inner convictions we receive are mere human ruminations and
some are the work of evil spirits, who aim to confuse and corrupt God’s
people. Some are simply fashionable
ideas which can have little to do with the teaching of the Scriptures. Saint Paul says that the “discernment of
spirits,” the ability to distinguish the Holy Spirit’s communications from
other sorts of ideas is a gift God shares with His church, and an important one
at that.
The Holy Spirit’s true
work can be distinguished by the fact that He points us always to Christ. It is Christ who sends the Spirit upon His
Church, to bring the good news of the resurrection to life in the hearts of His
people. It certainly doesn’t hurt to ask
the Holy Spirit to amplify your ability to understand German philosophy or the
tax code. But His principal curriculum
is the Christian Gospel, the word of life that sets souls free from sin and
death.
We can only understand
that word of the Gospel through the Spirit’s influence. We cannot be argued into faith. It comes, for each of us, as a kind of
letting go, as the Spirit delivers us into a steady conviction that this is
true, and true for me. Struggle and
doubt, even severe doubt, can have their place in that process of coming to
faith. But mature faith is a kind of
resting, a knowledge that brings clarity and joy.
If you struggle to
believe, or feel that your faith remains superficial, you should pray for the
Holy Spirit’s help. If you want to speak
with someone about Christ, and you don’t know what words to use, ask that the
Holy Spirit show you what to say and to create in the person to whom you will
speak an ability to hear and respond.
People sometimes tell me
that they would like to talk to a neighbor or a relative about Christ, but they
don’t know how the person will take it.
They’re afraid of using the wrong words.
I often try to assure them that none of us ever has all the right things
to say. If the transmission of the
Gospel relied upon human eloquence, the church would have died out centuries
ago. You will be speaking, I tell them, but
if they seem to hear you, it’s evidence that they’re really listening to
someone else. A little bird has told
them—the Mighty Dove of the Holy Spirit--who descends in power to teach the
hearts of the faithful.
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