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[ Back to index of June articles ] BEARINGS: By Martin L. Smith “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” One of the signs that convinced the first Christians that they were experiencing a foretaste of the outpouring of God’s Spirit, the long-awaited fulfillment of God’s hope for humankind, was that each generation seemed to come into its own in the community. Vision and authority weren’t the prerogatives of one age group. The very young and the very old, and men and women whose social standing was intended to make sure they were ‘seen but not heard,’ were suddenly recognized as having powerful gifts, aspirations and challenges to offer the whole community. It is almost miraculous when a community lives this shared experience of intergenerational authority, and the early Christians were careful to use language about the Spirit that wasn’t idealistic. They spoke of the gift of the Spirit as ‘down payment’ or ‘first installment.’ It isn’t easy in practice to fully incarnate this extraordinary gift of spiritual community in which each generation is cherished, heard and valued for its particular spiritual gifts and graces. But isn’t it worth striving for? A parish that wants to embrace its identity as a community of the Holy Spirit goes far by examining how it gives authority and spiritual respect to each generation. One that refuses to look into the mirror of Pentecost is probably hiding the fact that one generational group, usually adults at some stage of middle age, is taking for granted its monopoly of power. Pentecost is a revealing mirror. The ‘miracle’ was that each group of listeners from different cultures could hear the message in her or his native language. One gospel, but many different idioms and versions. One test for the maturity of a Christian congregation is to look for the opposite of the ‘one size fits all’ mentality, especially in preaching and teaching. In a spiritually mature congregation there will be an eagerness to focus in turn on each of the generational groups that make up the whole. We will want to make sure that the good news can address in turn the issues typical of children, young adults, the middle aged and the old. Then there is another indicator of maturity. It is not only true that we have particular spiritual questions and concerns and opportunities that belong to each stage of our life. We are often most in need of pastoral guidance and spiritual support in those crucial stages of transition when we pass from one phase to the next, like adolescence, the ‘40s crisis,’ that next critical stage in our 50s when we face our own aging and mortality, and then lastly when we face diminishment and prepare for the ultimate passage of death. A spiritually alive parish will be especially sensitive to meeting the needs of those who face the losses and gains and struggles of the hard ‘betwixt and between’ times of life. It is easy to misunderstand this emphasis on ministry that focuses on the particular needs of people at different stages in the life journey. We can imagine someone protesting: ‘If preaching, for example, or worship, regularly shifted in its focus and style the better to address in turn the cultures and needs of different age groups, won’t a lot of the congregation regularly feel left out?’ But humans are truly complex, and as we pass through each stage of life issues, gifts and wounds remain with us from the preceding stages. When the psychologists talk about our ‘inner child,’ we can all grasp what they mean. We spend the whole of our lives dealing with the fundamental needs that are most apparent in the lives of children. And in middle age we have to reencounter the dreams we had in youth. In growing up we often suppress our early ideals, and compromise with life. Later they return; the clouds roll away, and we find in our 50s that the guiding stars we thought we had to ignore back then are shining down again. We all need to hear the gospel in various idioms suited to the different generational needs. Isn’t it common for adults to be deeply moved by a well-crafted sermon or service for children? Sometimes a young person can be stimulated and stretched by teaching that the naïve person would suppose to be way over her or his head. It is it any wonder that the New Testament gives such emphasis on the Spirit as the giver – not of flashy ‘charismatic’ gifts – but of complementarity and mutuality, training us not merely to accept but to revel in dependence on each other for fullness of life? Martin L. Smith is a well-known spiritual writer and priest. He is on the staff of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. [ Back to index of June articles ]
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