I’ve sometimes met folk who are keen to move on from basic Christianity and from the fundamentals of the faith.  In some ways I can relate to that.  Babyhood is wonderful.  Staying there isn’t.  The whole aim of childhood is to grow to maturity.  No one likes an immature adult.  The apostle Paul once lamented the immaturity of some of his readers.  They were not ready for a diet of meat but were still on a diet of milk.  He too wanted to see people move on and mature.  We talk about this as ‘growth’ and, ideally, every Christian ought to be a growing Christian.  I should move on today from where I was yesterday.

But there is a kind of “moving on” that I can’t relate to.  I’ve been told in no uncertain terms that I’m stuck in a rut because I’m still focusing on the saving work of Jesus on the cross.  For me the good news of the Christian faith is all about the doing, the dying and the victory of Jesus.  He lived for me the perfect life that I haven’t lived.  He died in my place on the cross to remove God’s just anger against me.  He arose victorious on Easter Sunday to be the Lord and Master of my life and of this universe.  But for some folk that’s old hat.  They want to move on from that.  I’ve been told, “John, we’re living after Pentecost; this is the age of the Spirit.”  So, should the Christian faith be a faith that centres on the person and work of the Holy Spirit?

There are two things we should keep in mind.

First, we mustn’t play off Jesus against the Holy Spirit.  That’s no contest.  Christians, with few exceptions, believe in what we call The Trinity.  It’s a way of summing up the Bible’s teaching that God is three persons in the one divine being.  It’s the great mystery that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit... not three gods but one God, existing in three persons.  So I worship God my Father who created me for His glory... I worship Jesus, God’s Son who became human, died and rose again... and I worship God the Holy Spirit who was poured out upon the church on Pentecost Sunday.  I want to honour each of the three persons of the Godhead and not play them off against each other.

But there’s a second point we need to keep in mind.  We need to ask about the Holy Spirit’s purpose.  Okay, He’s the Spirit who gives life.  Think of that hymn: ‘O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God!’  But He has another overarching purpose.  Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit came He would draw our attention to Jesus.  In John’s gospel we read these words of Jesus, “When He comes He will bear witness to me....  He will take what is mine and make it known to you.”  In other words the Holy Spirit’s great goal is to focus attention on Jesus.

Many years ago I lived in a town where the Cathedral was heritage listed; a beautiful old building, which was lit up at night by a battery of floodlights.  Those floodlights were strategically placed to show off the splendour of the cathedral in the darkness.  Over the years many tourists paused at night time to take a photo of that grand cathedral.  I have a great night-shot of it all lit up against the backdrop of the dark night.  However, I never saw anyone taking pictures of the floodlights.  It was the cathedral that was the focal point.  The floodlights only served to draw attention to that magnificent piece of architecture.

The point is that to become preoccupied with the person and work of the Holy Spirit is like becoming preoccupied with the floodlights while missing the beauty of the cathedral.  Of course the Holy Spirit is important.  Without Him we could never believe in Jesus.  The Holy Spirit opens our hearts to the message of Jesus.  He changes and renews us to be the kind of people God wants us to be.  But the point is that He does that by keeping our attention focused on our wonderful Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The moral of the story is: Don’t lose sight of the beautiful cathedral because of a preoccupation with the floodlights.

John Westendorp