Growth is hard. It does not matter the form . . . physical, mental, or spiritual . . . growth is difficult. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. In our reading this morning the Apostle Paul equates it to that of childbirth with all its pain, moaning, and groaning. Having witnessed the birth of all four of our children . . . well, I still cringe at all the moaning and groaning that took place at those births; and, that didn’t even include Dana’s contributions. That was just me!
Anything that involves growth is going to involve hard, difficult work that will have us at times moaning and groaning at the effort of that growth. Paul is right. There is a lot of moaning and groaning at the birth of a child. It takes a lot of effort getting that child brought into the world. Unfortunately (and no one tells you this), all that moaning and groaning is just the warm up. Once that child is brought into the world the real work begins. Not one parent ever received an “owner’s manual” upon leaving the hospital. Nope, it was trial by error to get that baby from childhood to adulthood and beyond! Lots of difficulties. Lots of pain. Lots of moaning and groaning.
Anything that involves growth isn’t easy. Think about it . . . education is a process of growth. Years and years of studying and learning . . . tests and more tests . . . until one passes the milestone and graduates. Through all those years there were plenty of moans and groans emitted from those learning. It is work and the ironic thing about it all is that education doesn’t stop with high school, college, or even grad school . . . education is a life-long process. Mental growth is the exercising of the brain . . . and, exercise for it to work must push the brain to expand beyond its limits . . . stretching it just beyond its capacity to make it stronger. And, the brain must be pushed because there is always one more thing to learn just beyond the bend in our journeys.
Think about how you have grown over the years.
As parents . . . remember the fear that sat in the pit of your stomach when you took home that first child? The terrified look of realization when they set you free from the hospital on your own? Look at you now . . . look how far you have gone from that first child. Through it all there were moans and groans accompanying the growth of being a parent. Isn’t that why those of us who are grandparents sit with glee as we listen to our children moan and groan about raising their children, our grandchild. We’ve been there and done that.
Same goes with relationships in our lives. If you are married, I imagine that you would agree that where you are today in relation with your spouse is much different than when you started out. As a male it did not take me long to learn, “Yes, dear!” Yet, in our marital relationships we have grown . . . grown in how we work together, care together, and moved from being individuals to a couple that cherishes one another for who we are. But it wasn’t easy . . . there was lots of moaning and groaning because any relationship is work especially when the goal is to help the other grow.
So, growth is work. It is hard. It is difficult. And, there is going to be the moaning and groaning of growth pains accompanying that growth. Why should it be any different when it comes to our spiritual lives . . . our lives of faith?
In our reading the Apostle Paul is telling those in Rome that what they are experiencing as the “church” is the moaning and groaning of birth. He is also telling them that it is just the beginning . . . there is much more growth yet to come. They are just at the beginning of a long process and who knows where that process will go. But they are not alone. The Spirit is with them to guide them, to push them, and to assist them in their growth as individuals and as a body of the faithful. The Spirit is there moaning and groaning . . . constantly pushing . . . coaching.
So, it is for us.
I guess one way of looking at the Spirit is to consider it as a coach. The purpose of a coach is to help individuals and groups of individuals grow to be the best that they can be at a sport. The coach analyses and considers the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals. From that analysis the coach creates a plan or workout to assist those individuals in becoming better. Often those plans or workouts involve a lot of exercises and drills that push the individuals to the limit . . . but, the coach knows that they need to be pushed in order to grow. Thus, the coach is always there pushing and exhorting the players to get better . . . to push through the pain . . . to get beyond all the moaning and groaning.
Looking back over those years that I participated in sports . . . from junior high through college, I can honestly say that I never approached a practice without a little anxiousness and fear in my heart. I always wondered, “What is coach going to kill us with today?” As soon as the workout was announced it was followed by a chorus of moans and groans from all of us players.
And you know what? If I followed the coach’s instructions . . . did the workouts . . . and, pushed through all the pain, moans, and groans . . . well, the coach was right. I grew. I got stronger. I got better. Faster. All the way from the beginning to the day I quit competing, I got better because the coach was there.
Listen to what Paul says: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people with the will of God.”
The Spirit is a coach . . . our coach for pushing us to be the best at who God created us to be . . . to be the best at practicing God’s will as demonstrated to us through Jesus. The Spirit knows the goal . . . knows us—our strengths and weaknesses . . . and, knows what must be done to help us achieve those goals. The Spirit guides us . . . coaches us . . . and, pushes us to do the hard work of faith . . . to live up to God’s will . . . to grow.
Sounds exhausting, if you ask me. But the Spirit, our coach, will tell us that we cannot grow if we are not willing to do the work. Still, we are human, and as M. Scott Peck says, “Sin is taking the easy way out . . . finding the loopholes.” Surely, we could just place our bibles under our pillows at night and allow osmosis to do its thing . . . gradually allowing us to accomplish the goal without all the moaning and groaning. But it doesn’t work that way. No, we have to do the work . . . and, the Spirit is here to remind us of that.
On that first Pentecost long ago, the Spirit was received . . . the faithful received the Spirit. Just as Jesus said they would. It was a painless birth, but the real work was yet to come. It was just the beginning. Paul understood the difficulty of spiritual growth . . . it was a lot of hard work. Work which isn’t always wanting to be done by those that it is expected. There is moaning and groaning as the Spirit pushes and coaches the faithful towards God’s will. Over two thousand years later we are still moaning and groaning about it.
On this day of Pentecost, we are reminded as the followers of Jesus that we are Spirit-filled and Spirit-led. As a coach the Spirit knows us and knows God’s will . . . thus we are pushed to grow. To grow to be what God desires us to be as individuals and as a group . . . to do God’s will. The goal of the Spirit is to help us grow. Our moaning and groaning demonstrates that the Spirit is working within and around us as we journey towards the fulfillment of God’s desires.
Growth is difficult . . . it is hard . . . it is work. The Spirit knows. The Spirit is there to encourage and support . . . to push us to grow. Again, after more than two thousand years look at how far we have come, and what is yet to come. The Spirit knows . . . we moan, we groan . . . but, the Spirit leads us. Amen.
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