Brief Thoughts from Bren: Come, Holy Spirit, come!

By Bren Dubay
May 2023

Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in [familial] love; give preference to one another in honor, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who week. Be the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

Letter of Paul to the Romans. New American Standard Bible.

We just celebrated Pentecost Sunday, which marks the birth of the church and highlights the important work of the Holy Spirit. The work of this Third Person of the Trinity is to gather people, give life, and unify. Any community should desire such gathering, life, and unity, but especially an intentional community such as Koinonia.   

The spirit of Diabolos has another plan all together. The name comes from the Greek word “diabelein,” meaning “to scatter.” Clarence Jordan, a co-founder of Koinonia, being the Greek scholar he was, translated it as “to confuse.” The Scatterer, the Confuser, does not want life or unity.

Offering welcome is central to Koinonia. The community has been a house of hospitality since its beginnings in 1942. With hospitality comes an inevitable scattering. People come and go. We just had three incredible long-term guests, who made up half of our hospitality team, come to the end of their term.  We had to say goodbye and that never gets easier.

Interns sign covenants. Some are for a season and some stretch on for a year or more. But eventually, their internships come to an end. Members also enter into a covenant. It reads “for the long haul” or for “as far as the eye can see,” serving God and God’s people at and through this place called Koinonia Farm. Members, too, can leave when they, along with their fellow members, discern that God is calling them on. Part of our commitment includes a process of discernment for goodbye. Still there can be confusion as duties are realigned and we adjust to the absence of a family member.

With all this coming and going, it sometimes seems we cannot take on all the ministries and programs we long to do. The more committed people we have here for the long term, the more we can do.

What does this mean for our practice of hospitality? In Hospitality, A Practice and a Way of Life, Christine Pohl reminds us that at the center of Jesus’ life and ministry He was “both guest and host, dependent on others for welcome and startingly gracious in his welcome to outsiders, seekers, and sinners. Meals were central … and a shared meal soon became the center point of Christian worship.” At Koinonia, whether the dining hall is full to capacity or has a handful of people, we know how to share a meal together.

Koinonia carries on the ancient tradition of hospitality where “strangers, Jesus, and angels [are] welcomed and through which people [are] transformed.” Hospitality is a “moral practice” and an “expression of kindness, mutual aid, neighborliness, and a response to the life of faith.”

Even in the midst of this life of faith, a darker spirit has a way of entering into all our lives. When we become aware of being scattered or confused, may we remember one of the most powerful prayers in the world, “Come, Holy Spirit, come!”

Yes, we need the Holy Spirit. An image to keep before us — the Father speaks the Son; the Son is the perfect image of the Father; the Father and Son look at each other; the love they breathe back and forth is the Holy Spirit. We need the power of the Spirit, who is the love between the Father and the Son. There is nothing more powerful than the love that is the Spirit. It draws us closer to the Father and the Son. It draws us closer to each other. And as we are unified and strengthened together, we can welcome others with joy through generous hospitality.