ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Pulelulu Sanuali 4, 2023 

The Hovering Spirit of God רוח אלהים

Ko Laumalie ō‘ōfaki ‘o e ‘Otua

GENESIS 1:2

THE SPIRIT OF GOD WAS HOVERING OVER THE FACE OF THE WATERS.

SENESI 1:2

Pea na‘e maomaonganoa ‘a māmani mo lala; pea na‘e fakapo‘uli ‘a e funga ‘o e loloto. Pea na‘e ‘ō‘ōfaki ‘e he Laumālie ‘o e ‘Otua ki he fukahi vai.

God doesn't work remotely from his creation. He's right in the thick of things, even when - maybe especially when - they're dark, formless, void and waterlogged. The Ruach Elohim, God's Spirit, isn't soaring high in the ether, peering down on a world far below. No, he's hovering and fluttering on the face of the waters, unafraid of getting wet.

Ruach can mean spirit, wind, or breath. All three fit what the Holy Spirit does. Like the wind, he blows where he wishes (John 3:8), sometimes over wet creations and sometimes down into valleys of dry bones (Ezek. 37:1). This Spirit who made us is the vivifying "breath of the Almighty" (Job 33:4). He is also the absolving exhalation of Jesus, blown on his disciples that they might re-create sinners by the power of absolution (John 20:22).

This Spirit, who hovered over creation's waters, alighted on Jesus at the Jordan (Matt. 3:16). Once more, he's in the thick of the things of creation, working with the Word to put us in communion with the Father. He sticks close to water, repeating his opening act at every baptism, uniting us to the “one baptism" of Jesus (Eph. 4:5) so that in him we might be people fully alive.

O Lord, "cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me" (Ps. 51:11).