Fellowship of the Holy Spirit

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 14

I have a friend at church who, at the end of every meeting, raises his hands as Jesus did and says "May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now and always." We are all so prepared for him to do this that we follow along, hands raised reciting this beautiful verse with him.

Last night when he closed a meeting with this verse, I heard in a different way the words "Fellowship of the Holy Spirit." The word fellowship in Greek is koinonia which literally translates as communion and partnership. Thus Paul closes his second letter to the people of Corinth saying literally "may the communion and partnership of the Holy Spirit be with you." As we look more deeply into who or what or where or when the Holy Spirit is, I find this translation to be very helpful. We might say that the Holy Spirit is fellowship and communion experienced among people of God. It is what sustains us as the Body of Christ. It is an essential part of our Christian community, and it is present "whenever two or three are gathered together." We can see, hear, feel and experience the Holy Spirit whenever we are in fellowship and doing the work of the Lord.

And so in his Final Greetings and Benediction at the end of Second Corinthians in about 55 CE, Paul and his scribes recognize just as we do today, the sustaining nature of the third "person" of the Trinity and the inherent presence of the Holy Spirit when we are together.