Page 59 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

T H E W O R S H I P O F J E S U S C H R I S T A N D T H E H O LY S P I R I T
Yet this life in Christ is inseparable from the presence and
work of the Holy Spirit.
From the beginning, the Church understood that Christ is
the One anointed by the Spirit—the Messiah—who not only
receives the fullness of the Spirit, but also gives it to others as
the gift of the last days. The Resurrection revealed Him as this
eschatological Messiah, and the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost
confirmed that the promised age had already begun.
Thus, the delay of the Parousia did not leave the Church
abandoned. Christ did not leave His disciples as orphans. The
Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, was given to guide, strengthen, and
sustain the faithful until His return. Christian existence, there-
fore, unfolds in the time of the Spirit—the time between Res-
urrection and fulfillment.
In this time, the gifts of the Spirit are already present and
active. All members of the Church become “spiritual,” not in
the sense of possessing private experiences, but as participants
in the life of the Spirit within the community. As the Apostle
Paul teaches, the Spirit distributes a diversity of gifts, yet all
belong to the one Body. No gift exists in isolation, and none
can be elevated above the others as though it belonged to an
individual.
The highest of all gifts is love, for the Spirit Himself is com-
munion (koinonia). For this reason, Christian spirituality can-
not exist outside the community. The Spirit does not create
isolated individuals, but persons in relationship—with God
and with one another. To possess the Spirit is to belong to the
Body.
The work of the Spirit is described in many ways—power,
sanctification, truth, freedom—but at its deepest level it can
be understood as life and communion. These two are insepa-
rable. The life that the Spirit gives is not biological or indi-
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