"It is about this general problem that I write because I believe it isn't just a minority of people who are Spirit-shy. My sense is that most of us find it difficult to experience the sacred -- which may explain why the high calling to live out the mandates of the kingdom (righteousness, justice, joy and peace) finds decreasing compliance. To rise above preoccupation with, or fixation on, our own interests, or to respond to the mandate to give to others presupposes strong assurances about Holy Spirit support."4

Forbes is not speaking a foreign language here. No matter what our denominational loyalties or geographic location, we who preach live in an age of the triumph of the technical. Seminaries are often caught up in leadership studies; their graduates are in for a life time of seminars on how to be successful, effective and able to speak to a world where success is everything. To speak a language that refers to the power and leading of the Holy Spirit seems to be out of touch with reality:

"The primary issue here is not how much one talks about the Spirit. Rather, the concern is that those forces that reduce our freedom to speak of the Holy Spirit also may be working against any diligence in seeking the guidance and the empowerment of the Spirit. It is not that preachers do not know the place of the Spirit. Rather, it is that those attitudes which urge silence or privacy regarding the role of the Spirit in our preaching also tend to rob us of the full empowerment crucial for all who preach the Word. Barriers to such anointings are very real and need to be faced if we are to experience additional dimensions of Holy Spirit power for more effective preaching.

What might it mean for preachers today if when we stand to preach we could say, 'The spirit of the Lord is upon us, because the Lord hath anointed us to preach the gospel'? This is the question at the heart of our quest. It is my goal that preachers all over this nation, regardless of their denominational background, piety or theological perspective in general, would be able, with integrity, to say, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me for the preaching of the gospel.'"5

Even as I read those lines again about the Spirit of the Lord, I am both strangely attracted and repelled. I believe in the Holy Spirit and that there could be no preaching of the gospel without the Spirit's power and guidance. Karl Barth talked about the Spirit coming in power when the Spirit is cried, sighed and prayed for; this has the ring of truth. But I hesitate to talk about the Holy Spirit upon me, the Lord has anointed me. It all seems so other worldly and presumptuous. Then there is the word anointed.

Forbes seems to know our objections; but he also knows our hunger. We do want to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. We know Jesus came preaching. It is also clear that Jesus had a sense of His proclamation of the Kingdom, even under stiff opposition to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. When He came to His own town and it was time to declare Himself, He unrolled the scroll and read "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor." Then He said the staggering thing, "Today the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:8, 21). Jesus the Christ -- the anointed One was revealing His mission, but He was also revealing the power behind that mission. The spirit of God was upon Him.