Believing in Something

As usual, Pastor Jeff made me think.

Sometimes thinking hurts.

He talked about the baptism of Jesus in a way I hadn't thought of. It made me ask to be baptized again, now that I understand it, but that is not to be.  As I think back on my own baptism--well, I was two years old. My parents, not particularly religious churchgoers at that time, had me baptized under protest and wanting relief from the badgering of my father's family.

When I was confirmed some ten years later, I knew what I had been taught, nothing more. It was words. It took a special Pastor to show me what faith was, and I think of him to this day. He was kind, faithful, patriotic--all those good things. He could sing the Lord's Prayer with a voice that brought tears to your eyes...then he was gone, and with him a chunk of faith.

I attended church more or less regularly after he left, but there was always something amiss, and finally I just quit going. The ebb and tide of my faith resulted in a lot of lapses and a lot of mistakes. Then I walked into Messiah in October of 2010. I found what I had been missing.

I began to pay attention to the sermons instead of thinking about the things left undone at home or at work. I found a new strength. I learned to hear God when He speaks--a recent development.  Best of all, I learned how to find God within me as well as in the world. As the sermon came to a close, I heard Pastor present a challenge.  I was led, I believe by the Holy Spirit, to accept it.

I accepted a challenge to find God in my daily life. It is hard sometimes, but then God says, "Look there!" and I do, and there He stands.  I accepted the challenge to BE a God-sighting. Much, much harder....but then it came to me (once I understood all it entailed) that it could be as simple as a good deed that makes someone smile. Amen (so be it; it shall be so).

This week, the challenge is to reflect on the  baptism of the Christ, and our own baptism.

I believer, personally, that there are only two sacraments--those things that are bound by God, and cannot be broken by Man, those being baptism and communion.  My own baptism I don't recall. My children were baptized because I felt a need to do so, to give them to God. I don't recall the Pastor ever asking me why I wanted them to be baptized.  He assumed they would be, as we did.

Hearing about the Christ's baptism in a new way was so powerful!  How the Holy Spirit entered the God/Man in preparation for our salvation...I had heard of the baptism by John many times, but never saw so clearly what it meant.  The Holy Spirit not just surrounding Jesus, but entering him, becoming a part of him, joining with him so that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were ONE.

(Explain the Trinity? It's like this. H2O (water, for the less chemically inclined). It is gas (vapor), it is liquid, it is solid (ice). Yet it is all chemically H2O. It is the Father, it is the Son, it is the Holy Spirit--but it is all God. Three in One, the same, but different; equal and inseparable.)

OK, a new understanding is mine. The challenge is to identify the benchmarks in my life when the Spirit was active in showing me how He empowers me, or someone around me.  I need to recognize those moments as being from God. I need to have the courage to act on that empowerment, moving forward, being unafraid to share His Word.

I have a friend who wonders if God works on unspoken prayers. I answer--if it is happening in your life, God knows whether you speak to Him about it or not.  Prayer, after all, should not be merely petition. God is not a genie to bring forth when we want wishes granted. Prayer should also be worship and praise. So yes, God hears the unspoken.  How do I know? Because I have asked for a new understanding; I have thought about things but not prayed about them.  And Pastor Jeff, not knowing these things, preaches as though he was reading my mind....because the Word has been brought to him, and he is led to translate it to me, often in the form of a challenge.

Our challenge is to reflect, identify, respond to the Holy Spirit.  Can I do this?  I am just learning to walk, and Pastor is asking me to run!  Deep breath....

It is Sunday.  I will pray, and I will reflect.  I will look at my life for the times the Holy Spirit showed Himself. I will ask Him to give me courage and empowerment to use this knowledge, that others can see Him at work.  I hope I've got that right, Pastor Jeff.

Pastor, once again, I accept your challenge.