Jan 13, 2019 Come, Holy Spirit
In his book, Craddock Stories, celebrated preacher Fred Craddock tells of an evening when he and his wife were eating dinner in a little restaurant in the Smokey Mountains. A strange and elderly man came over to their table and introduced himself, and said he had a story to share.
My mother was not married, and the shame the community directed towards her was also directed towards me. Whenever I went to town with my mother, I could see people staring at us, making guesses about who my daddy was. At school, I ate lunch alone. In my early teens, I began attending church, but always left before someone would ask me what a boy like me was doing in church. One day, before I could leave, I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was the minister. He looked closely at my face and I knew that he also was trying to guess who my father was, "Well, boy, you are a child of..., boy, you are a child of God. Yes, I see a striking resemblance." Then he swatted me on the bottom and said, 'Now go claim your inheritance.' I left the church that day a different person, in fact is was the beginning of my life.
Dr. Craddock recalls that after the elderly man left, he asked the waitress if she knew who the man was, and she answered, "that was Ben Cooper, he served two terms as the governor of Tennessee."
Every year, on the first Sunday after Epiphany, we celebrate the baptism of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Last year, on this Sunday, I spoke about how three things are going on in Baptism: 1. God claims us 2. God's congregation claims us. 3. We claim God. This year, I would like to focus on that last one, claiming God and what that means for our lives.
To claim God means that there is a fundamental and intentional change in our lives on our part. Our lives are no longer our own, but they are to be lived for God and God’s purposes, trusting and believing that what God wants for us, is the best life of all.
My mother was not married, and the shame the community directed towards her was also directed towards me. Whenever I went to town with my mother, I could see people staring at us, making guesses about who my daddy was. At school, I ate lunch alone. In my early teens, I began attending church, but always left before someone would ask me what a boy like me was doing in church. One day, before I could leave, I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was the minister. He looked closely at my face and I knew that he also was trying to guess who my father was, "Well, boy, you are a child of..., boy, you are a child of God. Yes, I see a striking resemblance." Then he swatted me on the bottom and said, 'Now go claim your inheritance.' I left the church that day a different person, in fact is was the beginning of my life.
Dr. Craddock recalls that after the elderly man left, he asked the waitress if she knew who the man was, and she answered, "that was Ben Cooper, he served two terms as the governor of Tennessee."
Every year, on the first Sunday after Epiphany, we celebrate the baptism of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Last year, on this Sunday, I spoke about how three things are going on in Baptism: 1. God claims us 2. God's congregation claims us. 3. We claim God. This year, I would like to focus on that last one, claiming God and what that means for our lives.
To claim God means that there is a fundamental and intentional change in our lives on our part. Our lives are no longer our own, but they are to be lived for God and God’s purposes, trusting and believing that what God wants for us, is the best life of all.
Claiming God calls
us to discern the difference between the ways of men, and the ways of God. The
ways of men are fearful and self-serving, while the ways of God are faithful
and are concerned for the best interests of others as well as ourselves.
Claiming God calls
us to choose God’s ways for the living of our lives, making decisions in our
lives that are based not just on God’s love for us, but on God’s love for all.
When we make decisions based only on what is in our best interests, we are open
to sin entering our lives, but when we make decisions based on what is best for
all, there is salvation.
Claiming God means
accepting God’s forgiveness that wipes away the past, and leads us to live
anew. How many of us have gone astray in our lives, how many of us look back to
our past and allow those mistakes or the mistakes of others define us. Claiming
God washes away those sins, takes away our excuses, or the blaming of others,
and calls us to accept responsibility for our lives – and live looking not
toward the past but the future.
And finally, claiming God calls us to act in ways that express our faith and God’s presence in our lives. Faith without works is a dead faith. Claiming God is not an intellectual enterprise, it means that we practice God’s love in our lives, and part of that practice means being a part of a community and fellowship that gathers to worship God. For in the very act of worshiping God, we are proclaiming the gospel to the world
And finally, claiming God calls us to act in ways that express our faith and God’s presence in our lives. Faith without works is a dead faith. Claiming God is not an intellectual enterprise, it means that we practice God’s love in our lives, and part of that practice means being a part of a community and fellowship that gathers to worship God. For in the very act of worshiping God, we are proclaiming the gospel to the world
No comments:
Post a Comment