The Baptism Of Our Lord / Epiphany 1 / Ordinary Time 1
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah.
-- Luke 3:15
What does it take to be the Messiah? Or, to extend the question to our context, what does it take to be the messianic community? Many communities can draw attention to themselves through their powerful actions. The distinction that the gospel makes between a powerful organization dedicated to the improvement of society and the messianic community that reveals the very presence of God is the presence of the Holy Spirit. By John's powerful sermons, many were convicted of the need to change their lives. They were ready to follow John as their new leader. With remarkable insight, John saw that there was something still to come. People needed not only to repent, but they also needed to be purified in a way that human will power cannot bring about. John looked for one who could baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Pentecostal churches evoke the presence of the Holy Spirit as an authenticating power. This can make participants of many of our mainline religious communities very nervous. The power of the Spirit seems so uncontrollable. It appears to make people do strange things. Yet what both Pentecostal and non-Pentecostal churches need to experience is that purification of one's ego that enables one to submit to the direction of God. The community of faith that is willing to "not count equality with God a thing to be grasped" discovers in the servant nature of Jesus' ministry a model for their own cleansing and renewal. They begin to experience the power of God's Spirit that affirms them as beloved children of God.
-- Luke 3:15
What does it take to be the Messiah? Or, to extend the question to our context, what does it take to be the messianic community? Many communities can draw attention to themselves through their powerful actions. The distinction that the gospel makes between a powerful organization dedicated to the improvement of society and the messianic community that reveals the very presence of God is the presence of the Holy Spirit. By John's powerful sermons, many were convicted of the need to change their lives. They were ready to follow John as their new leader. With remarkable insight, John saw that there was something still to come. People needed not only to repent, but they also needed to be purified in a way that human will power cannot bring about. John looked for one who could baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Pentecostal churches evoke the presence of the Holy Spirit as an authenticating power. This can make participants of many of our mainline religious communities very nervous. The power of the Spirit seems so uncontrollable. It appears to make people do strange things. Yet what both Pentecostal and non-Pentecostal churches need to experience is that purification of one's ego that enables one to submit to the direction of God. The community of faith that is willing to "not count equality with God a thing to be grasped" discovers in the servant nature of Jesus' ministry a model for their own cleansing and renewal. They begin to experience the power of God's Spirit that affirms them as beloved children of God.
