John 1:29-34From the moment John encountered Jesus until the day he was beheaded, John testified to the remarkable experience he had while he was doing, basically, his everyday work.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel." And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God."
Not all of us are involved in something as specifically "holy" as the work of John the Baptist, perhaps, but we are involved in something. And when we align our "something" with God's prayer for each of us, we are often granted the privilege, and the blessing, of seeing something so extraordinary that our faith tells us: "This, my child, is of God! and THIS is how you can speak of this experience to tell others about God's love and God's power."
When we yearn for the ability to see our Triune God meandering through our days, that yearning will not be disappointed. It may not be satisfied with something as remarkable as seeing Doves of the Holy Spirit descending from the sky, or the Voice of God telling us that we have, indeed, come face to face and toe to toe with the unleashing of God's power. We may see God's action in something as simple as an "after the fact" awareness that something we did or said in passing made "all the difference" to somebody. Or we may notice that a seemingly insignificant happening shimmers with meaning that compels us to continue to wonder what God may be saying to us through that event.
In these days when we are enveloped in sensational sensory stimulation of all sorts, the remarkable presence of God may take on a contrasting form -- utter simplicity, featherlike touches of grace, flutterings of awe. As we look between the lines of what we see, or say or do, Grace may be breaking through!
Image Source: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/241/515933531_ea9467d95b.jpg?v=0
So, as you begin your week, trust that the same Holy Spirit that spoke from the heavens and descended in the form of a Dove is still meandering about, casting its power, calling in everything and everyone into a purpose and meaning which is of God.
Where do you see it or hear it or sense it? Yearn for it. Seek it with diligence. It is seeking you!
1 comment:
I watched Monday night's debut of Piers Morgan's new interview show on CNN, which replaces that of Larry King. Morgan's hour-long guest was Oprah Winfrey.
Winfrey repeatedly identified her role as one of a messenger, a teacher who teaches love of self and respect for self as she helps people become their fullest. If she is the messenger, I found myself begging her to name the source of the message...vibrations in the universe...the myriads of therapists she's had on her show...or something on the order of a deity of one kind or another. I was hoping against hope to hear Jesus Christ.
Paul wrote to the Galatians, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." J.S. Bach wrote "Soli Deo Gloria" at the end of his major musical works. "At the end of the day," might there be joy in our hearts that it is Christ Jesus who filled our "clay jars" with the seed of His grace, such that from jars such of ourselves, grace would flourish and extend itself to others?
Frederick Buechner wrote, "Don't try too hard to feel religious, to generate some healing power of your own. Think of yourself rather (if you have to think of yourself at all) as a rather small gauge, clogged up pipe that a little of God's power may be able to filter through if you can just stay loose enough."
John the Baptist understood full well that he was only the "warm-up act." Jesus was the "real deal." We who seek to serve in Jesus' Name create all manner of mayhem for others and, particularly, for ourselves, when we forget it's Jesus' mission...Jesus' ministry...and not our own. One would think we'd appreciate our freedom in that arrangement!
Post a Comment