Tag Archive - baptism

Beliefs

September 24, 2010 in Faith with 0 Comments

What do you believe to be true about yourself?

If you have negative beliefs about yourself, have you ever stopped to think about how they got there in the first place?

If you have positive beliefs about yourself, what in your life brought you to that conclusion?

We all have beliefs about ourselves, we have images of who we are, what we like, what we don’t like and what we hold true to our heart.  We were not born with these beliefs, who how did we get them?

One of the most common ways we recieve these beliefs is from other people.  Starting with the day that we were born we have recieved messages from important people in our lives (teachers, parents, friends, ect).  These messages have been both positive and negative.  Throughout our life we decide what messages we want to keep and what message we want to ignore.  That is not always easy, however it is easy for us to remember everything people say about us (especially the negative messages).

At some point we come into our own identity.  We may use the advice from other people.  Jesus did this.  He said to his friends one day:

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.  Matthew 16: 13b-17

Jesus knew why he was sent into the world, he knew what his purpose was, but he still wanted to know what people thought about him.  His disciples were honest with him, they said that some people think he is John the Baptist, others think Elijah, still others are not sure — they know that he is important but they don’t know why.

Then Jesus said “you are my friends, you know me the best, who do YOU say that I am — and Peter got it right.  He said that he knew Jesus was the messiah.

Our good friends know who we are…..

Our God knows who we are….

When Jesus came out of the waters of his baptism God said “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”  Matthew 3: 17

So when we are trying to figure out who we are, it is okay to listen to our close friends – it is okay to listen to people we trust.  But even more so let us listen to God.  God tells us that we are His beloved children and God tells us that He loves us.

So what does our God say about You?

Staying Sane in the Midst of Insanity

November 5, 2009 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

A colleague asked me the other day.  ”How do you stay sane in the midst of insanity?”  It seems our lives are filled with insanity and if we are not careful it is easy to get caught up in it!  A quick google search of the “phrase sane in the midst of insanity” revealed that there are a number of people searching for some kind of relief from the insanity in their lives.  I read posts from parent support groups to alcoholism support groups to the regular office worker trying to get by in his 9-5 job.

According to dictionary.com insanity means:  ”the condition of being insane; a derangement of the mind.”  Now, I think this definition could encompass many people suffering from many conditions.  So what is your “trigger point?”  What causes you to become insane or “crazy?”  I often to think of Homer Simpson when I think about someone going “crazy”

But then again there are lots of ways one can “go crazy” and more often than not we do not act like Homer and Simpson.

But when we feel like we are going “crazy” or start to become “insane” with trying to keep up with all the “stuff” in our lives we need help —  Then I begin to ask myself, where does my help come from?  Sure I have lots of support in my life.  I have my friends, my family and the community of the church that is there when I need them.  But for me it is more than that, my help also comes from the Holy Spirit which gives me power and courage to meet my daily challenges.

The Holy Spirit is there for you too, to help you face the challenges within your struggling marriage right now. …To face the challenges with your kids who may be driving you insane right now. … To face the challenges with your mother’s aging, your father’s aging……with their death. …To face the challenges with your aging and with your death. …

We watch as innocent lives are being taken around the world in war.   I weep at the injustice that so many people in our wold experience.  I see the strength of men and women who have hardships in their lives and yet they still move on and they not only survive but they thrive.  The only explanation that  I have is that when the Spirit is inside of you and the people around you, there is power, spiritual power and spiritual gentleness.

That spirit comes to us in our baptism.  Jesus was baptized not to get rid of his sins, but in order to carry our sins on the cross.  I don’t have to carry my past sins with me, my failures, my imperfections,  or my guilt. All the sins that I have done wrong and all the things that I haven’t done right are placed on his back, on his cross. Jesus is the one who carries the weight of sin. His baptism tells us he carries our sins the sins of the world.

I once read a story about a preacher who felt he was a gifted orator and had memorized Kipling’s poem, ‘If” for a high school thespian contest. The pastor recited the poem with great gusto.  He still remembered the poem and wanted to share it with his congregation.

“If you men can keep your heads when all about you, are losing theirs and blaming it on you.

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, and make allowances for their doubting too.

If you men can wait and not be tired of waiting. …Or being lied about, not deal in lies….

Or being hated and not give way to hating.  Yet don’t look too good nor talk too wise. …

If you men can dream and not make dreams your master….If you can think but not make thoughts your aim. …

If you can meet with triumph and disaster, and meet those two imposters just the same. …

If you men can fulfill the unforgiving minute, with sixty seconds left of distant run.

Yours is the earth and everything in it. And what is more, you will be a man, my son.”

As the pastor recited this poem, the “thespian” in him choked with emotion. He was on the edge of tears and filled with deep feelings. There was a long silent pause. During that pause and silence, a voice from the back of the room piped up, “What if you can’t?”

We can ask ourselves that —  no matter what is said or done, “What if you can’t?” What if you can’t master your dreams? What if you can’t meet triumph and disaster just the same? What if you lose your head when everybody else around you is keeping theirs? What if you can’t trust yourself? What if you can’t wait? What if you are tired of waiting? What if you are a lousy parent? What if you are a failure in marriage? What then?  …

Then you hear the words that you have been baptized, and that all of your burdens and imperfections and disappointments have been loaded onto the back of Christ, that everything is put on the shoulders of the one who carries the cross on our behalf.

In your baptism, you hear the words that Jesus Christ carries the sins of the whole world.  It is Jesus Christ who helps us stay sane in the midst of insanity.   Because I know if I did not have Jesus in my life, things would be harder, life would be more difficult and I very well might not make it from day to day.

So how do I stay sane in the midst of insanity?  I rely on the one who carried my sins to the cross – Jesus Christ.