l sometimes wonder, when we celebrate a baptism, what the people
involved think when the priest say, “I baptize you in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Most people imagine God
the Father creating the earth and stars. Most know Jesus as the Son
revealing God’s love and being executed for his efforts. But few
imagine God the Spirit beckoning them to love beyond their comfort and
safety for a future beyond imagining. Yet, it’s God in that intimate
union with us that we name The Holy Spirit.
God’s Spirit gave
Jesus life, it revealed his work to him at his baptism, it gave him the
courage to carry out his mission and the joy he experienced when he saw
it succeed. It was the presence of God’s Spirit that Jesus promised his
disciples to guide them in continuing his work.
People
frequently ask where God is in their lives. If Jesus’ life is the
pattern for Christian living, it’s the Spirit of God that leads us to
search for God. It’s the Spirit that urges us to hope in life, whatever
adversity we face. It’s the Spirit that motivates us to commit our
time and energy - even our individual lives - to the future of life.
Our
longing for and commitment to God in the present are inseparable from
living for the world of God’s future. It’s no different from our love
and care for children now that’s inseparable from our hope for their
future.
A danger of being mortal is that we tend see
everything in terms of our own lifespan. God, however, is bringing
about something that can’t be realized in such a few years. When we say
that we believe in Jesus, his life, his promise and his resurrection,
we are saying that we view our destiny not in terms of our individual
lives but in terms of God’s Future that will embrace us all. Living
baptism means responding to God’s Spirit urging us on toward that
reality.
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