How many of us would love to have an epiphany? A moment in our life when we seem to connect all the dots. Perhaps a moment of conversion or we see such clarity that our lives will move forward with certainty and holiness and righteousness. I myself will confess to perhaps a twinge of jealousy at people who have had such a moment and everything seems to fall into place. Is that what happened in today's passage from John?
If you look at society today, everyone is seeking the answer. Some people seem to have found it in President Trump. Is he the anointed one, elevated or chosen by God? I think not. For myself he is the furthest from that. But it does not dismiss the fact that we all are looking for the answer, that epiphany, that answer that makes us whole. We all seem to be waiting for the Spirit to descend on us and anoint us, make us whole, holy and perhaps even perfect. This hope of ours, this movement in society seems obvious to anyone with eyes and ears. We are seekers as if we have all been abandoned by organized religion. It seems organized religions have lost the message they were invented to convey.
I recall a time when I was a yearning, faithful soul on my path to Ordination and an active member of my 5000 family faith community. The pastor was accused of some rather heinous things and placed on leave while the allegation were investigated ( and later proved false ). After the investigation and before the exoneration, I was a real lost soul. The man that I had revered, looked up to and sought guidance from was taken away. He was a holy but not perfect man. My faith though was in doubt. It wasn't until I came to realize that my faith is not in him but in Him. My faith is not placed in an intermediary but with God himself; God who became fully human and whom the Spirit descended upon as in today's passage from John.
While we are looking for a new improved path to wholeness and holiness or a person that we feel are kindred spirits on the journey, we must realize that there really is no perfect one except God herself, or himself if you prefer. The epiphany we are seeking is not in any one person or path save our own personal journey which cannot be condensed. There are no short cuts. There are no answers that will change us into perfection, at least on this side of the grave.
We can have enlightening moments, epiphanies if you will. We can get glimpses of what we are intended to be but the real answer for us is a life long journey. We will never be totally fulfilled on this side of the grave no matter how hard we search, no matter how much we read and no matter how much we listen. We are not perfect beings and our task is a life long journey and one we can accept or try to cheat. It is an offer of wholeness and redemption but never a single moment or a universal answer unless you say something like the answer is in Christ. Even then, you must still walk the walk, still pick up your cross and still live a life of imperfection towards an ultimate holiness that we are destined and intended for.
While we strive for those epiphanies, those glimpses of holiness within our own life journey, let us not diminish our presence in this moment in in our commitment to our entire journey. There are no short cuts. There is no perfection here, perhaps later, not now. Only God is perfection, the perfection we are drawn toward and seek.
For the totality of our journey and for our acceptance of the task at hand, I pray.
John 1:29-34
The next day he saw Jesus coming towards 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.’
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