Wednesday's reflection on Sunday's sermon

There are times in our lives that we look at as pivotal. Lent is a time to think about those times and to see what is happening in our lives now.

For some of us it is the death of a loved one or it could be a promotion. For some of us it is the day we fell in love or the day we were married or the day we proposed marriage.

I know a young man who will never forget the day he got his first car. It marked a time of liberation for him. It was a day in which his future was opened up.

I know a woman who will never forget the day she decided she could no longer drive. She realized she was no longer safe on the road and there was a chance she could hurt someone or herself.

When you look over the scope of Jesus life we have mostly the last three years of his life. The birth narratives continue to be important to the Christian Story and the incident in the temple when Jesus was 12p has to be considered. The wrestling with his own values in the wilderness that ended with his affirmation of his calling to live a life that was selfless and obedient to God had to represent a turning point.

Of course the wedding at Cana when his mother told him to turn the water into wine and whatever that episode is supposed to represent was a time that he remembered.

But I think THE turning point in his life was his adult baptism in the River Jordan.

That event is not without problems in interpretation. Why would he need to be baptized from sin when he didn't sin? Why was it necessary and why was that such an important time in his life?

Recently, we have had adult baptisms at the church and they are very special events. They represent an adult who had made a conscious decision to be do something with their spiritual journey.

I think that was true of Jesus. I think his baptism was his decision to do something new with his life and I think it was one of the most important decisions he made.

What do you think about this?

If you have thoughts on it write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the 'comments' box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.



Charles Schuster